RINGS HAVING SUPPOSED CHARMS OR VIRTUES, AND CONNECTED WITH
DEGRADATION AND SLAVERY, OR USED FOR SAD OR WICKED PURPOSES.
1. Antiquity of Amulets and Enchanted and Magical Rings;
Samothracian Rings; Double Object in Amulets; Substance and Form
of them. 2. Precious Stones and their Healing or Protective
Powers; Jasper; Diamond; Ruby; Carbuncle; Jacinth; Amethyst;
Emerald; Topaz; Agate; Sapphire; Opal; Cornelian; Chalcedony;
Turquoise; Coral; Loadstone; Sweating Stones. 3. Enchanted Rings;
those possessed by Execustus; Solomon’s Ring; Ballads of Lambert
Linkin and Hynd Horn. 4. Talismanic Ring; Elizabeth of Poland;
Ring against Poison offered to Mary of Scotland; Rings from the
Palace at Eltham and from Coventry; Sir Edmund Shaw; Shell Ring.
5. Medicinal Rings. 6. Magical Rings; Ariosto; Ring of Gyges; Sir
Tristram; Cramp Rings; Rings to cure Convulsions, Warts, Wounds,
Fits, Falling Sickness, etc.; Galvanic Rings; Headache and Plague
Rings; Amulet against Storms. 7. Ordeal. 8. Punishment in time of
Alfred. 9. Founding of Aix-la-Chapelle. 10. Ring on a Statue. 11.
Bloody Baker. 12. The Borgia Ring. 13. Rings held in the Mouth. 14.
Rings used by Thieves, Gamblers and Cheats. 15. Roman Slave.
§ 1. Rings were made use of by way of charm and talisman in remote
ages.
Their potency was directed against fascination of every kind, but
more particularly the evil eye, against demons and witches, to excite
debility, against the power of flames, against wounds in battle and,
indeed, every danger and most diseases. Nor was it the ring alone,
for the supposed virtue existed also in the material or in some
device or magical letter engraved upon its circumference.
Shakspeare is thinking of the fascination of the eye in “Titus
Andronicus,” when he makes Aaron say:[162]
“And faster bound to Aaron’s _charming_ eyes.”
It has been observed that even Solomon was not exempt from the
dread of the fascination of the evil eye, and reference is made to
Proverbs xxiii. 6: “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil
eye, nor desire thou his dainty meats.” A writer, however, remarks
how the context clearly shows that nothing more is intended than
to express the disquiet with which a niggardly person regards what
another consumes at his table.[163] This dreaded fascination still
perplexes the minds of Orientals; and is not banished from Spanish
and Neapolitan superstitions. Naples is the headquarters for charms
and amulets. All the learning has been collected by the Canon Jorio
and the Marques Arditi.[164]
We read of the Samothracian talismanic iron ring, engraved with
magical characters, inclosing an herb cut at a certain time or
small stones found under particular constellations.[165] Samothrace
is an island of the Ægean sea, opposite the Trojan territory, and
celebrated for its mysteries. An initiation into those mysteries was
supposed to have efficiency in preserving persons from dangers by
sea.[166]
It has been observed that inscribed rings, commonly called talismanic
or cabalistic rings, are improperly so designated. The mixed term is
much more appropriate, _annuli virtuosi_. Perhaps _mystical_ might be
a suitable name.
Although true “Abraxas” stones have that word engraved upon them, and
most of these are as old as the third century, yet this term is now
applied to gems which bear supposed talismanic emblems, although it
would be most proper to call them Abraxoids.
According to Caylus, amulets were always made with a double object:
to flatter the superstition of the people and serve for seals; thus
holding on to the charm itself, while they were able to spread a
supposed effect through impression; and this idea, he observes, is
strengthened by the fact that the subjects cut upon them never appear
in relief.
Philostratus says: “The Indian Brahmins carry a staff and a ring,
by means of which they are able to do almost any thing.” Here may
be the origin of similar articles received by Christian kings and
ecclesiastics as emblems of power?
Stones and conglomerated earth were mostly used for amulets.
