The Norma Opera Bracelet

Made to order archived design 2-3 weeks for delivery! Beads and charms can become unavailable over time. All effort will be made to come as close as possible to the photographed design. Coupons do not apply.

Well. We've heard this story before: Dashing officer leaves mother of his children for a younger girl. Add to it the complications of war, occupation and religions and you know this love triangle is particularly doomed. But (spoilers) love conquers all... sort of.

It has been a pleasure to delve into this story bout love, anguish and fury against a background of clashing cultures at the request of many customers who connect with Bellini's Norma in a special way! 

Each bead and charm of the Norma Opera Bracelet represents a character or moment from the work. Some of the most important beads and charms are described below and you can see all of the symbolic descriptions on the spiral chart photo above or to the left. Also, a story chart explaining the symbolism of the beads and charms accompanies every bracelet. Click here to see the chart.

• I chose opalescent beads and crystals to represent Chief Druid Oroveso, High Priestess Norma and Priestess Adalgisa, inspired by white as the Druids’ sacred color.
• A tree charm indicates the temple of Irminsul, a column or in its most ancient days, a sacred Oak. A gunmetal bead indicates the battle the Gauls (blue beads) seek a blessing upon.
• Beads with Druidic/Celtic knots indicate breaks between scenes or acts.
• Pollione is a gold bead to indicate his position as Roman Proconsul. A pale blue heart (threaded reversed/ upside down) is the love he once had for Norma which has faded. A pink glass heart is the fresh romantic love he has for Adalgisa.
• A dark oval cats eye symbolizes Pollione’s dreams which foretell doom for their love. I like to use cats eye to indicate vision or foresight.
• Green beads and white pearls represent the leaves and berries of the sacred mistletoe.
• A charm with a woman’s face and crescent moon symbolizes the famous aria “Casta Diva”, in which Norma prays to the goddess simultaneously for peace and the return of Pollione’s love (large crystal heart).
• Beads indicate Adalgisa’s sadness (blue teardrop) that she has broken her vows of chastity through love (clear crackled heart). Pollione’s solution is to escape to Rome (Colosseum charm).
• Norma recalls how she broke her own vows through love (red heart); a red twisted oval indicates her fury on discovering her own lover Pollione is also Adalgisa’s lover. It is used a second time when Norma hears that Pollione threatens to abduct Adalgisa.
• A black flat crystal indicates Adalgisa’s rejection of Pollione. He threatens to tear down Irminsul (oak leaf charm).
• Norma’s children are gold crystals reflecting that their father is Pollione. Norma considers slaying them (dagger) but relents through love; I chose a clear glass heart to represent their innocence.
• Adalgisa feels the solution is to reunite Norma and Pollione (reprisal of red heart bead); But she will stay with Norma in any case. A bead with two floating flowers is their duet “Si fino all'ore estreme, compagna tua m'avrai”.
• Clotilde is a pink opal bead. She announces that Adalgisa has failed to renew Pollione’s love for Norma (reprisal of blue reversed heart bead). A clear disc indicates Adalgisa’s final vows as a priestess.
• A larger gunmetal bead symbolizes Norma calling the eager Gauls to battle. A red droplet is the sacrifice that must be made to bless their attack.
• A black bead is Norma’s threat to Pollione to kill Adalgisa and their children.
• The crackled clear heart bead is used again to indicate a priestess who has broken her vows of chastity…this time it is Norma.
• A blue teardrop now represents Oroveso’s stunned sadness. The clear heart is Norma’s final plea that he care for her children.
• The red and orange crystals symbolize the sacrificial fire, a red crystal heart is the moment when Pollione joins Norma in the flames where they are united in eternal love.