A Guide to Baby & Children’s Religious Jewelry

Whatever religion or spiritual belief you and your loved ones ascribe to, each is no doubt rich in history, tradition, and symbolism. Wearing a piece of jewelry imbued with intense personal meaning is a great way to feel closer to your faith, your deity, and even your family. Religious jewelry makes the perfect gift to welcome a new child into the world and the faith of their upbringing, and so many different faiths and beliefs are associated with the giving of jewelry or special symbols to mark significant occasions.

Significance of Jewelry Throughout Religions

Jewelry has long been used to connect people to their faiths and upbringings. Religious symbol jewelry can either be regarded as a talisman to ward off dangerous thoughts or curses, bring health and good fortune, or simply to serve as a reminder of faith. The giving of religious jewelry to children or infants is especially common in multiple cultures. Baby religious jewelry has been given to children as a special gift following religious ceremonies for centuries. This tradition spans many cultures over thousands of years, and is still associated with and followed by many religions today. Christian, Jewish, and Catholic faiths especially adhere to this tradition with the wearing of beautiful and meaningful jewelry associated with their faiths.

Bat Mitzvahs - A Bat Mitzvah is a very important occasion for a young Jewish girl. The ceremony represents her passing from child- to adulthood, and recognizes her ability to begin her own life and her own family as a young woman. Jewish religious jewelry, such as the hamsa hand or the Star of David, holds especially significant meaning for the parents of the child being ushered into adulthood. The hamsa hand is originally a Judaic symbol that has become more universally recognized as a sign of hope, peace, and universal connectedness that brings good fortune and calm to the wearer.

The Star of David symbolizes all personas of God in his entirety. The six points of the triangles represent the male aspects, while the seven center shapes symbolize the feminine aspects to create a unified and well-rounded deity as an interconnected whole. Once required to be worn as a symbol of shame, the Star of David has remained all along a powerful and moving symbol of the Jewish people, and is now given to bestow wealth, health, and good fortune upon the small wearer.

A bar mitzvah is a coming of age ceremony for Jewish boys at age 13. A bat mitzvah is a coming of age ceremony for Jewish girls at age 12 (Orthodox and Conservative Jews) or 13 (Reform Jews).

First Communion - In the Catholic faith, First Communion rituals occur when a child is deemed to have reached the age of reason, generally considered to be about 7 years old. As one of the seven sacraments, First Communion is a highly meaningful and important aspect of the Roman Catholic faith, and it is customary to bestow meaningful gifts to the participant that they’ll treasure for years to come. Catholic religious jewelry dates back for thousands of years, and is even purported to have come into being so that those persecuted for their faith could recognize one another.

Children's rosary necklace as a gift is especially common, as this is something the wearer will be able to appreciate no matter their age and represents their upbringing and traditions. The Catholic rosary is most commonly used as a meditative marker during prayer, and makes a beautiful and meaningful First Communion or christening gift for an infant.

Baptism - For those that ascribe to the teachings of Christ, baptism is an important aspect of identifying yourself or your child with one of the greatest myths of unconditional love of all time. Baptism symbolizes the rebirth or renewal of a person after they have accepted the teachings of Christ. The Christian religion is also rife with religious symbols, and the most commonly used when it comes to jewelry are the cross and the ichthys, or fish. The cross was first introduced to represent the very instrument used to torture Jesus in his last hours, and was the first jewelry worn by his followers. As persecution towards Christians rose over the years, they began to wear the fish symbol, a nod to Jesus exhorting his disciples to be “fishers of men.”

Children’s jewelry in the Christian religion has also been around for a long time. In addition to the perfect baptism gift, the cross symbol identifies one with the teachings of Christ and symbolizes the beautiful nature of unconditional love. This makes a beautiful baptism gift for a child or infant, as it’s a piece they will treasure and can wear for years to come.

Religious Jewelry for Your Faith

Jewelry is the perfect gift for a child at a special spiritual or religious occasions, such as baptisms, christenings, first communions, or bat mitzvahs. Each piece of children’s religious jewelry will hold rich and varied meaning, depending on the spirituality behind it. And depending on the symbol, the meanings behind it may be quite vast or even universal. Whether given to baby as a talisman against harm or to bring comfort or at her baptism, different religions have long held jewelry in high regard when it comes to conveying thoughts and beliefs with a simple design.