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Title: The Magic and Science of Jewels and Stones

Author: Isidore Kozminsky

Release date: October 4, 2018 [eBook #57980]

Language: English

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The Great Opal “The Flame Queen”
Kelsey I. Newman Collection

THE MAGIC AND SCIENCE
OF

JEWELS AND STONES
BY

ISIDORE KOZMINSKY

FULLY ILLUSTRATED

39 SPECIMENS IN COLOR AND 22 OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS

G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press

1922

Copyright, 1922, by
G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Made in the United States of America

To My Dear Wife
This Book is
Affectionately Dedicated

PREFACE

In these pages a sincere attempt is made to blend modern science with the
ancient and occult philosophy of the precious, semi-precious and common
stones of the earth. It will be shown that many of the seemingly absurd
narratives of old authors are but cunningly concealed truths, the unravelling
of which can be followed with interest and profit along the lines herein
indicated. The ancient masters held that the influences exerted by the
heavenly bodies entered into harmonious relations with various terrestrial
substances. Hence we have the venerable philosophy of fortunate stones,
planetary gems and “stones of power,” which form a part of the vast
department known as talismanic magic. It is the philosophy of sympathy
and antipathy prevailing through nature—atom for atom, stone for stone,
plant for plant, animal for animal, man for man. This observation was
subjected to an orderly scientific arrangement which for completeness of
detail would compare, in some cases, more than favorably with the most
careful synthesis of modern science. In order to make easily understood the
matter treated and to secure pronunciations as nearly correct as possible, it
has been considered advisable to render all foreign words, ancient and
modern, in familiar letters.
I have to express my grateful thanks to the friends who have, in various
ways, been helpful to me in regard to this work.
To Mr. Kelsey I. Newman, for the use of his unique collection of opals
and precious stones, including the wonderful opal, “The Flame Queen,” and
especially for his co-operation, without which this book could not have
been published.
Likewise to The Right Honorable the Viscountess Astor, M.P.; Lieutenant
Sir Edward Mackenzie-Mackenzie, Bart., for his original Heraldic drawings
of the horoscopes of royal and notable persons from my charts; Professor
Sir William Ridgeway, Sc.D., LL.D., Litt.D., F.B.A., of Cambridge
University, England; Miss Kathleen Watkins, for her help in preparing the

sheets for the press; Mrs. Beatrix Colquhoun, for her paintings of the Flame
Queen and other gems from Mr. Kelsey I. Newman’s collection; Mr. and
Mrs. C. G. King, Melbourne, Australia; Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. Seymour,
New York City; Mr. William Howat, Melbourne, Australia; Mrs. S.
Kozminsky, Melbourne, Australia; Mrs. Alice Walker, Melbourne,
Australia; Mr. G. S. Brown, Melbourne, Australia; Mr. G. A. Osboldstone,
Melbourne, Australia; Mr. James Mackenzie, Adelaide, Australia; Mr. M.
Susman, Hobart, Tasmania, and to my wife to whom this book is dedicated.
Isidore Kozminsky.
Melbourne, Australia,
January, 1922.

“Another, ere she slept, was stringing stones
To make a necklet—agate, onyx, sard,
Coral, and moonstone—round her wrist it gleamed
A coil of splendid colour, while she held
Unthreaded yet, the bead to close it up—
Green turkis, carved with golden gods and scripts.”
Edwin Arnold—“The Light of Asia.”

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I.— Study of Precious Stones in Early Times 3

II.— The Most Ancient Science 6

III.— The Ephod of the High Priest 9

IV.— The Breastplate of Judgment 12

V.— Interpretation of the Breastplate According to 18
Ancient Philosophy

VI.— The Stones of the Breastplate and the Zodiac 57

VII.— Old Legends 61

VIII.— Stones in Various Mythologies 72

IX.— Stones and Their Stories 83

X.— The Greatest Charms in the World 104

Precious and Semi-Precious Gems Arranged in Alphabetical Order

XI.— Agate-Amazonite 111

XII.— Amber-Azurite 121

XIII.— The Beryl Family 137

XIV.— Balas-Crysocolla 151

XV.— Chrysolite-Crystal 166

XVI.— The Diamond 184

XVII.— Some Famous and Wonderful Diamonds and Their 204
Stories

XVIII. Dichroite-Iolite 226
—

XIX.— Jacinth-Lodestone 242

XX.— Malachite-Nephrite 260

XXI.— Obsidian-Onyx 276

XXII.— The Opal 286

The Great Australian Opal

XXIII. The Flame Queen 300
—

XXIV. Various Kinds of Opal 302
—

XXV.— Pearl 307

XXVI. Pearl 322
—

XXVII. Peridot-Ruby 333
—

XXVIII. Rutile-Sapphire 351
—

XXIX. Sardonyx-Succinite 362
—

XXX.— Titanite-Topaz 374

XXXI. Tourmaline-Zircon 382
—

XXXII. Stones in Shakespeare’s Plays 396
—

XXXIII. Forms, Compositions, Characteristics, Zodiacal 412
— Classification, and Places of Origin

XXXIV. Gems in Heraldry, Magical Squares of Abra Melin 420
— the Mage, Charubel’s Gem Influences, Gems of
Countries

XXXV. The Inevitable Law of Transmutation 431
—

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Great Opal—The Flame Queen (In colour) Frontispiece

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Rare Opals (In colour) 40

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Hieroglyphics 55

A Perfect Specimen of the English Gold Noble (1344) 96

In the Kelsey I. Newman Collection. Traditionally
stated to have been made from Alchemical Gold.

Large Scarab 106

William Howat Collection.

Rare Scarab of Rameses II—a Famous Pharaoh of the Bible 106

Mrs. C. G. King’s Collection.

Rare Antique Scarab of Black Jasper 106

Talismanic Charm—Mercury, Guardian of Sailors.
Mrs. C. G. King’s Collection.

Tabellæ Corellatæ 177

Gazing Crystal on Dragon Stand 180

Presented to the Author by the late Judge Casey of
Victoria, Australia.

Horoscope of Kruger 198

Horoscope of Isabella II 199

Horoscope of Nicholas II 208

Horoscope of James II 212

“Inspiration” 262

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.

Antique Moss Agate Patch Box 268

Mrs. W. R. Furlong’s Collection.

Moss Agate Basket 268

William Howat Collection.

Old Maiori Charm of Greenstone Known as Hei Tiki 274

Venus, Cupid, and the Graces—A Sardonyx Cameo by Cerbara 284

Newton Robinson Collection.
Sold at Christie’s, London, in 1909.

The Argonauts Consulting Hygiea 284

Large and Rare Cameo.
Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Opals of Wonderful Colour (In colour) 288

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Horoscope of Alfonzo XII 297

Other Aspects of the Great Opal—The Flame Queen (In 300
colour)

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Small Necklet of Perfect Oriental Pearls 310

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Horoscope of Mary of Scotland 318

Horoscope of Elizabeth of England 319

Horoscope of Henry VIII of England 349

Beautiful Colour Gems (In colour) 360

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

Specimen of Rough Turquoise (In colour) 390

Victoria, Australia

Horoscope of Shakespeare 402

The Magic and Science
of
Jewels and Stones

CHAPTER I
STUDY OF PRECIOUS STONES IN
EARLY TIMES

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever;
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.”
Keats.
INSPIRATION AND KNOWLEDGE: EXPERIMENTS ON SENSITIVES: GEMS AND COLOUR
ATTRACTIONS: ANCIENT GEM CLASSIFICATION: SCIENCE HERMETIC AMONG
ANCIENT NATIONS: PUNISHMENT OF THE PEACH TREE: MODERN
CLASSIFICATION.

The study of the precious and semi-precious stones of the earth has
commanded the attention of man from the mists of ages when, according to
Enoch, the angel Azazzel came to the earth plane to teach him the use of
them. Hence man considered the actual benefit to himself of these stones
until his natural curiosity led him to study more deeply the marvel of their
existence. There can be little doubt that the indicated use was talismanic,
and that the pure wisdom of divine inspiration and a clear faith rendered
man’s intuition so keen that he was quite able to know the virtue of various
stones without chemical analysis. Dr. Ennemoser has recorded the effects of
precious stones on certain psychic subjects, giving the opinion that “it is not
improbable that in the early ages the belief in the virtues of talismans was
induced by similar observations.” This, no doubt, is true and indicates to us
that certain observed phenomena compelled a closer study. We are then
reminded of the experiments which have been attributed to the schools of
Pythagoras and of the observed effects of certain stones in the hands of
sensitives by Baron Reichenbach in the middle of the nineteenth century
and of the still more recent experiments in the schools at Nancy. There are
records of these experiments being carried out on magnetic somnambulists

when diamonds, emeralds, rubies, loadstones, beryls, jaspers and other
stones were found to produce varied and strange effects. Gems in common
with all manifestations of nature have the power of attracting certain
colours to themselves: and so persistent are these colours that it has been
observed that when they are changed by art they are liable to revert slowly
(for the action of the stone world is slow) to their original colours. This can
be noticed especially with Topaz which may on this account alone have
been identified with the stubborn and indomitable Mars. The attraction of
diverse colours by the various chemical compounds which are cohesive in
the various stones must be a certain indication of vibratory power. Indeed,
the ancients have indicated that the rates of vibration in the gems differ with
the needs of the chemical entities composing them, and it may as well be
emphasized here that life exists in a gem just as it does in another form in a
plant or an animal. It need scarcely be repeated that colour is vibration.
Colour is crystallized in a gem and immense vibration defies the material
senses of man. A violet amethyst vibrates at the enormous rate of 750
trillions per second whilst a red ruby vibrates at 460 trillions. Hence we can
scientifically demonstrate distinct powers by the evidence of known
vibratory action. The people of antiquity classified gems in a manner
different from that of the people of to-day, for they regarded colour of
primary importance and bracketed stones of similar shades thus establishing
the first points of agreement in the department of vibratory power. It is
inconceivable however, that the great masters were unacquainted with
chemical components, for chemistry was one of the secret arts, and it is well
known that the priests of Egypt experimented secretly in their temples and
that the betrayal of scientific secrets was followed by the mysterious
“punishment of the peach tree” (supposed to be death from prussic acid).
Modern groupings are arranged with regard to chemical affinities so far as
can be traced by close analytical investigations and experiments.

CHAPTER II
THE MOST ANCIENT SCIENCE

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the Heaven to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days, and years.” Genesis 1:14.

ASTROLOGY: COLOURS OF THE HEAVENS.

The old science of Astrology was known amongst the Hebrews as the
Wisdom of Foreknowledge (HOK MAT HA NISSAYON), and with it was
included Astronomy or Star Knowledge (HOK MAT HA HOZZAYON). It is
spoken of as of heavenly origin having been communicated to man by the
angels after he had lost Eden. It was written that:

Kokabel communicated Astrology, Wisdom of the Stars.
Rakiel or Barakel communicated Astronomy, Star Gazing.
Shehakeel communicated The Wisdom of the Clouds.
Arkiel communicated The Symbols of the Earth.
Samsiel communicated The Symbols of the Sun.
Scuriel or Sahriel communicated The Symbols of the Moon.

From the observed influences of the Sun and Moon the old scholars were
enabled to classify the influence of these orbs in the various parts of the
heavens and to formulate special rules, which extended observation
rendered more convincing and complete. The simple consideration of the
lunar phases brought grains of knowledge, which included the calculation
of tidal action, eclipses, etc. The unity of the forces of Nature was then
demonstrated in the actions and influences of the planets and stars, and the
blending of such influences with their zodiacal positions and aspects.
Universal unity was insisted on and the statements of the ancient scholars
have not been discredited by the revelations of modern scientific
discoveries. The Talmud calls the planets “moving stars” and sets down that
Alexander of Macedon was pictured with a ball in his hand to symbolize the
spherical shape of the Earth. The planets were indicated as follows:
Mercury the Planet of Mind is The Star
Venus the Planet of Beauty is Splendour
Mars the Planet of Contention is Ruddiness
Jupiter the Planet of Prosperity is Benevolence
Saturn the Planet of Restraint is The Star of Sabbath
Comets are represented as arrows of flame bearing messages to mankind.

The various colours ascribed to the planets are:
Sun Yellow, Golden, Orange
Moon White, Silvery, pale opalescent Green
Mercury Dove Grey
Venus Delicate Colour Tints, Shades of Green, pale Blue, etc.
Mars Red
Jupiter Purple
Saturn Black
Uranus Mixed Colours
Neptune Doubtful
The colours ascribed to the 12 Signs of the Zodiac and the planets
associated with them are:
Aries White and Red Mixed Mars
Taurus White and Lemon Mixed Venus
Gemini White and Red Mixed Mercury
Cancer Green or Russet Moon
Leo Red and Green Sun
Virgo Black and Blue Mercury
Libra Dark Crimson Venus
Scorpio Dark Brown Mars
Sagittarius Sanguine Green Jupiter
Capricorn Black Saturn
Aquarius Sky Blue Uranus
Pisces Glistening White Neptune
The approximate date of the Sun’s entry into the various zodiacal signs
enabled astrologers to select the Solar Talismanic Gem.

The Sun enters Aries about March 21
The Sun enters Taurus about April 21
The Sun enters Gemini about May 22
The Sun enters Cancer about June 22
The Sun enters Leo about July 23

The Sun enters Virgo about August 24
The Sun enters Libra about September 24
The Sun enters Scorpio about October 24
The Sun enters Sagittarius about November 23
The Sun enters Capricorn about December 20
The Sun enters Aquarius about January 20
The Sun enters Pisces about February 19

This brief statement of the most ancient science must suffice. It will
enable the reader to understand the philosophy on which the wearing of
talismanic jewels rests and may induce him to delve a little into the
“wisdom of the fathers.”

CHAPTER III
THE EPHOD OF THE HIGH PRIEST

“And yet, as angels in some brighter dreams
Call to the soul when men doth sleep,
So may some strange thoughts transcend our wonted themes
And into glory peep.”
Henry Vaughan.

THE EPHOD OF THE HIGH PRIEST: THE HEAVENS, THE
GATES, THE CAVES: THE FOUR WORLDS.

In the 28th chapter of Exodus we learn that those that are “wise hearted”
and “filled with the spirit of wisdom” were selected to make for Aaron
consecrated garments—a breastplate and an ephod, a broidered coat, a mitre
and a girdle. On the shoulders of the Ephod (Hebrew, Hepod) which was to
be made “of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet”—these being the
colours of divinity—“and fine twined linen, with cunning work” were to be
placed two stones, each to be engraved after the manner of a signet, with six
names of the children of Israel. Authorities generally agree with the
translations in classifying these two stones as Onyx, and there are very
important reasons from an occult point of view why they should be so
identified even though Josephus accounts them Sardonyx which, he says,
represents the sun and the moon. These onyx stones were to be worn “for
stones of memorial unto the children of Israel.” The ephod was similar to an
upper body-garment of the Greeks (Josephus says it resembled the Epomis)
and may be described as a kind of waistcoat held by straps which passed
over the shoulders and were twined round the waist with the cunningly
woven band. The two large onyx stones were set on the shoulder-straps, and
on each stone were engraved the names of the children of Israel—“Six of
their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other
stone, according to their birth.” In astrology, to which science perhaps on its
more esoteric side we are impelled, we can quickly recognize the twelve
signs of the Zodiac—six Northern and six Southern—in the twelve tribes of
the children of Israel, more distinctly emphasized on the breastplate of the
High Priest. The engraving on the two onyx stones, one of which would
necessarily be somewhat lighter in colour than the other, can never be
explained in our prosaic terms for they were attuned to the whisperings of
the Heavenly Hosts and typified the eternal wanderings of the Soul.
In my later remarks on the Onyx I have noted the ancient philosophy
regarding the descent of the Soul through the Gate of Cancer and its ascent
through the Gate of Capricorn. Peter symbolically represented at the Gate
of Heaven, is a veiled allusion to the stone (Petros) gateway through which
the departing spirits of Earth pass on their everlasting pilgrimage in search

of the pearl above price—the hidden knowledge of perfect truth—a stone so
gloriously brilliant that mortal eyes can never gaze on it.
In earlier Egyptian symbolic lore it is assumed that the Heavens were of
stone, the goddess Hathor being the Lady of the Turquoise Stones and other
deities being represented by stones cut to forms and in their natural state. In
rabbinical allegory the Creator, vibrating through the rays of sunrise, is
reverenced as “The Opener of the Gates,” and frequent allusions are made
to the gates of tears, of prayer, of praise, and of repentance. There is an old
Hebrew tradition that one Messiah will come through the Gate of Capricorn
and another through the Gate of Cancer. Plato writes of the two gateways—
one through which the Soul descends, the other through which the soul
ascends, and Porphyry says that on this account the Egyptians did not begin
the year like the Romans with Aquarius but with the Moon Sign Cancer.
The Quabalistic Books say that the soul of man passed through the four
celestial worlds in its descent, receiving from Aziluth, the Chaiah, spiritual
animation: from Briah, Neshamah, understanding: from Jezirah, Ruach, the
passions: from Nephesch, material desires. He enters the world by the Gate
of Generation (the Moon), the watery sign, the colour of which is indicated
as green, and he leaves the world of Matter for the land of the Immortals by
the Gate of Material Death (Saturn), the Earth sign Capricorn, the colour of
which is black. The Su’n passage through the tribal signs expressed on the
onyx stones of the Ephod symbolizes eternally the descent and ascent of
immortal man.

CHAPTER IV
THE BREASTPLATE OF JUDGMENT

“The future things and those which are to happen, let them foretell unto
thee.” Isaiah XLIV. 7.

ATTACHED to the Ephod was the famous HOSHEN-HA-MISHPAT or
Breastplate of Judgment which was of “cunning work,” fashioned like the
Ephod “of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined
linen.” It was a square pouch when doubled, a span in length and a span in
breadth. Josephus writes that there were “twelve stones upon the
Breastplate, extraordinary in largeness and beauty: and they were an
ornament not to be purchased by men because of their immense value. The
names of all those sons of Jacob were engraven in these stones, whom we
esteem the heads of our tribes, each in the order according to which they
were born.”
We are told in the 28th chapter of the Book of Exodus that the Urim and
Thummim were put into the Breastplate. Dummelow believes that these
were two jewels or images engraved with distinctive characters employed
in casting lots. Josephus and the Septuagint imply that the gems on the
Breastplate constituted the Urim and Thummim. Gensenius says that the
Urim and Thummim were two little images which were placed between the
folds of the Breastplate. Dr. Chambers indicates the Urim and Thummim as
a mysterious contrivance consisting either of the four rows of precious
stones bearing the tribal signets, or of two images. It is pointed out that the
images of Isis and Osiris, worked in precious stones, hung on the breast of
the Egyptian High Priest to symbolize truth and justice. The Urim and
Thummim may be identical with the Babylonian “Tablets of Destiny”
which were the instruments by which the seers of Babylon conveyed the
“urtu” or answer of the gods to the people. In Babylon the “Tablets of

Destiny” were only effective when on the breast of the god, while amongst
the children of Israel the Urim and Thummim were only potent when on the
breast of the High Priest. Josephus says that the answer of the Urim and
Thummim was revealed by rays of light, and the Talmudic account is in
harmony with this statement.
It was necessary for accuracy that the oracle should only be approached
by one on whom the Shekinah or Radiance rested: one filled with the
splendour of inspiration, naturally gifted in the art of prophecy, and fitted
by the beauty of his thoughts and his life to draw unto himself the divine
Shekinah: he must be “covered with the robe of virtue as the bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with her
jewels.” The Rabbis identified Urim and Thummim as the “grand and
sacred name of God,” Urim indicating “Those whose words communicate
light” and Thummin, “Those whose words are realised,” while the
Septuagint renders them as “Revelation” and “Truth.” The generally
accepted meaning of Urim and Thummim is “Lights and Perfections.”
The connection of the twelve zodiacal signs with the twelve tribes of
Israel and the twelve stones of the Breastplate is remarked by Josephus, and
the Targum upon Canticles also links them together. Wilson in “Lights and
Shadows of Northern Mythology” draws attention to the life-sized white
marble figure of Aaron robed, wearing the Breastplate showing a sign of the
Zodiac sculptured on each of the twelve precious stones, which figure is
placed on the right side of the High Altar in S. Pietro, Piazza Bianchi,
Genoa.
The Matsebah of Babylon are black pillar stones on which in three
elemental divisions are sculptured the twelve zodiacal signs by which the
twelve Assyrian gods are symbolized, and the twelve lions on either side of
the steps leading to Solomon’s throne represent the Sun in its progress
through the signs of Heaven. Josephus mentions that he had seen the
remains of an ancient pillar of stone on which Seth, foreseeing the great
Flood, had engraved the elements of Astrology which “Adam had received
from the Creator.”
“Moses was willing,” writes Josephus, “that the power of the Breastplate
should be known not only to the Hebrews but to all the world. When God
was present the stone on the right shoulder of the High Priest (the stone
symbolizing the soul’s descent) shone with a brilliancy not natural to it.
This has appeared a wonderful thing to such as have not so far indulged

themselves in philosophy as to despise Divine Revelation. Yet will I
mention what is more wonderful than this: for God declared beforehand by
those twelve stones which the High Priest bare on his breast and which
were inserted into his Breastplate, when they should be victorious in battle:
for so great a splendour shone forth from them before the army began to
march that all the people were sensible of God’s being present for their
assistance. Whence it came to pass that those Greeks who had a veneration
for our laws, because they could not possibly contradict this called the
Breastplate ‘the Oracle.’ Now this Breastplate left off shining 200 years
before I composed this book, God having been displeased at the
transgression of the laws.”
Father Kircher in “Oedipus Egyptianus” gives an engraving of the
Tabernacle with the Sun, Moon, and Planets in the centre and Ephraim with
a bull, Menasses with two infants, Benjamin with a Centaur, Dan with a
scorpion, Gad with a ram, Assehr with scales, Simeon with fishes, Reuben
with a water-bearer, Zebulon with a fish-goat, Issachar with a lobster, and
Judah with a lion.
The standards of the twelve tribes were given in the middle ages as
follows:
Issachar Sun or Full Moon
Reuben Man’s Head or Bust
Judah A Lion
Gad An Army of Men
Zebulon A Ship
Simeon A Citadel
Manassah A Unicorn
Dan An Eagle
Napthali Deer
Benjamin A Horse
Assher A Tree
The Rabbinical writers generally favour the following tribal order:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Napthali, Gad, Assher, Issachar,
Zebulon, Joseph, Benjamin. Tobias ben Eliezer quotes an old Baraita which
said that Zebulon was followed by Dan. Marbodus places them as follows:
1. Reuben placed 3rd of the 3rd row in the Breastplate

2. Simeon placed 3rd of the 2nd row in the Breastplate
3. Levi placed 3rd of the 1st row in the Breastplate
4. Judah placed 2nd of the 1st row in the Breastplate
5. Zebulon placed 1st of the 1st row in the Breastplate
6. Issachar placed 1st of the 2nd row in the Breastplate
7. Dan placed 1st of the 3rd row in the Breastplate
8. Gad placed 1st of the 4th row in the Breastplate
9. Assher placed 2nd of the 2nd row in the Breastplate
10. Napthali placed 2nd of the 3rd row in the Breastplate
11. Joseph placed 2nd of the 4th row in the Breastplate
12. Benjamin placed 3rd of the 4th row in the Breastplate
Another old list gives the order as follows:
Reuben, Dan, Judah, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Assher, Napthali, Gad,
Simeon, Joseph, Benjamin.
Swedenborg groups the tribes thus:
Judah, Reuben and Gad; Assher, Napthali and Manasseh; Simeon, Levi
and Issachar; Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin.
It is unnecessary to quote further lists as I believe that the one I am now
producing will be sufficient to redeem the confusion. It is in complete
harmony with the order of Jacob’s blessings (Genesis XLIX) and the signs
of the Zodiac. It will be noted that Taurus with the tribe of Reuben leads the
Zodiac, and it is related that under this sign the human race came to earth.
On ancient zodiacs the Bull as a solar conception is shown wending his way
through the stars.
1. Reuben the Defiler Taurus
2. Simeon and the Slayers Gemini
Levi
3. Levi “Held to” (i. e., to Cancer
the altar)
4. Judah the Lion’s Whelp Leo
5. Zebulon the Haven Virgo (Argo, the ship, is in
the constellation Virgo).
6. Issachar the Bender Libra
7. Dan the Adder Scorpio

8. Gad the Victor Sagittarius
9. Assher the Producer Capricorn
10. Naphthali the Comforter Aquarius
11. Joseph the Redeemer Pisces
12. Benjamin the Devourer Aries
The sign Cancer is that of the tribe of Levi as servants and guardians of
the Tabernacle, the name indicating “held to,” i. e., held to the altar.

