for the gathering, preserving, and wearing of precious stones. Since
these objects are motionless, they can scarcely have impressed the mind
of primitive man with the idea that they were alive; they were not
imposing by their mass, as were large stones, and their crystalline
form scarcely figured any known living shape. Hence their chief, we
may even say their only attraction was their color and brilliancy.
What effect these qualities had upon the visual sense of primitive
man may be safely inferred from the effect such objects produce upon
infants. The baby has no fear in regard to a small and brilliantly
colored object which is shown to it, but will eagerly put out its hand
to seize, hold, and gaze upon a bright-colored stone. As the object
is quite passive and easily handled, there is nothing to suggest any
lurking power to harm, and therefore there is nothing to interfere with
the pleasurable sensation aroused in the optic nerve by the play of
color. In this naïve admiration of what is brilliant and colored, the
infant undoubtedly represents for us the mental attitude of primitive
man.
[Illustration: 1. Necklace of rock-crystal and amethyst beads,
transparent and translucent; very pale; from Egypt. First century.
2. Necklace of antique emeralds with gold beads and amazon stones; from
Egypt. First century A.D.]
Probably the first objects chosen for personal adornment were those
easily strung or bound together,—for instance, certain perforated
shells and brilliant seeds; the softer stones, wherein holes could be
easily bored by the help of the simplest tools, probably came next,
while the harder gems must have been hoarded as pretty toys long before
they could be adjusted for use as ornaments.
Unquestionably, when these objects had once been worn, there was
a disposition to attribute certain happenings to their influence
and power, and in this way there arose a belief in their efficacy,
and, finally, the conviction that they were the abodes of powerful
spirits. In this, as in many other things, man’s first and instinctive
appreciation was the truest, and it has required centuries of
enlightenment to bring us back to this love of precious stones for
their esthetic beauty alone. Indeed, even to-day, we can see the power
of superstitious belief in the case of the opal, which some timid
people still fear to wear, although until three or four centuries
ago this stone was thought to combine all the virtues of the various
colored gems, the hues of which are united in its sparkling light.
A proof that bright and colored objects were attractive in themselves,
and were first gathered up and preserved by primitive man for this
reason alone, may be found in the fact that certain birds, notable the
_Chlamydera_ of Australia, related to our ravens, after constructing
for themselves pretty arbors, strew the floors with variegated pebbles,
so arranged as to suggest a mosaic pavement. At the entrance of the
arbors are heaped up pieces of bone, shells, feathers, and stones,
which have often been brought from a considerable distance, this
giving evidence that the birds have not selected these objects at
random. It is strange that the attraction exercised upon the sense of
sight by anything brilliant and colored, which is at the same time
easily portable and can be handled or worn, should be overlooked by
those who are disposed to assert that all ornaments of this kind were
originally selected and preserved solely or principally because of
their supposed talismanic qualities.
The theory that colored and brilliant stones were first collected by
men because of their beauty rather than because of their talismanic
virtues, is corroborated by the statement made that seals select with
considerable care the stones they swallow, and observers on the fishing
grounds have noted this and believe that pebbles of chalcedony and
serpentine found there have been brought by the seals.[9]
The popular derivation of the word “amulet” from an Arabic word
_hamalât_, signifying something suspended or worn, is not accepted by
the best Arabic scholars, and it seems probable that the name is of
Latin origin, in spite of the fact that no very satisfactory etymology
can be given. Pliny’s use of _amuletum_ shows that with him the word
did not always denote an object that was worn on the person, although
this later became its meaning. The old etymology given by Varro (118-29
B.C.), who derived _amuletum_ from the verb _amoliri_, “to remove,”
“to drive away,” may not be quite in accord with modern philology,
but still has something to recommend it as far as the sense goes, for
the amulet was certainly believed to hold dangers aloof, or even to
remove them. Talisman, however, a word not used in classical times,
undoubtedly comes from the Arabic _tilsam_, this being in turn derived
from τέλεσμα, used in late Greek to signify an initiation, or an
incantation.
