OBSIDIAN—ONYX
OBSIDIAN, A NATURAL VOLCANIC GLASS: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CUSTOMS: MEXICAN
ITZTLI: STATUES IN OBSIDIAN: USED BY GREEKS AND ROMANS: “OBSIDIANS”:
OBSIDIAN “BOMBS”: BOTTLE STONE: MR. R. H. WALCOTT AND HIS TERM
OBSIDIANITES: AUSTRALITES: BILLITONITES: MR. F. CHAPMAN’S THEORY:
SUPERSTITIONS OF THE NATIVES: OLIVINE: DERIVATION: LEGEND OF THE
SLEEPING VENUS: THE GATES: THE ONYX STONES OF THE HIGH PRIEST: LIFE
AND EARTH DEATH: ANTIQUE BELIEF NOTED BY MR. PHILLIPS AND ITS
MEANING: RABBI BENONI AND THE MASTER RAGIEL: EYE STONES: A CHARM OF
BEAUTY: CASTOR AT THE TOMB OF APHAREUS: NICOLO THE ÆGYPTILLA OF THE
ANCIENTS: GIBRALTAR STONE: THE MANTUAN VASE: EL JAZA OR STONE OF
SADNESS: 5 TYPES OF ONYX: AN ONYX STAIRCASE: SYMBOLICAL MEANING OF
THE STRATA: AS ROSICRUCIAN STONES: THE SAINTE CHAPELLE OR GRAND
CAMAHIEU KNOWN AS THE “APOTHEOSIS OF AUGUSTUS”: PEIRESC CORRECTS A
FALSE BELIEF: THE CARPEGNA CAMEO: THE CORONATION CAMEO OF AUGUSTUS:
TRUE MEANING AND DERIVATION OF THE WORD CAMEO.
OBSIDIAN
“_There may be ranged among the kinds of glasses those which they call
obsidiana for that they carry some resemblance of that stone which one
Obsidius found in Æthyopia._”
HOLLAND’S PLINY.
This natural volcanic glass obtains its name, according to Pliny, from
Obsidius or, as he is sometimes called, Obsius, who discovered it in
Ethiopia. It is very hard, brittle and remarkably vitreous, and is
variously coloured black, pink, green, grey, striped and spotted. It was
early discovered to be a useful material from which to fashion knives,
mirrors and other objects of ornament and use. An ancient Egyptian
custom of cutting the dead bodies of their kings and priests with knives
of obsidian was followed by the Guanchos of the Canary Islands. The
ancient Mexicans used ITZTLI as they called it very generally in the
manufacture of various implements. They quarried it from the Cerro de
les Navajas or Hill of the Knives not far from Timapau. Pliny, noting
that genuine gem stones could not be cut or scratched with obsidian,
recommended the use of splinters of the substance for testing purposes.
The same author, attesting the report that statues were made of
obsidian, says: “I myself have seen solid statues in the material of the
late Emperor Augustus of very considerable thickness.” The Greeks and
Romans found it an easy material for fashioning into camei and intagli
which later were copied in glass. In the 18th century connoisseurs
applied the term “obsidians” to all antique pastes. The so-called
“Obsidian Bomb” has been much discussed and written about. Professor F.
W. Rudley says: “It was believed for a long time to be a variety of
obsidian but its different fusibility and its chemical composition are
rather against its volcanic origin.” It is known as Moldavite, so-called
by Mr. A. Dufrenoy from Moldanthein in Bohemia, where quantities have
been found. On account of its olive-like or bottle-green colour it is
also called Bottle Stone or Bouteillenstein. Dr. F. G. Suess suggested
Tectite from the Greek TEKTOS, melted. Mr. R. H. Walcott called them
obsidianites. They have also been termed Australites, Billitonites (from
Billiton Island) etc. They were highly regarded by the Australian
aboriginal as charm stones in sickness and trouble. Mr. W. F. Chapman,
A. L. S., of the Melbourne Museum agrees with Professor Rutley as to the
non-volcanic origin of the Obsidianite, and indicates the action of
lightning in their formation. In this he would have the support of the
ancient student who connects the obsidian with the heavenly Aquarius,
the “sign of air.”
OLIVINE. So-called by Werner in 1790. (See CHRYSOLITE.)
ONYX
“_Called by the onyx round the sleeper stand
Black dreams; and phantoms rise, a grisly band._”
MARBODUS.