CHAPTER V
INTERPRETATION OF THE BREASTPLATE
ACCORDING TO ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

It is apparent that the identification of the stones in the Breastplate must
present many difficulties. Lord Arthur C. Hervey in his Dictionary of the
Bible, says: “Whether the order followed the ages of the sons of Israel or, as
seems most probable, the order of the encampment, may be doubted; but
unless any appropriate distinct symbolism of the different tribes be found in
the names of the precious stones, the question can scarcely be decided.” Dr.
C. Keil in “Biblical Archaeology” says: “The order of the rows of the
precious stones is given in Exodus 28:17-20 and 39:10-13, but owing to the
vacillating manner in which the early writers designate and describe the
stones we are at a loss to know how it should be explained.” Dr. Deane is of
the opinion that in many cases it is a difficult task to identify the Hebrew
and Greek names used in these passages with the names of modern
mineralogy. The Rev. J. R. Dummelow comments on the difficulties of
identifying the stones, the meaning of the Hebrew words being doubtful.
Josephus saw the Breastplate frequently in his day, and in his description
the position of certain stones is changed. The Hebrew Bible translation also
presents differences. Rosenmuller, the Orientalist, argues as to the position
of the 6th and 12th stones, placing the 12th in the 6th and the 6th in the
12th. It may easily be assumed that in its wanderings stones were lost from
the Breastplate and that the replacing of these stones was not always carried
out by men with a knowledge of the quabalistical import of Urim and
Thummim or even of the stones themselves.
To quote from Dr. Deane: “The variation in the order of the stones
prompts the enquiry whether the Breastplate which Josephus repeatedly saw
and which Jerome might have seen in the Temple of Concord was identical
with that of ancient times. If the whole of the original stones were
preserved, the order must have been kept in consequence of the names

engraved upon them. But it is not by any means unlikely that in the great
vicissitudes of the Hebrew nation some of the original stones may have
been lost and have been replaced by others.” More evidences of this kind
would be superfluous.
The First Stone of the Breastplate
Now, the first stone of the Breastplate is a Red stone. According to
astrology the Red stone vibrates to the planet Mars and the zodiacal Aries,
therefore its position as the first stone of the Breastplate is natural. In the
mystic philosophy of the Hebrews the Ram “caught in a thicket by his
horns,” the blood of the lamb upon the lintel and side-posts, etc., and in
mystic Christian philosophy the blood of the Lamb which redeems from
worldly sin are expressed symbolically by the sign Aries, into which the
Sun enters in the month of Nisan, approximately 21st March, the time of the
Passover and of Easter. Not only then must the stone be a red one, it must
be red of the colour of blood. But again one must not lose sight of the fact
that the first stone on the Plate was engraved not with the name of the tribe
of Benjamin, the true Aries tribe, but with the name Reuben, a tribe under
the lordship of the second sign of the Zodiac, Taurus. This may be
explained by the fact that the earlier Breastplate of the two began with the
sign Taurus. Agnes Mary Clerke, writing on the Old Zodiac, says: “So far as
positive records go Aries was always the first sign. But the arrangement is,
on the face of it, a comparatively modern one. None of the brighter stars of
the constellation could be said even roughly to mark the Equinox much
before 1800 B.C.; therefore during a long stretch of previous time the
leading position belongs to the stars of Taurus. Numerous indications
accordingly point to a corresponding primate zodiac. Setting aside as
doubtful, evidence derived from interpretation of cuniform inscriptions we
meet in connection with Mithraic and Mylittic legends reminiscences of a
Zodiac and religious calendar in which the Bull led the way. Virgil’s
“Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus anum Taurus” perpetuates the
tradition, and the Pleiades continued within historical memory to be the first
asterism of the lunar zodiac.”
The Egyptian worship of Serapis who is frequently symbolized by the
head of a bull surmounted by a uræus and disc, and whose colour was of a
blood red, may be noted. The worship of this god was introduced into Egypt
by the Ptolemies, but his name is derived from Ausar-Hapi (Osiris-Apis)
and he represents a blending of the older worship of Osiris with the Bull

Apis which, says Herodotus, is a fair and sublime reflection of the soul of
Osiris. In this connection Diodorus says that the soul of Osiris migrated into
Apis and thus revealed himself to men through the ages. Attention is drawn
to this worship to show that in Egypt a bull god was associated with the
colour red, and the “holding a red rag to a bull” may have its origin in the
bull-fights of old, in which case however it is clear that the Martial Red is
the colour of irritation.
We can see in the placing of Taurus, the Bull—or the tribal name Reuben
—in the first section of the Breastplate a desire to harmonize it as far as
possible with an older one, whilst the gem and its colour represented the
sign Aries—the sign of the Ram—symbolically the tribe of Benjamin,
engraved as of old in the last division of the Plate.
The Hebrew word ODEM, signifying redness, is connected with the
Hebrew word DOM, blood, and the stone to meet these requirements is the
Red Hæmatite, the true bloodstone of antiquity, which is further described
in the section of this book dealing more generally with the scientific and
romantic aspects of precious stones.
The Hæmatite is a true iron stone and in old astrology Iron is a metal
placed directly under the rulership of the planet Mars and the sign Aries. We
have direct evidence of the use of this stone by the ancient Babylonians,
who wore it as an engraved signet cut in cylinder form. We therefore
identify the first stone of the Breastplate as the Red Hæmatite on which was
engraved the name of the first tribe, Reuben.
The Second Stone of the Breastplate
The second stone of the Breastplate is given as PITDAH, variously
interpreted as a Topaz, Peridot, Yellowish-green Serpentine, Diamond and
Chrysolite. The Targums agree that a green stone is implied and some
authorities seek to clear the mystery by advancing that the stone was of a
yellowish-green.
The topaz of the ancients is not the topaz of today, but is identified with
the stone known to us as the chrysolite or peridot. Traditionally the emerald
is associated with the second sign of the zodiac, and Apion who wrote much
concerning ancient Egypt and whose story of Androclus and the Lion
echoes through the ages, tells of a gigantic figure of Serapis seen at
Alexandra; this figure, the height of which was about fifteen feet, was
probably composed of glass resembling emerald. The emerald was sacred to
Serapis who—as indicated in the previous chapter—was a Bull god

associated naturally with the zodiacal Taurus. This sign and the colour
green blend truly for green is the symbol of life, of agriculture and of
abundant nature, and amongst nations of antiquity holy festivals heralded
the return of Spring whose praises are sung by the poets in the magical
language of mythology. The many references to “green trees” in the Bible
need only be noticed in passing.
The Veneralia of old was held once a year amidst budding plants and
flowers, in gardens and on green lawns in honour of Venus to welcome
Adonis returning in radiant beauty from the under-world. The ceremony
took place towards the end of April, when the Sun had entered the Earth
sign of Venus, Taurus, and it survives in the later May Day rejoicings.
The gem needed is therefore a green one, and this is traditionally the
correct one for the sign Shor or Taurus in which Nogah or Venus delights
and in which Lavanah or the Moon exalts. The emerald was sacred to this
period of the year. This gem was well-known amongst ancient nations,
especially those of Egypt and Ethiopia where the chief emerald mines were.
The children of Israel must certainly have known of the existence of the
emerald which is mentioned in the Wisdom of Ptah-Hotep who lived ages
before the time of Solomon and more than 1000 years before Hammurabi,
the Wise, of Babylon. “Courtesy in Speech,” says this sage, “is rarer than
the emeralds which slave girls find in the stones.”
It is recorded that the Egyptians employed many women at the emerald
mines on account of the keenness of their vision, and it is highly probable
that Israelitish women were selected for this work with captives of other
nations. Specimens of emeralds collected by Sir G. Wilkinson from Mount
Zabarah in Upper Egypt now lie in the British Museum. Evidence is not
wanting to prove that the ancients knew well how to engrave on an emerald,
Pliny states that Ptolemy offered Lucullus at Alexandra an emerald with his
portrait engraved on it.
The tribe Simeon corresponding to the zodiacal Gemini was engraved on
the second gem of the Breastplate—although it has no connection with it—
for the reason before noted.
It should be understood that by “emerald” is meant the precious emerald
as we know it or its varieties Beryl and Aquamarine. It may be noted that
the Topaz, a gem most generally favoured as the second stone on the
Breastplate, is traditionally assigned to the opposite sign of the Zodiac,
Scorpio.

The hero Gilgames in Babylonian story sees by the gates of the Ocean a
wondrous magical tree which bore as fruit most precious emeralds. The
emerald as a love stone was closely identified with Venus and was regarded
as particularly fortunate for women, bringing happiness in love, comfort in
domestic affairs, and safety in childbirth. The evil effects of the luminaries
afflicted or of malefic planets in the sign Taurus, the latter degrees
especially, have been shown to affect the sight; hence the employment of
the emerald as an eye charm.
Hathor, the Egyptian Venus, who carries in her left hand the potent Crux
Ansata was saluted as “The Lady of the Southern Sycamore,” a tree which
stood for the living body of Hathor on earth and which was called the
Sycamore of the Emerald.
The Rosicrucian John Heydon of the 17th Century describes his meeting
with the spirit Euterpe on the plains of Bulverton Hill one sweet summer
evening. He describes her as “a most exquisite divine beauty of decent
stature; attired, she was in thin loose silks, but so green that I never saw the
like for the colour was not earthly.... Her rings were pure entire emeralds for
she valued no metal.”
Similar legends of green fairies, green fields, and green lights are
connected with the sign of Venus terrestrial, Taurus.
The emerald, then, is the second stone of the Breastplate, and on it was
engraved the name of the tribe of Simeon.
The Third Stone of the Breastplate
The third stone of the Breastplate is simply expressed by the word
BAREKETH which has been variously rendered as Emerald, Ruby,
Carbuncle, Amethyst, Rock Crystal, Green Olivine, Green Feldspar. Its true
meaning is “flashing,” which the Targumic translators express as “brilliant.”
The Hebrew BARUK corresponds to an Arabic word meaning “to gleam, to
flash;” the Assyrian word BARAKU and the Aramic BURUK have the
same meaning, with which may be identified the Punic BARCAR, surname
of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar; the Syriac BORKO and the Chaldean
BARKAN can only be rendered “brilliant.” There is a Sanskrit word
MARKATA, meaning “flashing, sparkling,” which corresponds to our word
“marble,” literally, “the sparkling stone,” Latin MARMOR, cognate with
the Greek MARMAROS from MARMAIRO to flash, shine, sparkle. Hence
the Flashing Stone may be identified as marble, and this traditionally
answers the required conditions. In astro-philosophy marble is connected

with the sign of the columns, Gemini—Simeon in association with Levi—
and is known as the Day House of the planet Mercury. The Midrash
Bemidbah gives the colour of this sign as white, and Francis Barrett
expresses it as “glittering.”
The author remembers long ago taking some really glittering specimens
of white marble, unstained by the hand of time, from an Egyptian mummy-
case. Even at the present day pieces of white marble are buried with the
dead body in some countries of the world, and the marble tombstone is
universally used as a monument over the buried ashes which the ascending
man has thrown aside as the serpent throws his old skin.
The shining marble is the emblem of spiritual resurrection which is
symbolized in the sign of the Twins (Gemini). Mercury as the Egyptian
Tehuti or Thoth, or the Greek Hermes, is ever connected with the spirits of
the dead in the Hall of Judgment and, in harmony with the brilliant flashing
white stone, the everlasting uplifting and spiritual progress. The sign
Gemini but lightly veils the peculiar occult meaning associated with twins
and connected names in hermetic philosophy. From Cain and Abel many
may be enumerated including Simeon and Levi whom we find implicated in
the massacre of the defenceless people of Shihem for which crime they
drew upon themselves their father’s curse. Greek legend gives Amphion,
skilled in music and learning, and Zeuthus, who labours and follows the
chase. The latter by hard labour rolled huge boulders together to build up
the walls of Troy, whilst the former but struck the strings of the lyre given
to him by Hermes and the great rocks followed him—a symbol of the
triumph of mind which Hermes promises to his disciples. Simeon and Levi
killed the Shechemites to avenge their sister Dinah; Amphion and Zeuthus
drove Dirce, bound to a bull, to her death to avenge their mother Antiope. In
the legend of the Roman twins, Romulus kills his brother Remus as Cain
killed Abel.
The twin stories are well illustrated in the legend of Castor and Pollux,
the “great twin brethren,” sons of Jupiter and Leda. The former was mortal,
the latter immortal, but so attached were they to each other that none ever
saw them apart.
In these stories the mysterious union of the Soul and the Body is being
continually forced forward, and sleep—which the old masters called a tenth
part of death—is indicated in this legend of the Dioscuri when Pollux
divides his immortality with his brother. Sanchoniatho or Sanchuniathon—

who lived when Gideon judged Israel, says that Thoth of the Egyptians,
Taaut of the Phœnicians, Thoyth of the Alexandrians, Hermes or Mercurius,
was the inventor of letters, and took religion from the unskilful
management of the vulgar forming it into a rational system; and "when
Saturn came from the southern parts of the Earth he made Taaut, the son of
Miser (identified as the Mizraim of the Bible), King of all Egypt, and the
month Thoth began the Egyptian year and coincides with Tisri or Thishri
which began the Jewish year and with Tisritu which began the Chaldean.
To continue further might lead outside the province of this book, and the
plea for this digression is the endeavour to elucidate the hidden import of
the various departments of the sacred Breastplate by the searchlight of the
philosophical stories of our antique fathers.
Thoth or Hermes engraved all knowledge on two pillars or columns, and
the Hermetic schools say that all knowledge is contained in the words,
letters and continuations engraved on the two tables of stone. This writing
of God graven upon the tables constituted the Commandments, five of
which, and five is the number of Mercury, were written on each stone, the
complete ten indicating the Hidden Power of God—identified in the Sepher
Yetzirah as the Path of Resplendent Intelligence and the Light which, too
intense for the material eye of man, is around the Throne of the Supreme.
The association of marble with Hermes, the Guide of the Human Race, is
traditional, and evidence favours it as the third stone of the Breastplate
engraved with the name of the tribe of Levi.
The Fourth Stone of the Breastplate
Nofek the fourth stone of the Breastplate, has been identified with the
emerald, carbuncle, jasper, red garnet, ruby carbuncle, almandine garnet
and ruby. Two of the Targums classify it as emerald, possibly referring to a
stone similar in colour to the emerald. It is well known that all green stones
were called emeralds by a large section of the ancient public, just as all red
stones were called rubies, etc., hence much confusion followed. Dr. Emil
Hirsch says that Nofek (the correctness of which word has been doubted in
some quarters) must have belonged to the green stones. In corresponding
chrysoprase with “celestial love of truth” Emanuel Swedenborg draws
attention to Exodus XXVIII. 18, indicating his identification of that gem as
the fourth stone of the Plate. This gem which is of a soft green colour
resembles the tender hue of moonlight. The Midrash Bemidbah gives the
colour of Nofek as sky blue, the Egyptians according to Müller as green,

and the astrological, in considering Cancer the Mansion of the Moon, a
moonlight green. The chrysoprase was anciently translated as “austerity
directed against vice” which harmonizes agreeably with the traditional
attitude of chaste Diana against evil-doers.
The Boat of the Moon in ancient Egypt is pictured as a disc within a
crescent, and the association of the moon (which was said to be in its
Mansion in the watery Cancer) with the waters of the Earth was well known
to the ancients and is referred to frequently in works on magic and
astrology. In this connection may be mentioned the Egyptian story of a few
thousands of years ago which is known as “The Legend of the Green Jewel”
told to the Pharaoh Khufu by the Prince Khafra:
Pharaoh Sneferu, weary and sighing for amusement or relaxation from
affairs of State, was advised by his scribe to go rowing with the loveliest
women of his harem on the lake. “I will go with thee, august One,” said the
scribe, “the green banks with the trees and flowers, the splash of the water
under the oars will charm thine eyes and bring thee happiness.” For the
excursion twenty beautiful young women were selected (twenty was a
number of the negative or female side of the Moon, quabalistically
expressed as “the Awakening”). They rowed the Pharaoh’s boat with oars of
ebony and gold, singing sweetly as they went, and his heart was glad. But
with the turning of the boat the helmswoman’s hair was touched by her
steering oar and a green jewel she wore fell into the water. She became
silent and raised her oar from the water, the other women doing likewise.
“Why cease?” asked the Pharaoh. “Let us continue.” They answered: “O
Pharaoh, the steerer has stopped and her oar is raised from the water.”
“Why is this so?” questioned the Pharaoh. “O Majesty, my beautiful green
jewel has sunk beneath the waters.” “What of that?” he replied. “Continue. I
will present you with a new jewel.” “O Majesty,” said the girl, “no jewel
can replace my own green jewel.” So the Pharaoh turned to his scribe.
“What can we do?” he asked. “This girl has lost her green jewel and will
have no other.” The scribe uttered magical words over the lake and the
waters divided as two walls. Between these walls the scribe descended and,
having found the jewel, came up again into the boat, gave the green jewel to
the helmswoman and spoke to the waters which closed up again. The
Pharaoh was gratified, giving rich gifts to the scribe at whose power all
marvelled.