It has been remarked that in the earliest Stone Age there is no trace
of either idols or images; the art of this period being entirely
profane. In the later Stone Age, however, entirely different ideas
seem to have gained the ascendancy, for a majority of the objects of
plastic art so far discovered have a religious significance. This has
evidently proceeded from the conception that every image of a living
object absorbs something of the essence of the object itself, and this
conception, while a primitive one, still presupposes a certain degree
of development. This rule applies more especially to amulets, which
were therefore fashioned as beautifully as primitive art permitted,
that they might become fitting abodes for the benevolent spirits
believed to animate them and render them efficacious.[10]
A curious idol or talisman from Houaïlou, New Caledonia, is in the
collection of Signor Giglioli. This is a stone bearing naturally a
rude resemblance to the human form.[11] We can easily understand
that such an object was looked upon as the abode of some spirit, for
similar strange natural formations have been regarded with a species of
superstitious awe by peoples much more civilized than the natives of
New Caledonia.
For the Middle Ages and even down to the seventeenth century, the
talismanic virtues of precious stones were believed in by high and low,
by princes and peasants, by the learned as well as by the ignorant.
Here and there, however, a note of scepticism was sometimes apparent,
as in the famous reply of the court jester of Emperor Charles V, to the
question, “What is the property of the turquoise?” “Why,” replied he,
“if you should happen to fall from a high tower whilst you were wearing
a turquoise on your finger, the turquoise would remain unbroken.”
The doctrine of sympathy and antipathy found expression in the belief
that the very substance of certain stones was liable to modification
by the condition of health or even by the thoughts of the wearer. In
case of sickness or approaching death the lustre of the stones was
dimmed, or else their bright colors were darkened, and unfaithfulness
or perjury produced similar phenomena. Concerning the turquoise, the
prosaic explanation can be offered that this stone is affected to a
certain extent by the secretions of the skin; but popular superstition
saw the same phenomena in the ruby, the diamond, and other stones
not possessing the sensitiveness of the turquoise. Hence the true
explanation is to be found in the prevailing idea that an occult
sympathy existed between stone and wearer. The sentiment underlying the
conception is well expressed by Emerson in the following lines from
“The Amulet”:
Give me an amulet
That keeps intelligence with you,—
Red when you love, and rosier red,
And when you love not, pale and blue.
A Persian legend of the origin of diamonds and precious stones shows
that in the East these beautiful objects were looked upon as the source
of much sin and sorrow. We are told that when God created the world
he made no useless things, such as gold, silver, precious stones,
and diamonds; but Satan, who is always eager to bring evil among
men, kept a close watch to spy out the appetites and passions of the
human mind. To his great satisfaction he noted that Eve passionately
loved the many-colored flowers that decked the Garden of Eden; he
therefore undertook to imitate their brightness and color out of
earth, and in this way were produced colored precious stones and
diamonds. These in after time so strongly appealed to the greed and
covetousness of mankind that they have been the cause of much crime and
wretchedness.[12]
The present age could afford us nearly as many examples of faith in
talismans and amulets as any epoch in the past, if people were willing
to confess their real beliefs. However, they are half-ashamed of their
fondness for such objects, and fail to see that, back of all the
folly and superstition that may find expression in this way, there
is a deeper meaning in these talismans than we at first perceive. We
may be disposed to smile when we are told that many of the soldiers
in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 carried amulets of some kind upon
their persons, and that the great Marshal Canrobert trusted to the
protection of an amulet in the Crimean campaign. Of course the Russian
army, during the Russo-Japanese War, was amply provided with amulets,
religious medals or pictures to which a special virtue had been given
by a priestly blessing.
