Foraging for Amber 🔎

Q&A
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Hello all!

We took a trip out of Gdańsk to see the sea yesterday :ocean:

While there, we went on the hunt to see if we could find any Baltic Amber washed ashore! People say the best time is right after a storm, but I won’t complain about the sunny skies and rare burst of warm autumn weather! :sun: :joy:

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Sunny day at a Baltic beach

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The water looks warm- don’t let that fool you! Brrrrr!

While hunting about, we found sea glass (too much sea glass to carry home- while it’s a sought-after treasure on the beaches of Plymouth, it turns out people here see the ocean glass as undesirable trash :face_with_hand_over_mouth:), some pretty sea shells, and…

AMBER!

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Treasures found on the beach

…Or, well, what we think is Amber :sweat_smile:

Neither of us have hunted for Amber before so we weren’t really sure what to look for haha :joy:

But we followed some guides online and went by feel- I grew up by the sea and I’ve never seen the strange texture and weird feel of these rocks. They’re strangely lightweight and have parts that are somewhat transparent when held up to the light.

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Doing the see-through light test on a piece of what may be Amber

Amber comes in many different types, grades, and colors. It also looks quite different when polished up versus when it’s found in nature.

Here’s a sample of some different appearances of polished Amber:

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Pic from Pinterest

Overall, the most valuable amber is extremely transparent with fossilized bugs or creatures in it.

Needless to say we certainly didn’t find anything that would make us rich :laughing: There are a few lighter pieces, but most of them are murky caramel.

We’re off to the Amber Museum of Gdańsk tomorrow to learn more about it (and perhaps some ways to test what we found at the beach), but if you have any experience with Amber- please feel free to share! I’d love to hear your thoughts :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Amber is a sought-after treasure not only for its beauty as an accessory but also for its medicinal and magickal properties. If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of Baltic Amber in magick, check out the following thread: Baltic Amber Info :gem:

And for more information about the “City of Amber” and a recipe for an Amber concoction, feel free to visit the post: Gold from the Sea: Amber Elixir.

Sending love and light from the seaside! :orange_heart: :sparkles::ocean:

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They’re beautiful :heart_eyes: even if it’s the more expensive amber or not and that’s what matters! Let us know what happens at the museum! :gem:
The one at the bottom of your hand in the picture looks like my fire agate. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Amber was found from trees. Agates could be found in water. The museum will tell. I’m curious to find out!!! Here’s a pic of my agate I’m talking about that resembles it:

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Yeah, sorry about the crap picture! I just figured out that my rear camera is smashed. Thanks to my daughter I have to buy a new phone. Anyway that’s the crystal I thought looks like one of yours.

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What beautiful pictures of the shore! I haven’t been to the ocean in so long I’d forgotten what it looks like. Wonderful. And you found treasure! That’s great! Hope you’re trip to the museum turns out just as successful!

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I have to admit that I know absolutely zero about finding Agates at the beach- so thank you for the tip, Christina! You’re right- from the picture, they do appear similar.

Amber aside, Poland isn’t too big with geotourism, but folks do come here to hunt agate and amethyst as well. I did a search and it looks there are quite a few types of agates in Poland!

We’re off to the museum today to see if we can learn more about amber, but now I’m hoping they’ll have an exhibit on agate as well! Thanks again :blush:

I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures, Amethyst! And I know the feeling- it’s been almost exactly 2 years since I was last by the sea. Once you see it, you do always feel drawn back to it, huh? :blush::ocean:

I hope you’ll get the chance to see the ocean again soon! :heart:

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I doubt I’ll get to see it again, which is why I love watching it on videos and things like that. Unless I win the lottery and get sand buggy wheels for my rollator! LOL!

Thanks for the thought though!

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Perhaps you’ll hit the jackpot someday, @Amethyst- and I bet there are special wheels or additions that could be added to a rollator to make it sandproof! But for now, I agree that pictures and videos shared are a great way to see the sights all from the comfort of home :blush:

I found this video for you- it’s in 4k, the HD makes it feel like being on the beach! :beach_umbrella: :heart:

It’s got all the beauty and sounds of the ocean minus the cold wind and icky bugs! :grin::+1:

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Adding on to the hunt for amber- here are a few pictures from the Amber Museum in Gdańsk!

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The Amber Museum is a smaller museum with three floors of exhibits and a gift shop

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The museum has a large collection of amber in all types, colors, and ages on display

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Some particularly beautiful clear pieces of amber

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From an exhibit on traditional ways to use amber in medicine- it can be ground into small pieces or a fine powder

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Amber can be crafted into some truly elaborate goods- this chessboard is made almost entirely from Baltic amber

At the museum we saw a few raw pieces that looked very similar to what we found at the beach! As expected, it’s the lowest grade of amber you can find :sweat_smile: But find it we did- not too bad for a free souvenir! :laughing: :+1:

Sending love and light from the City of Amber! :orange_heart:

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That video is beautiful, thank you @BryWisteria! And the pics are wonderful too! Love that chess set in amber. Gorgeous!

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You sent beautiful photos, well I have never seen the ocean up close, but I love the sea and the ocean and it revives me, I only went to the Persian Gulf once about 18 years ago and 4 times in my whole life I went to the Caspian Sea, the last trip I was about 4 years ago and I know that seeing the ocean is very different from them, so enjoy for me. And in the case of hunted stones, it is very beautiful, regardless of whether they are the stone you want or not, they are from the heart of nature and bring with them the good feelings of nature and can bring you good memories of this trip every time you look at them Liven up and boost your energy levels. It was a lot of fun, good luck adventurer…!:blush::raising_hand_woman:t2::ok_hand:t2::sunrise::beach_umbrella::rainbow:

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So glad you enjoyed it, @Amethyst! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: There are some crazy talented people out there who craft some really stunning stuff- the museum had every from amber boxes to altars to crowns and even an amber guitar! :guitar: :joy:

It sounds like you are quite the traveler yourself, @zari- how lovely to visit the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea! I am sure it was beautiful :ocean: :blush: That was well said about the stones coming from the heart of nature- thank you for your encouragement! Wishing good luck and many blessings back to you too! :orange_heart:

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This is all soooo beautiful! My youngest wants to return to Hawaii for his next birthday so I plan to have an amazing time collecting neat ocean stuff. Our ocean in Oregon is beautiful but not tropical :rofl: I’d rather stay in my mountains.

That museum is amazing. The chess set made me smile. I had no idea that rocks and gems had medicinal uses, I’m going to have to read some more. Thank you.

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I’m so glad you liked it, @NoName- I was in awe over the chess set too! Rocks, gems, and crystals are certainly beautiful to look at, and yes- they have quite a wide range of uses in healing and medicinal arts as well! :blush:

Wishing you a wonderful trip to Hawaii if you make it out there for the birthday celebration- what a great way to enjoy a special occasion! :beach_umbrella: :sunglasses: I’m sure you’ll find some amazing treasures :sparkles:

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