Eastern cultures have prized the perfect beauty of a pearl for thousands of years, so there's no surprise that they play a big role in legend, mythology and astrology. Here is some of the lore associated with the pearl from the practitioners of Hindu.

In Astrology
Pearls are ruled by the moon. If the moon is the lord of an auspicious house or is afflicted in your birth chart, then you should wear pearls. Pearls can used to strengthen a weak moon in your birth chart or can enhance your moon if it is well-placed in the birth chart.

Different Vedic Gods preside over different types of pearls: dark pearls by Vishnu, moonlike pearls by Indra, black pearls by Yamaraja, red pearls by Vayu, yellow pearls by Varuna, and pearls that are brilliant like fire or which have the luster of lotuses by Agni.

Pearls strengthen the mind, help control anger and increase memory. They have a calming and peaceful effect, and encourage feelings of compassion and love. They also help the wearer with spiritual meditation.

People should wear pearls colors according to their occupation. A priest, teacher, scientist, or intellectual should wear a white pearl. A ruler, soldier, or administrator should wear an orange-white pearl. A businessman, farmer, or banker should wear a greenish white pearl. A laborer, artisan, or servant should wear a black or bluish pearl.

People who own pearls receive wealth, sons, popularity, fortune, fame, and freedom from disease and grief. Hindu brides frequently wear pearl nose rings at their weddings in order to ensure happy marriages and to guard against widowhood.

Those who wear a perfect pearl will be blessed by Goddess Lakshmi with riches. Perfect pearl wearers will have long lives, intelligence, happiness, success, good luck and receive important positions. They will be blessed with patience, determination, purity, a dislike for anger and a desire to do well. Pearls with a yellow luster give wealth. Red pearls increase intelligence. White pearls give fame. Blue pearls give good fortune. Pearls can help the wearer become more self-confident and creative, and can make the work environment more peaceful.

Pearls can help students concentrate better and suffer from less inner turmoil. They can help young married couples stay happy. Single people can wear pearls to help them find a spouse. Pearls are helpful to diplomats and people engaged in charity.

For Health
Pearls transmit the color orange. Orange rays have a cold effect, and can be used to treat the diseases relating to blood and bodily secretions that are caused by inflammation. Pearls reduce body heat to balance bodily fluids.

Pearls can calm the nerves, relieve anxiety, lessen tension and help with mental problems caused by too much heat in the brain and heart. Pearls may also help improve tuberculosis, heart disease, ulcers, fever, epilepsy, diabetes, insomnia, eye problems and uterine problems. Women can wear pearls for menstrual problems.

Wearing defective pearls causes misfortune. Watch for cracks, lack of luster, a thin line across the outside of the pearl, spots, internal dirt or a wood-like material in them. If a black spot, or mole, is found on your pearl, then you will suffer many calamities.

Bad Pearl, Bad Luck?
Several bad things can happen if you wear a defective pearl. They include:

* If a pearl does not have luster, one's life will be shortened by wearing it.
* If a pearl has a spot that looks like a fish's eye, one's children may be lost.
* If a pearl is broken, one will lose his livelihood.
* If a pearl is in the shape of a bird rather than round, the wearer will lose his or her wealth.
* If a pearl is shaped like coral, one will become poor.
* Wearing a spotted pearl can cause leprosy.
* An oval pearl takes away intelligence and makes the wearer foolish.
* A pearl with a protrusion on three corners is bad luck.
* Wearers of flat pearls will get a bad name.

A natural pearl has much more astrological power than a cultured pearl, but since natural pearls are so difficult to find–and are so expensive–some people use cultured pearls as a remedy. One natural pearl can have more effect than a strand of cultured pearls, however. The only way to determine whether one is If you are using a pearl for astrological power, don't use a drilled one. A drilled pearl is of no use astrologically.

For astrological purposes, a pearl should weigh at least two grams, although four, six, nine, or eleven grams are acceptable weights. If you are using a cultured pearl, it should weigh at least three to five grams.

When to Wear Pearls
Pearls should always be set in silver. Wear your jewelry for the first time on a Monday, which is best or Thursday in the evening. They should definitely not be purchased on Saturdays. Pearls should be worshipped with incense and flowers, and the following mantra should be chanted 108 times: Om som somaya namaha om. Om som chandraya namaha can also be chanted.

A pearl ring should be worn on a Monday morning during the bright half of the lunar month – best during the full moon but during the waxing moon is acceptable. For best results, wear it during one of the constellations ruled by the Moon, such as Rohini, Hasta, Shravan, or Pushya. The ring should ideally be worn during Cancer, Pisces or Taurus, or while in a friendly sign.

Wear the pearl ring on the ring finger of either hand. The ritual to install the ring should be performed on a Monday evening after moonrise. People often feel a strong effect within a week of the installation.

As the Moon is not compatible with Rahu or Ketu, the Hindi ascending or descending of the moon, neither hessonite, associated with Rahu, or cat's eye, associated with Ketu, should be worn with pearl or its substitutes. The Navaratna setting is an exception to this rule. The Navaratna is nine specific gems that represent each of the planets, as well as Rahu and Ketu.

Some authorities say that pearls should also not be worn with diamonds, blue sapphires, or emeralds.

The cosmic color enhanced by pearl is orange, the cosmic number is two. Pearls affect water, taste, the tongue, blood and the second charka.

To test a pearl's quality, soak it in a solution of warm oil and salt. This will not damage a natural pearl. If a natural pearl is rubbed with a dry cotton cloth containing rice, a genuine pearl will maintain its luster and color. It is best to drill only oyster pearls through the center.