Jewels from Another World: The Pearl Pendulums of Australia’s Manifesto of Light

From the outset, I had a feeling that Deirdre Light and I were going to get along, and it transpired that the feeling was mutual. Dee, founder of Manifesto of Light, had already “checked” my energy and reached an intriguing conclusion: I have Venusian origins – an energetic connection to Venus that she associates with beauty, pearls and “anything that’s lush”.  Given that I have spent much of my life immersed in the world of jewellery and gemstones, I loved this reading.

Based in Noosa, Australia, Manifesto of Light is the creation of Dee and her husband Clive Newland, encompassing more than three decades of work with nature, aromatics, energy and, more recently, jewellery in the form of the magnificent Pearl Pendulums. 

From Aromas to Jewels

More than 30 years ago, the creative couple began working with essential oils and natural aromatics, leading them to open the Newland Aroma Apothecary in Noosa. “I had the finest essential oils you could find in the world. That was what I specialised in,” says Clive. “We made skincare and perfume and aromatic products for buildings and homes.” Dee took charge of much of the visual world around them. “She had a ball,” he says. “She got to do all the decor, all the packaging, all the layout… she was like a bee in a garden.”

Perfume would prove particularly important. In 2008, Clive created a signature fragrance especially for Dee using an exceptionally rare pink lotus absolute, of which only 100ml had been released worldwide. When a friend suggested that something so precious should be housed in jewels, Dee and Clive began exploring how these two worlds might come together. “We knew we wanted to work with jewellers to house these beautiful, etheric gifts from nature in something that would still be here in a thousand years,” Dee explains. It was a meeting of what Clive calls “the ephemeral and the eternal”: the transience of a natural perfume, preserved within an object designed to endure for generations.

One expression of this idea is LUMINARIES®, a series of bejewelled perfume vessels created to house Clive’s ultra-natural aromatic treasures. Made in collaboration with Egyptian-born jewellery designer Aida Adele Maximos of Scarab Rouge, originally from Alexandria, now Sydney based, each is set with a single, untreated 44-carat, cabochon gemstone, from carnelian and citrine to rose quartz and chrysoprase. The chosen perfume is applied to the skin using a perfectly round 10mm Tahitian pearl roller – a profound gesture signifying the purity of Clive’s creations.

The Power of the Pendulum

Manifesto of Light’s Pearl Pendulums represent the next step in the evolution of Dee and Clive’s jewellery creations, both in terms of design and volume. Made with pearls, gemstones, and 18k gold, the Pearl Pendulums are, even though beautiful, not self-adornments in the conventional sense. In fact, Dee and Clive describe them as “instruments of light”, created to not only be admired, but to be precise attunement tools to connect with inter-dimensional energies. 

The couple sees each Pearl Pendulum as a divinely inspired instrument for focusing and directing what they describe as higher frequencies of light, with the pearls, gemstones and geometry working together to amplify their power. The designs have their own identities and purposes, with Dee using the pendulums for dowsing and as part of the transformational energetic work she has explored for decades. 

From the First Design to The First Collection

Dee began dowsing with pendulums in 2012, and the idea of creating one of her own emerged several years later through her friendship with Italian jeweller Alessio Boschi. In 2017, while visiting Alessio, she met an Italian master jeweller named Paolo, whose instinctive understanding of balance, symmetry, colour, light and geometry would become fundamental to the Pearl Pendulums. When Dee asked whether he had ever created a pendulum, Paolo revealed that he had been thinking about doing exactly that just three days earlier.

Dee gave Paolo remarkably little direction for the first design. “I simply said to Paolo, ‘Create to your heart’s content.’” What came back held an unexpected connection to something already significant to her: the five-petalled geometry created by the movement of Venus and Earth around the Sun, an image she had previously used on the cover of her book, The Gorgeous Revolution. “When I got the design, we laid it over the cover of the book and there it was – the five petals,” she says.

As more designs followed, Dee began to associate each with a particular celestial energy or consciousness. Often, she says, the identity came to her instinctively. “It was extraordinary, the process by which he would design,” she says. “I would look at it and go, ‘That’s Andromeda.’ And then I’d have a reading with my highly reputable colleague.” Over the past seven years, she has recorded these readings, gradually building a library of information and a deeper understanding of the identity and purpose she associates with each pendulum.

