ask, “Dost thou not see how the artificer Nature delights to represent
all things by colors and forms, but more especially in gems?” He then
proceeds to enumerate the various images of natural objects in stones.
In the ceraunia appeared the thunder-bolt; in the pyrope, living
fire; the chalazia (rock-crystal) preserved the form and coldness of
the hailstone even if cast into the fire. In the emerald were shown
the deep and translucent waves of the sea; the carcinia imitated the
form of crabs; the echites, of vipers; the hieracites, of hawks; the
geranites, of cranes. The ætites offered the image of an eagle with
a white tail; the taos had the form of a peacock; the chelonites, of
an asp; while the myrmecites bore within the figure of an ant.[16]
The stones bearing this latter name were probably specimens of amber
containing ants.
The Greek names of these stones enumerated by Erasmus signify their
real or supposed resemblance to certain natural objects, or to
something characteristic of such objects. Many of them were fossils,
preserving the form of some living organism; a few were entirely
fabulous; still others owed their names to some legend or myth
illustrating their fancied therapeutic virtues, as in the case of the
ætites (eagle-stone) said to be found in the eagle’s nest. Evidently
this was a quartz pebble.
The oldest magic formulas that have been preserved for us are those of
the Sumerians, the founders of the ancient civilization of Babylonia.
Some of them contain references to the use of precious stones as
amulets, as appears in the following specimen:
Cords of light-colored wool,
Offered (?) with a pure hand,
For jaundice of the eye,
Bind on the right side (of the patient).
A lululti ring, with sparkling stones
Brought from his own land,
For inflammation of the eye,
On the little finger
Of his left (hand), place.[17]
A curious Babylonian mythological text represents the solar deity
Ninib, the son of Bel, as determining the fate of various stones by
pronouncing a blessing or a curse upon them. For instance, the dolomite
was blessed and declared to be fit material for the statues of kings,
while a substance called the _elu_ stone was cursed, proclaimed to be
unfit for working, and doomed to disintegration. Alabaster was favored
by the god, but chalcedony aroused his anger and was condemned.[18]
In these Sumero-Assyrian inscriptions, there is also mention of two
stones, the _aban râme_ and the _aban la râme_, the “Stone of Love”
and the “Stone of Hate” (lit. “non-love”).[19] Evidently these stones
were believed to excite one or other of these contradictory passions in
the hearts of the wearers, and they may be compared with the stones of
memory and forgetfulness in the “Gesta Romanorum.”
In an ancient Egyptian burial-place at Shêch Abd el-Qurna, excavated
by Passalaqua, was found the mummy of a young woman. Not only was it
evident from the rich ornaments adorning the body that she had been
of noble birth, but it was also apparent that she must have been
exceedingly beautiful in form and feature, and must have died in the
flower of her age. The hair was artistically braided and adorned with
twenty bronze hairpins. About her neck was a remarkably beautiful
necklace composed of four rows of beads with numerous pendants
representing divinities and sacred symbols. There were also two smaller
necklaces with beads of gold, lapis-lazuli, and carnelian; two large
jewelled ear-rings hung from her ears, and on the index-finger of
her right hand was a ring set with a scarab; a gold belt garnished
with lapis-lazuli and carnelians was bound about her waist and a gold
bracelet adorned with semi-precious stones encircled her left wrist.
In the sarcophagus was a beautiful mirror of golden-yellow bronze, and
three alabaster vases, one still containing some balm or perfume, and
another some galena (native lead sulphide) to be used as a cosmetic for
the eyes, as well as a little ebony pencil for its application. All
these objects are now in the Egyptian collection of the Berlin Museum,
and they probably belong to the period of the XVIII Dynasty, about 1500
B.C.
[Illustration: 1. A necklace of rock crystal, emeralds, hexagonal
crystals, and amazon stones; from Egypt.
2. A necklace of onyx and gold beads with the “Lucky Eye” agates; from
Egypt. Carnelian, sard; blue and white, and black and white glass
beads.]