Wherever the living man turns up the remains of past ages,
superstition is shown to belong to them through the appearance
of amulets; and no matter whether the subjects be Pagan or
Christian--for still we find this proof of weakness. Even in our
own day, men will carry these things under some creed that allows
or custom which defends their use. It is a pity such persons do not
feel, as they must know, that he is nearest heaven whose conduct is
his talisman.
Many of the ancient amulets are in other shapes than rings; often in
the form of perforated cylinders, worn round the neck; and we presume
they were set in rings for convenience.
Werenfels, in his Dissertation on Superstition,[167] where he speaks
of a superstitious man, says: “He will make use of no herbs but
such as are gathered in the planetary hour. Against any sort of
misfortune he will arm himself with a _ring_, to which he has fixed
the benevolent aspect of the stars and the lucky hour that was just
at the instant flying away, but which, by a wonderful nimbleness, he
has seized and detained.”
A ring, being a circle, was given to the initiated in the Eleusinian
mysteries as an amulet possessed of the power to avert danger.[168]
We find amulets referred to in Isaiah: “In that day will the Lord
take from them the ornaments of the feet-rings and the net works and
the crescents, the pendents and the bracelets and the thin veils, the
tires and the fetters and the zones and the perfume boxes and the
_amulets_.”
Fosbroke[169] says that the makers of talismanic rings generally used
to have the sealing part made of a square shape; we, however, find
many of an oval form.
“Amulet” with us, is _talisman_ with the Arabians. The Jews were
extremely superstitious in the use of them to drive away diseases;
and the Mishna forbids them, unless received from an approved man who
had cured at least three persons by the same means.
The use of charms and amulets to cure diseases or avert danger and
mischiefs, both from the body and the fruits of the earth, was even
common among ignorant and superstitious Christians: for Constantine
had allowed the heathen, in the beginning of his reformation, for
some time, not only to consult their augurs in public, but also to
use charms by way of remedy for bodily distempers, and to prevent
storms of rain and hail from injuring the ripe fruits, as appears
from the very law where he condemns the other sorts of magic (that
tended to do mischief) to be punished with death. St. Chrysostom
thundered against the use of amulets and charms, as did St. Basil and
Epiphanius, which shows that this piece of superstition, of _trying
to cure diseases without physic_, was deeply rooted in the hearts of
many Christians.[170]
We here give an enlarged specimen of one of these complicated
amulets--an amulet against evil, to act favorably and fortunately.[171]
[Illustration: (Amulet of Protection)]
The emblems are thus made out. The hare, rustic head and head of a
goat are to be considered as representing the god Pan, and to be
a guard against fear and certain sudden terrors called _panics_,
which were thought to be occasioned by this god.[172] The cornucopia
(erect) is to confirm abundance and happiness. In Memphis a white
cock was held to be a sacred animal. He was consecrated to the sun:
according to the Egyptians, to Osiris. It was made an emblem of the
soul. When Socrates hoped to be able to unite the divinity of his
soul with the divinity of the greater world, he ordered a cock to be
sacrificed to Æsculapius, as to the physician of souls. This animal
was sacrificed to Annubis, who was the sailor’s Mercury. The dolphin,
fed from food thrown away by sailors, is to represent those seeming
friends who swim with and follow our fortunes until they get depth of
water sufficient for themselves. Here the cock, by treading upon a
dolphin, with a palm branch over him, represents the power of wisdom
in the soul over a feigned or evil friend.
We are inclined to present the reader with another of these
remarkable combinations, which is said to be an amulet of
health.[173]
[Illustration: (Amulet of Health)]
The bird Ibis appears here as it is seen in the hieroglyphics upon
obelisks. It was dedicated to Osiris and Isis, good and salutary
genii. This creature treads upon the crocodile, emblematical of
Typhon, who was reckoned among the Egyptians as the cause of every
evil. The two-headed Janus may signify the power of the sun and of
Osiris from east to west in the day and in the night (although it has
been questioned whether the faces are not those of Pythagoras and
the magician Apollonius). The goat’s head, which also appeared in
the last gem, is said to be an amulet of health and intended to have
power to defend against evils which malice might work, and such its
power is marked by holding in its mouth a monstrous crested dragon
allied to hatred and coupled with poisonous qualities and carrying a
terrible appearance.
§ 2. Jasper, set in rings, took the lead of all other precious stones
in its supposed healing power; and this power was supposed to be
strengthened when combined with silver in preference to gold.
