TÁWID™ · Carry Your Story

TAWID STORY CARD
JADEITE
“Dangal ng Lahi”
(Honor of Lineage)

International Context
Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with the chemical formula NaAlSi₂O₆, one of the two minerals classified as jade (the other being nephrite). It forms under high-pressure, low-temperature metamorphic conditions, typically in subduction zones where tectonic plates converge. Jadeite is known for its exceptional toughness and can appear in a range of colors, with green being the most recognized due to trace chromium content. With a hardness of 6.5–7 on the Mohs scale, it is highly suitable for carving and long-lasting adornment.

Historically, jadeite has held deep cultural significance across regions, particularly in East Asia and Mesoamerica. In China, jade was regarded as a material embodying virtue, moral integrity, and social harmony, often carved into ritual objects, ornaments, and ceremonial items. In ancient Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Maya and Olmec, jadeite was considered more valuable than gold and used in regalia, burial items, and symbolic artifacts representing life and authority.

Jadeite also has regional importance in Southeast Asia, including archaeological evidence from the Philippines, where jade ornaments—such as lingling-o ear pendants—have been found, indicating participation in ancient maritime trade networks connecting Taiwan, Vietnam, and Island Southeast Asia.

Scientifically, jadeite is valued for:
• Exceptional toughness and resistance to breaking
• Dense, interlocking crystal structure
• Stability under long-term use

Anthropologically, jadeite represents how materials become deeply embedded in systems of identity, status, and belief. Its durability allows it to be passed across generations, often becoming heirloom objects. Across cultures, jadeite has consistently been associated with continuity, authority, and the preservation of cultural values.

TAWID
What is carried across generations becomes honor.
Within Tawid – Wear the Mountains, jadeite represents lineage and dignity—the inheritance of values, knowledge, and identity passed through time. Like jade shaped through immense pressure within the earth, heritage is formed through experience, discipline, and continuity.
It is not easily broken.
It is carried.

We call this piece:
“Dangal ng Lahi”
The honor that endures—
through generations,
through memory,
through living tradition.

BLESSING THE WEARER
May this stone remind you
of the strength in your lineage.
May you carry your heritage
with dignity and clarity.
May what you inherit
be honored—
and what you pass on
be worthy.