When the Pharaoh Khufu heard this legend from Prince Khafra he
enjoined that offerings should grace the sepulchres of the Pharaoh Sneferu
and his great scribe, the magician. This allegorical story, like many others
of the kind, is full of hidden meaning and the connection of this boat with
its twenty female rowers, its two (unit of the Moon) Illustrious Ones, the
Pharaoh and the Scribe, the green vegetation on the banks of the lake, the
lake itself, the division of the waters and the green jewel make the meaning
especially clear to students of symbology.
In astrological enumeration from the earliest time the sign Cancer was
said to rule the great oceans, the deep blue of which may have influenced
the Midrash Bemidbah in its allotment of colour, and in certain hermetic
ceremonies connected with the soul’s entry into matter through the Gate of
Cancer from the blue ocean of the incorruptible Heavens.
The zodiacal Cancer, the Mansion of the Moon, is associated with the
worship of Diana in her varied forms, and Diana—at one time a plebeian
goddess only—was for a long period worshipped by the plebeian
populations who used to hang her image to trees to increase their growth.
Cancer is the sign of the people, and the Moon “which delights in this sign”
represents their varying moods. In the Acts of the Apostles it is related that
Demetrius, a silversmith, and others made silver shrines of Diana (silver
astrologically is the metal of the Moon) resenting the attempt of Paul to
prejudice her worship, with the famous cry “Great is Diana of the
Ephesians.” Diana was worshipped as the goddess of Light by the Romans
and whether as Artemis in her changing attributes, Selene, Luna,
Leucophryne, Petamia, Munychia or Amarynthea, her influence as a moon
deity remains. Her face resembles that of her twin brother Apollo to a very
marked degree, and her hair like his is caught up in a knot above the
forehead indicating the influence exerted by the Moon in its relation to the
Sun, in the movements of the waters of the Earth.
That chrysoprase as we know it today was used in very early times is
clearly proved by the Egyptian jewellery discovered in excavations. Hard as
the stone is, the ancients knew how to cut it, various intagli of ancient
origin existing today to prove their skill. The apple-green hue of the
chrysoprase is attractive, and it is probable that it was the stone of which
fifty specimens were sent to Ashkalon as part of the tribute. Its inclusion in
this department of the Breastplate is the result of much research, and it

harmonizes with astrological tradition. This stone was inscribed with the
name of the tribe of Judah.
The Fifth Stone of the Breastplate
In placing Shoham in the position of Sapir in the fifth division of the
Breastplate, traditional philosophy is harmonized. The fifth zodiacal sign
Leo is not blue. It is the mansion of the Sun, and old almanacs symbolize it
as a raging lion. The Midrash Bemidbah gives the colour as black but
generally authorities agree that it is a shade of red, especially during sunrise
and sunset, and a yellowish-red at noonday. The eleventh zodiacal sign
Aquarius is given as sky blue by most authorities, and it is generally
accepted. It has a mystic connection with the heavens, and without doubt its
gem is the Sapir. In the Zodiac the signs Leo and Aquarius are exactly
opposite, and on the Breastplate the stone for the former is second of the
second row, and for the latter second of the last row. Accepting this view no
difficulty will be experienced. It might also be considered that the tribe of
Judah is the tribe of the Lion, although for reasons previously stated, the
name of this tribe is engraved on the fourth stone.
Accepting the Shoham then as the fifth stone of the Breastplate we have
yet to identify it. The Hebrew Bible, the Authorized Version, Josephus, the
Vulgate, Marbodus, Dr. Deane all translate it as Onyx, and Dr. Ginzberg
half agrees with them. Dr. Emil A. Braun, the archæologist, traced Shoham
to the Arabic SACHMA, blackness. “Of such a colour,” he writes, “are the
Arabian Sardonyx which have a black ground colour.” However, this
species can hardly be called true Sardonyx defined by Pliny as “candor in
sarda,” graphically rendered by King as “a white opaque layer
superimposed upon a red transparent stratum of the true red Sard.” The
ancient and modern methods of imitating this gem are identical: A Sard is
put upon a red-hot iron block with the result that the part nearest the heated
mass is transmuted into a white hazy layer upon which the Cameo artist
works.
It seems that the name Onyx amongst ancient peoples was indifferently
applied to both Onyx and Sardonyx, but in the case of the fifth stone of the
Breastplate there seems to be no doubt that the Sardonyx is the Stone. The
sign Leo astrologically rules the Heart in the human body, which in the
Grand Man is symbolically the Sun, and the Sard is of the colour of the
Heart. By ancient correspondence then the Heart, Leo, the Sun, the Sard,

the Sardonyx, and the fifth department of the Breastplate are clearly
connected.
The Carnelian, Sard, and Sardonyx were most extensively used by the
Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and other peoples of antiquity, and many
specimens have been found engraved with various devices: finely worked
Egyptian scarabei, antique Intagli and Camei. The Sardonyx has been called
a “royal stone,” and the sign of the Lion is intimately connected with
royalty. The winged, human-headed lions of Nineveh are emblematical of
the Sun, and Daniel describing his vision connects the Winged Lion with
the heart of Man:—(Ch. VII. 4).
In the Egyptian texts frequent allusion is made to the heart or HATI of
Osiris. The HATI represented vitality, warmth, control, and silently within it
were impressed the actions of its owner during his earth-life. It was to his
HATI, lying on the Balance before the “Shining God,” the attendant deities
and the forty and two gods in the great Judgment Hall, that the shuddering
soul cried out of the intense silence: “O heart of mine, testify not against
me,” words frequently impressed on Scarabei and regarded as magically
potent.
A symbolic image constructed by the Magi at the period of the Sun’s
passage through the sign of the Lion, took the form of a crowned king
enthroned, wearing a deep yellow robe, a globe at his feet and a raven by
his heart. The crowned king, his yellow robe, the raven and the globe
symbolize the Sun and its manifestations, and the Heart—the Sun of Man—
symbolizes the Solar sign Leo. Another symbol of the Magi, shows a
crowned woman in a four-horsed chariot (four being the negative or female
side of the Sun), a mirror in her right hand, a staff in her left, and a burning
flame on her head. These emblems were directed to be engraved in the Hour
of the Sun, the Sun being in Leo, on a carnelian stone. The famous seal of
Solomon and David—the Mogan Dovid—was most potent when engraved
on a Sardonyx, a Carnelian or a plate of gold (metal of the Sun).
All conditions necessary for this stone of the breastplate are fulfilled in
the Sardonyx stone which, engraved with the tribe of Zebulun, filled the
fifth place.
The Sixth Stone of the Breastplate
The sixth stone of the Breastplate is, without doubt, the Jashpeh accepted
by the Vulgate, Marbodus, Dr. Emil Hirsch and Dr. G. Deane. Translated

correctly enough as Jasper, it is placed in the twelfth division in the Hebrew
and Authorized Versions.
From an astrological point of view the Yaholom has no claim on the sixth
House whilst Jashpeh undoubtedly has. The latter is the third stone of the
second row of the Breastplate and the former is the third stone of the fourth
row. In astrological science they are opposite in the Zodiac, the Jashpeh
belonging to the celestial Virgo and the Yahalom to the celestial Pisces. The
colours are given in the Midrash Bemidbah as “Mixed,” and this is more
correct than the “black speckled with blue,” set down sometimes for the
sign Virgo, but which scarcely expresses the aspect of Nature personified in
the goddess Ceres. The Jasper stone has not lost its identity in the march of
time, and there is no reason to doubt that the Aspu of the Assyrians, the
Jashpeh of the Hebrews, the Jaspis of the Greek, or the Yash of the Arabs is
any other than the Jasper, as we know it today. The Panther stone of the
Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan is the well-known and very beautiful
Egyptian Mottled Jasper so greatly esteemed in the ancient world. The
Jasper takes a very brilliant polish and is quite of the crystal brilliance
indicated in the sacred books. It was the gem of the angel Raphael,
emblematic of strength, courage, virtue and wisdom, and it is associated
with a variety called the Graminatias, the markings of which resemble—to
a very marked degree in some specimens—the letters of the Alphabet. Thus,
it is the stone of Hermes or Thoth, the mercurial god who, possessed of
illimitable knowledge, communicated it to the earth-bound spirit known as
Man, by signs in the Heavens, in the air, in the sea, on the earth, in the
flowers and stones of the earth, by omens, by hints and by incidents, but
never—on account of his promise to Apollo—by spoken words. Jerome
calls the Jasper “the stone of spiritual graces,” and from Hermes to Christ
called Son of the Virgin, this stone descends with all its spiritual attributes.
It is associated with the Virgins of Egypt who provoked the words set down
in the eighth chapter of Jeremiah: “The children gather wood and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough to make cakes to
the Queen of Heaven.”
The Jasper was a stone sacred to the Virgin Mary in Christian mysticism,
and to the Son of the Virgin; and symbolically the Virgin of the Skies is
ever immaculate, ever sublime and pure. The association of the sixth sign of
the Zodiac with all virginity is further exemplified in the cult of the Virgins
of Vesta. Corresponding with the sixth sign of the Zodiac these virgins were

six in number, and the age of girls selected for the service could not be less
than six years. The poets tell the story of the beautiful Astræa, the holy
Virgin, who in pity remained with men after the gods, provoked by man’s
wickedness, had departed in anger; remained with them until she was
forbidden to gaze on a world defiled with crime and misery, and with
bandaged eyes was led away to Heaven where her symbolic form stands
eternally, scales in one hand, sword in the other. One gift she left with man
—the gift of Hope which has as its emblem the unpretentious Jasper stone.
The Virgin Astræa is familiar as the goddess of Justice, and her connection
with Mercury—astrologically known as Lord of the Virgin—is apparent.
Her special degree of the Zodiac is given as the twenty-third (“Zodiacal
Symbology,” page 96), which is a degree of sympathy, and for the correct
administration of justice, deep and generous sympathy is surely necessary.
According to Swedenborg and other mystical writers the Virgin
symbolizes all chaste love, “affection for good, charity towards others,
lovers of truth, spirituality and sympathy, and the kindness of men to one
another, as opposed to the cruel malice of war and destruction which is
likened to false reasonings, lies and opposed to Divine Providence.”
The Zebulon is the Haven into which they “who are weary and heavy
laden” may enter, and it is significant that the Son of the Virgin dwelt in
Capernaum which is upon the sea coast in the borders of Zebulon and
Nephthalim (Matt. 4. 13).
Leah thanks God for “a good dowry,” and saying that now her husband
will dwell with her because of her six sons, called his name Zebulun. In
several ways a good dowry is associated with the sign Virgo, which is
related to learning and commerce, will, patience, persistence and the reward
of honest work. About the constellation of Virgo is the Argo or Ship of the
Heavens, which star-lighted is ever gliding on the blue waters of the
Celestial Harbour. A story of the loss of the Jasper from the Breastplate is
told in the Talmud, and after a long search for another to replace it one was
found in the possession of Dama, son of Nethinah, and purchased from him
for about £60 in our money.
It is quite conceivable that stones were lost from the breastplate, and it
was no doubt the replacing of them that caused so much confusion. Jasper
as the sixth stone of the Breastplate is easily identified and the tribe of
Issachar was inscribed upon it.
The Seventh Stone of the Breastplate

The seventh stone of the Breastplate is given as Lesham, variously
rendered as Ligure, Agate, Jacinth, Hyacinth, Amber, Sapphire, Turquoise,
Opal. The gem needed must, according to Dr. E. G. Hirsch, be “brilliant and
of intense lustre.” The Midrash says that the stone was “white like the
colour of antimony.” The colour in the Midrash Bemidbah is given as
sapphire blue, and by astrological authorities generally as dark crimson or
tawny. The sign is the airy home of the planet Venus: and its colour can be
more correctly gauged from the colours identified with the planet itself,
which are given as follows: yellow, lemon yellow and pale blue, art tints in
general, white and purple, white and shining, white in the morning, reddish
in the evening, changeable, etc., Gesenius translates LESHAM as Opal, and
Dr. M. H. Breslau accepts his reading as correct. The Opal is given for the
seventh stone in translations from the Hebrew Bible, and this is most
probably the correct one. This beautiful gem was in great repute in ancient
times, and Pliny in lauding its charms tells us that it was found in India,
Egypt, Cyprus, Thasos and other places. It is found recorded on Antique
Clay Tablets whereon is impressed catalogues of treasures taken from
conquered cities. Its softness and delicacy rendered it easy to cut and carve,
and specimens of opal intagli have been found. Mr. King mentions one in
the Praun collection, of mediocre antique Roman work which was engraved
with the heads of Jupiter, Apollo and Diana surrounded by nine stars. The
same author mentions a big opal set in a quabalistically inscribed ring of
gold with astrological symbols. The midrashic “white like the colour of
antimony” may fairly describe a common variety of opal. Antimony is a
brittle flaky metal of bluish-white colour and crystalline texture. No gem
can exhibit “the brilliant and intense lustres” more than the precious opal
which is not only brilliant and lusterful but beautiful, tender and
comprehensive of all the colours of the rainbow. What gem can answer so
to the Talmudic identification of the qualities of Venus, viz., Splendour?
The Venus of Libra is more ethereal than the Venus of Taurus and is well
presented in the charming statue of the Venus of Medici, that of Taurus
being expressed in the figure known as the Venus of Milo. This ethereal
Venus is the immaculate glorious woman whose absolute beauty the
greatest poets, writers, painters, sculptors and musicians have striven to
express in words, in form, in colour and in sound. Thus is Venus the noble
cogency of divine pure love which has been striving through all the ages to
make the world a paradise and to bring man back again to the Eden he has

lost. No blood sacrifices stained the altars of this lovely goddess, and the
ancients delighted in bringing to her temples sweet blossoms and fragrant
spices for incense. So great was the charm and wonder of this Heavenly
One that Momus, the god of Sarcasm, who spared neither god nor man,
died of vexation because he could find in her nothing to ridicule, nothing to
blame, nothing to jeer at, for before such pure beauty criticism and ridicule
must be mute. As Venus Urania she arises amidst the foam of the sea (the
occult import serving but to intensify the beauty of the legend) with a blue
sky above her head and peaceful sunlit waters at her feet, a symbol of that
eternal love which unites the elements and spreads the lustre of true
harmony wherever are to be found those wise enough to know it. Socrates
wrote that he was uncertain whether there was one Aphrodite or two, and
doubtless the philosopher recognized the various phases of the goddess
when blended with, or corrupted by, anything less than the conception of
pure idealism in all its expressions. The ancients called the opal “Cupid”—a
worthy tribute to the sublime beauty of his glorious mother. One might
compare the opal to the union of Thaumas (Wonder), the Son of the Earth,
with Electra (Brightness), a daughter of Oceanus, and with their child Iris
(Rainbow).

Rare Opals

Kelsey I. Newman Collection

Issachar is the tribe of the Balance, “an ass bending between two
burdens.” The ass in the East today as it was in the days of the Bible is
regarded as an emblem of constancy, patience, endurance and stolidity, and
frequent allusion is made to it in sacred writings: “Speak, ye that ride on
white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.” (Judges 5. 10.)
Josephus replies with vigour to the assertion of Apion that the Jews

worshipped an ass’s head. In the mythology of the Egyptians the good and
evil essences are symbolised by two wild asses, and mention is made in
“The Book of the Dead” of the duel between the ass and its “eater,” the
night serpent. The ass also as a symbolic animal of Jupiter represented
Justice in the ancient world, hence its association with the Balance becomes
clear. The tribe Issachar, this “servant of tribute,” is symbolic of absolute
truth for “a false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his
delight.” (Prov. 11. 1.), and “He that speaketh truth showeth forth
righteousness: but a false witness deceit.” (Prov. 12. 17.) The entry of the
Son of the Virgin into Jerusalem—the city of Virgo—riding on an ass, as
told in that chapter of parables, Matthew 21, is not devoid of symbolic
meaning. Hermes or Thoth is the recorder of the scales in the Egyptian Hall
of Judgment and he may also be said to ride upon the scales for the sign
Libra follows the sign of the Virgin. Libra has been described as the most
sensitive sign of the Zodiac, the opal is its ideal gem and the opal is the gem
for the seventh division of the Breastplate and on it was engraved the tribe
of Dan.
The Eighth Stone of the Breastplate
The eighth stone of the Breastplate is Shebo, rendered as Agate by the
Authorised Version, the Vulgate, Marbodus and others.
Gesenius gives the derivation of Shebo from a root which means “to take
prisoner,” and his illustrious pupil, Julius Fürst, connects it with a root
meaning “to glitter.” Dr. Deane derives it from another meaning “to
obscure, to dull,” and expresses the opinion that the problem “cannot be
solved by etymology alone.” He believes SHEBO to be some variety of
crystallised quartz. Dr. Breslau in translating SHEBO as Agate has good
supporters. The variety known as Banded agreeably fits in with the
demands of the planet Mars through the sign of its expression Scorpio,
termed the sign of the Serpent. Its wavy lines typify the undulations of the
serpent, the lines of a fortress or the restless waves of the sea. The opinion
has been expressed that SHEBO may have some connection with the Indian
Serpent of the Underworld—Sesha or Shesha, and the connection may be
further extended to the huge serpent which slays and is slain by Thor as told
in the Song of Vala.
The sign Scorpio is in astrology the sign of death, the dead and all
connected therewith. It is expressed by the Serpent of Eden in that magical
third chapter of Genesis, a chapter that has demanded the special study of

mystical philosophers for ages. The sign Scorpio is also symbolized in the
person of the goddess Serket, pictured as a human-headed scorpion or as a
goddess with scorpion head-dress. She protected the Canopic Jars which
contained the embalmed viscera of the departed. Aesculapius, the god of
medicine, was worshipped under the form of a serpent at Epidaurus, and in
the Vatican statue he is represented leaning on a staff around which is coiled
a serpent; statues of his daughter Hygieia show her with a serpent in
different attitudes. In those and numerous other serpent stories all
associated with the sign Scorpio to a greater or lesser degree, the majesty
and the mystery of life and death are philosophically implied.
The traditional colour of the sign Scorpio is given as brown, a shade of
brown well describes the agate stone. The Midrash Bemidbah gives gray
which, though not in agreement with other authorities, certainly does
indicate a species of Agate.
Dan is described in the Book of Genesis as “a serpent by the way, an
adder in the path, that biteth the horses’ heels” (the sign following Scorpio,
Sagittarius—the sign of Gad) “so that his rider shall fall backward.” The
tribe was a mystical tribe possessing the knowledge of white magic and of
black (Judges XVIII. 30). The wisdom of the serpent is symbolized in it
—“Dan shall judge his people.”
The eighth stone of the Breastplate was the Banded Agate, and on it was
engraved the tribe of Gad.
The Ninth Stone of the Breastplate
The ninth stone of the Breastplate is Achlamah which, with few
exceptions, is identified as the Amethyst—beyond doubt the correct
identification.
The Midrash Bemidbah gives the colour as purple which is the dominant
shade of this beautiful gem. Purple is also one of the chief colours
associated with the planet Jupiter which in astrology is termed the Lord of
Sagittarius, the ninth sign of the Zodiac. This sign is connected with rulers
and people in authority from very early times; Josephus mentions that
Joseph wore “purple and drove in his chariot through all the land of Egypt.”
The Amethyst was a royal stone and purple a royal colour the right to wear
which was bestowed by the King on inspired men who, like Joseph, were
revealers of dreams. In the Book of Daniel also Belshazzar promises that
the man who reads for him the “writing on the wall” shall be clothed with
purple, shall have a chain of gold about his neck and shall rule as the third

in the kingdom. This promise he fulfills when Daniel, “the prince of
astrologers,” told him what he would know. A similar promise is made by
Darius, the son of Hystaspes, as a reward for the solving of his questions
regarding the strength of Wine, Kings and Women. It is related in the Book
of Esther that the same honour is bestowed on Mordecai by the King
Artaxerxes.
In old Hebraic philosophy it was held that whoso honoureth the prophet
honoureth God. Purple is the colour signifying royal dignity and imperial
power: “to be born in the purple” is to be born essentially fortunate and,
under the elevating influence of the planet Jupiter, Aclamah—according to
Dr. Hirsch—seems etymologically to imply the idea of being strong. Lord
Arthur Hervey and several other writers hold that the Hebrew word is a
verbal one from the root HALOM, to dream. In astrological deductions
Sagittarius is the sign of dreams, prophecy and philosophy, and in its divine
aspect it is referred to the wise centaur Chiron who tended the young hero
Achilles. Sagittarius is the sign of the Horse and of Horsemen, and its
connection with the tribe of Gad is not hard to understand. Aben Ezra writes
on Targum authority that Jupiter is best expressed by the name Gad, and Dr.
Alfred Pearce remarks that in modern Hebrew TZEDEK, justice, was also
translated as Jupiter “because of the just character of persons born under his
influence.” Gad, David’s seer, is mentioned in 2 Samuel, 1 and 2
Chronicles, and the prophetic nature of this son of Jupiter may well stand as
a living symbol. Gad is heralded by Leah thus: “A troop cometh,” and “she
called his name Gad.”
The Amethyst has ever been a gem symbolizing spirituality in its highest
degree, and by the virtue of its power it opposed evils, drunkenness, and the
sin of distorted appetites. Indeed, the Amethyst was considered a sign of
such holiness that evil was always courted by one wearing it whilst
overindulging in eating and drinking. It was cut into sacred scarabei by the
Egyptians and Etruscans and is frequently found engraved. Pliny writes of
its fitness as a sealstone, and Mr. King mentions a large pale Amethyst,
signed, in the Pulsky collection, on which is engraved the head of a Syrian
King.
The Amethyst has been frequently quoted as a stone of the celestial Aries,
even ancient writers commenting on its sympathetic Aries vibration. The
mistake arose from confounding the Babylonian Mars with the Mars of the

Greeks and Romans. The Babylonian Mars of Centaur form is clearly
identified with the sign Sagittarius.
The Amethyst was the ninth stone of the Breastplate, and on it was
engraved the name of the tribe of Asher.
The Tenth Stone of the Breastplate
Regarding the tenth stone of the Breastplate there is a general
disagreement amongst authorities, some preferring simply to give its
Hebraic name THARSHISH without attempting its meaning.
The tenth division of the Breastplate is the division of the zodiacal
Capricorn, the colour of which is generally regarded as black, the colour of
the planet Saturn, and which according to Dr. Simmonite, William Lilly,
Madame Blavatsky and others, is, esoterically, green. The Targums describe
the stone Tharshish as of the colour of the Great Sea, or sea colour. This is
found in the Serpentine variety of a translucent deep green, oily colour
capable of receiving a high polish. The colour of the Egyptian and Arabian
Serpentine (or HYDRINUS) is deep and a little heavy. Many intagli and
camei of antique origin are found cut in Serpentine; these specimens
include Egyptian scarabei and Babylonian cylinders of about 5,000 years
ago, clear evidence that the ancients knew the stone, appreciated it and
worked it.
The sign Capricorn is a strange one, symbolizing the Gateway of Heaven
through which men pass when life on earth is done. Hence it expresses the
mystery of the deep seas which were compared with the seas of space in
sacred philosophy. Amongst others, Manilius recognizes Capricorn as a
sailor’s sign:

But when receding Capricornus shows
The star that in his tail’s bright summit glows,
Then shall the native dare the angry seas,
A hardy sailor live, spurning inglorious ease.