Even Galen has recommended a ring with jasper set in it and engraved
with the figure of a man wearing a bunch of herbs round the neck.
Many of the Gnostic or Basilidian gems, evidently used for magical
and talismanic purposes, were of jasper. Rings of this material, and
to be used as marriage tokens, are said to be made at Wesingburg, the
materials being supplied from the shores of Lake Wetter.[174]
Pierre de Boniface, a great alchemist and much versed in magic,
who died in 1323, is the reputed author of a manuscript poem on
the virtues of gems, of which the celebrated Nostradamus gives the
following pretended extract:
“The diamond renders a man invincible; the agate of India or Crete,
eloquent and prudent, amiable and agreeable; the amethyst resists
intoxication; the cornelian appeases anger; the hyacinth provokes
sleep.”[175]
In a scarce poem, by T. Cutwode, entitled _Calthæ Poetarum_, or
the Humble Bee, (1599,) the goddess Diana is introduced, modestly
clothing and attiring the heroine:
“And with an emerald hangs she on a ring,
That keeps just reckoning of our chastitie.
* * * * *
And therefore, ladies, it behoves you well
To walk full warily when stones will tell.”
The ancients have had a very high esteem of the diamond, “champion
of the precious stones,” insomuch as they have thought it to be
endued with divine virtues, and that if it were but worn in a ring or
carried about a person near his heart, it would assuage the fury of
his enemies and expel vain fears, preserve from swooning, drive away
the vanity of dreams and terrors of the night and frustrate all the
malign contagious power of poisons.
According to Josephus, the high-priest of the Israelites wore a ring
on his finger of inestimable value and celestial virtue; and Aaron
had one whereof the diamond, by its virtues, operated prodigious
things, for it changed its vivid lustre into a dark color when the
Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins, when they were
to fall by the sword it appeared of a blood-red color, while, if they
were innocent, it sparkled as usual.
It is reported of the diamond that it is endued with such a faculty
as that if it be in place with a loadstone, it bindeth up all its
power and hindereth all its attractive virtue. Also, that if a
diamond be put upon the head of a woman without her knowledge, it
will make her, in her sleep, if she be faithful to her husband, to
cast herself into his embraces; but if she be an adulteress, to turn
away from him.
We take the above from a quaint work, by Thomas Nicols.[176] He goes
on to say: “It hath been by the ancients esteemed powerfull for the
driving away of _Lemures_, _Incubos_ and _Succubos_; and for the
hindring of contentions and to beget in men courage, magnanimitie and
stout-heartednesse.”
A species of ruby, called _Balassius_, or _Palatius_,[177] is said
to restrain fury and wrath. There is a story of this stone by
Ælian.[178] Heraclis had cured the fractured thigh of a stork. The
creature flying in a dark night by a palace where one of these stones
lay flaming like a lamp, took it up and brought it to Heraclis and
cast it into her bosom, as a token of the acknowledgment of the favor
which it had received from her in the cure of its harm. Andreas
Baccius, speaking of a rubine of his inclosed in a ring, says that
on the fifth of December, 1600, he was travelling with his wife
Catharina Adelmania to Studgard, and, in his travel, he observed his
rubine to change its glory into obscurity, whereupon he told his
wife and prognosticated that evil thereupon would ensue either to
himself or her, which accordingly did; for, not many days after, his
wife was taken ill with a mortal disease and died. After which, he
saith, his rubine, of its own accord, did again recover its former
lustre, glory, beauty and splendor. A perfectly pure deep carmine-red
ruby often exceeds in price a diamond of the same size[179] It has
been written, that, if the carbuncle be worn in an amulet (or drunk)
it will be good against poison and the plague, and will drive away
sadness, evil thoughts, terrible dreams and evil spirits; also that
it cleareth the mind and keepeth the body in safety, and that if any
danger be towards it the stone will grow black and obscure, and that
being past, returns to its former color again.[180]
The jacinth or hyacinth is said to have the faculty to procure
sleep when worn in a ring on the finger. Cardanus says he was wont
to wear one to the intent to procure sleep, to which purpose “it
seemed somewhat to confer, but not much.” The amethyst is said, by
Aristotle, to hinder the ascension of vapors; and that this is done
by the stone drawing the vapors to itself and then discussing them.
