Job's Tears

Job's tears, also called adlay or Chinese pearl barley, is a tall grain-bearing perennial of the grass family, native to Southeast Asia and long grown in China and India. Wikipedia says the wild variety has very hard, pearly white, oval pseudocarps used as beads for prayer beads, rosaries and necklaces, while the cultivated variety has a soft shell, is harvested as a cereal, and is used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia. Cunningham, who spells the name with an h, strings the seeds into a necklace worn to ease a child's teething, or by adults for sore throats and colds, and says the seeds absorb the pain or illness. Three seeds carried bring good luck. For wishing magic, a person holds seven seeds, makes a wish and throws them into running water. The AHPA handbook (Safety Class 2b) says it is not for use in pregnancy except under the supervision of a qualified healthcare practitioner, and advises people with diabetes to monitor their blood sugar.