Rev. Mr. King writes of a cast from a gem engraved with a “double-
headed Capricorn with an owl’s body standing upon and holding in his
forefoot a rudder: in allusion to the doctrine laid down by Manilius that the
star in the sign’s tail is the proper horoscope of mariners and pilots. Or it
may typify the usually fickle temper of one born under the sign. This sign
likewise presided over all the space within tide-mark, the alternate domain

of sea and land; a dominion expressed by the half terrestrial, half marine
composition of the figure. The region peculiarly under him” (that is, the
region astrologically ruled by Capricorn) “was the West of Europe.” (This is
speaking very generally.) “The owl’s body is given him perhaps as the
attribute of Pallas, the designer of that prototype of navigation, the Argo.”
Godfrey Higgins writes of the “whimsical sign called Capricorn which in
the Indian Zodiac is an entire goat and an entire fish: in the Greek and the
Egyptian the two are united and form one animal.”
The place of dazzling brilliancy, called by the Greeks “The Milky Way”
is the path of the souls, and is referred to by Macrobius, Cicero and other
writers. The author of the “Anacalypsis” writes: "The Milky Way is placed
immediately under that degree of North Latitude which is called the Tropic
of Cancer, and the two tropics of Cancer and Capricorn have been called by
the astrologers “The Gates of Heaven or the Sun,” at each of which the Sun
arrives in his annual progress. The Southern Gate is called the Tropic of
Capricorn, an amphibious animal, half goat, half fish in our present zodiacs,
but in the most ancient zodiacs of India it is described as two entire beings
—a goat and a fish. Here, in this goat-fish sign Capricorn, are the mermen
and mermaids, and the half-animal, half-fish beings of the sea. Of the tribe
of Asher it is said: “Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield
royal dainties,” (Gen. 49. 20), a statement very much in agreement with the
sign Capricorn. Again in Deuteronomy (33. 24) we have, according to the
Authorized Version, “Let Asher be blessed with children: let him be
acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil”; this passage,
however, may be closer translated as follows: “More than all the children be
Asher blessed: he shall be the most favoured of his brethren and bathe his
feet in oil.”
The tenth Mansion of the Zodiac, the natural “Home” of Capricorn, is the
House of fame, honour, reputation, credit, authority and dignity.
His mother called him Asher because she said, “the daughters will call
me blessed,” Asher being the Hebrew word for “blessed.” A close
translation of verse 17, Chapter 5 Judges, would read: “Asher remained on
the seashore and abode near his bays.”
In all these Biblical allusions to the tribe of Asher there is nothing out of
harmony with the sign Capricorn; in fact, in every line the connection is
clearly marked.

The tenth stone in the Breastplate is the Serpentine and on it was
engraved the tribe Naphtali.
The Eleventh Stone of the Breastplate
For reasons stated the Sapir is placed in the eleventh division of the
Breastplate instead of the SHOHAM, and we thus have complete harmony
between the eleventh sign of the zodiac, Aquarius, the eleventh division of
the Breastplate and the Sapir stone which is translated as Sapphire in the
Hebrew Bible, the Authorized Version, the Vulgate; as Lapis Lazuli or
Sapphire by Mr. Wodiska; and as Lapis Lazuli by Dr. Hirsch, Rev. J. R.
Dummelow, and others. The Targums indicate a stone of blue colour, and
that this is the Lapis Lazuli there is no reason to doubt. In ancient times the
Lapis Lazuli was termed SAPPHIRUS; Pliny describes it accurately as
“opaque, sprinkled with specks of gold,” and many antique intagli in this
stone have been found. The Lapis Lazuli was a very highly esteemed stone
amongst the old world peoples, who called it “The Stone of Heaven,” “The
Gem of the Stars,” and the Zemech Stone connected with all things
heavenly. Traditionally it is the stone on which was engraved the law of
Moses. In a quabalistic “Piut” is written: “O, how dreadful is the place of
the heavenly abode; for there the light dwelleth with him: and above the
firmament is a precious stone, as the appearance of the Sapphire stone
which forms the glorious throne, and thereon He who is clothed with light
is seated.” A close translation of Ezekiel 1. 26, reads: “And above, the vault
that was over their head was like the appearance of a sapphire stone, the
likeness of a throne: and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as
the appearance of a man above it.” Chapter X. 1, similarly treated, reads:
“Then I saw and behold, on the vault that was above the head of the
Cherubim, there appeared over them something like a sapphire stone,
something similar in appearance to the likeness of a throne.”
The connection of a blue stone with the blue heavens is consistent with
ancient philosophy, and authorities agree in connecting this colour with the
sign of the mighty heavens—Aquarius. According to tradition Moses, the
law-giver, was born under this sign. Akers in his “Introduction to Biblical
Chronology” gives the date of this event as A. M. 3319, Adar third, year of
the Julian period 2987, which answers to Thursday, February 13th, 1727 B.
C. At that time the sun would be in the Celestial Aquarius. Aquarius is the
water-bearer, and the incident of the striking of the rock from which water
gushed forth is mystically associated with it. In the Mythologies this

waterbearer is Ganymedes, son of Tros, King of Troy, whom the gods,
impressed by his beauty, carried away whilst he was tending the flocks on
Mount Ida, in order that the Lord of Olympus might have a lovely cup-
bearer.
In astrological deductions Aquarius is the sign of friendship—“Naphtali
bringeth pleasant words.” It is also the sign of hopes and desires: Of
Naphtali he said, “O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full of the blessing
of the Lord, take thou possession of the West and the South.” (Deut. 33. 23).
Then again, in the Septuagint Naphtali is referred to as “a spreading tree
yielding leafy branches” and the tree raising branches heavenwards is an
Aquarian symbol.
The law of Moses is spoken of as the “tree of Life” which contains the
secret of actual and absolute immortality.
Now we are, according to periodic astrological deductions, at the Gate of
the age of Aquarius, all the world is undergoing the process of change, and
finally all the humanitarianism of Aquarius will replace the accumulation of
evil thoughts that lay by the Gateway. Then will Naphtali prevail, his
captivity will be over, and the slaves will hang up their chains amongst the
sacred cypresses, for the Comforter will come.
The Lapis Lazuli then, is the stone of the eleventh division of the
Breastplate and on it was engraved the name Joseph.
The Twelfth Stone of the Breastplate
Regarding the classification which places Jashpeh in the twelfth division
of the Breastplate much controversy has arisen, and the consensus of
opinion is against it.
Dr. Emil Hirsch holds the opinion that Jahalom should replace
JASHPEH, and in this surmise he is by no means alone. Astrologically
Jashpeh has nothing in common with the last sign of the Zodiac—Pisces—
the colour of which is given as “glistening white” by the Midrash
Bemidbah. It has been more minutely described as “a white glistening
colour like a fish just taken out of the water” by William Lilly and Dr.
Simmonite. There is little doubt that the stone was of a white glistening
colour. YAHALOM is rendered as Diamond by the translations of the
Hebrew Bible, the Authorized Version, by Mr. Cattelle, Dr. Ginzberg and
others; but although the Diamond is mentioned by Pliny, it could not have
found a place among the stones of the Breastplate as they were large stones
all engraved with tribal names. To this treatment the diamond is not

adapted. The YAHALOM is without doubt white crystal which is of a
glistening colour and traditionally associated with the twelfth sign of the
Zodiac.
Diodorus writes that an artist named Satyreius cut on a small crystal a
most exquisite and lifelike portrait of Queen Arsinoe, the beauty of the
work amply excusing the miniature stone on which it was engraved. It is
related that Nero, his star falling, in his rage against the world and mankind,
smashed to pieces two costly crystal cyphi or bowls on which Homeric
subjects were wonderfully engraved. Articles in crystal still exist to
demonstrate its extensive use by ancient nations. Fauno, in his 1553 edition
of “Roman Antiquities,” mentions that during the building of a chapel of the
King of France in St. Peter’s, the marble coffin of Maria, wife of the
Emperor Honorius, was discovered. Little remained of the body, but the
jewels of the Empress were there, and amongst them were a talismanic plate
of gold engraved with the names of the Archangels (Michael, Gabriel,
Raphael, Uriel), in Greek letters, about thirty vases and other articles in
crystal, and an exquisite Nautilus shell lamp of pure crystal mounted on
gold—no doubt the special charm of the Empress. The sign Pisces, the sign
of “the fish with the glittering tails,” is symbolically represented by two
fishes, which ancient story tells us were Venus and Cupid thus
metamorphosed to escape the giant Typhon in his fury. In Babylonian story
it is told that the fish-god Oannes—the Dagon of the Book of Samuel—
came out of the Erythraean Sea “which borders upon Babylonia” to teach
men how to live, to make laws, to worship, to soften their manners and to
humanize their lives. Thus, the fish-god was the teacher of the hidden
mysteries, and the sign Pisces has always been associated with occult
science and hidden things. Mummified fish have been found in the
Egyptian tombs, and Clermont Ganneau describes a pair of fish-gods
keeping watch over a mummy. Isis as the Great Mother is symbolized with
a fish on her head. The old Egyptian town of Esna, nearly 500 miles from
Cairo, was called by the Greeks Latopolis on account of the worship of the
Latus fish by the inhabitants, and an interesting old Zodiac can still be seen
there amongst the famous ruins. The Babylonians accepted the fish as the
symbol of the Resurrection, and the ninth chapter of the Book of Luke
describes how 5000 people were fed by 5 loaves of bread (symbolical of
Virgo) and two small fishes (symbolical of Pisces), a connection clear
enough to the student of the mysteries. The fish was the symbol of the

Messiah, and was adopted by the early Christians as the sign of Christ. The
Roman Catholic church today has its fish days, and the Piscina is the basin
that holds the Holy Water.
The tribe of Joseph is the tribe of the twelfth division of the Breastplate
and the twelfth zodiacal sign, Pisces. Joseph in the Book of Genesis is the
inspired prophet who reads the meaning of the famous symbolic dreams of
The Butler, The Baker and The Pharaoh; who has his divining cup, and who
was named by the Pharaoh, ZAPHENATH-PA’NEACH, which has been
translated as “Saviour of the World” by one writer, but more nearly as
“God, the Living One has spoken” by Dr. Dummelow, and as “God spake
and he came into Life,” by Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge.

According to Talmudic story it was this Pharaoh who said that he saw the
colours of rulership about Joseph. Joseph and his brethren are symbolical of
the complete Zodiac. JOSHUA is the Son of the Fish (NUN the Hebrew
word for “fish” is probably connected with the Egyptian NAR), and Jesus
has his fishermen, “fishers of men.” The sign Pisces is the sign of hidden
secrets and is mystically symbolized by a key. On the external plane it is the
sign of increase, in which is concealed the mandate “Increase and multiply.”
The connection of the sign Pisces with the twelfth division of the
Breastplate is, as in the previous cases, beyond argument. The stone is the
glistening crystal on which was engraved the name of the tribe of Benjamin.
In reference to Joseph’s Dream of the Sun, Moon and Eleven Stars which
made obeisance to him, Philo Judaeus says:
“The students of sublime wisdom now say that the Zodiac, the greatest of
all the circles in Heaven, is studded with twelve animals from which it has
derived its name. And that the Sun and the Moon are always revolving
around it and go through each of the animals, not indeed with equal
rapidity, but in unequal numbers and periods, the one doing so in 30 days
and the other in as near as may be a twelfth part of that time. Therefore he
who saw this Heaven-sent vision thought that he was being worshipped by

eleven stars, ranking himself among them as the twelfth so as to complete
the whole circle of the Zodiac.”

CHAPTER VI
THE STONES OF THE BREASTPLATE AND
THE ZODIAC

“Heaven’s golden alphabet—
And he that runs may read.”
Young.

The foregoing chapter dealing with the identification of the stones of the
Breastplate has necessitated study and research, and the classification
reproduced in the table following rests on a secure base. Many of the
scholars of the past when endeavoring to render Hebrew stone names into
our own language were hampered by a none too technical knowledge of the
gems themselves, whilst many of the later writers were handicapped by lack
of astrological knowledge so essential in a matter of this kind. This will be
sufficient to explain the numerous contradictions regarding the
identification and allotment of the famous stones by whose agency the
psychic priests communicated with the angels of God.
It has already been explained in Chapter V why the tribal names do not
agree with the signs of the Zodiac and the stones on which they were
engraved. Some remarks of Philo Judaeus may with advantage be re-quoted
here: In reference to the Breastplate he writes: "Then on his chest there are
twelve precious stones of different colours, arranged in four rows of three
stones in each row, being fashioned so as an emblem of the Zodiac. For the
Zodiac also consists of twelve animals and so divides the four seasons of
the year, allotting three animals to each season. And the whole place is very
correctly called the Logeum since everything in Heaven has been created
and arranged in accordance with right reason and proportion: for there is
absolutely nothing there which is devoid of reason. And on the Logeum he
embroiders two woven pieces of cloth, calling the one Manifestation and

the other Truth. And by the one which he calls Truth he expresses
figuratively that it is absolutely impossible for falsehood to enter any part of
Heaven but that it is entirely banished to the parts around the Earth dwelling
amongst the souls of impious men.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BREASTPLATE.

Hebrew Name of Modern Name of Equivalent Sign of
Stone Stone Zodiac
1. Odem Red Haematite Aries
2. Pitdah Emerald Taurus
3. Bareketh Marble Gemini
4. Nofek Chrysoprase Cancer
5. Shoham Sardonyx Leo
6. Jashpeh Jasper Virgo
7. Lesham Opal Libra
8. Shebo Banded Agate Scorpio
9. Achlamah Amethyst Sagittarius
10. Tharshish Serpentine Capricorn
11. Sapir Lapis Lazuli Aquarius
12. Jaholom Crystal Pisces

Name Engraved on Colour Approximate Date of
Stone Sun’s Entry into the
Zodiacal Signs
1. Reuben Red March 21st
2. Simeon Green April 21st
3. Levi White May 22nd
4. Judah Green June 22nd
5. Zebulun Red July 23rd
6. Issacher Mixed August 24th
7. Dan White and Purple September 24th
8. Gad Brown October 24th
9. Asher Purple November 23rd
10. Naphtali Sea colour December 20th

11. Joseph Blue January 20th
12. Benjamin Glistening White February 19th

The Baraita of Samuel deals with astronomical and astrological
philosophies, and in the 6th Chapter there is a detailed account of the
instruction of scholars of Egypt on the original places of the planets and the
zodiacal divisions. This Samuel was a physician and astrologer, and his
remarks on the administration of medicines, the times for operations, etc.,
are much the same as those given in the best astrological treatises of today.
He considers the last four days of the moon as an especially risky period for
important operations. This Baraita of Samuel is a work of the 8th Century.
Talmudic writers say that besides the twelve tribal names, those of the
patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were at the top of the Breastplate, and
at the end the words, “The tribes of Jeshurun.” Others say that the final
words were “The tribes of Israel;” Maimonides says, “The tribes of God.”
The reason given for these additions was that it was necessary for the entire
alphabet to be employed so that the officiating High Priest could construct
words from the letters, names and colours of the stones of the Breastplate,
and reply in this way to all questions asked. Some of the Rabbis say that six
letters were on each stone, made up of the tribal names, the names
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the words “Tribes of Jeshurun.” Thus the
whole of the stones contained 72 letters—the number of Shem Ha
Meforash. The number 72 is employed in the mysteries, and is given in
“Numbers, their Magic and Meaning” as the number of the Angels and of
Mercy. In verses 19-21 of 14th Chapter of Exodus the names of the 72
Angels of the name of God are concealed. It is a martial talismanic number,
lightly cloaking the waxing and waning of the Moon.

CHAPTER VII
OLD LEGENDS

“Within that awful volume lies
The mystery of mysteries.”
Scott.
THE LEGEND OF THE SHAMIR: THE RING OF SOLOMON: RABBI LOW BEN BEZALEL:
AND HIS GOLEM: THE AUTOMATON OF ALBERTUS MAGNUS: DIOCLETIAN AND
THE OSTRICH: PRECIOUS STONES AS GIFTS: MAGICAL STONES: METEORITES:
PRECIOUS STONES OF THE BUDDHISTS.

It was forbidden to use metal in the engraving of the stones of the
Breastplate, neither was it permitted to mark them with pigments or paint.
The work was done by the magical Shamir which had the power of eating
into the hardest substances at the will of its holder. In the evening light of
the first Friday this seventh of the ten marvels of Creation followed closely
by the Stylus, the knowledge of writing, and the two tablets of stone
destined to bear the commandments of God, was given to mankind. It was
no larger than a barley grain, yet its power was intense: iron lying near it
was shattered and stones were sliced like the leaves of a book. Moses, after
tracing the tribal names with his forefinger on the Breastplate, simply held
the Shamir over them and the letters were as by magic cut clearly into the
stones without trace of fracture or flaw. The Shamir disappeared with the
earth-death of Moses, and was not heard of again until the time of Solomon.
When the occasion came to build the temple the priests reminded the King
that it was not lawful to fashion the stones for the Holy Building with
instruments of iron. “What then shall I do?” enquired the King. To this one
of the priests answered: “O, great King, when the world was created the
Shamir was created also, and with it Moses was enabled to fashion and
engrave the stones of the HOSHEN-HA-MISHPAT.” “But how can I obtain
this wonderful Shamir?” asked Solomon. “What is there difficult for thee

who knowest the secrets of Heaven and Earth?” replied the priest, at the
same time asking Solomon to compel two demons, a male and a female, to
come before him. The King, taking this advice, conjured the demons and
bade them declare unto him the hiding-place of the Shamir. This they were
unable to do, and they begged the Master-Magician to release them and
obtain the secret from the Prince of the demons, Ashmadai. Further they
told the King that amongst certain mountain ranges Ashmadai had sunk a
deep hole which he filled with water and screened with a great stone sealed
with his magical seal. In the dawn of each day he raised himself to Heaven
where he learned heavenly wisdom, descending in the evening as the light
faded to learn the wisdom of earth. Then he would break the seal, drink of
the water, rebind the seal and go his way again.
Having dismissed the demons, Solomon sent his disciple Benaiah (the
son of Jehoiada) with his own magical chain and ring on both of which was
engraved the Divine Name, and some skins full of wine. Benaiah skilfully
released the water from the pit of Ashmadai, leaving the wine in its place.
As evening was falling the Prince of the Demons returned; the seal being
intact, he raised the stone and to his surprise found wine where water had
been. Murmuring, “Is it not set down, ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink is
noisy; and whosoever indulgeth therein will never be wise’?”, he drank
deeply and fell asleep. Then Benaiah, stealing forth from his hiding place,
bound him with King Solomon’s chain. Ashmadai awoke and in rage
attempted to break the chain; Benaiah called to him: “Desist, for the holy
name of God binds you, and you are compelled to come with me to
Solomon the King.” Brought before Solomon, Ashmadai asked: “Why have
you brought me to you? Is not the whole world big enough for you that you
would have me also?” “Of thee I want nothing,” answered the King, “but
for the building of the Temple I must have the Shamir.” “Then ask the
Prince of the Sea and his servant the Moorfowl,” came the answer. “And
what does the Moorfowl with the Shamir?” asked the King. “Splits the
barren mountain rocklands in order that the seeds of the trees and plants
which he drops into the crevices may mature and render these places
beautiful and agreeable to the wants of man; and then he brings it back to
the Prince of the Sea who trusts his oath.” Armed with this information a
search was made for the moor fowl’s nest, and this when discovered was
found to contain the bird’s young. The searchers covered the young birds
with glass so that the mother-bird might see but not reach them. The ruse

succeeded. The bird flew away and shortly afterwards returned with the
Shamir, placing it on the glass which split asunder. At that moment the
emissary of King Solomon rushed from his hiding place and took the
Shamir from the nest of the frightened bird, which thereupon killed itself
because it had broken its oath to the Prince of the Sea.
There is another legend which states that the Shamir was brought from
Paradise—where it had rested since the time of Moses—by an eagle, for
Moses specially intended that the Shamir should be employed in the
building of Solomon’s temple. When the building of the temple was
completed Solomon released Ashmadai, having proved his power over him.
Solomon thus acquired authority over the world of Demons, and in the
“Arabian Nights” the “Story of the Fisherman and the Genii” tells of a
demon who was bottled and bound for ages by this Magician King. The
Arabs say that King Solomon received instructions from the archangel
Gabriel regarding the place where the Shamir was hidden. These and other
legends connected with this wonderful Shamir have attracted the scientific
philosopher. The traditional belief that it was a worm can be accepted if we
connect the Greek SMIRIS, the emery of the ancient glyptic artists, with the
Hebrew SHAMIR, for then the worm would be regarded as minute worms
or grains so tough as to be capable of abrading and polishing hard
substances. The word SHAMIR does not imply the common or garden
variety of worm which is expressed in Hebrew by other words. It is
traditionally related that the four angels of Earth, Air, Fire and Water came
to King Solomon, each giving him a jewel, with the instruction that the
jewels be set in a magical ring which would symbolize and define his power
over the elements. The Arabians say that the metals used in the construction
of the magical ring were brass and iron—metals of Venus and Mars.
Solomon summoned the good genii by tracing his command with the brass
or Venus portion of the ring, and he compelled the evil genii to attend him
with the Mars or iron portion. Astrologically Venus and Mars are the two
planetary principles which control the emotions and passions of all the
world. It is further assumed that the four jewels of the ring were set on the
famous double triangles called the Shield of David and of Solomon, which
symbolically represented things of earth in relation to things of Heaven.
When Solomon went to bathe, it was his custom to give the ring to Amina,
one of his wives, for safe keeping, for it is not permitted to wear the
talisman when washing the body. One day Sakhr, a powerful evil spirit,

appeared in the form of Solomon and thus obtained from Amina the
magical ring. Thereupon Sakhr sat on the throne of Solomon and ruled for
forty days and forty nights while the King wandered about, unknown and
forlorn. However, the evil spirit could not maintain the form of King
Solomon for longer than forty days and forty nights, so he threw the ring
into the sea, thinking as he saw it sink that Solomon was deprived forever
of his power over the elements. But he had forgotten that water was one of
the elements, and the Angel of the Waters caused the ring to be swallowed
by a fish, which was later caught by some fishermen who, surprised at its
exceptional beauty, carried it to King Solomon. The King, acting on
impulse, cut the fish open, and finding the ring, regained his power over the
elements once more.
Passing on to the 16th Century of the Christian era we come to one of the
great masters of the Quabalah—Rabbi Low Ben Bezalel of Prague. He is
spoken of in the ancient capital of Bohemia as the greatest Bal Shem of his
time. Many legends concerning him are extant in Bohemia. He made a
Golem, an automaton figure to which he gave life by the simple act of
placing under the tongue a charm or Kemea which was exactly like the
SHEM HAMPHORASCH engraved on King Solomon’s ring. It was the
Rabbi’s custom to take the Kemea from under the tongue of the Golem
every Friday at sunset. Once he neglected to do this, and the Golem
becoming furious and swelling to a gigantic size, rushed to the old
synagogue, spreading destruction all around. The hymn welcoming the
Bride of the Sabbath had not been sung. The Golem entered the Synagogue,
stalked towards the Ark and was about to destroy it when Rabbi Low Ben
Bazalel ran to the figure and tore the Kemea from beneath the tongue. The
Golem trembled, quivered and fell in atoms to the ground. An automaton
similar to that of the Rabbi was made by Albertus and destroyed in terror by
his pupil, Thomas Aquinas.
It is related that the Roman Emperor, Diocletian, while on a hunting
expedition, came upon a young ostrich. He had it put in a glass case and
taken to his palace. For three days the mother-bird followed, trying in vain
to break the glass and release her young. After many fruitless attempts she
went away and returned with what is described as a THUMARE (a name
easily identified with SHAMIR) or magical worm. This she dropped on the
glass cage which split into fragments in the same way as the glass which
covered the nest holding the young of the moor fowl.