Andreas Baccius says that it sharpens the wit, diminishes sleep and
resists poison.
The emerald is said to be at enmity with all impurity; and will
break if it do but touch the skin of an adulterer. We cannot forego
Nicols’ description of this stone: “The emerald is a pretious stone
or gemine of so excellent a viridity or spring-colour as that if a
man shall look upon an emerald by a pleasant green meadow, it will
be more amiable than the meadow, and overcome the meadow’s glorie
by the glorie of that spring of viriditie which it hath in itself.
The largeness of the meadow it will overcome with the amplitude of
its glory, wherewith farre above its greatnesse it doth feed the
eie; and the virescencie of the meadow it will overcome with the
brightnesse of its glory, which in itself seemeth to embrace the
glorious viridity of many springs.” It is reported of Nero that he
was wont to behold the fencers and sword players through an emerald
as by a _speculum_ or optic glass and that for this cause the jewel
is called _gemina Neronis_. According to Pausanias,[181] the favorite
ring of Polycrates, a tyrant of Samos, contained an emerald. He was
advised by Amasis, king of Egypt, to chequer his continued prosperity
and enjoyments by relinquishing some of his most favorite pleasures;
and he complied by throwing into the sea this most beautiful of his
jewels. The voluntary loss of so precious a ring affected him for
some time; but a few days after, he received, as a present, a large
fish, in whose belly the jewel was found.[182]
Albertus Magnus observes: “If you would sharpen the understanding,
increase riches and foresee the future, take an emerald. For
prophesying, it must be placed beneath the tongue.”
The topaz is said to free men from passions and sadness of mind; and
that, if it be cast into boiling water, it will suddenly “astonish it
into coldness.”
The agate is stated to be good against poisons. It is reported of the
eagle that it doth carry this gem into her nest to secure her young
from the bitings of venomous creatures. “If,” says Albertus Magnus,
“you would avoid all dangers and overcome all earthly things and
possess a stout heart, take an agate. It causes danger and opposition
to vanish and makes a man strong, agreeable and of good cheer.”
The sapphire, according to St. Jerome, will procure the wearer the
favor with princes and all others, pacify enemies, free him from
enchantments, bonds and imprisonments and it looseth men out of
prison and assuageth the wrath of God. It is reported of it that
it is of so contrary a nature to poisons that if it be put into a
glass with a spider or laid upon the mouth of the glass where it is,
the spider will quickly die.[183] It is said to keep men pure and,
therefore, is worn by priests.[184] The Gentiles consecrated this
gem to Apollo, because, in their inquiries at his oracle, if they
had the presence of this gem with them, they imagined they had their
answer the sooner.
The opal is said to sharpen the sight of its possessor and cloud the
eyes of those who stand about him, so that they can neither see nor
mind what is done before them; for this cause it is asserted to be
a safe patron of thieves and thefts. Albertus Magnus says, “If you
wish to become invisible, take an opal and wrap it in a bay-leaf,
and it is of such virtue that it will make the bystanders blind,
hence it has been called the patron of thieves.” Nicols gives a
glowing description of this stone.[185] “The _opalus_ is a pretious
stone which hath in it the bright fiery flame of a carbuncle, the
pure refulgent purple of an amethyst, and a whole of the emerauld’s
spring glory or virescency, and every one of them shining with an
incredible mixture and very much pleasure.” It is reported of Nonius,
a Roman senator, that he had rather been deprived of his country and
senatorship than part with an opal which he had from Antonius.
It is asserted of the cornelian that it causeth him that weareth it
to be of a cheerful heart, free from fear and nobly audacious and is
a good protection against witchcraft and fascination.
“Chalcedony procureth victory to him that is the possessor of it and
carrieth it about him. It is much used for signets, for it sealeth
freely without any devouring of the wax.”[186]
The report on jaspers is that they preserve men from drowning; and
“divers do very superstitiously attribute much power and virtue to
them if figures, images and characters be engraven upon them. The
effects which by this means are wrought in or for any, Andreas
Baccius doth attribute to the devil.”[187]
We might presume that the ring of Gyges held the opal or the stone
known as the Heliotrope or Oriental jasper; for Pliny gives the
report of magicians that if this gem be anointed with the juice of
the marigold, it will cause him that carrieth it to walk invisible.
