#holistic amber

[doublecounter]

ohh this webtoon is so good... is this a toxic hetgem i see

[sionnach-uaine]

Gems in Holistic: Part 1(?)

In Holistic, it seems every seer has a respective stone that aligns with them and improves their ability/abilities. I've been waiting from the moment I saw the yet-to-be-determined red gem(s) that Gareth wears for ANY gem to named dropped and episode 8 finally did (both in the episode itself and the title). That, of course, being;

Jet

Jet being Amber's stone is immediately note worthy, because even though both are considered gemstones; both are mineraloids. Gemstones are largely minerals of some sort, but jet and amber are both fossilized parts of trees (wood and resin respectively). This makes the gems both warmer and softer than most gemstones and are identifying properties that can be used to separate them from others. It forms like coal, being wood that undergoes extensive compression over countless years, and is naturally considered a type of coal. As a material for jewelry, it's been found to be used since the neolithic period. The most famous use was as a mourning accessory by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert. There's soft (freshwater) and hard (saltwater) variants of jet, but ultimately both are quite soft as far as gemstones go and require great care to maintain. Notably, prolonged water exposure can damage them. When embed in jewelry, it's most typically rounded. Jet can also be carved into sculpted designs like regular wood or jade.

The primary mystical properties of jet are high vibrational energy (tl;dr high good, low bad) and purification. It supposedly brings good luck and protection just by having a piece of jet on your person. The purification portion is two-fold. The first is simply being able to dispel negative energy (bad vibes-be-gone spray). Same as with the luck and protection, you leave it around something/someone with negative energy and it will eventually cleanse them. The second is dispelling residual energy. Secondhand items purportedly hold on to the energy of it's previous owner and leaving a piece of jet near it will eventually cleanse the residual. There are two chakras jet is tied to: the third eye and root. The third eye chakra is, as you may guess, a channeling point for insight and intuition. Seeing what can't be "seen". The root chakra is a grounding point. It's for connecting yourself to reality. In line with this, jet is associated with the element earth and the planet Earth itself. Additionally, it's also associated with the zodiac sign Capricorn and, by proxy, the planet Saturn.

Now how does all this tie into Amber? Well this early on it's hard to make definitive statements. There's just not much to go on since it's clear that we don't really know much of anything about what's going on. There are still somethings to take note of here. First of all, I don't think it's coincidental at all that Amber as the outsider is attributed to a mineraloid instead of a mineral. Most gemstones are a mineral, so she could have very easily ended up with a mineral, but she didn't. I feel as though this is meant to symbolize how ultimately Amber will never truly be one of The Gallery's members. In some way, shape or form, Amber will always be disconnected from the rest of the seers (or at the very least most of them). There's also something to be said about how jet is a kind of coal and as the saying goes "pressure turns coal into diamonds". The reason why Amber is in The Gallery in the first place is because Gareth saw her potential (special shout out to her immediately thinking he can't be trusted and she was 100% correct), wasting away in an untrained seer. Why he brought her there remains to be seen, though. Regardless, obviously Amber will gradually improve over the course of the story and it's more than likely going to primarily because of overcoming adversity. I also think that jet being generally warmer and softer than most gems is meant to be symbolic of Amber generally being a warmer, softer person than most seers. The Gallery's members have already made it clear that there's a disconnect from them and others as well. It very much feels as an every man for himself deal there. I'd wager that's why seers are "a dying breed." Their inability to truly support one another, and in turn be vulnerable to each other, is what I imagine what's been killing them off. I believe Amber being brought into the The Gallery is (intentionally or not on Gareth's part) going to result in The Gallery being "purified". Be that partially or wholly, I don't fully know yet. Although the comic's called Holistic (meaning of/pertaining to the entirety of something), so more than likely Amber's "purification" of The Gallery will affect it in it's entirety. I can't really what's going to be "purified" here, because we really don't know nearly enough about what The Gallery truly is to even begin guessing. All we know is that it's a major place in seer society and there's some type(s) of shady business(es) going on. The last thing I can think of with Amber and jet is that as an outsider to The Gallery; she's more connected to the outside world. She wasn't born into seer society. She does not know it, but she does know the rest of the world. The world at large. I think that's going to another point of separation between her and The Gallery. I don't think she'll ever lose her connection to the outside and that's going to be a reoccurring conflict between her and most seers.

~BONUS RAMBLING IN THE CUT~

The plan is to do another part on Amber (character) and amber (gem) after this, because ain't no way that her having a gem name is coincidental. After that I'll do a non-character specific part on silver. Is silver a gem? No, but like it's an equally important part of jewelry and precious metals also have a place in Mystical Shit™ and clearly it does matter in Holistic to a potentially large degree.

Also;

i fuckin hate gareth's stupid fuckin red rock why does it have to be RED there's so many god damn RED ROCKS on this bitch of an earth someone just needs to outright say what his FUCKING ROCK is so i can figure out his deal