Jade of the North: The Heart-Healing Stone of British Columbia

A soul-guided reflection by Tamoah Burton

In the far reaches of northern British Columbia, nestled in the rugged lands near Jade City, a sacred green stone emerges from the earth — nephrite jade. To the untrained eye, it’s just a beautiful mineral. But to those who walk the healing path, it is much more: a heart stone, a soul anchor, and an ancient guardian of wisdom.

During our recent travels through the wilderness of Northern BC, we wandered through the remote terrain near a place called Jade City. Surrounded by ancient mountains and whispering pines, I found myself drawn to the cool, vibrant green of a stone that has been treasured here for thousands of years—nephrite jade.

But this isn’t just any stone. This is Mother Earth's medicine in solid form.

A Sacred Stone of the Land

BC’s jade - particularly from the Cassiar Mountains and Sacred Headwaters - is among the purest nephrite jade on Earth. For centuries, it has been carved, traded, and revered by the Tahltan, Kaska Dena, and other First Nations peoples. Not just for its strength or beauty, but for its spiritual presence.

This is a stone of endurance, of wisdom carried in the bones of the Earth. A heart healer in its purest expression.

The spirit of Cassiar region

To understand the energy of BC jade, we must first understand the land it comes from.

Jade City is a tiny, remote outpost nestled in the northern reaches of British Columbia, near the Cassiar Mountains - a vast and rugged range formed through ancient volcanic activity and glacial movement. These mountains are not soft or gentle. They are raw. Untamed. Alive. They carry stories older than memory, written in stone, ice, and bone.

Here, the winters are long, the nights quiet, and the land speaks in silence.
It is not unusual to feel small here - and that is part of the medicine.

The Cassiar Mountains form a corridor of wild beauty, mineral richness, and deep ancestral resonance. Nephrite jade is found in boulders and seams, sometimes hidden beneath glacial till, sometimes sparkling in exposed riverbeds - like the Earth revealing a secret to those who still know how to listen.

Honoring Indigenous Stewardship

Long before modern mining or tourism, this land was and remains the traditional territory of Indigenous Nations, including the Tahltan, Kaska Dena, and Tlingit Peoples. These communities have lived with the rhythms of the land for generations, guided by respect, reciprocity, and relationship.

For them, jade was not mined — it was met.

Gathered only when needed and often through ceremony, jade was shaped into blades for hunting, adornments for ceremony, and talismans for strength and protection. It was considered a living stone, holding spiritual power and teachings passed from the Earth through the hands of the carver.

In these cultures, minerals are not lifeless resources — they are relatives. Stones carry consciousness. They hold memory. They are ancient medicine.

To work with jade from this region is to step into a lineage of reverence — and to recognize that each piece carries the breath of the mountains and the prayers of those who came before.

Wisdom Keepers of the Stone

Long before Jade City became a stop on the map, nephrite jade was known and used by the First Peoples of this land — particularly the Tahltan and Kaska Dena Nations. To them, jade wasn’t a gem to be polished for beauty. It was a sacred ally — strong, enduring, and alive with spirit.

Jade was fashioned into tools, ceremonial blades, pendants, and amulets — not for decoration, but for energetic purpose and ancestral connection. Some First Nations stories speak of jade as the “bones of the Earth,” carrying deep teachings and strength. When elders or medicine people worked with jade, it was often for protection, resilience, or visioning.

Archaeological sites in British Columbia show jade tools that are up to 7,000 years old, pointing to a long-standing spiritual relationship with this stone. It is a privilege to hold a piece of this land in your hands. May we receive it with humility, and never forget whose stories it carries.

Nephrite Jade from BC: What Makes It So Special?

Unlike the more translucent jadeite found in places like Myanmar, British Columbia’s nephrite jade is known for its rich, earthy depth — often dark green, sometimes veined with white, black, or golden hues. It’s one of the hardest, most durable forms of jade in the world. But beyond physical properties, it carries a spiritual signature unique to the northern forests and mountains where it forms.

This is not jade polished for show —
It’s jade formed through pressure, time, and resilience.
Just like us.

Healing Properties of BC Jade

Working with BC jade feels like placing your hand on the heartbeat of Gaia herself.

It soothes.
It steadies.
It strengthens.

Here are some of the healing properties:

Emotional & Spiritual Healing

• Heart Healer: Strongly connected to the heart chakra, BC jade soothes emotional wounds, promotes forgiveness, and helps release trauma stored in the emotional body.

• Harmony & Balance: Encourages emotional equilibrium, inner peace, and alignment of body-mind-spirit.

• Protective Stone: Acts as a shield against negative energy and psychic disturbances, creating a calm, safe energetic field.

• Abundance Magnet: Traditionally believed to attract prosperity, good luck, and new opportunities aligned with the soul’s purpose.

Physical Healing

• Detoxification: Supports the body’s cleansing systems, especially the kidneys, bladder, and adrenal glands.

• Rejuvenation & Vitality: Said to increase physical stamina, promote cellular regeneration, and aid in recovery from illness.

