MALACHITE—NEPHRITE
MALACHITE: ROSICRUCIAN SYMBOL OF ETERNAL SPRING: USED IN ANTIQUE CAMEI
AND INTAGLI: VIRTUES: A SLEEP STONE: MARBLE, THE STONE OF STATUES:
VARIETIES: EMBLEM OF IMMORTALITY: THE SYMBOL OF MERCURY: THE IMAGE
OF SILENUS: MEERSCHAUM: KAVOL KOWATES MAKES A MEERSCHAUM PIPE:
MELANITE: MOONSTONE OR CEYLON OPAL: INDIAN BELIEFS: STONE OF
PROPHECY AND LOVE: SPECIMEN OF POPE LEO X: MOSS AGATE: AN EMBLEM OF
RESURRECTION: ORPHEUS’S ADVICE: MOTHER OF EMERALD: MOTHER OF PEARL:
NACRE: EMBLEM OF WOMEN: CUSTOM OF THE WEST AUSTRALIAN NATIVE:
NEPHRITE: LAPIS NEPHRITICUS OR KIDNEY STONE: SIR WALTER RALEIGH’S
DESCRIPTION: JADE AND JADEITE: CAMPHOR JADE: BURMESE JADE: NEPHRITE
CHARMS: CHINESE AND JADE: FIND NEAR PEKING: THE NINE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AND THE FIVE CARDINAL VIRTUES: JADE AS A PREVENTIVE OF DECAY:
MUSICAL JADE STONES: THE LUNAR FESTIVALS: JADE OF THE NORTH, SOUTH,
EAST AND WEST: ITS HEALING VIRTUES: BUDDHA’S FOOTMARK: SYMBOL OF
RULERSHIP: ADADU-NEPHROS OR KIDNEY OF ADONIS: THE 6 VARIETIES OF THE
MAORIS: THE HEI TIKI: THE TAHUNGA STONE AND THE MERE OR PATTOO
PATTOO: DAMOUR’S CHLOROMELANITE: PÂTÉ DE RIZ: PINK JADE: IONAN JADE:
THE HYSTERIA STONE AT THE NEW YORK MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
MALACHITE
“_Melochites is a grene stone lyke to Smaragdus and hath that name of
the colour of Malawes._”
TREVISA.
The Malachite derives its name from the Greek MALACHE, marsh mallow,
from its resemblance to the soft green leaves of this plant. It is
variously written as melochite, malachquite, etc. It is a green
carbonate of copper which comes to us through the ages as a symbol of
children and of the child of the year—eternal Spring. It has been
confused with the Molochite of Pliny, but it is more likely the
smaragdus medicus, as identified by Mr. King, and the chrysocolla of
Theophrastus. In Rosicrucian philosophy it was the symbol of the vernal
equinox and the arising of the spiritual man. Malachite and azurite
(q.v.) have been found together in single specimens. Malachite is much
employed for decorative purposes by the Russians, who have produced some
excellent works of art in this material. It was greatly favoured by the
Egyptians and antique camei and intagli have been frequently found
patinated by the hard hand of age. The virtues ascribed to this stone
are many. It strengthened the stomach, head and kidneys, prevented
vertigo and rupture and saved the wearer from evil magic, seduction,
falls and accidents. The Egyptians held it to be efficacious in cholera
and rheumatism. It was said to bestow strength on children, to aid them
during dentition, to ward off convulsions, all harm, witchcraft and the
evil eye. Some old writers give directions for swallowing powdered
malachite, especially for cardiac affections—a practice dangerous and
undesirable. The action of stones and gems is subtle and the intense
vibratory action is so gentle as to be usually quite unfelt by the
material senses. Powdering a specimen disturbs the cohesive molecules
and deprives them of their insidious action. A stone multiplies from
without and by the laws of correspondence its action on man is always
from external to internal. The Malachite was also called the Sleep Stone
from its reputation of charming the wearer to sleep. It was also
regarded as a protection from lightning. Massive malachite bears a close
resemblance to the kidneys in the human body. It is under the zodiacal
Libra.
[Illustration:
“Inspiration”
Marble Group in Central Hall, Art Institute, Chicago. Signed—Kathleen
Beverly Robinson. Memorial to Florence Jane Adams. Presented by
Friends and Pupils of Mrs. Adams, 1915
By kind permission of The Art Institute of Chicago
]
MARBLE
“_And the cold marble leapt to life, a god._”
MILMAN.
