Fourteen of these strands were recovered from these pyramids. They are the chip remnants of the Burmite carvings that we offered and sold out twelve years ago.

 The 1888 LiDiex journals allege this material was used in the containment of the living essence of a pair of Djinn that walked the earth 25,000 years ago!

It is his documented journey along a trail to those original carvings and the source of amber that they were carved from that led to their procurement of them along with a small collection of Buddhist and Hindu depictions carved from this rare material.  These chips being a by-product.

1888 LiDiex  

The research involved with this estate continues to provide fascinating glimpse into the lives of those associated with it.  

The procurer of this amber was a 4th. generation descendant of the original Man Known Only As "LiDiex" to the shores of this country, who came here as a survivor and saboteur of the slave Ship Henrietta Marie in 1701, who found his way to New Orleans to meet with the parents of the then infant grandmother of our priestess, Marie Laveau.  It is said that he facilitated this disaster using egg shells to cast a spell, and certain folklore concerning egg shells corroborate this.  He made his way as a wood carver and furniture maker as did many of his descendants.  

This is another case of the multi-generational relationships we have encountered with this family as the LiDiex all had a strong association with these women.   

He is the least mentioned of the LiDiex in her journals, yet he kept a suite of rooms with her from the time of his sixteenth birthday.  Apparently he would leave for periods of up to a decade before returning to the estate of his mistress, then shutting himself in for lengthy periods of time before leaving again.  There is no record of the death of this LiDiex. 

He is attributed with the design and consecration of the, "Resurrection Skull Altar" and most of the ceremonial spells used with it.

Her journals and those of her live in practitioner, followers tell of this altar being used in ritual resurrection ceremonies.

There are some pretty fantastic tales of animating inanimate objects, notably a number of skulls, many human and some being the skulls of Tibetan Monk's that dated back over seven centuries!  With these, they would use specific minerals, potions, elixirs and reptiles.

He is described in her journals as being, "in excess of six feet of sinewy muscle, deceptively strong, easily matching two of his size in their grappling" and "extensively, shaved, tattooed and pierced" in addition to, "shown to be capable of high magic without devices."

 Their journals claim his ability to heal wounds, shape shift, travel through time and space, telepath and create life with the power of his thought.  They also corroborate the sharing of identities with a number of other LiDiex, "being a master of disguise and misdirection, often with his mere thought" according to these entries.  This gave these men the ability to appear in two or more places at once.  This was an old family ploy, apparently often used by their mistress.

It is this LiDiex who is attributed with making her introduction to Alexandra David Neel and his journals tell of numerous meetings and short adventures with her.  Claiming at the age of twenty four to have met Neel for the second time in the company of Prince Sidkeong of Sikkim and of being her teacher of the Tibetan language having already spent six years with the Great Hermit as apprentice.

Much is already written on these subjects, so there is no need to elaborate here in this already overly long text, but we wholeheartedly recommend a cursory search for some very interesting reading.

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But Back to the Amber Chip Strands 

These Burmite chips have a fascinating history, but it is the story of the trail that led to their recovery and to what they deemed to be the source of the Burmite they were taken from that pertains to them. 

Their journals, and her inventory refer to this material as, "blood amber" and make note of their use of it as "vessels."

In the winter of 1934, the LiDiex had made contact with a Chinese trader of Borneo who it was correctly said of having a quantity of carvings made from this red amber.  It is unclear how many carvings were purchased from this trader, but their journals indicate they bought his entire stock.

The visit lead to their eventual recovery of their sought, "Blood Sap" from its source and their journals tell of pirates, headhunters and ruthless traders met along the way.

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Their use of this, "Blood Sap" is described in an entry where she traveled to Egypt, successfully seeking, finding and binding an, "Ishtar" to a figural carving of this material.  She tells of, "resurrecting her essence through my own blood" and of having lengthy conversations with the, "intelligent essence contained within."