The belief that the gift of a precious stone brought great good to the
receiver was, and still is, a popular Eastern conviction. It echoes from the
Book of Proverbs to the great new age into which the world is now
entering: “As a precious stone appeareth a prize in the eyes of him that
obtaineth it: whithersoever it turneth it prospereth.” (Proverbs XVII. 8.) The
blessedness of giving has always been lauded by the masters who
constantly enlarge on the magical power gained by the act, for, say they,
“God gives.”
The gem given should always be carefully considered especially in
accordance with the philosophy laid down in these pages which is held to
be a true presentation of ancient laws. The wish of the giver then, it is
assumed, is translated into the gem which expresses the wish, translated in
concrete form so that whenever the receiver gazes on it, realizes it, the wish
of good fortune begins to bear fruit and “whithersoever it turneth it
prospereth.” The Talmud relates that Abraham had a magical jewel which
he wore suspended about his neck; some writers state that it was a pearl that
would re-appear at the time of the Messiah; it was however his own natal
stone which, when worn, enabled him by the touch of his hand to heal the
sick—a practice which has endured, naturally with varied success, through
the ages.
The gem in the ring of Aaron was said to shine out brilliantly when the
Elohim favoured the nation; and we are told that when the gem and the
wearer were in harmony the brightness or otherwise of the stone would
indicate faithfully the conditions surrounding him. In the writings of Bishop
Epiphanius a fourth century ecclesiastic of Jewish descent, there is a
passage commenting on the Breastplate in which he repeats a still older
belief that the stones all turned red when war and defeat faced the Children
of Israel. Some Quabalistical writers maintain that various colours
indicating answers to the many questions asked were reflected from the
stones over the whole plate; others say that the stone having reference to the
tribe or to the direct question alone, gleamed out its special colour; thus, for
military triumph the symbol would be expressed by the beaming of the
Haematite; for bountiful production of the fruits of the earth the Emerald
would flash its message of comfort; for success in matters connected with
education the Marble would shine; for promise of a good water supply the
sparkle of the Chrysoprase would suffice; for the well-being of royalty the
illumination of the Sardonyx would promise well; for a good harvest the

Jasper would glisten; for success in negotiations with neighbouring nations
the gleaming of the Opal would augur well; for protection from epidemics
the glaring of the agate would be accepted as a favourable omen; for
prophetic truth the radiation of the Amethyst would stand; for the welfare of
cattle the Serpentine would vibrate; for the realization of hopes the Lapis
Lazuli would electrify like the deep blue of the Heavens in serene weather;
for success in secret negotiations the Crystal would throw off its flashes of
light.
According to the legends in the Targumin, Noah lit up the Ark with a
stone of marvellous brilliancy; this is considered by some students to denote
the Sun at noonday, by others it is called a Carbuncle. The Manna of the
wilderness, it is said, fell from Heaven accompanied by a rain of the most
precious and beautiful stones: this is merely an allegorical expression of the
“opening of the Heavens,” although some more material writers indicate a
fall of meteorites. Meteorites were held in especial reverence and were
termed BETHEL or House of God by the old Jews, and Baetylus by the
Greeks and Romans. They were assumed to carry all glorious influences
from the Heavenly spheres and to bear the blessings of God. Pliny mentions
a curious stone which he terms AMIANTHUS and which is not affected by
the action of fire. This substance, he says, effectually counteracts all
noxious spells, especially those wrought by magicians. It was considered a
bad mistake to barter for a talismanic gem, that being in itself a
crystallization of the sublime forces, and being holy does not admit of
barter. Pliny tells of Ismenius the great fluteplayer of his time, who loved to
display numbers of gems: he set his heart on obtaining a beautiful emerald
—his talismanic gem—on which was engraved a figure of Amymone (one
of the Danaides), the gem being offered for sale in Cyprus for six golden
denarii; he sent his messenger to purchase it for him, and this man on his
return informed Ismenius that the jeweller had agreed to take two golden
denarii less than was originally asked; on learning this the musician
exclaimed: “By Hercules, he has done me a bad turn in this, for the merit of
the stone has been greatly impaired by this reduction in price.”
The seven precious minerals of the Buddhists are stated by Sir Moiner-
Williams K. C. I. E. to be:
1. Gold.
2. Silver.
3. Pearls.

4. Sapphires or Rubies.
5. Catseyes.
6. Diamonds.
7. Corals.
The list varies and Lapis Lazuli is given instead of pearls by some
authors. There are also seven royal treasures amongst which is the jewel
stone NORBU which throws its rays for several miles on the darkest nights.
Apollonius of Tyana, described by Barrett as one of the most
extraordinary persons that ever appeared in the world, received during his
travels in India from the sage Iarchus seven rings each of which contained a
jewel symbolical of one of the planets. One of these he wore every day,
according to the planetary order of the days of the week, and to the virtue of
these gems—which Iarchus is stated to have received from Heaven—
Philostratus, the biographer of Apollonius, attributes his long life, his
strength and his attractions. The following were the gems inset in the rings
which Apollonius wore, one on each day of the week:

Sunday Day of the Diamond (In a ring of gold)
Sun
Monday Day of the Cloudy Crystal (? Moonstone) (In a ring of
Moon silver)
Tuesday Day of Mars Hæmatite (In a ring of iron)
Wednesday Day of Pink Jasper (In a ring of silver)
Mercury
Thursday Day of Carbuncle (In a ring of tin)
Jupiter
Friday Day of Coral (In a ring of bronze)
Venus
Saturday Day of Onyx (In a ring of lead)
Saturn

Justin Martyr had a deep reverence for this great disciple of Pythagoras
and in his writings he expresses wonder at the potency of the talismans of
Apollonius, which calm the fury of the sea, hold back the winds of Heaven,
cause wild animals to become tame;—“Our Lord’s miracles are held to us

only by tradition, but the miracles of Apollonius are uncountable almost,
and truly were evident enough to charm all those who saw them.”

CHAPTER VIII
STONES IN VARIOUS MYTHOLOGIES

THE DWELLING PLACE OF INDRA: THE SERPENT KING: THE CHARIOT OF SURYA:
SURYA’s TEMPLE: RAMA AND THE BRIDGE OF ADAM: THE AVATARAS: THE
TEMPLE CAVES OF KANHARI: NECKLACE OF THE KING OF MAABAR: JAIPAL’s
NECKLACE: THE BUDDHIST TWELVE HEAVENLY JEWELS: THE TREASURES: THE
OFFERINGS OF THE FOUR DEVA SAGAS: THE BLACK STONE OF MECCA: ROLAND
AND THE JEWEL OF THE FOREST KNIGHT: IRISH CHARM STONES: DENDRITES:
GARDEN CHARMS.

Meru or the North Pole, the abode of the great Indra who, according to
the Rigveda, “fixed firm the moving Earth, made tranquil the incensed
mountains, who spread the wide firmament, who consolidated the
Heavens,” is symbolically presented as a shining mountain of jewels and
precious metals.
The Lord of Patala (the infernal regions), Seshanaga, known as the King
of the Serpents, is pictured in the Bhagavad-Gita (Revelations) as:

"Of appearance gorgeous and brilliant. He has a thousand heads and on
each of them is set a crown of glittering gem stones. His neck is black, his
body is black and black are his tongues.
“Like torches gleam his eyes: yellow-coloured are the borders of his
robe: from each ear hangs a sparkling gem stone: his extended arms are
adorned with jewelled bracelets: his hands hold the holy shell, the radiant
weapon, the war mace and the lotus.”

Surya is the great Sun to whose chariot is harnessed seven green horses
driven by the charioteer Arun, the Dawn. In his account of the Temple of
Surya, Hort quotes the following from a very old traveller: “The walls were
of red marble interspersed with streaks of gold. On the pavement was an
image of the radiant Divinity, hardly inferior to himself in splendour: his
rays being imitated by a boundless profusion of rubies, pearls and diamonds

of inestimable value, arranged in a most judicious manner and diffusing a
lustre scarcely endurable by the sight.” The Hindu work AYEEN AKBERY
is also quoted by the same author. In it the temple of Surya is thus
described: “Near to Jaggernaut is the Temple of the Sun in the erecting of
which was expended the whole revenue of Orissa for twelve years. The wall
which surrounds the edifice is one hundred and fifty cubits high and
nineteen cubits thick: having three entrances. At the Eastern Gate are two
very fine figures of elephants, each with a man upon his trunk. On the West
are two surprising figures of horsemen completely armed, who having
killed two elephants are seated upon them. In front of that gate is an
octagonal pillar of black stone fifty cubits high. Nine flights of steps lead to
an extensive enclosure, in which is a large dome constructed of stone, upon
which are carved the Sun and the Stars: and around them is a border on
which is represented a variety of human figures expressive of different
passions: some kneeling, others prostrate: together with a number of
imaginary strange animals.”
Rama’s monkey army is said to have built a bridge of rocks, called the
Bridge of Adam, from the western point of India to Ceylon. Krishna, the
eighth Avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, is represented in magnificent dress
adorned with garlands of wild flowers and with strings of costly pearls
around his ankles. His complexion is blue, as is also the large bee usually
depicted flying above his head. The Avataras are all adorned with gems,
flowers and loose gauze cloaks interwoven with gold and silver and
colours, while they hold various symbols such as the Holy Shell, the axe,
rings, etc.
The antique Temple Caves of Kanhari at Salsette contain remarkable
stone carvings, some of the statues cut from the main rock being fifteen feet
high. Of these sacred figures some are adorned with helmets, others have
jewelled crowns, others great masses of hair. The famous necklace of the
King of Maabar was composed of rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and the
necklace taken from Jaipal, the Hindu King, by Mahmud (1001 A.D.) was
made up of pearls, rubies and various precious stones, the whole being
valued at over 500,000 dollars. These necklaces were regarded as religious
objects. Buddha was worshipped symbolically as a black square stone, and
the ancient Zodiac of the Buddhist has been known as the Twelve Heavenly
Jewels. This is symbolized as:
An antelope or horse (in the place of Aries)

A bull
Twins
Crab
Lion
Virgin
Scales
Scorpion
Bow and arrow (in the place of Sagittarius)
Elephant (in the place of Capricorn)
Waterbearer
Swastika (in the place of Pisces)
The Zodiacal Treasures of the King are:
The Elephant equalling Capricorn
The Horse equalling Aries
The Beautiful Jewel equalling Libra
The Wife equalling Virgo
Holy Guide of the House equalling Aquarius
The General equalling Sagittarius
The Swastika equalling Pisces

Mr. Samuel Beal, B.A.R.N., etc., gives the following account of the
offering of the Alms Dish in his “Buddhist Records of the Western World”:
“The four Deva Sagas coming from the four quarters each brought a golden
dish and offered it. The Lord sat silently and accepted not the offerings on
the ground that such a costly dish became not the character of a hermit. The
four Kings casting away the golden dishes offered silver ones. Afterwards
they offered vessels of Po-Chi (crystal), Liu-Li (Lapis Lazuli), Ma-Nao
(Carnelian), Ku-Chi (amber), Chin-Chu (ruby), and so on. The Lord of the
World would accept none of them. The four Kings then returned to their
palaces and brought as an offering stone patras of a deep blue colour and
translucent. On their again presenting these the Lord to avoid accepting one
and rejecting the others joined them all in one and thus accepted them.
Putting them one within the other the Lord made one vessel of the four.
Therefore four borders are to be seen on the outside of the rim of the dish.”

Black stones have been repeatedly mentioned in the history of man. We
have seen them in the transition of Aglauros, in the Buddhistic devotion,
and in the Biblical narratives. These Matsebah have been found engraved
with the twelve signs of the Zodiac, sometimes symbolized as the twelve
Gods of Assyria. Gramaldi in “Zodiacs and Planispheres” mentions a black
stone which exhibited ten out of the twelve zodiacal signs and ten decans
out of the thirty-six. It was found near the Tigris in Bagdad, and is perhaps
the oldest zodiacal monument extant, its date being set down at 1320 years
before the Christian era. But the most famous of all black stones is the
HAJER-ALASVAD which is now set into the south-east corner of the
KA’BAH. The story of this sacred relic is told very completely by Hadji
Khan and Wilfred Sparrey in “With the Pilgrims to Mecca”: Having
determined to form man in his own image, the Creator called the angels
Gabriel, Michael and Israfil, each at a different time, requesting that they
should bring for his purpose seven handfuls of earth from seven earth strata,
and seven colours. But the Earth cried out that the anger of God would one
day fall on her through the wickedness and folly of man, and so the angel
departed without accomplishing the work. God then sent the Angel Azrail
who, listening to no appeal, remorselessly carried out his divinely appointed
task. God then made Azrail the Angel of Death, who ever after separated the
souls of men from their useless bodies. The Earth was then set down
between Mecca and Tayef where, having been pressed to a proper degree by
the angels, it was shaped as a man by the Creator. The mass was then left
for 40 years, being visited only by the Angels. But the angel Edris who,
“from being of those that are nearest to God, became the Devil,” grew
furious because he knew that man was designed to be his master. So with a
vow that he would always oppose him, Edris kicked the image of earth
which responded with an empty sound. Then the Creator breathed into the
image His own Spirit and Man arose. He was given Paradise to inhabit, and
out of his left side Eve was taken. When Man fell and was found no longer
worthy of Eden, a peculiar stone fell too and, says the narrative, “this stone
became the most cherished possession of the Muhammadan world.” The
story continues: "It (the stone) was restored to Paradise at the Deluge, after
which it was brought back to earth by Gabriel and given to Abraham who
set it in the south-eastern corner of the Ka’bah which he is said to have
built. There it remained till the Karmatians overturned the fundamental
points of Islam, bearing it away in triumph to their capital. The citizens of

Mecca sought to redeem the stone by offering no less than 5000 pieces of
gold for it. The ransom was scornfully rejected by the impious sectaries.
Some 22 years later, however, they sent back the stone voluntarily, covering
their discomfiture by declaring it to be a counterfeit. The dismay of the
Meccans was allayed when they discovered that the stone would swim on
water, that being the peculiar quality of the stone they had lost; so they were
satisfied that the true one had been returned to them. At first the stone was
whiter than milk, but it grew to be black by the sins of mankind. All
believers, whatever may be the cause to which they attribute the change of
colour, agree that the defilement is purely superficial, the inside of the stone
being still as white as the driven snow. The silver box wherein it lies is
about twenty inches square and is raised a little more than five feet from the
ground. A round window having a diameter of some nine inches is kept
open to enable the pilgrims to kiss or touch the treasure within, the treasure
being known as “the right hand of God on Earth.” In colour it is a shining
black; in shape hollow like a saucer, presumably the result of the pressure
of devoted lips. If a pilgrim fails to touch the Stone he must make a
reverential salaam before it and pass on. Special prayers are also said. The
guide accompanying the authors recited the following lines from the
Fortuhul Haremeyn before leaving:

“Think not that the KA’BAH was made from the earth: in the body of the
world it took the place of the heart. And the stone you call the Black Stone
was itself a ball of dazzling light. In ages past the Prophet said it shone like
the crescent moon until at last the shadows falling from the sinful hearts of
those that gazed on it turned its surface black. Now since the amber gem
that came to the earth from Paradise with the Holy Ghost, has received such
impressions on itself what should be the impressions which our hearts
receive? Verily, whosoever shall touch it being pure of conscience, is like
unto him that has shaken hands with God.”

Other accounts state that the stone is about seven inches in diameter, oval
and irregular, made up of a number of smaller and variously sized pieces,
which inclines one to the opinion that it was at one time shattered by some
hard blow and afterwards put together again. The most recent descriptions
of the stone of Mecca agree that it is of a dark reddish-brown colour with a

brown border seemingly of pitch and small sand stones, the whole being set
in a band of silver.
The most wonderful thing regarding the history of this relic of Islam is
that one little stone, the Black Stone of Mecca, should have such powerful
attraction for over 222,000,000 of the inhabitants of the world.
Included in Guerber’s “Myths and Legends of the Middle Ages” is the
following story of Roland and the Jewel:
“Charlemagne learning that the Robber Knight of the Ardennes had a
precious jewel set in his shield called all his bravest noblemen together and
bade them sally forth separately with only a page as escort in quest of the
knight. Once found they were to challenge him in true knightly fashion, and
at the point of the lance win the jewel he wore. A day was appointed when,
successful or not, the courtiers were to return, and, beginning with the
lowest in rank, were to give a truthful account of their adventures while on
the quest. All the knights departed and scoured the Forest of the Ardennes,
each hoping to meet the robber knight and win the jewel. Among them was
Milon, accompanied by his son Roland, a lad of fifteen, whom he had taken
as page and armour-bearer. Milon had spent many days in vain search for
the knight when, exhausted by his long ride, he dismounted, removed his
heavy armour and lay down under a tree to sleep, bidding Roland keep
close watch during his slumbers. For a while Roland watched faithfully:
then, fired by a desire to distinguish himself he donned his father’s armour,
sprang on his steed and rode off into the forest in search of adventures. He
had not gone very far when he saw a gigantic horseman coming to meet
him and by the dazzling glitter of a large stone set in his shield he
recognized him to be the invincible Knight of the Ardennes. Afraid of
nothing, however, the lad laid his lance in rest when challenged to fight, and
charged so bravely that he unhorsed his opponent. A fearful battle on foot
ensued, each striving hard to accomplish the death of the other. But at last
the fresh young energy of Roland conquered and his terrible foe fell to the
ground in agony. Hastily wrenching the coveted jewel from the shield of the
dead warrior, the boy hid it in his breast. Then riding rapidly back to his
sleeping father he laid aside the armour and removed all traces of a bloody
encounter. Soon after Milon awoke and resumed the quest, when he came
upon the body of the dead knight. He was disappointed indeed to find that
another had won the jewel, and rode sadly back to court to be present on the
appointed day. In much pomp, Charlemagne ascended his throne amid the

deafening sound of trumpets. Then seating himself he bade the knights
appear before him. Each in turn told of finding the knight slain and the
jewel gone. Last of all came Milon. Gloomily he made his way to the
throne to repeat the story that had already been told so often. But as he went
there followed behind him with a radiant face young Roland, proudly
bearing his father’s shield in the centre of which shone the precious jewel.
At the sight of this all the nobles started and whispered that Milon had done
the deed. Then when he dismally told how he too had found the knight
dead, a shout of incredulity greeted him. Turning his head he saw to his
amazement that his own shield bore the gem. At the sight of it he appeared
so amazed that Charlemagne set himself to question Roland, and thus soon
learned how it had been obtained. In reward for his bravery in this
encounter Roland was knighted and allowed to take his place among the
paladins of the Emperor. Nor was it long before he further distinguished
himself, becoming to his father’s delight the most renowned among all that
famous company.”
The Irish Charm stones used to charm away vermin, are about one inch
in thickness and about four inches long. The Australian natives carried
magical stones which could never be seen by women.
Certain stones known as Dendrites exhibit markings which take the form
of trees, grass, moss, etc. (see Moss Agate). The ancients considered them
fortunate for prosperity in farming and in general affairs of life. Brigadier
General Kenneth Mackay mentions in his book, “Across Papua,” various
carved stones which were employed by the natives as garden charms.

CHAPTER IX
STONES AND THEIR STORIES

ABRAXAS STONES. These were stones used by the Gnostics or
Knowers who existed in the early ages of Christianity. “Amongst this
Christian philosophic sect,” writes King, “the figure of Abraxas was held in
high esteem. They used it as a teacher in obedience to whom they directed
their own peculiar transcendental inquiries and mystic doctrines: as a token
or password amongst the initiated to show that they belonged to the same
sect: as an amulet and talisman: and lastly as a seal for their documents.”
The figure of Abraxas was composed as follows: Cock’s Head, Human
Body, legs formed like serpents. In one hand he holds the whip of power, in
the other the shield of wisdom. These are the five mystical emanations
symbolically expressed—the Sun, the Inward Feelings, Awakened
Understanding, Dynamis (Force), Sophia (Wisdom). Basilides, the Egyptian
who is supposed to have founded the sect, is criticized in the writings of
Augustine because he “pretended the number of the Heavens to be 365, the
number of days in the year.” Hence he glorified a “sacred name” as it were,
namely the word ABRAXAS, the letters in which name, according to the
Greek methods of enumeration, make up that number. The principal
Abraxas stones were of Jasper, Plasma, Sard, Loadstone and Chalcedony.