Marble derives its name from the Latin MARMOR, cognate with the Greek
MARMOROS, from MARMAIRO to sparkle. It has been variously written in
England as marbre, marbyr, marbel, marbal, marboll, marbelle, merbyl,
marbill, marbyll, marbull, marbell, etc. It is carbonate of lime, pure
when the colour is white and of various shades of colour when combined
with oxide of iron and other substances. The marble favoured by the
ancients was the Parian which is finely granular, waxy when polished,
and lasting. The beautiful Venus de Medici and other exquisite Greek
statues were formed of Parian. Another favourite variety was the more
finely grained and whiter marble of Pentelicus from which the Parthenon
was built. The Pyramid of Cheops and other famous structures of the kind
were built of a variety known as nummilitic limestone, which is composed
of numerous disk-shaped fossils known as nummilites. Portor is a deep
black Genoese marble with yellow veinings. The deep black marble of
antiquity is known as Nero-antico; Rosso antico is a deep blood-red
besprinkled with white minute marks; Verde antico is a misty green;
Giallo antico a deep yellow with yellow or black rings. Carrara marble
is greatly used by modern sculptors and was well-known to the ancients;
it is a fine-grained pure white marble traversed by grey veins. Pure
white marble was an emblem of purity and as such has always been
regarded as fitting for tombstones and other sepulchral monuments. As an
emblem of immortality it is expressed by the triform symbol of the
planet Mercury (the cross, the circle and the crescent), with which is
associated the Christ resurrection in Christian mysticism. Amongst
Rosicrucian students the cross is symbolical of the pain of matter, for
on it matter is fixed;—the circle the ascent of the soul which is above
matter and never ending; the semi-circle which surmounts the whole, the
spirit which is over all everlastingly. Evidences of the old
custom—still followed in many countries—of placing pieces of white
marble in the grave with dead bodies was some few years ago brought to
light in Ireland. Dr. Holland’s translations from Pliny record “a
strange thing of the quarries of the island Paros, namely, that in one
quarter thereof there was a vein of marble found which when it was
cloven in twaine with wedges shewed naturally within the true image and
perfect portraiture of Silenus imprinted on it.” All marble is under the
celestial Gemini.
MARCASITE. See PYRITE.
MEERSCHAUM
“_A meerschaum pipe nearly black with smoking is considered a
treasure._”
J. NOTT. DEKKER’S GULL’S HORN
BOOK.
Meerschaum obtains its name from the German Meer, sea, and Schaum, foam,
which is, according to Dr. Murray, a literal translation of the Persian
KEF-I-DARYA (foam of the sea). It is also called keffekill and
kiffekiefe, which has been credited with meaning the “earth of the town
of Keffe or Kaffe,” the Crimean town whence it is exported. Its
technical name is Sepiolite, and its various forms are given as myrsen,
meershaum, meerchum, mereschaum, merschaum, meerschaum. It is a hydrous
silicate of magnesia, extremely soft and light, smooth to the touch and
in colour of white, grey-white, yellow and sometimes pinkish. Kirwan,
the mineralogist, writing in the latter part of the 18th century says,
“Kefferkill or Myrsen is said, when recently dug, to be of a yellow
colour and as tenacious as cheese or wax.” It is well-known that the
Tartars use newly dug meerschaum as we use soap, on account of its
excellent lather. The peasantry at one time really believed it to be the
petrified foam of the sea. The Meerschaum is included amongst the
Galactites or Milk Stones. On account of its lightness it was first
fashioned into a smoking pipe by a Hungarian shoemaker, Kavol Kowates,
skilled in wood carving and metal work, in the old town of Pesth, in the
museum of which town it now rests. The piece of meerschaum from which
Kowates made his pipe was brought to Hungary by his patron Count
Andrassy on his return from a diplomatic mission to Turkey. The
Meerschaum is under the celestial Gemini.
MELANITE. See GARNET.
MOONSTONE
“_Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The Moon takes up the wondrous tale.
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth._”
ADDISON.
The Moonstone is an orthoclase feldspar of the opalescent variety of
Adularia, of a pearly moon-like lustre—hence the name Stone of the Moon.
It appears under the forms of moona, mone, mon, mowne, moone, moyne,
mione, mune and muni; it is known in France as Pierre de la Lune. Its
abundance in Ceylon has earned for it the name of “Ceylon Opal.” The
Indians call it “Chandra Kanta,” and according to them it grows under
the rays of the moon and absorbs in the process of formation an
atmospheric ether which impregnates it with peculiar occult and magical
properties. These properties once infused into the stone never leave it.