Translating all of this into precious materials is an exacting undertaking. Manifesto of Light’s Pearl Pendulums are designed in Italy and handmade in Thailand in 18K white, yellow and pink gold, with master craftsmen micro-setting hundreds of gemstones into the more elaborate pieces. Tsavorites, rubies, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires mingle with tourmalines, beryls, chalcedony, chrysoprase, carnelian, mother-of-pearl and Whitby jet. Pearls are integral to the designs, with Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian varieties used in different combinations, sometimes graduating along the pendulums’ tapering forms or culminating in a single pearl at the base. A single diamond is always perfectly positioned at the drop point for laser focus. 

The Secret Language of Gemstones

When creating a Pearl Pendulum, Dee considers the energetic qualities she associates with each stone, choosing combinations to complement the frequency of a particular pendulum. Geometry is equally important. Paolo brings his own understanding of it to the designs, but for Dee, its significance goes far beyond aesthetics. She believes that the geometry of each pendulum transmits particular “light codes” – a form of energetic information – to flow through it.

Shambhala is among the most lavish of the Pearl Pendulums, with a cascade of lustrous pearls swirling around its centre and intricate white-gold flowers set with cabochon purple sapphires, diamonds and vivid green tsavorites. In total, it incorporates 47 Akoya pearls and a 9mm South Sea pearl, alongside 50 purple sapphires, 66 tsavorites and 45 diamonds. Hidden inside is a platinum vial delicately etched with roses, created to hold perfume or a personal talisman.

Elsewhere, the designs take very different forms. Sirius A and Sirius B are a pair, each encircled by 10 individually carved eagle heads. Sirius A contrasts rhodium-darkened eagles with blue sapphire, Akoya pearls and a Tahitian pearl, while Sirius B combines rose gold with pink sapphire, ruby, Akoya pearls and a South Sea pearl. Dee associates both with the “codes of truth, integrity and impeccability” and believes they will ultimately find their way to people in positions of significant responsibility. Andromeda makes a powerful statement, bringing together “void-like” Whitby jet and mother-of-pearl with 206 rubies, 116 diamonds and Akoya pearls. A white-gold perfume vial is concealed inside.

Statement Pendulums and Mini Versions

Each Pearl Pendulum comes with a gold and pearl chain, although Dee rarely wears the larger designs as you would a conventional piece of jewellery. The smaller pendulums are a different matter. “Pan, I’ll wear,” she says, mentioning it as one she takes with her when travelling. Clive also wears the pendulums on occasion. On a trip to Portugal and Spain, he chose Pegasus, a black-tourmaline design that Dee associates with protection and powerful clearing. 

Dee uses the pendulums in her own practice, Light & Co., where she works with individuals and businesses seeking greater clarity in their lives. Her understanding of each Pearl Pendulum’s particular qualities informs the way she matches them with prospective owners. After speaking with someone, Dee “checks” with her higher guidance to determine which pendulum is destined for them. “It will spark something within them that reminds them, ‘That’s for me,’” she says. Each pendulum comes with its own black lacquer standing box, in which it can hang freely. In motion, light travels across the intricate goldwork, gemstones and pearls as it turns.

A Cosmic Ambition

After 37 years together, Dee says the work she and Clive have built is entering a new phase. “It’s like we’re just at the beginning now,” she says. Their role as educators has a strong grounding, and workshops are in the pipeline. 

There are currently 16 Pearl Pendulum designs, but Dee believes there will eventually be 144, a number she was given during a reading five years ago. For Dee, 12 is a master number – think 12 hours, 12 months and 12 signs of the zodiac – making 144, or 12 multiplied by 12, especially significant. Her eventual vision is for 144 pendulums to be used by 144 people, creating what she describes as an energetic “upswell” for the planet. She already has some pendulum holders in training, with more about to arrive. “We aim big where I come from, Katerina!” she says. “My personal mantra is: Go Big or Go Home.”

Beyond their higher purpose, Manifesto of Light’s Pearl Pendulums are something to behold: fantastical, intricate and gloriously extravagant jewels that look as though they might have arrived from a distant, vast cosmos. Having spent time with Dee and Clive, it is impossible to imagine anyone but them bringing such extraordinary creations into this world.