ALECTORIUS. The Alectorius or as Camillus Leonardus has it, the
ALECTORIA, is said to be a stone never bigger than a large bean, which
stone is taken from a cock. When this stone becomes perfect, says
Leonardus, the bird will not drink.
The Alectorus is said to be a stone like Crystal, and very bright. It is
related that Milo of Croton, the great wrestler and strong man of the
ancients who lived in the year 520 B. C., carried a specimen with him
always and only lost his strength when he lost the stone. Its virtues were
many: it gave a wife favour in her husband’s eyes; it banished thirst,

bestowed eloquence and persuasive power, brought domestic peace,
harmony, victory and honour. As the stone is attached to the zodiacal
Scorpio it may have been a white topaz but identification is uncertain.

BEZOAR STONES

“Everything that frees the body from any ailment is called the Bezoar of that ailment.”
Leonardus, “Mirror of Stones.”

These stones the name of which is derived from the Persian PAD-ZAHR,
poison-expelling (Zahr, poison; Pad, to dislodge) are concretions found in
the stomach of the stag or goat, and are credited with great medicinal
virtues, being said to dislodge poisons and to remove poisonous diseases. In
India and Persia the belief in the virtue of Bezoars is very widespread; it is
said that those taken from the stomach of the wild goat of Persia (Caprea
Acyagros), especially if large specimens, are sold for their weight in gold.
Dr. Anthony Todd Thomson, M.D., quotes Garner, an old writer, who gives
the following curious origin of the Bezoar which he obtained from the
Arabians: “When the hart is sick and hath eaten many serpents for his
recoverie, he is brought into so great a heate that he hasteth to the water and
there covereth his body unto the very ears and eyes at which distilleth many
tears from which the stone (the Bezoar) gendered.” These Calculi are
composed chiefly of superphosphate of lime, but concretions of phosphate
of ammonia or magnesia are also found. The Bezoar was highly esteemed
as a remedy for diseases of the bladder and kidneys. Dr. Anthony Todd
Thomson says that the belief in the curative power of these Bezoars
“affords an addition to the many thousand proofs of the influence of mind
over body, and how truly efficacious Imagination may prove in removing
disease.”
It was usual to bind the Bezoar to the part affected where that was
possible. In China the MO-SOH or Bezoar was credited with the power of
renewing youth and bestowing beauty, and similar beliefs prevail in parts of
India. The Malays obtain this stone from monkeys and porcupines, and its
magical virtues are held in great esteem. Known as the GULIGA the Bezoar
is exported in great quantities from Sarawak to Hindustan especially, where
it is used as a remedy for asthma. It is said that the Guliga is procured from
a red-coloured monkey of the Semnopithecus species, and the Guliga

Landak which is rarer and more highly valued from the porcupine. Jean
Baptiste Tavernier (Baron d’Aubonne) during his travels in the East in the
17th century became acquainted with the Bezoar stone which he describes
in his writings. “Genuine stones,” it is stated, “if placed in the mouth spring
up and attach themselves to the palate, or if placed in water will make the
water boil.”

DRACONITE. The Draconite is described as a white brilliant gem which
must be cut from the head of a living dragon if its lustre and virtue are to be
retained. Philostrates writes that the seekers for the Draconite weave certain
letters in gold into a robe of scarlet and infuse opiates into the letters. The
Dragon lured out of his cave by musical charm succumbs to the power of
the soporific robe. Immediately he does so the Indians rush on him and
cutting off his head take from it gems of bright hues and indescribable
virtues. But a dragon has often seized the man and his weapons and drawn
him into his den. The Draconite is associated with the zodiacal Scorpio and
is partly, if not wholly, symbolic.

ENHYDROS or HYDROLITE. This is a well-known water stone and
within its crystal cover water can usually be seen clearly. Marbodus says
that this stone “ceaseless tears distils.” The Enhydros is said to be a cure for
gout and affections of the feet, and a charm for bestowing inspiration and
clearness of thought. The water contained within the Enhydros is said to be
highly poisonous if taken internally. The stone is under the zodiacal Pisces.

GNOSTIC STONES. Besides the figure of the mystic Abraxas the
talismanic stones of the Gnostics were engraved with various devices. A
large loadstone in the King collection is engraved with a figure of Venus
dressing her long hair. Venus stands for the mystic Sophia or Achamoth and
as such represents Truth.

IRIS. The “Iris resplendent with the crystal’s sheen” which the “swarthy
Arabs glean” is now known as Rainbow Quartz. The iridescence is
produced by the reflection of light from the cracks in the stone. The same
effect is produced if the crystal is first subjected to heat and then plunged
quickly into cold water. The Iris obtained its name from the beautiful
companion of Juno, who travelled on the rainbow with wings extended

clothed in glorious colours, radiant lights around her head. She was the
guide and helper of the souls of women released from their bodies.

LAPIS ARMENUS, or Armenian Stone, is a copper carbonite used as a
medicine against infection. It is related in Arab books that a solution of this
substance will retain its power for 10 years. In the East copper has been
long used as a safeguard against cholera, and it has been observed that
workers in copper mines have enjoyed immunity from the disease. Dr.
Richard Hughes notes the value of copper in Asiatic cholera, adding:
“There is now abundant evidence of its efficacy both among the workers in
the metal and in those who have worn a plate of it next the body during the
prevalence of the epidemic.” The Lapis Armenus, like all copper
compositions, is under the rulership of the planet Venus.

LAPIDES FULMONIS. These Thunder stones which are believed to be
formed by the lightning in the clouds (see Obsidian) are known by the
peasants of Calabria as CUOGNI DI TRUONI. The traditional belief is that
they are plunged by the lightning stroke six feet into the earth and that
every time it thunders they are drawn one foot nearer the surface. After the
sixth or seventh thunder storm it is said that the stones are raised to the
surface. The peasants test them by suspending them above a fire, attached to
a blue thread; if the thread does not burn the stone is adjudged a true
thunder stone and is carefully treasured as a potent talisman against the
lightning stroke.

LAPIS MEMPHITICUS. This stone of Memphis is described as a
sparkling round body of about the size of a hazel-nut. It is mentioned by
Pliny as deadening the pain of surgical operations if taken in wine and
water beforehand. If it be reduced to powder and applied, according to
Dioscorides, as an ointment to that part of the body to which a surgeon was
about to apply either fire or the knife, it produced insensibility to pain. This
is an early instance of the recorded action of a local anaesthetic.

LUZ or LUEZ. This is said to be a stone or indestructible bone in the
human backbone. Dr. John Lightfoot, a great Hebraic scholar of the 17th
century, details the following legend:

“How doth a man revive in the world to come?” was asked by the
Emperor Hadrian of Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah. “From Luz in the
backbone,” he made reply and then went on to demonstrate this to the
Emperor. He took the bone Luz and put it into water, but the water had no
action on it. He put it in the fire but the fire consumed it not. He placed it in
a mill, but could not grind it. He laid it on an anvil, but the hammer crushed
it not."

MANDARIN’S JEWELS. Each of the nine Khioupings or Mandarins of
China proclaims his rank by a distinctive button of about an inch in
diameter worn at the top of his cap and distinguishing dress and insignia.
The chief officers wear a ruby on the cap. They are divided into civilian and
military sections.
The military wear a robe on which is embroidered a unicorn, the girdle
being adorned with a jade clasp set in rubies. The civilian mandarin is
distinguished by a crane embroidered on both back and front of the robe.
Those of the second order wear a coral button in their caps. The military
are distinguished by an embroidered lion and a gold girdle clasp inset with
rubies, the civilian by a golden pheasant.
Those of the Third Order wear a sapphire in the cap. The Military display
a leopard and a clasp of wrought gold, the Civilian a peacock.
Those of the Fourth Order wear an opaque blue stone in the cap. The
Military display on their robes a tiger and silver button clasp, the Civilian a
wild goose.
Those of the Fifth Order have their caps adorned with a crystal, the
Military their robes with a bear and a plain gold clasp with silver button, the
Civilian a silver pheasant.
Those of the Sixth Order wear on their caps an opaque white shell. The
Military adorn their robes with a tiger-cat and clasp of mother-of-pearl, the
Civilian with an egret.
Those of the Seventh Order wear on their caps a wrought gold button.
The Military robe displays a bear and has a silver clasp, the Civilian a
Mandarin duck.
Those of the Eighth Order wear a plain gold button on their caps. The
Military have on their robes a seal and a horn clasp, the Civilian a quail.
Those of the Ninth Order wear on their caps a silver button. The Military
are distinguished by a rhinoceros and a clasp of buffalo horn, the Civilian

by a long-tailed jay.

MEDIAN STONE. This is a mysterious gem, possibly symbolic, which
is described as of black colour. Marbodus says “’Tis white to heal us, black
to slay our foes.” It would then be symbolical of Black and White Magic.

MOLOCHITE. Mr. King is of the opinion that the Molochite is clear
green jade, and so he agrees with Pliny’s description of the stone, “opaque
of hue with the vivid green of the emerald.” Its virtue protected babies from
harm, gave luck and beauty and opposed the spite of witchcraft.

OPHITES. Ophites or Snake Stones are stones of black or grey colour
described by Orpheus as “black, hard, weighty, portentous balls surrounded
by furrowed lines in many a mazy bend.” It is variously described. There
are in India snake charmers called Sampoori who assert that they can
extract the snake stone from the head of a snake, but these assertions are
unfavourably commented upon by some Indian authors. Still, it has been
shown by Sir J. Tennent in his work on “Ceylon” and by Buckland in
“Curiosities of Natural History” that some striking cures from snake bite
have ostensibly been effected by the use of a so-termed snake stone which
is said to absorb the poison if applied to the bite with a little blood before
the poison has had time to invade the system. Some authentic cures are
quoted, notably that of a man bitten by a Cobra; in this case the man was
saved by “two small snake stones the size of a large pea.” The snake stone,
it is said, clings for a short time to the wound and then drops off. It is
reported to be composed of some vegetable substance; the Cobra stone,
according to Farraday, the distinguished chemist, is but charred bone filled
with blood a number of times and then again charred. In England and
Scotland snake stones strung together used to be given to cattle to chew if
bitten by vipers. The stone was considered to be a very potent charm against
the evil blasts of occult forces. Albertus Magnus carried a stone which
guarded against epidemics, evil magic and the bites of serpents, and by the
aid of which he was able to attract serpents.

ORITE. This stone is described as black and round. If mixed with the oil
of roses it will cure fatal wounds, protect from wild animals and prevent
childbirth.

OVUM ANGUINUM. The Ovum Anguinum is described by Pliny as a
Druidic badge the size of an apple, surrounded by a gristly crust covered
with protuberances like the suckers on the arms of a cuttle fish. The story
goes that at a certain season of the year a crowd of snakes are found
intertwined and bearing above them the magical Ovum, which the hunter
had to catch in some soft material before it tumbled to earth, for if it did so
it would lose its power. As soon as the hunter seized the magic stone the
serpents rushed after him and his fate was sealed if they reached him before
he crossed a flowing stream.

PANDARBES. Philostratus relates how Chariclea escaped unharmed
from the funeral pyre on which she was condemned to perish by the jealous
Arsace by secretly wearing the wonderful ring of King Hydrastes. In this
ring was set a stone called Pandarbes which was engraved as a talismanic
charm against the fury of fire.

PANTHEROS. It is probable from the description, given by old writers,
that it was a mottled brown Egyptian Jasper Opal. It was said to protect the
wearer from enemies, wild animals and fear, which last, according to the
healthy philosophy of the Rosicrucians, is the greatest of the vices and the
gateway of weakness and failure.

PHILOSOPHER’S STONE. The Philosopher’s Stone is also known as
Lapis Philosophorum, the Eye of the Philosophers, the Egg of the
Philosophers. French writers call it “Pierre Philosophale,” and German
writers “Der Stein der Weisen.” In the Rosicrucian mysteries it is known as
“The Stone of the Wise,” “The Sacred Stone,” “The Stone of Wisdom,” etc.
In spite of the assertions made by over-sanguine critics as to the fallacy of
the Philosopher’s Stone on the material plane, scientists—mystic and
material—have never ceased to search for a substance so precious. Phillips
(Transmutation of Metals, 1702) says that “this transmutation is what the
Alchymists call the Grand Operation or Secret of finding the Philosopher’s
Stone which they give out to be so curious an Universal seed of all metals.
If any metal be liquefied in a vessel, and this ‘Power of Perfection’ be
thrown into the mass it will transform it into gold or silver.”
Some of the philosophers call it “The Stone,” Noster Lapis, “The
Sublime Stone,” “Our Stone.” It is related that King Henry VI granted “4

successive Patents and Commissions” to several knights and Mass Priests to
find “The Philosopher’s Stone.” In his recent work on Alchemy, H. Stanley
Redgrove, B.Sc., F.C.S., etc., writes: “We must not assume that because we
know not the method now, real transmutations have never taken place.
Modern research indicates that it may be possible to transmute other metals
(more especially silver) into gold, and consequently we must admit the
possibility that, amongst the many experiments carried out, a real
transmutation was effected.” Timbs (Alchemy and Chemistry) emphasizes
the fact that many of the opinions of the alchemists have been vindicated.
He specially notes the condition of Allotropism or the quality which certain
bodies possess of assuming two marked phases of chemical and physical
existence. “This shatters the opinion,” he writes, “on which our absolute
repudiation of the doctrine of transmutation was based.” Dr. Colange
explains Allotropy as that branch of chemical science which takes account
of the different sets of properties possible to one and the same body.
Organic solids occur under one of the three conditions, viz., the crystalline,
as the diamond; the vitreous, as glass; the amorphous or shapeless, as clay,
chalk, etc. But there are many bodies any one of which without undergoing
a change in chemical composition may yet appear under one of the above
three conditions with striking changes in physical and even chemical
properties while still retaining, so to speak, its chemical identity. Thus,
ordinary white phosphorus may by the application of heat be converted into
a hard amorphous substance which is its allotrophic form. An excellent
paper on “Allotrophy or Transmutation” was read before the British
Association at Sheffield, England, a few years ago by Dr. Henry M. Howe.
In it Dr. Howe dealt at greater length with what has been previously
advanced on the subject. Since the discovery of Radium and the extensive
experiments of the late Sir William Ramsay, Mr. Cameron and others in the
department of transmutation and disintegration, modern science has
projected itself into the Halls of Alchemy and has joined hands with its
parent science to search for that which the world of a few years back
regarded with ignorant ridicule. In the space at disposal it is impossible to
enter into details of the numerous accounts of successful alchemy recorded.
A number of these will be found in Dr. Franz Hartmann’s works and in the
excellent works on the subject by H. Stanley Redgrove and others. Perhaps
the case noticed by Dr. Franz Hartmann is one of the most romantic. It
came before the court at Leipsig on August 9th, 1715 and is reported in the

acts of the judicial faculty of that town. A gentleman came late one night to
the Castle of Tankerstein where the Countess of Erbach resided. He said
that having accidentally killed a deer which belonged to the Palatine of
Palatia he was being pursued, and therefore he asked protection. The
Countess hesitated, but being impressed with the stranger’s appearance she
ordered that a room be given him. He remained in the castle several days,
and then being granted an interview with the Countess, he thanked her for
her protection in return for which he offered to transmute all her silver into
gold. The lady was incredulous but, her curiosity overcoming her, she gave
the stranger a silver tankard which he melted and with a stone transmuted
into gold. The Countess sent the gold to a goldsmith in the town, who
having tested it pronounced it to be the purest gold. After this she asked the
adept to transmute all her silver into gold. This he did and receiving the
lady’s thanks as he tendered his own, departed. The Countess’s husband, a
great spendthrift, serving as an officer abroad, hearing that his wife by some
means had suddenly become wealthy returned home quickly. He demanded
the gold for himself but the Countess would not surrender it. Thereupon the
Count brought his wife before the Court, claiming that as Lord of the
territory (Dominus Territorii) on which the Castle belonging to his wife was
built, all treasure found upon the land was his. He asked that the Court
should order the gold to be sold and that after new silver had been
purchased for his wife the balance of the money be paid to him. The
defence urged that as the gold had been artificially produced it could not
come under a law relating to buried treasure; again that the silver had been
transmuted into gold for the sole benefit of the Countess. The Court was
asked to allow the lady to retain the gold thus obtained and judgment was
given in her favour.

A Perfect Specimen of the English Gold Noble (1344) in the
Kelsey I.
Newman Collection. Traditionally Stated to have been Made
from Alchemical Gold]

Some years ago a medal was exhibited in the Imperial Treasury in
Vienna, which had been partly transmuted into gold by the stone used by
the monk Wenzel Seiler who had been ennobled by Leopold I with the title
Wenzeslaus Ritter von Reinburg. Recent tragic events make its present
whereabouts doubtful. It is traditionally stated that the true Philosopher’s
Stone was hung in the Ark by Noah to give light to life and radiance to the
world after the Flood-darkness. This legend is a parable expressing the
highest truth, for the Philosopher’s Stone that carries light into the darkness
of materialism is the true Stone of the Wise. Among the discoveries made in
the search for the Philosopher’s Stone the following are given by Dr.
Brewer; the invention of Dresden porcelain by Botticher, that of gun
powder by Roger Bacon, of the properties of acids and various substances
by Prince Geber, of the nature of gases by Van Helmont, of salts by Dr.
Glauber, etc.

POLISH STONES, POLAND STONES, POLES’ STONES. It has
frequently been stated that the Poles originated the wearing of birth stones,
but this practice is a very remote one and was recommended by ancient
philosophers long before the Polani came to Polska. The Poles are naturally
gifted with fine imagination and psychic intuition, therefore they readily
absorbed the spiritual philosophies of the Jewish wanderers who received

asylum in Poland. The fondness of the Poles for beautiful gems is
proverbial and the spread of the knowledge of the occult virtues found to
exist in these beautiful crystallizations was more marked in Polska than in
any other country. It is also not to be wondered at that so many of the lists
given are incorrect. In this book an endeavour is made to set right the many
errors that have so naturally crept in. Usually the Poland Stones are
doubtfully classified as follows:

THE MONTHS
January Garnet, emblem of constancy.
February Amethyst, emblem of sincerity.
March Bloodstone, emblem of courage.
April Diamond, emblem of innocence.
May Emerald, emblem of love success.
June Agate, emblem of health and longevity.
July Carnelian, emblem of contentment.
August Sardonyx, emblem of married happiness.
September Chrysolite, emblem of protection from
insanity.
October Opal, emblem of hope.
November Topaz, emblem of fidelity.
December Turquoise, emblem of prosperity.

The emblems of the stones are fairly correct.

THE
PLANETS
Saturn Lead Turquoise
Jupiter Tin Carnelian
Mars Iron Emerald
Sun Gold Diamond
Venus Copper Amethyst
Mercury Quicksilver Loadstone
Moon Silver Crystal

The metals of the planets are correctly given and do not appear ever to
have been disputed. The Turquoise of Saturn is correctly the Odontolite or
Bone Turquoise. The Emerald is a stone of Venus, the Amethyst a stone of
Jupiter, the Loadstone a stone of Mars. The Crystal has often been admitted
as influenced by the Moon although it is more acceptable for quabalistic
considerations to identify it with Neptune.

THE ZODIAC
1. Aries Ruby
2. Taurus Topaz
3. Gemini Carbuncle
4. Cancer Emerald
5. Leo Sapphire
6. Virgo Diamond
7. Libra Jacinth
8. Scorpio Agate
9. Sagittarius Amethyst
10. Capricorn Beryl
11. Aquarius Onyx
12. Pisces Jasper

The confusion here is very marked and the reader is referred to the
chapters dealing with the High Priest’s Breastplate.

RINGS BEARING STONES OF INVISIBILITY. Perhaps the most
famous of these rings is the ring of Gyges, the shepherd King of Lydia,
described by Plato and Herodotus. When the stone was turned inwards the
wearer was rendered invisible. By its aid Gyges assassinated King
Candaules and seized his wife and children. It is related that Otnit, King of
Lombardy, wore a ring given him by his mother, which had power similar
to the ring of Gyges, as well as the special virtue of preventing the wearer
from losing his way. Nizami, the poet of Persia in the early 13th century,
tells the story of a shepherd, a story similar to that of King Gyges. Another
ring of invisibility is the ring of Eluned or Sunet in the old romance of
Ywaine and Gawaine.

RING OF POPE INNOCENT III. It is related by Matthew Paris that
Pope Innocent III, well knowing the love that the English King John had for
jewels, sent to him four gold rings set with precious stones. The Pope
comments on the emblematical character of the gift, saying: “The rotundity
of the rings signifies eternity, for we pass through time to eternity. The
number four which is a square number indicates the firmness of mind which
is neither depressed in adversity nor elated in prosperity. It signifies the four
virtues which make up constancy of mind, viz., justice, fortitude, prudence,
temperance. The material signifies wisdom from on high which is as gold
purified in the fire. The greenness of the Emerald moreover denotes faith;
the blueness of the Sapphire, hope; the redness of the Garnet, charity; the
brightness of the Topaz, good works. In the Emerald, therefore, you have
what to believe, in the Sapphire what to hope for, in the Garnet what to
love, and in the Topaz what to practise. So that you ascend from one virtue
to another until you see the Lord in Zion.”

RING OF REYNARD. In the story of Reynard the Fox, said to have been
written by Hinreck van Alckmer though in reality it was written in the 15th
century by Hermann Barkhusan of Rostock, Reynard believes himself
possessed of a famous ring set with stones of red, white and green. The
white stone cured all diseases, the red rendered night as bright as day, and
the green made the wearer invincible. The story introduces Rabbi Abron of
Trent who was wise above men, who spoke every language and knew the
nature of every kind of herb, animal, and precious stone.

RING OF SOLOMON. Solomon, according to Rabbinical tradition,
gazed on the stone of his ring and immediately knew everything concerning
worldly affairs and much concerning heavenly. This ring is the subject of
many legends.