In all these cases, however, it is not the object itself, but the idea
for which it stands and which it incorporates, that gives confidence
to the wearer, and in this sense the wearing of a talisman is no more
a proof of blind superstition than is the devotion to a flag, in
itself only a few square feet of silk or bunting, but, nevertheless,
the symbol of the noblest ideas and feelings, of patriotic devotion
to one’s native land and to one’s fellow-countrymen. The tendency
to give a substantial visible form to an abstract idea is so deeply
rooted in humanity that it must be looked upon as responding to a human
necessity. It is only very rarely that purely intellectual conceptions
can satisfy us; they must be given some external, palpable and visible
form to exert their greater influences.
Although it may bear a certain superficial likeness to fetichism, this
use of signs and symbols is something entirely and radically different,
for the idea is never lost sight of, it is only strengthened and
vivified by the contemplation of the symbol. Hence, while we know quite
well that the symbol is nothing in itself, we know just as well that it
has a real power in its relation to the idea it typifies, and we can
no more be indifferent to its injury or destruction than we could be
indifferent to the injury or destruction of a cherished memento of one
whom we have loved and lost.
What super-subtle sense is it that enables some women to endow their
gems with a certain individuality, and leads them to feel that these
cold, inanimate objects partake of human emotion? A French writer, Mme.
Catulle Mendès, gives expression to this when she says that she always
wears as many of her rings as possible, because her gems feel slighted
when she leaves them unworn. She continues:
I have a ruby which grows dull, two turquoises which become pale as
death, aquamarines which look like siren’s eyes filled with tears,
when I forget them too long. How sad I should feel if precious stones
did not love to rest upon me!
[Illustration: MOSAICS OF TURQUOISE AND ENAMELLED CARNELIAN BEADS, FROM
THIBET.
Field Museum, Chicago.]
A very beautiful and curious object was found in the Australian
opal-fields in 1909. This is a reptilean skeleton resembling a small
serpent that has become opalized by natural processes. Perfect in all
its details, which are rendered more striking by the splendid play of
color, this specimen of Nature’s handiwork possesses a beauty and an
interest exceeding those to be found in any work of man. As an amulet
it certainly is _sui generis_, and in ancient times would have been
valued at an immense sum, for the figure of a serpent was a favorite
symbol of medical science; even to-day there is little doubt that this
strange object will be eagerly sought for by collectors, and will
appeal more especially to all who are interested in occult science, and
to all who appreciate the poetic and perhaps mystic significance of
form, sign, and symbol.
It is impossible to over-estimate the effect of color in determining
the supposed influence of gems upon the fortunes or health of the
wearers. When we gaze upon the beautiful play of light emitted by a
fine ruby or sapphire, we are all conscious of the æsthetic effect
produced; but in earlier times, when scientific ideas were not yet
prevalent, many other considerations combined to give a peculiar
significance to these brilliant gems. Rare and costly as they were,
they were supposed to possess mystic and occult powers and were
thought to be the abode of spirits, sometimes benevolent and sometimes
malevolent, but always endowed with the power to influence human
destinies for weal or woe. Coupled with this was the instinctive
appreciation of the essential qualities of certain rays of light,
and modern science, far from doing away with these ideas, has rather
seemed to find a good reason for them. We all know the therapeutic
value of the ultra-violet rays, and when the uninstructed mind saw
therein the embodiment of purity and chastity, it perhaps realized
this health-giving and beneficent function. In the same way the idea
of passion was associated with the red and radiant ruby, another
concept the relative truth of which has been demonstrated by spectrum
analysis, since the red rays are heat-giving and vivifying. But this
was not the only source of these primitive ideas in regard to color;
the therapeutic effect was often sought and found in some fancied
analogy between the color of the gem and the character of the malady
or infirmity to be cured. Thus, yellow stones were supposed to be
especially efficacious in cases of jaundice, an instance of instinctive
homœopathy, based on the dictum _similia similibus curantur_. Following
out this train of thought, the red stones were endowed with the power
of checking the flow of blood; especially the so-called bloodstone was
prescribed for this use, and it was supposed that by its mere touch
it could stop the most violent hemorrhages. Green was regarded as the
color most beneficial for the sight, and to the emerald and other
green stones was ascribed great curative power in this respect. Here,
however, the simple influence of the color was later combined with its
symbolical significance. In heathen mythology this showed itself in the
ascription of the emerald to Venus, as the exponent of the reproductive
energies of nature, while in the Christian conception these stones
became typical of the resurrection, of the birth into a new and purer
life. Nowhere can we find a better illustration of the transforming
effect of distinct and diametrically opposite concepts upon the
impressions made by natural objects. The pure and colorless and yet
brilliant stones, such as the diamond and all other white stones, were
naturally brought into connection with the moon, although the diamond,
because of its superior qualities and exceptional brilliance and value,
was frequently looked upon as the gem of the sun. All gems associated
with the moon partook of its enigmatic character. Illuminating the
witching hour of the night, when malevolent and treacherous spirits
were supposed to hold sway, the moon was sometimes regarded as baleful,
as may be seen in the idea that associated lunacy with exposure to the
bright rays of the moon; at other times it was supposed to have the
power to conjure these evil influences and to drive off the powers of
darkness.