• Hormonal Balance: Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for harmonizing reproductive and endocrine systems, especially in women.

Spiritual Connection & Ancestral Link

• Earth Wisdom: Deepens connection with nature, land spirits, and ancestral energies. Many First Nations consider jade sacred and a bridge to ancestral knowledge.

• Dream & Vision Work: Enhances lucid dreaming, shamanic journeying, and spiritual downloads, particularly from the land and nature beings.

Grounding & Resilience

• Stone of Endurance: Offers strength and steadiness during periods of emotional upheaval or transformation.

• Grounded Manifestation: Helps bring spiritual insights into tangible, grounded action—ideal for those walking a healing or medicine path.

The Color Green: Heart Medicine from the Earth

The deep green of BC jade is not only the color of the woods — it’s the color of the heart chakra, of cellular healing, of Earth’s most natural form of unconditional love.

Green is rebirth.
Green is restoration.
Green is the invitation to begin again — not in haste, but in wholeness.

When you hold jade close to your chest, you may feel your nervous system soften. Your breath slow. Your inner walls begin to open. That is the frequency of green heart wisdom.

Energetics of the Color Green

Green is more than a color—it’s the soul’s remembrance of life. It speaks the language of moss-covered forests, spring’s first breath, and the steady rhythm of the heart. In energy medicine, green harmonizes with the heart chakra—Anahata—the space of compassion, forgiveness, and emotional truth. When we hold a piece of BC jade, we are not only connecting to stone, but to a frequency that whispers, “You are safe to open. You are safe to grow.”

Sacred Stone Etiquette: Meeting Jade as a Living Being

When working with sacred stones — especially those born of ancestral lands — it’s important to approach with humility, not ownership.

Three ways to honor jade:

• Ask permission before taking or buying. Listen for a yes.

• Cleanse with intention, not to “purify,” but to greet the stone and introduce yourself.

• Offer something in return — a strand of hair, a pinch of tobacco, a prayer, or a whispered thank-you to the land it came from.

This is how relationship begins — not with use, but with reverence.

How I Work With Jade

Each jade stone has its own vibration. The piece I found whispered gently. I place it on my heart in still moments. I hold it during breathwork. Sometimes, I simply let it rest beside a candle while journaling or offering healing to others.

Energetic Practices:

• Dream Work: Place the stone under your pillow and ask for messages during sleep.

• Land Attunement: Sit outdoors with the jade. Ask what this land remembers. What your lineage needs to reclaim.

• Moon Blessing: Leave jade outside on the full moon to recharge. Journal what you receive the next morning.

Simple Jade Ritual:

At sunrise or sunset, place the jade on your heart.
Breathe with it.
Say quietly:

“May I remember the strength of stone and the softness of moss.
May I listen to the land that lives inside me.
May I heal the ancient ache, and rise—whole.”

Listen. Feel. Trust.

Jade as a Guide

If you’ve ever felt the call of BC jade, it may be more than aesthetic. It may be your soul remembering that you are of the Earth, too—that your healing is not separate from nature’s, that your heart is worthy of harmony.

When you next hold this stone, don’t just wear it.

Invite it.
Honor it.
Let it teach you.

Because sometimes, healing comes not with words—but with the whisper of stone, and the hush of the northern wind.

The Jade Guardian Spirit

Among the Tahltan and other First Nations around northern British Columbia, there is a legend about the Jade Guardian Spirit.

The story goes that long ago, when the earth was young and the mountains were still forming, the Earth breathed life into the stones. Jade was given a sacred purpose: to protect the people and the land. Those who carry jade are said to be watched over by this gentle but steadfast guardian, who whispers reminders of courage, healing, and ancestral wisdom.

Those who listen carefully may hear a soft whisper from the jade - a call to remember their true path, their roots, and their connection to the land and ancestors. The spirit is gentle but steadfast, encouraging courage, healing, and the unfolding of inner wisdom.

For many, jade is more than stone - it is a companion on the soul’s journey, a bridge between the seen and unseen, the ancient and the present.

Sacred Responsibility & Ethical Sourcing

Jade mining is big business in BC — and not always sustainable or respectful. I invite you to source jade consciously, choosing pieces that come from respectful hands — ideally local or directly from Indigenous artisans or family-run operations.

May the sacred not become a commodity.
May every stone we hold be an offering of gratitude in return.

Closing Blessing

May the stone of the Earth remember me.
May the breath of the mountain steady me.
May the wisdom of the ancestors rise within me.
And may I walk this world with open hands and a rooted heart.

The ancient green of British Columbia’s jade reminds us: healing is not a rush—it’s a return. A return to your body, your rhythm, your soul’s deep knowing.

As midlife women, we often carry so much—expectations, grief, transitions, unspoken dreams. But just like jade, we are resilient. We are sacred. We are meant to shine from the inside out.

If this story stirred something in you, don’t wait to answer the call.

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Let's walk this path together - because you deserve to blossom into your awesome!

Blessings

Tamoah

www.soulcompact.com