ROCK CRYSTALLIZATIONS. Certain hair-like substances are found
enclosed in crystals. They are also termed “penetrating minerals” and
comprise Rutile, Asbestus, Actinolite and Tourmaline. These acicular
crystals are called in France Flèches d’Amour (Love’s Arrows). They are
also known as Venus’s Hair Stone, Thetis’s Hair Stone, Pencils of Venus,
Cupid’s Arrows, Cupid’s Net, The Goddess’s Tresses, etc. These specimens
cut and polished are interesting and beautiful, and have always been

esteemed as charm stones for ensuring a growth of beautiful hair, for
beauty, for grace, for skill and fascination in dancing, etc.

SAGDA. A mysterious ocean stone which fixes itself to the keels of
ships. A protection against shipwreck, it will cling to the ship so long as the
timbers are not cut. It is said to be of dark green colour, similar to Prase.

SAKHRAT. The Mohammedans say that the Sakhrat is a marvelous stone
of green colour which reflects the deep blue tints on the crystal vapours of
the heavens. The possession of the merest fragment of this holy stone
bestows on the possessor the knowledge of all the secrets of the Universe.

SALAMANDER’S WOOL. Asbestos is so termed. It is also known as
Mountain Flax, and is believed by the Tartars to be the root of a tree.

SARCOPHAGUS. The word is derived from the Greek SARX,
SARKOS, flesh, and PHAGO, to eat. A stone found at Assos in Troas. Used
by the ancients, it was said to consume an entire dead human body with the
exception of the teeth in 40 days. It was known as Lapis Assius, and is
noted by Pliny. Sarcophagi were generally employed throughout the ancient
world.

SAURITE. The Saurite is said to be a stone cut from a green lizard with a
sharp reed knife.

SCORPION STONE. This may have been a stone of the agate class but
its composition is obscure. It is mentioned by Orpheus who says that if the
hunter Orion had known of its existence he would have given all the stars to
gain this remedy for his fiery pain. It healed the wounds of arrows, the
stings of insects and the bite of the scorpion.

TOAD STONE. That the toad “wears a precious jewel in his head” was a
profound belief in the Middle Ages, and a belief much commented upon in
the works of writers of that period. Francis Barrett states that the stone of
the toad was a cure for toothache. It was also given as an antidote for
poison. In this latter connection it is said that if set in an open setting and
worn on the finger it burnt the skin if poison were near. According to
Fenton, a writer of the 16th century, “There is to be found in the heads of

old and great toads a stone they call Borax or Stelon, which being used as
rings gives forewarning against venom.” The toad was believed to have a
natural fear of man, throwing out poison at the sight of him. In some parts
of the world the stone is said to be extracted from the head by numerous
cunning means. It is generally described as a species of black pebble. One
of the special virtues of the Toadstone was to protect children from
molestation by the fairies. It was also a cure for diseased kidneys and
stomach disorders. According to Praetorius, the Prince of Alveschleben was
given a ring of this land by a Kobold Brownie or Nixe as a house talisman
to safeguard the fortunes of his family. A large toad is said to have dropped
a black stone on to the bed of the wife of the Elector of Brandenburg after
the birth of her son. Friedrich Wilhelm I ordered his jeweller to set the stone
in a ring, which ring has always been worn by the head of the House of
Hohenzollern as a symbol of prosperity, protection and good fortune. It was
recently stated that the loss of this toadstone during the war was regarded as
an evil omen for the ruling house.

WORLD STONE. The World Stone or Axial Loadstone of the Earth is
included in the philosophic mysteries of the old Rosicrucians.

CHAPTER X
THE GREATEST CHARMS IN THE WORLD

“A deceased King is said to have entered the boat of the Sun in the form
of the scarab.”
Dr. Wallis Budge.

We will now turn to the ancient land of Egypt and dwell awhile on the
sacred Scarabaeus which was, without doubt, the most popular and
venerated charm of antiquity. The Scarab was a copy in steatite, faience,
obsidian, gold, beryl, crystal, haematite, cornelian, jasper, amethyst,
turquoise, lapis lazuli, granite, serpentine and other stones, of the large
black beetle, scarabaeus sacer. It was known in ancient Egypt as Khepera
(he who turns), and besides symbolizing the eternal return of the Sun after
the passing of the night reign, it represented the everlasting progress of life
and as such was not only inserted in the position of the heart in the bodies
of the dead but was placed in the tombs also. It was worn by those living on
earth as a symbol of everlasting life and good luck, being specially prepared
as a talisman by the priests of the various temples. The Greeks called it the
Cantharus or Heliocantharus, the Latins the Scarabaeus. Throughout Egypt
this sign of immortality was ever before the people. It was used in
government offices bearing the Pharaoh’s cartouche (oval case in which his
name was inscribed), was carried in battle by soldiers, was worn by the
people generally throughout the land. It entered into their very lives,
reminding them of the power of the deathless spirit, ever progressive, active
and vital, moulding dull matter to its will. Hence the scarab was the ideal
luck charm, the mere sight of which reminded man of his divine origin, and
it was said that the soul of Ra impressed the seemingly inert matter which
made up the scarab, giving it a life which ages could not destroy.

Generally strange stories connected with scarabs are explained in every
way but the correct one. The ancient Egyptians were until the time of their
decline essentially a religious people, and their knowledge of the continuity
of life may be one reason for their existence as a nation for so many
thousands of years—an existence only terminated by excess of luxury and
the dominance of materialism by which so many great nations have been
destroyed.
Four diverse species of the scarabaeus or Ateuchus Sacer have been
identified in the hieroglyphical inscriptions, viz., 1. Ateuchus
Semipunctatus; 2. Ateuchus Laticollis; 3. Ateuchus Morbillosus; 4.
Ateuchus Puncticollis. Professor Flinders Petrie recognizes other varieties
of beetles. Misses Brodrick and Norton, in their useful and concise
“Dictionary of Egyptian Archaeology,” observe: “The Scarabaeus is
remarkable for the peculiar position and shape of its hind legs which are
placed very far apart and at the extreme end of the body. This is to enable
the insect to roll the ball of refuse containing its eggs into some place of
safety. At first these balls are soft and shapeless, but as they are pushed
along by the scarab’s hind legs they become firm and round, and increase in
size until they are sometimes an inch and a half in diameter. This insect is
looked upon by the Arabs as an emblem of fertility.”
The Egyptians saw in the number of its toes (thirty) the days of the
month; and the time it took to deposit its ball was compared to a lunar
month. The passage of the ball was compared to the sun and its operation
on the earth. Being regarded as of the male sex only, the scarabaeus
symbolized, according to Horapollo, the self-begotten, the self-created. The
god Khepera is the father of all the gods, the self-created one identified with
the god NEB-ER-TCHER. A hieratic papyrus in the British Museum is thus
translated by Dr. Wallis Budge: “I developed myself from the primeval
matter which I made. My name is Osiris, the germ of primeval matter. I
have worked my will to its full extent in this earth, I have spread abroad and
filled it.... I uttered my name as a word of power from my own mouth and I
straightway developed myself by evolutions. I evolved myself under the
form of the evolutions of the god Khepera and I developed myself out of
the primeval matter which has evolved multitudes of evolutions from the
beginning of time. Nothing existed in this earth (before me). I made all
things. There was none other who worked with me at that time. I made all

evolutions by means of that soul which I raised up there from inertness out
of the watery matter.”

Large Scarab
William Howat Collection

Rare Scarab of Rameses II, a Famous Pharaoh of the Bible
Mrs. C. G. King’s Collection

Rare Antique Scarab of Black Jasper
Talismanic Charm—Mercury, Guardian
of Sailors
Mrs. C. G. King’s Collection

Large numbers of funereal scarabs have been discovered in different
substances, the best being formed from a hard green basalt or a serpentine.
These were suspended on a gold wire from the neck of the mummy, or
attached to a heart on which were the symbols for life, immovability,
preservation.
Ornamental scarabs were very largely worn. Dr. Wallis Budge says of
these: “By an easy transition the custom of placing scarabs on the bodies of
the dead passed to the living, and men and women wore the scarab probably
as a silent act of homage to the Creator of the world who was not only the
god of the dead but of the living also.”
It has been suggested that scarabs were used for exchange or barter, but
Mr. Percy E. Newbury (“Scarabs”) points out that such contention “is not
supported by the inscriptions or by any of the scenes depicted in the
monuments.” He continues: “But we do find that during the Hyksos period
(circa 1700 B.C.) and later under Amenhetep III (circa 1400 B.C.), the
Khetem or ‘seal’ is given as a measure of value, although here it is probable
that it was not the seal itself that is meant but the impression of it upon
another substance. Polyaemus relates that the Athenian general Timotheus,
being in want of money to pay his troops, issued his own ‘seal’ for coin, this
substitute being accepted by the traders and market people, trusting in his
honour. This can only mean that impressions of his signet on clay or some
other substance were put into circulation as representatives of value and
were so received by the sellers. It is in the impression of a seal or stamp
upon a piece of gold or other metal that we have the origin of coined
money.” The inscriptions, mottoes and symbols on the Egyptian scarabs are
diverse and numerous. A large number have the names of the Kings,

Queens, members of the Royal Household, Public Officers, etc. One rare
specimen in the British Museum is adorned with the name of the very
ancient King NEB-KA-RA; another has the name KHUFU. M. de Morgan
describes one of Lapis Lazuli bearing the name NE-MAAT-RA
(Amanemhat III) found at Dahshur. The Cairo Museum has a beautiful
Queen’s scarab, found also at Dahshur, on which is “The Royal Wife who is
joined to the Beauty of the White Crown.” Many bear the seal of the
famous Thothmes III (MEN-KHEPER-RA), the Rameses, Shashanq, and
all the kings of Egypt. The Queen of Amenhetep is called on the scarabs
“The Royal Wife Thyi,” and “The Great Divine Wife Thyi beloved of Isis.”
Amenhetep IV is inscribed “Lord of the Sweet Wind.” The Queen of
Rameses II is immortalized as “The Royal Wife UR-MAAT-NEFERU-RA,
daughter of the Great Chief of the Kheta.” The horse of Amenhetep II is
shown in a scarab of yellow jasper with his name “Firm of Heart”; this
scarab is now in the British Museum. Many have inscriptions denoting
office, such as “The Royal Sealer and General, SA-NAB,” “The
Superintendent of the Meat Department, HOR-ANKH,” “The Scribe of the
Army, NEFER-IU,” “The Director of Stores, SEHETEP-AB-RA,” “The
Chief Secretary of the Great Prison, SA-SEBEK,” “The Superintendent of
the Labour Bureau, ANTEF,” “The Superintendent of the Royal Temple,
AAHMES,” “The Mayor of Heliopolis, BEN son of MA,” “The
Superintendent of the Gold Workers, HAAIU,” “The Superintendent of the
Granary of Amen, AAHMES,” “The Hereditary Mayor and Priest,” “The
Governor of the Royal City,” “The Vezir Paser.”
On some motto and charm scarabs are ANKH NEFER, Life and Beauty;
NEFER MAA, Beauty and Truth; An Eye; Two Fish; A Fish and a Scorpion
(perhaps astrological); The Lotus; Flowers; Monkeys; Uraei, etc. Besides
these there are the famous Heart Scarabs, Mystic Scarabs, and those known
as Hunting and Historical Scarabs. But whatever the Scarab has stood for, it
was primarily a symbol of good fortune, long life and divine protection. Its
universal popularity has made it the greatest charm in the world. So great
was its fame that it travelled beyond the Egyptian borders to other lands.
Next to Egyptian, the most famous scarabs were those of Phoenicia
(especially in green jasper), those of Greece, and those of the Etruscans
who carved them out of hard stones such as the Sard, Agate and Carnelian,
engraving them with exquisite figures, in fine intaglio style, usually of the
gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, sometimes accompanied by Etruscan

inscriptions or words and encircled with an engrailed or guilloche margin.
When we consider the Egyptian Priests’ practice of speaking “words of
power” into these scarabs, we have cause for additional wonder at the
recorded act of the great Law-Giver in striking the rock instead of speaking
to it, as he had been commanded.

PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS GEMS
ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

CHAPTER XI
AGATE-AMAZONITE

AGATE

“By the rushing fringed bank
Where grows the willow and the osier dank
My sliding chariot stays,
Thick set with agate.”
Milton.

The name occurs as agath, agget, agot, agat, agett, agott, aggat, aggot,
achate, etc. The great Greek philosopher and scientist, Theophrastus, in his
writings “Of stones,” says that the agate obtained its name from the river
Achates—now known as the Drillo—in Sicily, because near its banks the
first specimens were found. Dr. Bochart derived the name from the Hebrew
word NAKAD, meaning “spotted.” Most authorities agree that this stone
was the eighth stone in the Breastplate of the High Priest and that it was
known in Hebrew as SHEBO. In Rabbinical writings there is an allegorical
story of the discussion in Heaven of the import of the lines in Isaiah (Chap.
54 v. 12) “And I will make thy windows of agates,” but it is a matter of
considerable doubt if the Hebrew word KADKOD can correctly be
rendered agate. In the controversy between Judah and Ezekiel, sons of
Rabbi Hayya, in the same writings the former calls it a beryl, the latter a
jasper, and the voice of God said “Kadkod will include both of these,” in
allusion to the unity of all things.
The agate is a variegated chalcedonic variety of quartz, formed of
successively attracted coloured layers, and is remarkable for the beauty and
peculiarity of the patterns. Lines or bands run through the stone: when these
are straight or ribbony the agate is called the “ribbon agate”; when they are
zigzag it is known as the “fortification agate” because of its resemblance to

a fortification; when the lines follow the form of an eye the term “eye
agate” is often employed. In this last form it was considered an excellent
instrument for the seer or prophet to hold, as it symbolized the third eye
now known as the Pineal Body. Clearly the gray tint of the eye of stone
approaches in colour the matter of the human eye. The importance of this
peculiar organ, which lies upon the corpora quadrigemina of the brain in
front of the cerebellum, was held in great respect by ancient scholars who
regarded it as the organ of occult sight, of inner perception and intuition.
This hidden eye is bigger in a child than in an adult, and in the woman it is
bigger than in the man. There is little doubt that the ancients regarded these
markings on the agate stone as symbolic of the faculties of the high spirit of
man, of prosperity in peace, and protection in war. The ring of Pyrrhus is
recorded by Pliny as representing in its natural colours Apollo with his lyre
standing amongst the nine Muses, each with her correct attribute. The
Muses and their attributes as indicated in their statues are as follows:

1. Calliope, the muse of epic poetry. A tablet and stylus, or a roll of
paper.
2. Clio, the muse of history. An open scroll.
3. Euterpe, the muse of lyric poetry. A flute.
4. Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. A tragic mask, the club of Hercules
or a sword.
5. Terpsichore, the muse of choral dance and song. A lyre and the
plectrum.
6. Erato, the muse of erotic poetry. The lyre.
7. Polyhymnia, the muse of sublime hymn. Pensive and meditative,
carries no attribute.
8. Urania, the muse of astronomy. Staff and globe.
9. Thalia, the muse of comedy or idyllic poetry. A comic mask, a
shepherd’s staff or a wreath of ivy.

The Rev. C. W. King mentions that agates are still found “adorned with
designs which one feels the greatest difficulty in admitting to be the mere
fortuitous result of the arrangement of their shaded strata, so exactly does
that result imitate the finished production of art.” He instances the
“Egyptian Pebble” in the British Museum which shows the head of the poet
Chaucer covered with the hood, a faithful portrait even more remarkable

when it is considered that the specimen was just broken in two pieces and
not even polished. A specimen in the Galleria of Florence shows in the
markings of yellow and red a running Cupid. Such curious markings are
continually exhibiting the silent, magical symbols of Nature by the aid of
which the great but humble philosophers of ancient days read the messages
of the Divine. Many and various are the virtues ascribed to the agate by the
ancient masters, and when considering these it is well to remember their
passion for making meanings obscure in order that the hidden secrets might
be successfully guarded. The “pleasant scent of the agate”—obtainable
most truly by rubbing together two polished specimens—is lauded by Pliny,
and Orpheus recommends that the “changeful agate” be steeped in wine to
improve the flavour. Powdered and bound on wounds, it healed them, and
Rabbi Benoni of 14th century fame advised that an agate be held in the
mouth to quench thirst and soothe fever. It was regarded as a charm against
poisons, which no doubt accounts for its being used to form vases, bowls,
cups, and vessels for holding foodstuffs, specimens of which are still found
in more or less perfect state in the excavations. Mr. King mentions the
Carchesium or two-handled agate cup of Charles the Bold (presented by
that King to the Abbey of St. Denis) which was used to hold the wine at the
ceremony associated with the coronations of the kings of France. It was
stolen in 1804, the year Napoleon Buonaparte was crowned Emperor at
Paris, and was not used, therefore, at his coronation—a significant
circumstance in the career of this man of Destiny who, with his innate love
for the occult must have known long before this event that the agate was his
birthstone. Shortly after the vase was recovered uninjured, but its jewelled
setting had been removed from it, never to be seen again.
The agate, especially the eye agate, was reputed as a cure for tired eyes,
also bestowing on the wearer strength and health, and inclining him to grace
and eloquence. As one of the seven sea gems, a banded agate was credited
with the power of taking away the terrors of the ocean, while to dream of
one was held to denote a sea journey. Being astrologically connected with
the death sign Scorpio, it was potent in seeking divine aid in this life and in
the life to come. It rendered the wearer agreeable, gave him the favour of
God, if he employed it as a holy instrument it turned the words of his
enemies against themselves, rendered him—symbolically speaking—
invisible, gave him victory and induced happy dreams. It was a charm
against lightning, thunder, tempests, and all wars of the elements. Albertus

Magnus gives it efficacy against eruptive skin diseases; the Mohammedans
engraved on it the symbols of Hassan and Hussein, the grandsons of the
Prophet of Islam, and placed it round the necks of children to protect them
from falls and accident. They also mixed it, in powdered form, with certain
fruit juices and administered it as a cure for insanity. It was also prescribed
for haemorrhage, the spitting of blood, boils, ulcers, gravel and affections of
the spleen and kidneys. Used as a powder it hardened tender gums and
arrested bleedings. Some Arabian writers advise against the use of
powdered agate as an internal medicine unless carefully blended with other
substances. An agate worn about the neck banished fear, indigestion and
lung troubles. It was recommended by Dioscorides as a charm against
epidemics and pestilential diseases. It protected from the bites of serpents
and insects, and was bound to the horns of oxen to induce a good harvest. It
was said to have been the “fortune stone” of the Trojan hero Æneas,
protecting him in war, voyages and storms.
The agate is always adorned with a system of bands which exhibit variety
in hue, shade and tint. The Chalcedony (See Chalcedony) is more compact
and regular in colour, the two stones therefore being easily distinguishable.
Swedenborg sets the agate down as the symbol of the spiritual love of good.
It is astrologically attached to the martial sign Scorpio.

ALABASTER

“Why should a man whose blood is warm within,
Sit like his grandsire, cut in alabaster?”
Shakespeare.

The Greek ALABASTROS was derived from Alabastron, a town in
Upper Egypt where this beautiful white massive variety of gypsum was
found. It was used by the ancients for fashioning perfume bottles, the vials
to hold oil for anointing kings, priests, initiates into the mysteries, etc.
These articles were commonly called alabastra, and the name continued in
use long after other materials had replaced alabaster in their manufacture.
The quarries of Hat Nub and those near Minieh supplied ancient Egypt with
the material which was compared by ancient masters to the purity of the
soul. No doubt this accounts for its use in holy works, and in the making of
sarcophagi, statues, etc. In the Book of Matthew we read of the woman

having an alabaster box of very precious ointment. In Mark “she brake the
box and poured it (the ointment) on his head.” In Luke we are told that “a
woman in the city brought an alabaster box of ointment,” etc. “Box” is a
mistranslation; the “box” holding the oil was an alabastrum, and this “oil of
holy ointment compound after the art of the apothecary,” as set down in the
Book of Exodus, was put in the alabaster vases which were sealed in such a
way that the tops had to be broken in order to release the liquid. This was
seemingly done to prevent evaporation. Many of these vases have been
found amongst the ruins, together with other Egyptian vases called Canopic
jars in which were placed the embalmed viscera of the departed. On the
covers of these canopi were drawings of the heads of the genii of the dead
known as the four children of Horus—Kesta, Hapi, Tuamutef, and
Qebhsennuf. A vessel surrounded by receptacles for holding a number of
alabastra was called an ALABASTRO-THECA.
Pure specimens of alabaster were also employed as milk-stone talismans.
Oriental alabaster, known as the Algerian onyx, is a solid crystalline
carbonate of lime, precipitated from water in stalagmitic form. This Oriental
alabaster is considerably harder than true alabaster which is easily
scratched. Pliny writes of columns of alabaster over thirty feet in height. In
ancient times it was regarded as a species of onyx, and was made into cups,
vases and other utensils. Pliny says that it was “of the colour of honey,
opaque and spirally spotted.” There are also specimens in colour brown
mixed with lemon, and others of the colour of the finger-nail.
Leonardus regards alabaster as the right substance for preserving
unguents, and Dioscorides employed it in medicine. It was used as a charm
against accidents, especially whilst travelling, for securing public favour,
for success in legal affairs, etc.
It may be mentioned that the beautiful sarcophagus of alabaster which
was found by Giovanni Belzoni in 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (circa 1400 B.
C.) and purchased by Sir John Soane for £2000 sterling, now rests in the
Soane Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London. It is adorned with texts and
scenes from the Book of the Gates. In this old Book the names of the
Twelve Gates of the Tuat, or underworld, and of the Guardians of the Gates
are given. The denizens of each section are identified, as well as their
petition to Ra and his responses. The Book of the Gates, rich in magical
formulae, is one of the oldest books in the world.
Alabaster proper and Oriental alabaster are under the zodiacal Cancer.