They are said to have a remarkable effect on the psychic nature of man,
enabling him to prophesy—according to Leonardus—in the waning of the
moon and to love in the waxing. The natives of Ceylon have a story that
every third seventh year moonstones of opalescent blue are, by the
influence of the moon, hurled on the island shore by the waves. Pliny
says that in the stone an image of the moon is impressed, which waxes
and wanes in harmony with the luminary. It is related that Pope Leo X
possessed a wonderful specimen which, obscure and dull when the moon was
old, increased in brilliance as that orb grew from new to full. It is
recommended that in order to know the future and to obtain spiritual
guidance a moonstone be held in the mouth, under a waning moon. It is
also necessary to be quite alone and to send out a mental prayer to the
angel Gabriel (angel of the Moon) asking help by God’s grace. The
Moonstone was considered as a charm against cancer, dropsy and
affections of a watery nature. In fever, if applied to the temples it
reduced the temperature and protected the patient. It also cooled heated
imaginations and protected against moonstrokes and lunacy. The moonstone
is said to protect the wearer from danger on the ocean and to give good
fortune whilst travelling. As a symbol it signifies Hope, and as a dream
symbol it indicates travelling and health—good when the stone is bright
and clear, and bad when it is dark and lustreless. It is under the
celestial Cancer.
MOSS AGATE or MOCHA STONE
“_Whilst on that agate which dark Indians praise
The woods arise, the sylvan monster strays._”
MARBODUS.
The Mocha stone is said to have obtained its name from the Arabian city
of Mocha whence it was exported. It has been written in various ways:
mocus, mocoe, mocoa, mochoe, mochoa, mocha, mocho. It is called Piedra
de Moca in Spain, Pierre de Mocka in France, and Mokkastein in Germany.
The Mocha stone is called Dendritic because of the plant and moss-like
infiltrations exhibited. These are like frost crystals often formed by
the magic hand of Nature, and often also by plants held in hollows
wherein the siliceous mineral was composed. The Mocha Stone besides
being called Moss Agate is also called Tree Agate in common with
silicified trees in which the original structural details are accurately
preserved. Remarkable pictures formed by Nature in the Agate have
already been noticed. Pliny hints at the employment of artifice in the
production of many of these stones, and the secret was long a cherished
knowledge of the Italian workers in gems. Early in the 19th century,
however, some German scientists obtained possession of the secret and
within the past few years artificial productions from Oberstein have
reached the gem markets. The Mocha stone was accounted a most fortunate
stone. It is associated with the influences of the planet Venus and was
always noted as a sign of fertility. For this reason farmers tied
specimens to their fruit trees, to the harness of their horses and to
the horns of their cattle. In the early 19th century it was highly
esteemed in Europe, and in England especially it was used for luck
rings, oftentimes surrounded with rubies (stones of the sun). It was
also used for mourning jewellery as an emblem of the resurrection and of
the eternal life which alone is permanently manifest throughout Nature.
Orpheus advises that to secure the smiles of the gods a piece of the
stone should be worn, also that the ploughman carrying it would receive
heavenly bounty. It was greatly esteemed by physicians and apothecaries
as a base on which to prepare their medicines. As a symbol it stood for
good health and long life and to dream of it, increase of possessions.
It is under the celestial Taurus.
MOTHER OF EMERALD. See PLASMA.
MOTHER OF PEARL. See NACRE.
[Illustration:
Antique Moss Agate Patch Box
Mrs. W. R. Furlong’s Collection
]
[Illustration:
Moss Agate Basket
William Howat Collection
]
NACRE
“_’Tis a valley paved with golden sands,
With pearls and nacre shells._”
SYLVESTER (1605) Trans. Du Bartas.
Nacre or Mother of Pearl is the inner layer of various molluscs and is
more particularly applied to the Meleagrina Margaritifera or large
oyster shell in which the precious pearl is formed. The French call it
Mère Perle, and it is found written as Moder Perl, Mother Perle, Mother
Pearle. Nacre is said to have derived its name from the Persian word
NIGAR, painting, because of the iridescent colours displayed, but Dr.
Murray, although remarking on its probable Oriental origin, regards its
derivation as uncertain. Various forms are noted, as: nackre, nacker,
nakre, naker, and there is no doubt of its antique application. Hoole in
1658 wrote that “the oyster affordeth sweet meat—the nacre pearls.”