The forget-me-not stone, turquoise or Turkey stone, “ceruleous like
unto a serene heaven,” if worn in a ring of gold will, it is said,
preserve men from falls and from the bruises proceeding of them by
receiving that harm into itself which otherwise would fall upon
the man; yet these virtues are said not to be in the gem except it
has been received as a gift. “The Turkeys,” says Fenton, in his
Secrete Wonders of Nature,[188] “doth move when there is any peril
prepared to him that weareth it.” Ben Jonson and Drayton refer to
the same superstition. Rueus says, that he saw a _Turchoys_, which,
upon the death of its master, lost all its beauty and contracted a
cleft, which, a certain man afterwards buying at an under price,
returned again to its former glory and beauty, as if, observes he,
by a certain sense, it had perceived itself to have found a new
master. The same author says of it that it doth change, grow pale
and destitute of its native color if he that weareth it do, at any
time, grow infirm or weak; and again, upon the recovery of its
master, that it doth recover its own lovely beauty, which ariseth of
the temperament of its own natural heat and becometh ceruleous like
unto a serene heaven. According to the ancients, the wearing of the
turquoise had a most excellent quality: it destroyed animosity and,
in particular, appeased discord between man and wife.
It is possible that Shakspeare had in his mind the seeming influence
of the turquoise (as well as its value):
“_Tubal._ One of them showed me a ring, that he had of your
daughter for a monkey.
“_Shylock._ Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal; it was my
turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor: I would not
have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.”
The Arabs value the turquoise chiefly for its reputed talismanic
qualities; and they seek for large pieces, without particular
reference to purity of color. The stones intended for amulets are
usually set in small rings of plated tin.
The wearing of coral in a ring has been thought of power to “hinder
the delusions of the devil, and to secure men from _Incubus_ and
_Succubus_.”[189]
All remember Shakspeare’s beautiful exposition of adversity:
“Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.”[190]
Fenton, writing in 1569, says: “There is found in heads of old
and great toads a stone which they call borax or stelon: it is
most commonly found in the head of a he-toad.” They were not only
considered specifics against poison when taken internally, but “being
used in rings, gave forewarning against venom.” This stone has often
been sought for, but nothing has been found except accidental or
perhaps morbid indurations of the skull. Lupton says,[191] “You
shall know whether the _tode-stone_ be the right and perfect stone
or not. Hold the stone before a tode, so that he may see it, and if
it be a right and true stone, the tode will leap toward it and make
as though he would snatch it. He envieth so much that man should
have that stone.” Nicols, in his Lapidary, observes:[192] “Some say
this stone is found in the head of an old toad; others say that the
old toad must be laid upon the cloth that is red, and it will belch
it up, or otherwise not; you may give a like credit to both these
reports, for as little truth is to be found in them as may possibly
be. Witnesse Anselmus Boetius in _Lib._ 2, in the chapter of this
stone; who saith that to try this experiment in his youth, he took an
old toad and laid it upon a red cloth, and watched it a whole night
to see it belch up its stone, but after his long and tedious watchful
expectation, he found the old toad in the same posture to gratifie
the great pangs of his whole night’s restlessness.
“Some of the toads that carry this precious jewel must be very
large, for Boetius says the stone is found of the bigness of an
egg, sometimes brownish, sometimes reddish, sometimes yellowish,
sometimes greenish.” It is reported that if poison be present, the
alleged stone will go into a perspiration. In connection with this
sensitiveness, it may be observed that precious stones are said to
sweat at the presence of poison. We are told that the jewels which
King John wore did so in his last sickness. There is no doubt,
however, although Shakspeare makes him cry out, “Poison’d--ill fare,”
that John got his death from unripe pears and new cider. His living
about three days from his attack, is a reasonable proof of not dying
by poison.[193]
In a strange old book, and from which an interesting article appears
in “Household Words,” it is said, the use of a ring, that has lain
for a certain time in a sparrow’s nest, will procure love.
§ 3. That kind of fortune-telling, called Divination, has held
an empire over the mind of man from the earliest period. It was
practised by the Jews, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks and
Romans, and is known to all modern nations.[194]