The symbolical significance of the colors of precious stones is treated
at considerable length by Giacinto Gimma,[13] who has gathered together
a great quantity of material on the subject.
Yellow worn by a man denoted secrecy, and was appropriate for the
silent lover; worn by a woman it indicated generosity. Golden yellow
was, of course, the symbol of the sun and of Sunday. The precious stone
was the chrysolite or the yellow jacinth. The animal connected with the
color was the lion, doubtless, from the association of the zodiacal
sign Leo with the midsummer sun. Of the seven ages of man yellow
typified adolescence. Roman matrons covered their heads with a yellow
veil to show their hope of offspring and happiness. Because garments of
this color were a sign of grandeur and nobility, a golden vestment is
assigned to the Queen of Heaven as a sign of her pre-eminence, as we
read in Psalm xlv, 9: “Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold
of Ophir.” Gimma’s explanation of this as referring to the Virgin Mary
is in accord with the Catholic exegesis of his time.
White signified for men friendship, religion, integrity; for women,
contemplation, affability, and purity. It was associated with the moon
and with Monday and was represented by the pearl. The animal having an
affinity with white was quite naturally the ermine. The mystic number
was seven, and white was the color of infancy. Among the ancients white
was a sign of mourning and sadness, and the Greek matrons attired
themselves in white on the death of their husbands. Gimma states that
in his time, in Rome, widows used to wear white as mourning for their
husbands, while throughout Italy a white band worn around the head was
a sign of widowhood.
Red garments on a man indicated command, nobility, lordship, and
vengeance; on a woman, pride, obstinacy, and haughtiness. This was
the color of the planet Mars and of Tuesday; it was represented by
the ruby. Why the lynx should have been selected as the animal for
red is rather difficult to understand, but, as the most vivid color,
the choice of red as a type of full manhood need not surprise us. Its
number was the potent nine, three multiplied by itself. The ancients
covered with a red cloth the biers of those who had died valiantly
in battle, as Homer[14] shows when he relates that the brothers and
companions of Hector covered the urn containing the hero’s ashes with
soft purple (scarlet) robes. Plutarch asserts that the Lacedemonians
clothed their soldiers in red to strike terror into the hearts of
their enemies and to manifest a thirst for blood. We might perhaps say
much the same of the English “red-coats” to-day. The Italian code of
criminal laws known as the “Digesto Nuovo” was bound in red, to signify
that a bloody death awaited thieves and murderers.
Blue on a man’s dress indicated wisdom and high and magnanimous
thoughts; on a woman’s dress, jealousy in love, politeness, and
vigilance. Friday and Venus were represented by blue, and the
celestial-hued sapphire was the stone in which this color appeared in
all its beauty. Blue was a fit symbol of the age of childhood, but
it is less easy to understand the choice of the goat as the animal
associated with the color. The significant number was six. Natural
science, the contemplation of the heavens and of the heavenly bodies,
and the study of stellar influences were all typified by blue.
