Stones have long been a source of inspiration for spiritual creativity.  Crystals, of course, have been a mainstay of modern new age practice, while priests and preachers have waxed rhapsodic about the spiritual import of stones mentioned in the Bible. 

Here's a recent human interest story about a woman who has created a small business crafting jewelry out of biblical stones.  Pictured above:  religious stones from Magicstones.com.

Of course, stones aren't the only hard object used in expressing a sense of higher meaning--ancient shell beads found in South Africa provide what may be the earliest evidence of symbolic thought.  As noted in this article from National Geographic,

the production of art or jewelry is universally accepted as an indicator of symbolic thinking.

"Beads are tangible evidence of a concept of self," [archaelogist John] Bower said. "You're not going to decorate yourself if you have no concept of self."