There are many
interpretations concerning the dzi's origin. Since they are usually
found buried in the ground, it is generally thought that they were
made and worn by people in prehistoric or neolithic times. There
are more mystical interpretations, some being that the dzi were
once worm-like insects which, when frightened, froze and turned to
stone. Other stories relate how the dzi were once ornaments of the
demi-gods who threw away when they became damaged, which accounts
for why so few of the beads are in a perfect unblemished state.
They were said to appear in miraculous ways, sometimes as presents
from local deities to humans who had rendered them service and
appearing out of rabbit holes or on bushes which bore them like
fruit. The dzi is either worn as a single bead about the neck,
mainly for its auspicious or medicinal value, or in a traditional
necklace interspersed with coral, pearls, amber or turquoise, or
even, if the owner is fortunate to have a collection of dzi, a
whole necklace is made from the stones. Dzi are also used when
applying gold to thankas or writing in gold, to burnish it and
bring out the sheen.
Many jewels are worn for their medicinal properties. It is said
that dzi protects its wearer from strokes and other sicknesses, as
well as from evil influences. If, while it is being worn, the bead
is in any way damaged or broken, it is taken as a sign that the
bead has performed its task and absorbed the shock of the
super-natural attack, though the dzi is then rendered useless for
any further protection.
Precious pills or "Fa Yao", which contain most of these
ingredients, also play an important part in curing many physical
disorders. The Rinchen Ratna Samphel, (the Precious Wish Fulfilling
Jewel), is compared to a precious jewel from the king of medicines.
It contains over 100 different ingredients including Ngochu
Tsothel, (a preparation of purified mercury, surplur and sixteen
different metals and minerals developed by the thirteenth century
Tibetan scholar, Khedup Ugen Rinchen Pal), as well as seventy other
ingredients such as purified gold, silver, copper, iron, lead and
lode-stone. More notably the pill contains gems as coral,
turquoise, pearls, lapis, lazuli and dzi. The precious jewels are
detoxified and then ground into a fine powder to be mixed with a
number of other organic and mineral materials.
The awe and fascination with which Tibetans regard the etched agate
beads they call "dZi" must be something similar to ancient man's
obsession with beads, which has been revealed in the beautiful
specimens that have survived from antiquity. That beads played an
important part in the religious, social, and economic spheres of
the ancient world is well known. DZi beads occupy a similar place
in Tibetan cultural life to this day.
