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Can Necklaces Mean a Pain in the Neck?
February 16, 2006
by John Lewis
The wearing of jewellery has been with us across the ages
with both men and women seeking to adorn their persons with
these ornamental devices. The word jewellery is anglicised
from an old French word “joule” (jewel), but the
origin can be further traced back to the Latin word “jocale”
which means plaything.
Although we typically think of jewellery as being made from
precious metals and gemstones, over the centuries it has been
made from a variety of materials such as cloth, wood, shells,
rocks and stone. In fact man has been very ingenious and artistic
in creating jewellery from just about anything and in many
different styles from the plain and simple to the highly elaborate.
Items of jewellery have also been adopted as potent symbols
and even worn to ward off evil spirits or to help overcome
enemies in battle.
Examples of jewellery being worn other than for adornment,
are necklaces such as the cross or crucifixes worn by Christians
as potent religious symbols. Other religious types of necklaces
are pendants known as amulets, which are figures or symbols
of varying shapes and sizes, which are hung on a chain round
the neck.
Necklaces called lockets, which are usually heart shaped
are worn as a symbol of love and open up to reveal a picture
or lock of hair from a cherished one.
Necklaces and pendants are both worn around the neck but
a pendant usually means a hanging object although it can be
hanging from a neck chain or an earring. A choker is also
a form of necklace but is worn high around the neck and can
also have a pendant hanging from it.
Perhaps the most bizarre form of necklaces are those worn
by the Pa Dong Long Neck people who are part of the Karen
tribal group that live along the border between Thailand and
Burma. From the age of 6 years old, brass rings are snapped
around the necks of young girls, a few every year, up to a
limit of 20 rings although there is a woman on record as having
28 around her neck. As they progress from childhood to womanhood,
their necks appear to elongate although apparently what really
happens is that the weight of the rings crushes the women’s
collarbones giving the illusion of a very long neck.
It is said that these women only remove the brass rings on
their wedding night with a long drawn out process involved,
which involves much neck washing. As brass often tends to
discolour the skin one can imagine that there may be a rather
nasty green mess under those rings. After the wedding night,
the rings are replaced and must remain in place for life,
as the women’s neck muscles are now no longer strong
enough to support the length of the neck and the weight of
the head on their own.
This wearing of neck rings was also a practice adopted by
women in South Africa and in particular those from the Ndebele
tribe and these women have often been referred to as giraffe
women because of their long necks. The Ndebele women traditionally
wore copper and brass rings around their necks arms and legs
as a symbol of their status in society and after marriage
as a symbol of her bond and faithfulness to her husband. Husbands
would provide their wives with these rings and the richer
her spouse the more rings she would wear and they would only
be removed after his death as they were believed to have strong
ritual powers.
Thankfully, in both the Pa Dong and the Ndebele tribes, this
traditional practice is no longer popular and is now dying
out in favour of the more usual types of necklaces.
Written by John Lewis of Love2Have. Love2have specialises
in quality handcrafted designer necklaces made here in the
UK by small independent designers.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/2930.php
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