Amber.

"Amber is so greatly valued among luxuries that even a statuette of a man, however small, costs more than a number of living, healthy slaves." So wrote Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, in the 1st century CE. He also records that its curative properties could combat both deafness and blindness.
             Norse mythology reckons Amber as the tears of the goddess of love and fertility, Freya; solidified when they fell into the sea. For the ancient Greeks, liquid Amber was wept from poplar (or alder) trees growing by the river Po, it too hardened in the water. These trees were the metamorphosed sisters of Phaëthon, whose death they ceaselessly grieved. He was slain by Zeus' thunderbolt after foolishly attempting to drive the Sun chariot through the sky.
             Homer provides possibly the earliest written record of Amber jewellery when he describes a suitor's gift to the faithful Penelope: "a golden chain of exquisite workmanship strung with amber beads that gleamed like the sun." (The Odyssey, composed around 2,800 years ago.)
             The ancient Chinese perceived Amber as the souls of tigers, left in the earth after their death. Another traditional link with the big cats was scoffed at by Pliny - that Amber was hardened lynx urine!
             Amber burns and is often used as an incense whose characteristic scent of pine is redolent of purification. (Modern disinfectants etc utilise the smell of pine because it is so pungent as to disguise just about every other odour.)
              Rubbed with wool, Amber gains a static electrical charge and will attract small fibres and dust. The Greeks called it Elektron, from which we derive the word electricity. Its power to gather small particles may have made it popular as carved cigarette holders - to purify the smoke as it was drawn into the lungs (how effective this was in preventing the chest diseases now associated with tobacco we will probably never know!). It was Amber's reputation for hygienic purification which led to its use as mouthpieces for pipes - customarily lit by servants.
             This power of attraction also means that to dream of Amber is reckoned to herald an unexpected windfall, or swift reimbursement from loss.
             Amber, in marked distinction to most jewels, feels warm to the touch and is associated with sensuality. Even in its almost blood red hue it is still too soft a jewel to arouse flaming passion. Instead, Amber has a widespread reputation for promoting the enjoyment of those subtle erotic pastimes guaranteed to melt the heart. It attracts romantic love.
             Ancient Amber phalli have been found and, to ensure conception, women sometimes wore carved amulets of prolific creatures such as frogs and rabbits. To bolster virility, men employed similar charms, for example of lions and dragons. Later, at childbirth, Amber was burnt as an incense to quell labour pains. The red form is deemed best for soothing a fever, headache, or convulsions. It is still worn as a talismanic buffer, protecting like a cocoon, against the knocks and bruises of everyday life.

              Amber can shade from pale gold through orange to red, but the most prized specimens are transparent and resemble solid sunlight. It always feels warm to the touch, and is suprisingly light in weight. This is one of only a few jewels of organic origin. Amber is fossilised tree resin, usually from conifers around 50 million years old. It often contains insects or seeds (occasionally even small lizards) which became trapped in the sticky resin, eventually becoming completely covered by it, thereby being secured from biological decay. There has been much speculation recently about the scientific possibilities of resurrecting extinct creatures, even dinosaurs from DNA preserved in this way. Be that as it may, Amber has accrued a new and potent element in its already considerable mythology.
              In the UK, it can still be found washed up on the East Anglian coast, although its main sources are around the Baltic. It is washed ashore from ancient submerged forests.
              Amber is also found around Sicily and in the Far East. Beads or pendants have been found in Yorkshire, left by Mesolithic people living 10,000 years ago. Its use increased steadily through the ages: some Neolithic people carved it into birds and bears, in the Bronze age a trade route developed between Scandinavia and Greece, pendants were bound in gold and large pieces were carved into cups, and the Celts used Amber for many purposes including finger and toe rings (one Iron Age hoard contained 2,750kg!). The Saxons turned it on lathes, and Mediaeval craftsmen carved chessmen from it.
             It will take a good polish yet Amber is so soft that some specimens can be chipped with a fingernail - it is somewhat brittle, so take care if you are tempted to try your skill...
              There are a variety of similar, though much less well known, resin fossils, such as beckerite, glessite and stantienite.