The principal necklace was undoubtedly regarded by the fair Egyptian
as an amulet of great power, but it failed to protect her from an
untimely end; perhaps, however, its virtues may have aided her soul in
its passage through the trials and tests imposed in the underworld. Of
the numerous pendants which lent to the necklace its peculiar quality
as an amulet, three, in carnelian, figure the god Bes; seven, also
in carnelian, the hippopotamus-goddess Toeris, of whom there are
besides two representations in lapis-lazuli; then we have a heart of
lapis-lazuli; a cat of lapis-lazuli; four falcons of carnelian; one
crocodile of carnelian and two of lapis-lazuli; four fish of carnelian,
as well as two others of a blackish-white and of a green stone,
respectively, and two scorpions of carnelian, and seven flower-forms
of the same stone. The greater part of the beads in this necklace are
of annular form, of gold, electrum, ivory, or lapis-lazuli; there are
a few larger annular or spherical beads of carnelian, chrysoprase, and
malachite, and measuring up to 3.5 cm. in diameter.[20]
A necklace, from the time of the Old Empire (c. 3500 B.C.), and having
for its chief adornment a turquoise pendant rudely fashioned into
the form of an ibex, was found by the German Orient-Gesellschaft at
Abusîr el-Meleq in 1905. This necklace, the parts of which were found
about the neck of a body, presumably that of a young man, was composed
of rounded and annular beads of carnelian and shell, as well as of
flat, perforated fragments of turquoise and almandine garnet and an
approximately lozenge-shaped bead of amethyst 1.7 cm. long and 1.4 cm.
broad. The chief ornament was the turquoise ibex 1.7 cm. in length and
0.9 cm. high.[21] This figure suggests a comparison with the animal and
bird forms fashioned out of turquoise that have been found in Indian
graves in Arizona and New Mexico, and it probably had the quality of a
fetich, or at least of a talisman, intended to guard the wearer of the
necklace from harm.
That there was in Egypt a strong inclination to use a certain
particular stone for a given amulet, will be noted in the case of those
inscribed with special chapters of the Book of the Dead. This is also
true of amulets of certain forms. For instance, the head-rest amulet
is usually of hematite as is also the carpenter’s square. Of the heart
amulets, numbering 47 in the rich collections of the Cairo Museum,
nine are of carnelian, four of hematite, two of lapis-lazuli, and two
each of green porphyry and green jasper, carnelian being thus the most
favored among the more precious materials. Amulets of animal form are
plentifully represented in this collection, figuring a large variety
of members of the animal kingdom such as the hippopotamus, crocodile,
lion, bull, cow, hare, dog-headed ape, cat, dog (somewhat doubtful),
jackal, hedgehog, frog, hawk, cobra and fishes, to which list may be
added a four-headed ram and a ram-headed sphinx.[22]
One of the special uses of amulets was for seafaring people, for,
in ancient times especially, all who went down to the sea in ships
were greatly in need of protection from the fury of the elements when
they embarked in their small sailing-vessels. A fragment of a Greek
Lapidary,[23] probably written in the third or fourth century of our
era, gives a list of seven amulets peculiarly adapted for this purpose.
The number might suggest a connection with the days of the week, and
the amulets were perhaps regarded as most efficacious when used on the
respective days.
In the first were set a carbuncle and a chalcedony; this amulet
protected sailors from drowning. The second had for its gem either of
two varieties of the adamas,—one, the Macedonian, being likened to
ice (this was probably rock-crystal), while the other, the Indian,
of a silvery hue, may possibly have been our corundum; however, the
Macedonian stone was regarded as the better. The third amulet bore the
beryl, “transparent, brilliant, and of a sea-green hue,” evidently the
aquamarine beryl; this banished fear. The fourth had for its gem the
_druops_, “white in the centre,” probably the variety of agate so much
favored as a protector against the spell of the Evil Eye. A coral was
placed in the fifth amulet, and this was to be attached to the prow of
the ship with strips of seal-skin; it guarded the vessel from winds and
waves in all waters. For the sixth amulet the _ophiokiolus_ stone was
selected, most probably a kind of banded agate, for it is said to have
been girdled with stripes like the body of a snake; whoever wore this
had no need to fear the surging ocean. The seventh and last of these
nautical amulets bore a stone called _opsianos_, apparently a resinous
or bituminous material, possibly a kind of jet; this came from Phrygia
and Galatia, and the amulet wherein it was set was a great protection
for all who journeyed by sea or by river.
The ancient treatises on the magic art show that the use of amulets
was considered to be indispensable for those who dared to evoke the
dark spirits of the nether-world, for without the protection afforded
by his amulet the magician ran the risk of being attacked by these
spirits. One of these texts gives directions for preparing an amulet,
or _phylacterion_, for the “undertaking”; for this a “sweet-smelling”
loadstone should be chosen, and should be cut heart-shaped and engraved
with the figure of Hecate.[24]
A costly Chinese amulet consists of the diamond, the ruby, and the
emerald, to which are added the pearl and coral; Oriental sapphire
and topaz are classed with the ruby. An amulet containing these five
substances is thought to combine the protecting influences of the
different deities presiding over them, and is supposed to lengthen the
wearer’s life. Sometimes these five princely gems are wrapped up in a
paper bearing the names of the respective divinities, to which is added
the name of the moon, and those of the twenty-seven constellations,
or houses of the moon. Such an amulet, suspended at the entrance of a
house, is believed to afford protection to the inmates.[25]
In the language of the ancient Mexicans blood was called
_chalchiuhatl_, or “water of precious stones,” as the quintessence
of what were regarded as the most costly things.[26] Although such
poetic designations are in modern times mere figures of speech, among
primitive peoples they are more significant, and it is highly probable
that with the Aztecs, as with other peoples, the wearing of precious
stones was believed to enrich the blood and thus to promote health and
vigor, for “the blood is the life.”