The onyx derives its name from the Greek ONYX, ONYCHOS a finger-nail,
and is as previously stated a variety of chalcedony. It has been
variously written as onyx stone, onyx, onix, oniche, onice, onyse. The
name of the stone is said to have sprung from the legend which tells
that Cupid, finding Venus asleep on the river bank, cut her nails with
the sharp point of his arrow. In this story is enwrapped the mystery of
earth birth which through love enters the gate of Cancer and with the
aid of the moistures, materializes. The same parallel is expressed in
the Book of Genesis where it is written that previous to the birth of
the world the “Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” This
occult philosophy is stressed by the Platonist Macrobius who writes that
the soul, descending to the sphere of its spiritual death, the Earth,
passes through Cancer, the Gate of Man, and enters under the planetary
conditions that influence earth matters, receiving on the way the souls
of the planets to whose influence it is exposed whilst manifesting in an
earth body. As the soul descends it gathers sensation and earthy
feelings from the celestial Leo, and long before its absolutely material
birth obtains its first breath of matter. Herein is the mystery of the
“two onyx stones enclosed in mountings of gold graven with the names of
the twelve tribes of Israel which he put on the shoulders of the ephod
that they should be stones for a memorial to the children of Israel, as
the Lord commanded Moses.” As previously noted, on one onyx the names of
six tribes were engraved, on the other the names of the remaining six,
and each tribe was symbolized by a sign of the zodiac. The two onyx
stones are the material emblems of the two Gates—the Gate of Cancer and
the Gate of Capricorn—through which the self or soul enters and leaves
the earth sphere, gathering first and throwing off afterwards, the earth
elements from ethereal to gross, from gross to ethereal, as described by
Macrobius. Many of the writers of the Middle Ages place the onyx under
the signs Cancer and Capricorn and there is no reason to oppose them.
The onyx of Cancer is white and light-coloured whilst that of Capricorn
is black, the birth of the child is white and bright, and with black and
sombre colours those on earth mourn for the earth loss of the departed.
So the “coming in” and the “going out” symbolized by the two stones of
onyx set in gold, the metal of the Sun, in true talismanic style was the
memorial to the children of Israel, as it is to the world’s children
forever. Phillips, an author of the middle 17th century, notes an old
belief that the onyx is the congealed juice of a tree called Onycha,
which is commanded to be used in a sacred way in the 34th verse of the
30th chapter of Exodus, and which Emanuel Swedenborg corresponds to
“interior natural truth.” The statement, then, that the onyx is the
congealed juice of the onycha is but a cryptic way of expressing the
congealing of the waters of generation—a method followed by the occult
masters through the ages. Old Rabbi Benoni sees in the onyx a bound
spirit which, wakeful by night only, disturbs the wearer in sleep, and
the master Ragiel in his “Book of Wings” recommends that a camel’s head
or the heads of two goats among myrtles be cut on an onyx to control and
constrain demons and to make the wearer see the terrors of the night
during sleeping hours. This refers to the dark or Saturnine onyx which
is also recommended to be enclosed in a setting of lead (metal of
Saturn) and engraved with the figure of a king crowned or a witch seated
on a dragon especially in the practice of dark or doubtful occult
things. Certain varieties of onyx presenting the appearance of an eye
were largely employed as eye stones and it was recommended that such
specimens be lightly rubbed over the closed eyelids after work wherein
the eyes have been employed. Leonardus of the 16th century says that
this onyx enters the eye of its own accord and if it find anything
within that is noxious it drives it out and tempers the hurtful and
contrary humours. As a higher Saturnine stone the onyx aids spiritual
inspirations and helps the wearer to restrain excessive passion. In the
writer’s book on “Zodiacal Symbology and its Planetary Power” the first
degree of the sign Cancer is symbolized as “a curious ring set with a
large heart of white onyx.” The 1st, 2nd, 10th, 11th, 12th, 28th, 29th
degrees of Cancer are much influenced by the planet Venus and to these
degrees especially applied the white onyx engraved with a figure of
Venus, a charm recommended by old masters as a talisman of beauty and
strength. It was considered ideal for a baby girl born under those
degrees of Cancer according to astro-philosophy. Mr. King mentions a
beautifully executed onyx intaglio showing Castor naked, in his hand a
large broadsword, weeping over the tomb of Aphareus. The onyx in this
case would be of a more sombre hue and would be classed amongst the
Saturnine or mourning varieties. The famous Nicolo—known as Ægyptilla by
the ancient Romans—was obtained by cutting a blue section surrounded by
black out of the stone which then presented a fine turquoise blue with a
deep black base. On this stone some of the finest ancient work is found.
It is supposed to have obtained its name from the Greek word NIKOLAUS:
“Its strange derivation,” wrote Mr. King, "from the Greek was to suit
the virtue ascribed to it, as if it meant Victor of Nations. Its modern
derivation is from ONICOLO, an Italian word signifying a little onyx. A
variety of onyx marble with bands of brown found in the cavern limestone
of Gibraltar is known as Gibraltar Stone. Professor Dana mentions the
famous Mantuan vase at Brunswick which, cut from a single stone 7 inches
high by 2½ broad, takes the form of a cream pot. The colour is brown on
which are raised figures of white and yellow, illustrating Ceres and
Triptolemus searching for the lost Proserpine. The Saturn side of the
onyx is taken by the Arabs who call it El Jaza or Sadness, but the
colour was always considered and the varieties were thus identified:—
1. Those resembling the human finger nail, under Cancer.
2. White striped with red, under Cancer.
3. White striped with black, under Capricorn.
4. Black, unstriped, under Capricorn (probably the true El Jaza).
5. Black with white stripes, under Capricorn.
One of the most remarkable pieces of modern work in onyx is said to be
the staircase of a New York millionaire. The cost of this is set down as
300,000 dollars.
