The eye of Saint Lucia

What is the eye of Saint Lucia?

an operculum

The eye of Saint Lucia roughly resembles a shell, flat on one side with a spiral on a light background (covered with a brown cuticle on a fresh operculum), and domed on the other with most often (but depending on the species ) an orange or green spot on a white background, which may look like an eye.

The expression Eye of Saint Lucia, "eye of Venus" or even "eye of the Virgin", designates the mineralized operculum of a mollusc of the family of Turbinidae, the Bolma rugosa. Such opercula are relatively common on the Mediterranean shores, especially in Corsica, where they are left by the rough astrea, but also in several tropical countries via other species of the same family.

The eye of Saint Lucia

The eye of Saint Lucia has a white side with a spiral and another orange. The warm orange side, by its physiognomy, is reminiscent of a human ear. According to legend, the orange face is the stylized symbol of the Blessed Virgin, the other white face symbolizes the Eye of Saint Lucy . Oval in structure, the shell has a maximum size of twenty-five to thirty millimetres. Its thickness is about five millimeters.

Rough Turbo is harvested mostly by professional anglers. Once the shell lid is removed, the shell is returned to the water.
The Stone of the Eye of Saint Lucia is used nowadays in the form of jewelry, especially for the practice of lithotherapy on a daily basis in order to take advantage of its various virtues.

The eye of Saint Lucia is mainly found on the Mediterranean shores, especially in Marseilles, but also in Corsica where it is found on the beaches or by diving at shallow depths.

Several names

Called eye of Saint Lucia when picked up on Mediterranean beaches, it is also found under the name eye of Venus, eye of the Virgin and eye of Shiva when it comes from warmer seas such as India or Asia. It's the same lucky shell.

At the top the eye of Saint Lucia from the back, at the bottom the eye of Shiva (smaller) from the back.

The legend of Saint Lucia

In Corsica, "the eye of Saint Lucia" is considered a lucky charm . It is linked to the legend of Saint Lucia.

This legend appears in the 4th century. She tells that a young girl from the nobility of Syracuse, Lucie, whose mother is suffering from an incurable disease, allowed her mother to recover miraculously following her many prayers to the Virgin Mary.

When she returns to Syracuse, Lucia behaves like a great Christian and gets rid of all her possessions. She devotes such a cult to the Blessed Virgin that she tears out her eyes, throws them into the sea to drive away all her suitors so as not to be diverted from her faith. Turned entirely towards prayer, she performed a large number of miracles.

In response to his total devotion, the Virgin Mary restores his sight and gives him even more beautiful, more luminous eyes.

Other versions around Saint Lucia exist but this one is the best known.

The legend of Shiva

In Asia, this operculum is called the eye of Shiva linked to the God Shiva, the most venerated in Hindu mythology.

Shiva represents the balance of the world but also destruction. His third eye having the power to strike down what he looks at remains always closed. The god decides to marry the ocean and the river Ganges. A child named Jalandhara is born from this marriage. On the morning of Jalandhara's birth, the sea suddenly begins to stir, the wind begins to blow very hard, and the earth begins to shake. The young child wants to become the master of the universe.

Jalandhara tames elephants and lions, plays with volcanoes, manages to move huge rocks with a single movement.

When he becomes a tall and strong adult, the young man marries. Shortly after, he will trigger a war of unprecedented violence. He coldly assassinates the Gods one after the other. The survivors then go to see the great god who had stayed away. He advises them to unite: “Jalandhara is so powerful that he can defeat each of you individually! Brothers, unite your powers into one terrible weapon .

The Gods then create a mass of pure energy in which everyone deposits something. Vishnu puts his anger there, the great god plunges the rays of his third eye into it. This pure energy transforms into a burning mass that transforms into a disc of fire. When Jalandhara rushes at Vishnu and the other Gods, Shiva throws the fiery disk at him. He then chops off her head.

But the great god threw the disc with such force that his third eye fell on Earth. Some think he purposely lost his eye to give his great power to men.

The small shells would therefore represent the symbol of the eye of the great God and of his great protective power.

In particular, they have a white side with a spiral that resembles that of the Eye of Saint Lucia and one that has a color that can be dark brown to pale orange, or with shades that can range from dark blue to green. Finally, the colored side is very rounded and does not make you think of an ear like the eye of Saint Lucia that you find on the beaches on the shores of the Mediterranean. It is often found in shops. They are imported from Asia as finished jewelry under the name Eye of Saint Lucia, the name not being protected.

In lithotherapy

On a mental level

The eye of Saint Lucia would bring to its bearer the help, the strength and the support necessary so that he can face the vagaries of life and know happiness . It thus makes it possible to apprehend the future with serenity and calm.

It acts on the root chakra and on the third eye chakra, which helps to ward off the evil eye, bad waves and promote luck.

On a physical level

The eye of Saint Lucia is recommended in case of problems in the eyes and in the throat .

Associated with steel or silver, it also promotes wealth and prosperity.

You now know all the secrets of the eye of Saint Lucia and even if you don't believe in miracles, let yourself be seduced by this unique shell.

You will find on the ousia shop pendants and necklaces in real eye of Saint Lucia . In a future article, I will explain how to recognize the real ones, which are more expensive because they are rarer.