That gems had sex is asserted by the earliest writers as well as by
many of those of a later date. While this must usually be understood as
a poetic way of indicating a difference in shade, the darker varieties
being regarded as male and the lighter ones as female, Theophrastus,
the earliest Greek writer on precious stones, clearly shows that this
sexual distinction was sometimes seriously made, for he declares that,
wonderful as it might seem, certain gems were capable of producing
offspring.
This strange idea was still prevalent in the sixteenth century, and
ingenious explanations were sometimes given of the cause of this
phenomenon, as appears in the following account by Rueus of germinating
diamonds:[27]
It has recently been related to me by a lady worthy of credence, that
a noblewoman, descended from the illustrious house of Luxemburg, had
in her possession two diamonds which she had inherited, and which
produced others in such miraculous wise, that whoever examined them
at stated intervals judged that they had engendered progeny like
themselves. The cause of this (if it be permissible to philosophize
regarding such a strange matter) would seem to be that the celestial
energy in the parent stones, qualified by some one as “_vis
adamantifica_,” first changes the surrounding air into water, or
some similar substance, and then condenses and hardens this into the
diamond gem.
The pearl-fishers of Borneo are said to preserve carefully every ninth
pearl they find, and place them in a bottle with two grains of rice for
each pearl, believing, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that
these particular pearls have the power to engender and breed others.
Custom and superstition require that each bottle shall have the finger
of a dead man as a stopper.
Talismanic influences are taken into account in the wearing of jewelry
by Orientals, two bracelets being frequently worn lest one member
should become jealous of the other, thus disturbing the equilibrium of
the whole organism. The piercing of the ears for ear-rings has been
attributed to a desire to chastise the ear for its indiscretion in
hearing secrets not intended to be heard, while costly and ornamental
ear-rings are set in the ears to console those parts of our anatomy
for the suffering caused by the operation of piercing. In the case
of necklaces of brilliant metal, adorned with pendants of glittering
stones, the talismanic purpose is to attract the beholder’s gaze and
thus ward off the mysterious and dangerous emanations set forth by the
Evil Eye; the necklace, or its ornaments, are supposed to perform a
similar service to that rendered by the lightning-rod in diverting the
electric discharge.
[Illustration: PEARL DEALER.
From the “Hortus Sanitatis” of Johannis de Cuba [Strassburg, Jean
Pryss, ca. 1483]: De lapidibus, cap. lxxviii. Author’s library.]
At an early date the Christian Church registered its opposition to the
practice of wearing amulets. At the Council of Laodicea, held in 355
A.D., it was decreed, in the thirty-fourth canon, that priests and
clerks must be neither enchanters, mathematicians, nor astrologers,
and that they must not make “what are called amulets,” for these were
fetters of the soul, and all who wore them should be cast out of
the church.[28] This emphatic condemnation of the prevailing usage
was not so much a protest against superstition _per se_ as against
pagan superstition, for almost if not all the amulets in use in the
early centuries of our era bore heathen or heretical symbols or
inscriptions. In later times the invincible tendency to wear objects
of this character found expression in the use of those associated
with Christian belief, such, for instance, as relics of the saints,
medallions blessed by the priest, etc.
[Illustration: By permission of W. Griggs & Sons, Ltd., London.
MAHARAJA RUNJIT SINGH, RULER OF THE PUNJAB, 1791 TO 1839.
He holds a “rosary” of emeralds, stones prized in the Orient as
antidotes to poison. From a portrait by Jiwan Ram, taken at Rupar in
1831. From the Journal of Indian Art and Industry.]
The amulets of the Jews differed in many respects from those used by
Christians. The Mosaic prohibition of representations of human or
animal forms imposed great restrictions upon the employment of engraved
gems, and the Jew was only permitted to wear or carry those bearing
merely characters of mystic or symbolic significance. In talmudic times
amulets were sometimes hidden in a hollow staff, and they were believed
to have more power when concealed from view in this way. They were
like concealed weapons, and it was said that, as a father might give
such an amulet to a son, so God had given the Law to Israel for its
protection.[29]
In the Old French didactic poem, the _Roman de la Rose_, composed
in the twelfth century, appear traces of the belief in the magic
properties of precious stones. Chaucer translated this poem into
English in the fourteenth century and we quote the following lines
from his version. They describe the costume of the symbolical figure,
Riches.