The sardonyx or Sardian onyx as it is sometimes called was written at
various periods as sardonyse, sardony, sardonix, sardonice, sardonyches,
sarderyk, sardonique, sardonick. Swedenborg corresponds it to Love of
Good and Light. It exhibits sard and white chalcedony in layers, but
some ancient authors account as fine only those specimens which exhibit
three layers at least, a black base, a white zone and a layer of red or
brown—the black symbolizing humility, the white virtue, and the red
fearlessness. The sardonyx is under the heavenly Leo, the sign of
sensation, feeling, “the first aspect of its (the soul’s) future
condition here below.” In the Rosicrucian jewels the sardonyx appears as
the gem of victorious ecstasy and rapture which flow from the eternal
font of delight, banishing grief and woe. It was said to give
self-control, conjugal happiness and good fortune, and it is said that
if the woman whose talismanic stone it is neglects to wear it she will
never marry. It was frequently engraved with an eagle or a hawk as a
talisman of fortune and it is under the celestial Leo. The “Sainte
Chapelle,” the second largest cameo known, is stated by Sir William
Smith and others to measure 12 × 10½ inches. Mr. C. W. King gives the
measurements as about 13 × 11 inches and states that it is a sardonyx of
five layers. The central carving of this “Grand Camahieu,” as it was
called, represents the return of Germanicus from Germany in the year 17
A.D., Tiberius and Livia enthroned receiving him. In exergue, the
grief-stricken captives are shown. Above is the apotheosis of Augustus
by which the whole work is now known. This remarkable cameo was for a
long time believed to typify “the triumph of Joseph in Egypt,” and was
regarded as a sacred relic. The learned Nicholas Claude Fabri de
Peiresc, the great antiquary of France, proved in 1619 the falsity of
this inconceivable belief, and was the first to classify correctly the
subject of this massive gem. By pawning this sardonyx to Louis X of
France for 10,000 silver marks the unfortunate Baldwin II, Emperor of
Constantinople, was able to save his throne a little longer. This cameo
is in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Another five strata sardonyx
cameo—the largest known—is the Carpegna cameo, formerly in the
possession of Cardinal Carpegna and now in the Vatican. This large
specimen is 16 inches long by 12 inches. “The subject,” writes Mr. King,
“is the Pompa di Bacco, or Bacchus and Ceres,” Virgil’s “duo clarissima
mundi lumina,” as symbolizing the Sun and Moon, standing upon a
magnificent car: the god holding a vase and a thyrsus, the goddess her
bunch of wheat ears. On his right stands winged Comus. The car is drawn
by 4 centaurs, two male and two female: the first bears a rhyton and a
thyrsus, the second a torch whilst he snaps the fingers of his right
hand: one female centaur plays the double flute, the other a tambourine.
On the ground lie the mystic basket and two huge vases. The large cameo,
9 × 8 inches, known as the “Coronation of Augustus” shows that Emperor
enthroned, holding a sceptre in his right hand with Livia by his side as
Roma, etc. Between Augustus and Livia is the zodiacal sign Capricorn,
under the third degree of which Augustus was born according to Firmicus.
Beneath the various figures (Neptune, Cybele, Drusus, Tiberius, Victory,
Antonia, wife of Drusus as Abundantia, and her children Germanicus and
Claudius), are Roman soldiers erecting trophies, their unhappy captives
in the foreground.
[Illustration:
Venus, Cupid and the Graces
A Sardonyx Cameo by Cerbara
Newton Robinson Collection
Sold at Christie’s, London, in 1909
]
[Illustration:
Large and Rare Cameo. The Argonauts Consulting Hygiea
Kelsey I. Newman Collection
]
The word “cameo” is said to be of unknown derivation. Dr. Brewer says it
means “onyx” and there seems evidence enough to indicate that on account
of the great use of onyx and sardonyx for cutting symbolic figures in
relief, the term onyx was usually accepted as indicating the completed
work. The derivation from the Arabic CHEMEIA, a charm, is noted by Mr.
King who draws attention to the light in which such relics were
universally considered in those ages by Orientals and Europeans alike.
The Arabic word has affinity with the Talmudical Hebrew word KHEMEIA, an
amulet, and there seems little reason to doubt that Chemeia or Khemeia
is the parent of our word “cameo,” known in the ancient world as an
onyx, meaning a charm, an amulet or a talisman.