Green signified for men joyousness, transitory hope, and the decline
of friendship; for women, unfounded ambition, childish delight, and
change. The early verdure of spring might be regarded as at once a
symbol of hope and of eventual disappointment, for it must soon pass
away. Mercury, and Wednesday, the day of Mercury, were both typified by
green, the sly fox being selected as the animal is sympathy with the
wily god. The typical green stone is the emerald, youth is the age of
man represented by the color, and five the magic number expressing it.
In ancient times green was used in the case of those who died in the
flower of youth, an emerald being sometimes placed on the index-finger
of the corpse, as a sign that the light of hope was spent, for the
lower part of the torches used in religious ceremonies was marked with
green. Fulvius Pellegrinus relates that, in the tomb of Tullia, the
dearly-beloved daughter of Cicero, there was found an emerald, the most
beautiful that had ever been seen. This passed into the hands of the
Marchesana di Mantova, Isabella Gonzaga da Este. In Italy the graves
of young virgins and of children were covered with green branches. When
the Codex Justinianus was rediscovered and added to the other Pandects,
it was bound in green to signify that these laws were rejuvenated.
Black for men means gravity, good sense, constancy, and fortitude;
for young women, fickleness and foolishness, but for married women,
constant love and perseverance. The planet Saturn and Saturday are
denoted by black. Strange to say, the diamond, the white gem _par
excellence_, was selected to represent this sombre hue. Perhaps to
offset this the animal chosen was the hog. As black was a mourning
color, we need not be surprised that it typified decrepitude. The
number eight, the double square, was supposed to have some affinity
with black. Black is a symbol of envy, for the thoughts which aim at
another’s injury cloud the soul and afflict the body. The book of laws
treating of dispositions made in view of death was bound in black. The
sinister significance of black is well illustrated by what is told of
the ruthless Tartar Tamerlane. When he attacked a city, he caused a
white tent to be pitched for himself on the first day of the siege, as
a sign that mercy would be shown to the inhabitants if they immediately
surrendered; on the second day a red tent was substituted, signifying
that if the city yielded, all the leaders would be put to death; on the
third day, however, a black tent was raised, an ominous signal that no
mercy would be shown and that all the inhabitants would be slaughtered.
Violet for a man denoted sober judgment, industry, and gravity; for a
woman, high thoughts and religious love. It was the color of the planet
Jupiter and of Thursday. As with blue, the sapphire was conceived to
present violet most attractively. That the bull should be selected
as the animal represented by this color probably arose from some
mythological connection with Jupiter, possibly the myth of Europa and
the bull. Violet was the color of old age and was associated with the
number three.
The influence of color upon the nerves has been noted by some of the
leading authorities on hypnotism. For example, Dr. Paul Ferez, finding
that red light is stimulating and blue-violet calming, suggests that
those who treat patients by means of hypnotism should have two rooms
for their reception. In one of these rooms the curtains, wall-paper,
chair-coverings, etc., would be red, while in the other they would
be of a violet-blue hue. Those suffering from a lack of will-power
or from lassitude and depression are to be received in the red room,
and those who are a prey to over-excitability are introduced into the
blue room. Moreover, according to Dr. Ferez, the sedative qualities of
the violet-blue can be utilized in inducing the hypnotic state. For
this purpose he recommends a violet-blue disk, which is to be rotated
rapidly before the eyes of the patient, the movement serving to attract
and hold his gaze better than any immovable object would do.[15]
Red stones such as rubies, carbuncles, and garnets, whose color
suggested that of blood, were not only believed to confer
invulnerability from wounds, but some Asiatic tribes have used garnets
as bullets, upon the contrary principle that this blood-colored stone
would inflict a more deadly wound than would a leaden bullet. Such
bullets were used by the rebellious Hanzas, in 1892, during their
hostilities with the British troops on the Kashmir frontier, and many
of these precious missiles were preserved as curiosities.