Richesse a girdle hadde upon
The bokel of it was of a stoon
Of Vertue greet, and mochel of might.
That stoon was greetly for to love,
And til a riche mannes bihove
Worth al the gold in Rome and Fryse.
The mordaunt[30] wrought in noble wyse,
Was of a stoon full precious,
That was so fyn and vertuous,
That hool a man it coude make
Of palasye and of tooth-ake.[31]
At the trial, in 1232, of Hubert de Burgh, chief justiciar, one of the
charges brought against him was that he had surreptitiously removed
from the English treasury an exceedingly valuable stone, possessing the
virtue of rendering the wearer invincible in battle, and had given it
to Llewellyn, King of Wales, the enemy of his own sovereign, Henry III
of England (1207-1272).[32] This must have taken place about 1228, when
Henry was engaged in a war with the Welsh.
That precious stones could, under certain circumstances, lose the
powers inherent in them was firmly believed in medieval times. If
handled or even gazed upon by impure persons and sinners, some of the
virtues of the stones departed from them. Indeed, there were those who
held that precious stones, in common with all created things, were
corrupted by the sin of Adam. Therefore, in order to restore their
pristine virtue it might become necessary to sanctify and consecrate
them, and a kind of ritual serving this purpose has been preserved in
several old treatises. The subject is sufficiently curious to warrant
here the repetition of one of these forms. The stones which required
consecration were to be wrapped in a perfectly clean linen cloth and
placed on the altar. Then three masses were to be said over them, and
the priest who celebrated the third mass, clad in his sacred vestments,
was to pronounce the following benediction:[33]
The Lord be with us. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Almighty
God and Father, who manifestedst thy virtue to Elias by certain
senseless creatures, who orderedst Moses, Thy servant, that, among
the sacerdotal vestments, he should adorn the Rational of Judgment
with twelve precious stones, and showedst to John, the evangelist, the
famous city of Jerusalem, essentially constituted by the same stones,
and who hadst the power to raise up sons to Abraham from stones, we
humbly beseech Thy majesty since Thou hast elected one of the stones
to be a dwelling-place for the majesty of Thy heart, that Thou wilt
deign to bless and sanctify these stones by the sanctification and
incarnation of Thy name, so that they may be sanctified, blessed,
and consecrated, and may receive from Thee the effect of the virtues
Thou hast granted to them, according to their kinds, and which the
experience of the learned has shown to have been given by Thee; so
that whoever may wear them on him may feel the presence of Thy power
and may be worthy to receive the gift of Thy grace and the protection
of Thy power. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, in whom dwells all
sanctification, benediction, and consecration; who lives with Thee and
reigns as God for all eternity, Amen. Thanks be to God.
Konrad of Megenburg also gives this benediction in his “Buch der Natur.”
Luther tells the following humorous tale of a Jew who was a vender of
amulets:
There is sorcery among the Jews and their sorcerers think: “If we
succeed, it is well for us; if we fail, a Christian is the sufferer;
what care we for that?” ... But Duke Albert of Saxony acted shrewdly.
When a Jew offered him a button, inscribed with curious characters
and signs, and asserted that this button gave protection from cuts,
thrusts, and shots, the Duke answered: “I will test that upon thyself,
O Jew.” Hereupon he led the man to the gate, hung the button at his
neck, drew his own sword, and thrust the fellow through the body. “The
same fate would have happened to me,” said the Duke, “as has happened
to thee.”[34]
Ruskin, with his keen poetic insight into the working of natural laws,
saw in the formation of crystals the action of both “force of heart”
and “steadiness of purpose.” He thus found himself, consciously or
unconsciously, in agreement with the old fancies which attributed a
species of personality to precious stones. Just as the Hindu regarded
an imperfectly shaped crystal as a bringer of ill luck to the owner, so
Ruskin sees in such a crystal the signs of an innate “immorality,” if
we may use this expression. Of a crystal aggregation of this type he
writes as follows:[35]
Opaque, rough-surfaced, jagged on the edge, distorted in the spine,
it exhibits a quite human image of decrepitude and dishonour; but the
worst of all signs of its decay and helplessness is, that halfway up,
a parasite crystal, smaller, but just as sickly, has rooted itself in
the side of the larger one, eating out a cavity round its root, and
then growing backwards, or downwards, contrary to the direction of
the main crystal. Yet I cannot trace the least difference in purity
of substance between the first most noble stone, and this ignoble and
dissolute one. The impurity of the last is in its will or want of will.
