I'm sorry, Hemera, somehow I completely missed this thread! All very interesting posts. I can't say I have ever been uber attracted to pearls, either. I seem to have always had unpleasant experiences with them...first, I remember as a little girl, I picked up my mother's favorite necklace which was of course a lovely strand of pearls and somehow the hand-knotted string just disintegrated in my hands and the pearls went everywhere. She actually handled the catastrophe pretty well but I know she was very upset and I was distraught that I accidentally destroyed something she loved.
The next experience I had with pearls was an ex-boyfriend gave me a strand of pearls when I was 20. Apparently I didn't show the "proper" amount of adoration for the fact that he had bought a (cheap) strand of pearls for me and it became a huge fight. Then I ended up having to wear them all the time to make it up to him until one night (we were heavy drinkers back then--I have been sober now for many moons!) I got very drunk and while unburdening my system at the porcelain god I inadvertently got the pearl strand saturated. Needless to say it never smelled too great after that and I never liked wearing it anyways so I put it away (after trying to air it out!). I may still have it somewhere but have not worn it in years and years. Besides, who wants to be reminded of all that, especially in connection with a lush ex-boyfriend. LOL
I do love the re-purposing idea though and am curious about the hot-flash affect as I know a few women who might benefit from that info right now, and I am sure in the not too distant future so will I! (guess I better find those pearls and have them at the ready!)
I have noticed my hot flashes have reduced by half simply by dropping my evening cocktail, and having water instead! Thanks for the recommendation, though, and I absolutely agree with your image of them!