Mythologically the Mother of Pearl shell is symbolical of Latona or Leto
“goddess of the dark night,” mother of the Sun god Apollo and the Moon
goddess Artemis or Diana. She, as ancient story tells, whilst fleeing
from the fury of Hera, Queen of Heaven, reached an island rock, driven
about by the restless waves, which when solidly fixed by Neptune became
the famous island of the Ægean Sea—Delos. Here were born the radiant
twins Apollo and Artemis in a flood of golden light whilst the sacred
swans encircled the island seven times. The golden light, so powerful at
this event, is the light which at conjunction (new moon) blends with the
silvery light of the night orb. The Pearl Shell like its child, the
pearl, is always associated with female life which in astro-philosophy
is moon-ruled. The natives of Western Australia, hidden in the bushes,
charmed women by the aid of the reflected light from the shell of the
mother of pearl. These big shells are thick, flat and roundish, in size
often as much as a foot in diameter. The two varieties are known as
black-lipped and silver-lipped, and within them rests the protected
pearl. The pearl shell is greatly in demand for the manufacture of many
and varied articles of commerce. It is under the celestial Cancer—the
mansion of the moon and the sign of the deep ocean.
NEPHRITE
“_Many of the Indians wore pieces of Greenstone round their necks
which were transparent and resembled an emerald. These being examined,
appeared to be a species of nephrite stone._”
COOK’S VOYAGES, 1790.
In ancient times the minerals comprising or included in this important
group were commonly known by the name Lapis Nephriticus or Kidney Stone,
and from this name in the 18th century Dr. A. G. Werner suggested the
term Nephrite. To the Nephrite varieties the general term Jade is
universally applied. The name occurs in old writings as jad and jadde,
and is derived from the Spanish Hijada, kidney. Sir Walter Raleigh in
1595 wrote of this “kinde of stones which the Spaniards call Piedras
Hijadas and we use for spleene stones.” Chemically the species included
under the name “jade” are not the same, the nephrite jade being a
silicate of lime and magnesia and the jadeite a silicate of sodium and
alumina, but the modern scientist in common with the ancient scientist
binds them together under the one denomination—kidney stone. In the 19th
century Professor A. Damour demonstrated the chemical difference between
jade and jadeite. The well-known Camphor Jade of China is a white
jadeite, some specimens containing certain percentages of Chromium
exhibiting those apple-green patches so highly praised by gem
collectors. Burmese Jade, known as Chauk-Sen, (which since the 13th
century has been principally exported to China) is chiefly jadeite, and
the Imperial Jade of charming pale or apple-green colour, known as
Feitsui and set down by some writers as chrysoprase, is more properly
Prehnite. The nephrite charms—Piedras Hijadas—known in Mexico as
Chalchihuith when the Spanish invaded that country were probably
jadeites. The Chinese have held the jade family in the highest esteem
and reverence for many centuries, and it poetically expresses to them
all the virtues of many precious stones blended together. It is said
that most of the nephrite used by them came from the Kuen-lun mountains
in Turkestan, but the discovery of the mineral at no great distance from
Peking in 1891 helped to make that city a great working centre. The
Chinese word for jade is YU, expressed in their hieroglyph as a cross
over a kind of semi-circle. Jade stone they know as YU-CHI, and precious
objects of jade as OUAN YU. The words KHITCHINJOU-YU indicates a gem
rare as jade, and the Imperial Academy was known as Jade Hall. The
Turkestan name for jade closely resembles the Chinese YU in its form
YASHM, YUSHM or YESHM.
Ages before the Christian era the jade was said to indicate the nine
accomplishments, Charity, Goodness, Virtue, Knowledge, Skill, Morality,
Divination, Rectitude, Harmony. YU may also be rendered “courage,” and
in its connection with the jade stone or YU-CHI it included the five
cardinal virtues—YU, bravery, JIU charity, JI modesty, KETSU equity, CHI
discrimination. In her “Wanderings in China” Mrs. C. F. Gordon Cummings
says: “The Chinese name for jade is YU-SHEK—(it may also be written
YU-CHI) and that by which we call it is said to be a corruption of a
Spanish word referring to a superstition of the Mexican Indians who
deemed that to wear a bracelet of this stone was the surest protection
against all diseases of the loins: hence the Spanish named the mineral
Piedra di Hijada (stone of the loins) by which name it became known in
Europe.” Jade is the concentrated element of love which protected the
infant and the adult and preserved the bodies of the dead from decay.