There is established a very pretty custom of assigning to the various
masculine and feminine Christian names a particular gem, and such
name-gems are often set together with natal and talismanic gems and
with gems of one’s patron saint. It is considered an exceedingly good
omen when it happens that all three gems are of the same sort.
GEMS FOR FEMININE NAMES.
Adelaide Andalusite
Agnes Agate
Alice Alexandrite
Anne Amber
Beatrice Basalt
Belle Bloodstone
Bertha Beryl
Caroline Chalcedony
Catherine Cat’s-eye
Charlotte Carbuncle
Clara Carnelian
Constance Crystal
Dorcas Diamond
Dorothy Diaspore
Edith Eye-agate
Eleanor Elæolite
Elizabeth Emerald
Ellen Essonite
Emily Euclase
Emma Epidote
Florence Fluorite
Frances Fire-opal
Gertrude Garnet
Gladys Golden Beryl
Grace Grossularite
Hannah Heliotrope
Helen Hyacinth
Irene Iolite
Jane Jacinth
Jessie Jasper
Josephine Jadeite
Julia Jade
Louise Lapis-lazuli
Lucy Lepidolite
Margaret Moss-agate
Martha Malachite
Marie Moldavite
Mary Moonstone
Olive Olivine
Pauline Pearl
Rose Ruby
Sarah Spodumene
Susan Sapphire
Therese Turquoise
GEMS FOR MASCULINE NAMES.
Abraham Aragonite
Adolphus Albite
Adrian Andalusite
Albert Agate
Alexander Alexandrite
Alfred Almandine
Ambrose Amber
Andrew Aventurine
Archibald Axinite
Arnold Aquamarine
Arthur Amethyst
Augustus Agalmatolite
Benjamin Bloodstone
Bernard Beryl
Charles Chalcedony
Christian Crystal
Claude Cyanite
Clement Chrysolite
Conrad Crocidolite
Constantine Chrysoberyl
Cornelius Cat’s-eye
Dennis Demantoid
Dorian Diamond
Edmund Emerald
Edward Epidote
Ernest Euclase
Eugene Essonite
Ferdinand Feldspar
Francis Fire-opal
Frederick Fluorite
George Garnet
Gilbert Gadolinite
Godfrey Gagates
Gregory Grossularite
Gustavus Galactides
Guy Gold quartz
Henry Heliolite
Herbert Hyacinth
Horace Harlequin opal
Hubert Heliotrope
Hugh Heliodor
Humphrey Hypersthene
James Jade
Jasper Jasper
Jerome Jadeite
John Jacinth
Joseph Jargoon
Julius Jet
Lambert Labradorite
Lawrence Lapis-lazuli
Leo Lepidolite
Leonard Loadstone
Mark Malachite
Matthew Moonstone
Maurice Moss-agate
Michael Microcline
Nathan Natrolite
Nicholas Nephrite
Oliver Onyx
Osborne Orthoclase
Osmond Opal
Oswald Obsidian
Patrick Pyrope
Paul Pearl
Peter Porphyry
Philip Prase
Ralph Rubellite
Raymond Rose-quartz
Richard Rutile
Robert Rock-crystal
Roger Rhodonite
Roland Ruby
Stephen Sapphire
Theodore Tourmaline
Thomas Topaz
Valentine Vesuvianite
Vincent Verd-antique
Walter Wood-opal
William Willemite
III
On the Talismanic Use of Special Stones[36]
Agate
The author of “Lithica” celebrates the merits of the agate in the
following lines:[37]
Adorned with this, thou woman’s heart shall gain,
And by persuasion thy desire obtain;
And if of men thou aught demand, shalt come
With all thy wish fulfilled rejoicing home.
This idea is elaborated by Marbodus, Bishop of Rennes, in the eleventh
century, who declares that agates make the wearers agreeable and
persuasive and also give them the favor of God.[38] Still other virtues
are recounted by Camillo Leonardo, who claims that these stones
give victory and strength to their owners and avert tempests and
lightning.[39]
The agate possessed some wonderful virtues, for its wearer was guarded
from all dangers, was enabled to vanquish all terrestrial obstacles and
was endowed with a bold heart; this latter prerogative was presumably
the secret of his success. Some of these wonder-working agates were
black with white veins, while others again were entirely white.[40]