The use of Lapis Lazuli as a medicine extends back thousands of years, with documentation of its healing properties found in the ancient cultures of Babylon, Sumer, and Egypt. Some traditions exalt Lapis as the archetypal healing stone, as can be seen in the symbology of the Medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabhā-rāja) the patron deity of healing and medicine, whose formal Sanskrit name translates to “Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light.” The Medicinde Buddha’s blue skin represents his power to eradicate the cardinal causes of suffering, to lessen the burden of those with heavy karma, and to heal all manner of diseases that have been brought about through an imbalance of the elements. In his second of twelve vows, the Medicine Buddha states: “…my body, inside and out, shall be like Lapis lazuli, shining with penetrating and immaculate purity.” A vision of the power of enlightened wisdom and compassion to transform sorrow into bliss.

“Lapis lazuli embodies the image of the boundless universe painted by nature” (Walter Schmitt), and by extension the illimitable possibilities of healing that are intrinsic to life itself. As a homeopathic remedy, it helps to strengthen the connection between the subtle bodies and the physical body, thereby allowing for a greater willingness and ability to freely communicate with and navigate the outer world. It is a helpful remedy when challenges of communication have resulted in destructive familial dynamics. Lapis is a medicine for highly intuitive and sensitive individuals who have difficulty with the mundane, practical side of life, those who are ‘in the world but not of it’ (Colin Griffith). Lapis patients may report delusions of starvation, fearing that one’s family or even all of humankind will starve – a strange, rare, and peculiar symptom which reflects a pathological mirror image of the Medicine Buddha’s universal compassion. Lapis helps to restore objectivity to the perception of highly idealistic, anxious individuals whose vision has become muddied through emotional entanglements of all kinds. It is a medicine with affinities for the eyes, throat and thyroid gland, thymus gland, bone marrow, and the immune system.