The notes concerning her interactions with her "Ishtar" tell of, "capturing this essence through guile and magic.  Their essence being contaminated with the secret codes contained in my blood (DNA?) which is what holds and lends them to my will".

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She also tells us, "this is a receiver of spiritual essence" and, "it is Shengxiào, Zi Wei Dou Shu Amber." 

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Shengxiào translates to English as Chinese Zodiac.  It is a structured, and systematic plan of future action, that corresponds each year to a specific animal and its attributes, as laid out in a twelve year mathematical cycle.  It is widely practiced throughout Eastern Asia.

Identifying this practice using the term "zodiac" reflects numerous similarities to the western zodiac.  Both have cycles of time divided into twelve parts, each labels the majority of those parts with names of animals, and each is widely associated with a culture of attributing influence of a person's relationship to the cycle upon their personality and/or events in their life.

There are major differences however.  The Chinese twelve part cycle corresponds to years rather than months, and is represented by twelve animals, while some of the signs in the Western zodiac are not.  The animals of the Chinese zodiac are not associated with constellations, nor those spanned by the ecliptic plane.

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Zi Wei Dou Shu translates to the English as, “Purple Star Astrology.”  It is a well respected form of fortune telling in Chinese culture, essentially a process for laying out "The Destiny Path" or "Fate."

In practice, one seeking their fortune told presents their moment of birth: year, month, day, and time to the fortune teller.  This information is crucial, without it, the fortune cannot be told.  One’s name in Kanji is also necessary at times.  Although this is practiced, it is outside the scope of zi wei dou shu. 

One difference from astrology is that the positions in zi wei dou shu do not correspond to the actual position of those stars.  Calculations are worked out to chart the stars into twelve different palaces or Gong.  This would then be one's Natal Birth Chart or Mìng Pán.

By integrating the stars and palaces, their attributes, environmental factors, the Five elements, the concept of Yin and Yang and all possible combinations and variations, including the position of the symbolic stars and their interrelations.  Not only can personalities be understood, but personal and professional relationships can be predicted.  The end result is a calculated translation of one's destiny in detail including events that have already happened in the past for verification purposes.

The plotting of one's birth chart is not difficult.  What is difficult in Zi Wei Dou Shu is the complex system of interpretation that allows us to 'read' the blueprint of our lives.

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Their Use of Burmite

This material was widely used in their candle and root work, specifically with their gris gris bags which they referred to as, Mo Jo Hands.  Essentially, they claim to have created a life from that would dwell within the burmite and these MoJo hands which they would feed through offerings and chanted prayer while in the presence of root worked or dressed candles burning.  We find similar practices being attributed to the Buddhist sorcerer monks, of Tibet, Thailand and Cambodia.

Their journals tell us these practices circumvent much of the traditional practices, by creating a living entity to dwell in these talisman to aid in predictions of the future for themselves and others, a practice that apparently was uncanny in accuracy, and very lucrative for them.

She also notes of using these strands as hand and wrist wraps in prayer while holding other pieces from these boxes

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These Strands

Examination reveals these strands measure approximately 17" in length and consist chips that measure approximately 1/16 to 3/32" x 1/4" to 5/16".

The chips have been loosely strung on golden yellow Griffin silk beading cord to form strands weighing 7.5 grams. 

A shoebox full of Griffin silk beading cord was recovered from this estate.  Her inventory shows she purchased a gross or more of this material, factory direct in Germany, once a year for three decades beginning in 1950. Griffin has been in business since the late 19th. century, and still offers this same cord, which has been used to string beads for royalty, even today.  

There is no clasp and these strands need one if you intend to wear one as a necklace.  They are too short to fit over your head. 

Quite a few of these strands were recovered from other parts of the estate, adorning religious iconography, Buddhist and Christian alike. 

These strands are being sold individually.

It is certainly a nicely aged vintage strand of Burmite chips with an extraordinary provenance that is much nicer than our photographer has been able to depict. 

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