Dr. Kunz quotes the Chinese mystical writer Ko Kei who asserted that the
body of a man who had consumed 5 pounds weight of jade powdered did not
change colour when he died, and that when several years later it was
exhumed no evidences of change or decay were visible. When vibrated this
stone produces musical notes, and it was regarded as expressive of music
and harmony, poets singing its praises. It was the emblem of love,
beauty, protection and charm, and it graced the holy altars. For the
altar of earth the symbolic jade stone was of yellowish hue, whilst
during lunar festivals white jade was employed. Black—mentioned, but
doubtful indeed—was the North Jade, and red the South. White was the
West and green the East. It was said that in sickness the heat of the
body drew out virtues from the jade, healing virtues soothing and life
protecting. In “Buddhist Records of the Western World” Mr. Samuel Beal
writes that “in the kingdom of Kuichi or Kuche in the Eastern Convent
known as the Buddha Pavilion, there is a large yellowish-white jade
stone shaped like a sea shell which bears on its surface what is said to
be Buddha’s footmark. This footmark is one foot 8 inches long and 8
inches in breadth. It is said that the relic emits a bright sparkling
light at the conclusion of each fast day.” Professor E. H. Parkes, M.A.
in “Ancient China Simplified” mentions a custom of burying a jade symbol
of rulership in the ancestral temple to protect the fortunes of the
family, and jade symbols adorned private family insignia. Strangely
enough the world’s people have always reverenced the nephrite as the
kidney stone—the use of it goes further back than the knowledge of man.
It was used in old Egypt as in old China, and Pliny mentions the
Adadu-nephros or kidney of Adonis. This is an early identification of
jade with the Venusian Adonis and the parts of the body over which Venus
astrologically presides. The Indians call it the Divine Stone which is
credited with being a cure for gravel and epilepsy and as a charm
against the bites of animals and poisonous reptiles. It was also said to
remove thirst and hunger, to cure heartburn and asthma and to affect
favourably the voice, organs of the throat, the liver and the blood. Its
greasy surface led to its employment as a hair improver, but its chief
excellence was in nephritic disorders and specimens worn over the region
of the kidneys or on the arm are said to have acted in a wonderful and
unexpected manner in the banishing of these troubles. It is claimed also
as a power for the removal of gravel. The Maoris of New Zealand
according to the best authorities noted six varieties of jade. Punamu is
their name for the whole species termed by authors of the last decade
“green talc of the Maoris.” The well-known greenstone variety is termed
Kawakawa by the Maoris, the paler and more precious Kahurangi, the
greyish Inanga. The Tangiwai stone is a pellucid serpentine or variety
of Bowenite. The Nephrite is a sacred stone to these sturdy New
Zealanders who use it in the construction of their offensive and
defensive weapons and sacred objects. These greenstone weapons are
amongst the finest of known stone tools. The sacred and curiously formed
charm, the Hei Tiki, is an esoteric symbol which is worn as a precious
emblem and never parted with except for very weighty reasons. For
example, a Hei Tiki recently handled by the author was given by an old
chief on his deathbed to an English officer who had saved his life in
the Maori war. The Tahunga stone—the stone of the magicians by the aid
of which the flashes of light were directed by the Medicine Man to
bewildered eyes, was usually formed from a Kahurangi type of greenstone,
and the Mere or Pattoo Pattoo, a club of dark Punamu, was said to send
its victims to the world of Spirits.
[Illustration: Old Maori Charm of Greenstone Known as “Hei Tiki”]
A variety of jade of dark green colour, discovered in the Swiss Lake
dwellings and the dolmens of France usually in the form of Celts was
termed Chloromelanite by Professor Damour. This Nephrite has also been
discovered in New Guinea where it was fashioned by the natives into
clubs and other implements. Other Nephrites have been termed Fibrolite
or Sillimanite. The Pâté de Riz is merely a fine white glass, and Pink
Jade is usually a piece of quartz. Some beautiful specimens of
translucent green jade are collected by children on the Island of Iona
and many specimens have been unearthed in various parts of Europe.
Professor Max Muller discovered in old Egypt a remarkable green stone
used as a charm against hysteria; this interesting specimen is now in
the Museum of Natural History, New York.
The Nephrite family is under the celestial Libra.