ALEXANDRITE. The Alexandrite is a variety of the chrysoberyl. This
remarkable gem was discovered about 60 miles from Ekaterinburg, on the
birthday of Czar Alexander II of Russia, from whom it obtains its name—
The Horoscope of that Emperor indicates the stone as a symbol of
misfortune to him.
The alexandrite presents the curious phenomenon of changing its colour
according to the different rays of light to which it is exposed. By daylight
the gem is of a charming olive or emerald green tint, which changes in
artificial light to a columbine or raspberry red. The stone is favoured by
Russians on account of its blend of national colours, red and green. These
mixed colours are distinctly Aquarian. No mention seems to have been
made of this peculiar variety of chrysoberyl in ancient writings, and it
stands as a herald of the new Aquarian Age into which we are now moving.
The Alexandrite has been described as an emblem of loyal regard, and to
dream of it is a symbol of struggle and progress. It is under the zodiacal
Aquarius.

AMAZONITE OR AMAZON STONE. The Amazon Stone is a green
variety of Feldspar. The name is said to have been derived from the Amazon
River, but no specimens have been found there. The meagre evidence
available about this stone certainly does not favour its connection with the
Amazon River in any way. This river was named the Amazon in the 16th
century by the Spanish explorer Orellana in consequence, it is said, of an
encounter he had with a band of women warriors on its banks. He called the
mighty stream the Amazon after the women described by Herodotus,
Diodorus, etc., and the Amazon stone also was named after them. In a letter
to the author (1905) the late Comte de Glenstrae wrote: "It is to the
Amazons led by Myrina (Diodorus Siculus) that we owe the establishment
of the Samothracian mysteries which their Queen founded after aiding Isis
and Horus in the war against Typhon, as the Amazons of an earlier date had
aided Neith (Athene) and Amoun against the usurpation of Chronos. I have
always had a great admiration for the Amazons, and few again have noticed
that the coins of the seven cities of Asia (Apocalypse) bore generally the
figure of an Amazon as each of those cities was said to have been founded
by one of their Queens. There is much in their symbolism. That story of
their breasts being amputated is nonsense, being refuted by every
monument. As Sanchoniathon says, “the Greeks confused nearly every

legend.” It was said that the Amazons had their right breasts singed off, the
better to enable them to draw their bows; but the word Amazon does not
mean “without breast,” nor does it appear to have any connection with the
word “mazos” meaning “a breast.” There does not seem to be any reason to
doubt that the Circassian word “Maza,” the moon, explains its origin. The
Amazons of Thermodoon in Asia Minor are termed “worshippers of the
moon.” The Amazons were votaries of the “chaste Diana” in one of her
attributes, and no male was allowed to live among them. No matter by what
name she is called, Diana is a moon goddess and a woman’s goddess, and
no male was allowed to offend her modesty. Actaeon who saw her bathing
was charmed into a stag, and fell a victim to his own hunting dogs, while
the hunter Orion, ardent in his passion for Eos, the Morning, was slain by
the “sweet arrows” of Diana.
Thus, the Amazon stone received its name from the romantic Amazons or
worshippers of Maza, the moon. It is under the Zodiacal Cancer.

CHAPTER XII
AMBER—AZURITE

AMBER

“Pretty, in amber to observe the forms
Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms!
The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare,
But wonder how the devil they got there.”
Pope.

Amber is a fossil vegetable resin which has undergone change owing to
chemical action. The name is derived from the Arabic word AMBAR.
Amber is also known as Succinum (a word derived from the Greek Succum,
juice) on account of its vegetable origin. At one time it was also known by
the Oriental word Karabe, straw-attractor. Hash-mal was its name in
Hebrew and by the Greeks it was known as ELEKTRON, from which our
word electricity has been derived. That painstaking scholar of the 17th
century, Dr. Philemon Holland, thus translates from the 37th Book of Pliny:
“To come into the properties that amber hath; if it bee well rubbed and
chaufed between the fingers, the potentiall faculty that hath within is set on
work and brought into actuall operation whereby you shall see it to draw
chaffe, strawes, drie leaves, yea and thin rinds of the Linden or Tillet tree
after the same sort as the loadstone draweth yron.” According to Callistratus
it is good as a preventative of delirium, and as a cure for strangury if taken
in drink or attached as an amulet to the body. This last author gives the
name CHRYSELECTRUM to an amber of golden colour which presents
most beautiful tints in the morning, attracts flame with the greatest rapidity,
igniting the moment it approaches fire. Worn upon the neck, he says, it is a
cure for fever and other diseases, “and the powder of it either taken by itself
or with gum mastick in water is remedial for disease of the stomach.”

The writer has had strong evidence of the efficacy of amber in the cure of
asthma, hay fever, croup and various diseases of the throat, and knows a
number of medical practitioners who are convinced of its beneficial action.
A well-known chemist also assured him that his wife had suffered from
asthma all her life until five years ago, when she expressed a desire to wear
a string of amber; since wearing this she has not experienced the slightest
symptom of her former trouble. The writer has an amber necklet, the beads
of which are mud-coloured and cracked after having been worn for a few
months by a lady suffering from hay fever. There is no doubt of its curative
influence, no doubt that ancient observation was correct, and the statement
in some modern medical text books that amber has “absolutely no curative
value” is difficult indeed to follow. It is remarkable that distilled amber
yielding a pungent, acrid but not unpleasant oil, known as Oil of Amber or
Oil of Succinite, is recognized as a potent ingredient in various
embrocations. It is, therefore, hard to reconcile the statements that while
amber has “absolutely no curative value,” Oil of Amber has. Mr. C. W.
King says: “Repeated experiments have proved beyond doubt that the
wearing of an amber necklace has been known to prevent attacks of
erysipelas in a person subject to them.” He also writes of its efficacy “as a
defender of the throat against chills.”
Ancient writers said that amber eased stomach pains, cured jaundice and
goitre, and acted against certain poisons, Camillus Leonardus
recommending it as a cure for toothache and affections of the teeth. In the
Middle Ages it was used as a charm against fits, dysentery, jaundice,
scrofula and nervous affections. Thomas Nicols, a 17th century writer, says:
“Amber is esteemed the best for physic use, and is thought to be of great
power and force against many diseases, as against the vertigo and asthmatic
paroxysmes, against catarrhes and anthreticall pains, against diseases of the
stomach and to free it from sufferings and putrefactions and against
diseases of the heart, against plagues, venoms and contagions. It is used
either in powder or in troches, either in distempers of men or of women,
married or unmarried, or in the distempers of children.” The dose formerly
administered for coughs, hysteria, etc., was from ten to sixty grains.
Amber cut in various magical forms was extensively used as a charm
against the evil eye, witchcraft and sorcery. It was and still is used as a
mouthpiece for cigar and cigarette holders and smoking pipes, etc. Its
employment in this capacity was originally talismanic, for it was implicitly

believed that amber would not only prevent infection, but would act as a
charm against it. Francis Barrett, in his work on Natural Magic, says that
amber attracts all things to it but garden basil or substances smeared with
oil. In China today amber is greatly esteemed, being used in the making of
certain medicines, perfumes, and as an incense which use dates back to the
Bible times. In such esteem is amber held in the East that the Shah of Persia
is said to wear a block of amber on his neck to protect him against
assassination. Perhaps no legend has been more ridiculed than the one
which relates that amber was the solidified urine of the lynx; but the old
writers Sudines and Metrodorus show that the lynx was not an animal but a
tree from which amber is exuded, and which was known in Etruria as a
Lynx. Pliny repeats from Ovid’s Metamorphoses the tradition among the
Greeks that amber was the tears of the Heliades (Phaethusa, Ægle,
Lampetia), the Sun Maidens, who harnessed the steeds of the Sun to the
chariot when their rash brother Phaethon set forth on his fatal journey. The
horses of the Sun were wild and strong, fire flew from their nostrils, and the
youthful charioteer was not strong enough to keep them to their rightful
course. The chariot, as its speed grew faster, became luminous, electric and
fiery, the hair of the driver caught fire, the earth began to smoke and burn,
Libya was parched into a waste of sand, Africa was afire, rivers were dried
up, vegetation was destroyed, and the heat was so intense that the
inhabitants of the stricken countries changed from white to black. Gaea, in
fear for the earth, called on Jupiter for protection, who, with a lightning-
bolt, struck the chariot, hurling the “stricken waggoner,” as Shakespeare
calls him, lifeless into the River Eridanus—(the Padus or Po)—at the mouth
of which river were found the Electrides Insulae (Amber Islands). The three
sad sisters were transformed into poplars, and their tears of amber never
ceased to flow. “To these tears,” says Pliny, “was given the name of
Electrum, from the circumstance that the Sun was usually called Elector.” It
requires but little thought to unveil this beautiful allegory which told the
exact truth even while the nature of amber was disturbing the minds of
scholars, its vegetable origin being doubted.
The old story that amber was a concretion formed by the tears of the
birds is a variation of the Phæthon legend which Thomas Moore has so
gracefully rendered in “The Fire Worshippers.”

“Around thee shall glisten the loveliest amber
That ever the sorrowing sea-bird hath wept.”

That amber is found containing the material remains of extinct insects,
etc., is alluded to by Pope in his lines quoted at the head of this chapter.
That it was especially well known and esteemed in the ancient world can be
accepted without the slightest doubt. Amber beads have been found in the
tombs of Egypt as far back as the 6th dynasty (B. C. 3200), of the ancient
Empire, a dynasty which ruled in old Chem long before the time of Joseph.
HASHMAL as the Hebrew for amber has been doubted by some scholars
who take it to signify the metal electrum, a substance combination of 4
parts of silver and one of gold, used by the Greeks, and from which some of
their coins were struck; but other authorities accept it as indicating amber
which was known long before electrum was compounded. Delitzsch
believes the Hebrew HASHMAL to be derived from the old Assyrian word
ESHMARU, and the connection is a very probable one. The Rabbis employ
other words to express amber, as for example, KEPOS HAYA-RUDIN,
amber of the Jordan. This occurs in a curious passage in which Rabbi
Nathan states that if honey were mixed with the amber of the Jordan it
became “profane.” Honey, according to Porphyry, is a symbol of death, and
hence could not be mixed with amber which is a symbol of life. This would
be as repulsive to the Rabbinical mind as the violation of the command:
“Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk” would be. Libations of
honey could only, according to Porphyry, be offered to the terrestrial gods.
Philo Judæus in Book III explains the matter as follows: “Moreover it also
ordains that every sacrifice shall be offered up without any leaven or honey,
not thinking it fit that either of these things should be brought to altar. The
honey perhaps because the bee which collects it is not a clean animal,
inasmuch as it derives its birth, as the story goes, from the putrefaction and
corruption of dead oxen, or else this may be forbidden as a figurative
declaration that all superfluous pleasure is unholy, making indeed the things
which are eaten sweet to the taste but inflicting bitter pains difficult to be
cured at a subsequent period, by which the soul must of necessity, be
agitated and thrown in confusion not being able to settle on any resting-
place.” In addition, the lines of Virgil, Georgic IV, may be considered:

“His mother’s precepts he performs with care:
The temple visits, and adores with prayer:
Four altars, raises: from his herd he culls
For slaughter, four the fairest of his bulls:
Four heifers from his female store he took,
All fair and all unknowing of the yoke.
Nine mornings thence, with sacrifice and prayers,
The powers atoned, he to the grave repairs.
Behold a prodigy! for, from within
The broken bowels and the bloated skin,
A buzzing noise of bees his ears alarms:
Straight issue through the sides assembling swarms.
Dark as a cloud, they make a wheeling flight,
Then on a neighboring tree, descending, light:
Like a large cluster of black grapes they show,
And make a large dependence from the bough.”
Dryden’s Translation.

We must again look to symbology if we desire to understand the
meaning. Of old the Bee was a symbol of the Soul, and by the laws of
Mohammed bees were admitted to the joys of Heaven. The votaries of
Ceres adored the Moon under the symbol of a bee—a symbol appearing on
some of the Greek coins, notably on those of Ephesus where Diana,
goddess of the Moon, was worshipped and whence the cry, “Great is Diana
of the Ephesians,” reached the ears of Paul (Acts XIX). Porphyry writes:
“The Moon presiding over generation was called a bee and also a bull, and
Taurus is the exaltation of the Moon.” He adds symbolically: “But bees are
oxbegotten, and this appellation is also given to soul proceeding to
generation.” (“Cave of the Nymphs.”) The explanation of the veiled
mystery is that the Moon at the full is the symbol of the soul, the emblem of
which is a bee. It comes from the body of a bull or Taurus, the second sign
of the zodiac, in which as Porphyry observes she is in her exaltation and
powerful; Taurus is the earth sign of the planet Venus in the guise of the
goddess of Generation, and as the soul enters the world, new born, the
waters of the Jordan are needed to purify it as, when it leaves the body,
water was left for it to wash off the emanations of its deserted covering.
Further into the mysteries it is unnecessary to go. The veil of Isis hides the

truth, and only he who will strive to understand heavenly wisdom can hope
to pierce that veil.
Amber has been placed under the sign Leo, the sign of the Sun, by some
of the old masters, while others have allotted it to the sign of Venus
(Taurus), to which it more probably belongs. It is very soft, is easily cut
with a knife, and burns freely. Large quantities are found on the coast of the
Baltic, which the Greeks called in consequence the Amber Sea. In Oriental
story Amberabad (Amber City) was a city of Jinnistan (Fairy Land).
To dream of amber was said to denote a voyage, and according to the
philosophy of the Quabalah the indication was of some kind of movement
or change.
Amber has been imitated in preparations of Mellite, Copal and Anine,
also by a blending of sulphur and gutta percha at high temperature, etc., but
Mellite is infusible by heat, burning white. Copal catches fire and falls from
the instrument on which it is heated in flat drops, while the general
attracting power of most substitutes falls far short of the true substance.

AMETHYST

“The purple streaming amethyst is thine.”
Tennyson.

The amethyst is a species of transparent, violet-coloured quartz, the name
of which is derived from the Greek AMETHYSTOS, from the traditional
belief that this stone possessed the power to oppose the effect of the fumes
of intoxicants, an opinion not entirely shared by Plutarch. Amongst the
Greeks and Persians an amethyst bound on the navel was said to counteract
the evil effects of wine. The amethyst is described by Trevisa in the 15th
century as “purple red in colour medelyd wyth colour of uyolette,” and in
Sir Philip Sidney’s “Arcadia,” we read:

“The bloodie shafts of Cupid’s war
With amatists they headed are.”

The stone is found under the names ametist, ametiste, amatites,
amaethist, and it was not until about the middle of the 17th century that its
present form began to be adopted. To enjoy the full vibrations of the
amethyst an old custom recommended that it be worn on the third finger of

the left hand—a practice at one time followed by medical practitioners—
and some form of ancient belief demanded that the amethyst must come in
contact with the left hand before its action could be appreciated and
understood.
It is well known that the magic of the ancient Egyptian temples included
the art of magnetism, and the action of various mineral substances on the
magnetized patient has also been noted by the more modern investigators
including Dr. Babbitt, Baron Reichenbach, Dr. Ennemoser, Dr. Edmonson
and Dr. de Lignieres. Stones of the earth have been especially employed by
these scholars with results of such marked importance that the contention of
the ancients regarding the amethyst as a charm against drunkenness,
deserves respect. To be effective in the induced magnetic sleep, stones had
to be placed in the left hand. Connected with the ancient belief in the
sobering power of the amethyst is the beautiful allegorical legend telling
that Dionysius, enamoured of a graceful nymph, pressed his love upon her,
but Diana intervened, transforming her into a purple amethyst. In respect
for the transformed nymph Dionysius vowed that whosoever wore the
amethyst would be protected from the evils of intoxicating wines.
The amethyst was worn in ancient Egypt, and a scarab cut from a
specimen was held in great esteem by soldiers who carried it on the field of
battle as a charm against death by the shafts and swords of war. This
practice was carried far into the Middle Ages, and many amethysts were
worn for the same purpose in this last terrible war of nations. When worn
by a Bishop of the Church, the amethyst is a glyptic symbol of heavenly
understanding. Swedenborg likens it to a “spiritual love of good,” and Dr.
Brewer writes of purple shades, indicating “love of truth even unto
martyrdom.” It is stated by Patrick in “Devotions of the Roman Church,”
that the wedding ring of the Virgin Mary and Joseph was of amethyst or
onyx. Mr. King writes that this ring, exhibited in the Abbey St. Germain des
Prés, is engraved “with two nobodies—probably liberti—whose votive
legend: ‘Alpheus with Aretho’ is but too plainly legible in our Greek-
reading times.” The ring, having been saved at the burning of the Abbey in
1795, was secured by General Hydrow and given to the Imperial Russian
Cabinet.
In what is described by Camillus Leonardus of the 16th century as one of
the magical books of King Solomon, a charm for gaining influence over

princes and nobles is a rider on horseback holding a sceptre, engraved on an
amethyst and set in double its own weight in gold or silver.
The amethyst has always been regarded as symbolical of the pioneer in
thought and action on the philosophical, religious, spiritual and material
planes. The virtues ascribed to this stone are many. It was regarded as a
charm against witchcraft, poison and evil thoughts; it was an aid to chastity,
a power against all forms of over-indulgence and a strengthener of the
mind; it was a charm for securing the favour of princes, rulers, churchmen,
people of wealth, influence and power, people with prophetic ability, poets,
travellers, publishers, etc. It would strengthen the wisdom, faith and
religion of the wearer and aid in prayer and in dreaming. If bound to the left
wrist the amethyst enabled the wearer to see the future in dreams; to dream
of the stone itself indicated success to a traveller, clergyman, sailor,
philosopher, teacher or mystic, also protection, faith and fruitful thoughts.
For pains in the head (headache, toothache, etc.), it was recommended that
an amethyst be immersed in hot water for a few minutes, taken out, dried
carefully and gently rubbed over the parts affected and the back of the neck.
Almost all authorities agree in translating the Hebrew ACHLAMAH as
amethyst and in identifying it as the ninth stone of the High Priest’s
Breastplate. It was the seventh precious stone which the sage Iachus gave to
Apollonius of Tyana as an emblem of piety and dignity.
Many writers on the subject of planetary influences have placed this gem
under the celestial Pisces, the fishes, because anciently Pisces was one of
the mansions of Jupiter; but the sign of the Fishes is transparent and
glistening in hue whilst in the nature of kinship a fiery gem belongs to a
fiery zodiacal sign. In this direction the fiery Mars, as ruler of the sign
Aries, has been confused with the Babylonian and Assyrian MARDUK or
MERODACH. Marduk or Merodach represented the planet Jupiter, and to
him Nebuchadnezzar addresses his songs of praise: “Merodach, the great
lord, the senior of the gods, the most ancient has given all nations and
people to my care.” “I supplicate the king of gods, the lord of lords in
Borsippa, the city of his loftiness.” “O, god Merodach, great lord, lord of
the house of the gods, light of the gods, father, even for thy high honour,
which changes not, a temple have I built,” etc. The “house of the gods” is
the ninth celestial house, naturally the sign Sagittarius, and in the Quabalah
the ninth heavenly sphere is the Primum Mobile, the star-decked Heaven.
(See “Numbers, their Meaning and Magic.”) The name Merodach or

Marduk is a corruption of Mardugga (the sacred son), and because they saw
the life-giving orb rising from the sea, the ancient Chaldean masters
accounted Jupiter his first offshoot, hailing him as “Marduk:”—“Marduk,
first born of the mighty deep, make us pure and prosperous.” The giving of
prosperity is ever an attribute of Jupiter, and the measure and the source of
the gift are shown in the nativity or map of the heavens at a person’s birth.
An effective talisman for the protection of horses and their riders was a
winged horse cut on an amethyst. The ancients connected the amethyst with
the ninth celestial mansion—the mansion of Sagittarius—and there is no
reason for allotting it to any other.

ANATASE. The name is derived from the Latin ANATASES, elevation.
It was so named from the length of its chief axis. This mineral is composed
of Titanic acid which crystallizes in fine, transparent stones of brown, dark
blue or black, of adamantine lustre. The anatase, which equals the opal in
hardness, cannot be traced in ancient writings. It is rarely used in jewellery.
In harmony with the philosophy of gem influence it is connected with the
sign Sagittarius.

ANDALUSITE. This stone, first discovered in Andalusia, derives its
name from that rich mineral province of Spain—the Tarshish of the Bible,
the Tartessus of ancient geography, the Bætica of the Romans. Its colours
are light bottle-green, pearl grey, flesh and pink. It is extremely dichroic,
showing the twin colours red and leaf-green—the red gleaming from the
stone in antithesis to its common hue. The Andalusite is as hard as the
garnet or zircon. Professor Dana moistened specimens with nitrate of
cobalt, after which they assumed a blue colour. This mineral may have been
known to the ancients, but identification is difficult. Ancient philosophy
would connect it with the zodiacal Aquarius.

APATITE. Apatite is a mineral which obtained its name from the Greek
word APATAO, to deceive, because it deceived old students who
confounded it with aquamarine, chrysolite, tourmaline, etc. Abraham
Werner (the author of the Neptunian theory that all mineral substances were
once contained in watery solution), first demonstrated in the 18th century
the true nature of apatite which is a phosphate of lime with fluorite and
chloride of calcium. The lustre varies from transparent to opaque, and is

vitreous to sub-resinous. It is much softer than tourmaline, its degree of
hardness being but 5; for this reason it is but little used in the manufacture
of jewellery. Its colours are pale sea-green, blue-green (in which colouring
it is sometimes called Moroxite), yellowish-green (in which colouring it is
often called Asparagus stone), yellow, violet, white, grey, brown, red,
colourless, and transparent. Professor Judd, F.R.S., found a concretion
specimen of apatite when cutting a mass of teak wood—a particularly rare
find. In agreement with the ancient system the apatite is astrologically
under the zodiacal Pisces.

APOPHYLLITE. Apophyllite is a hydrous silicate of potassium and
calcium which obtains its name from the Greek word APOPHULLIZO, to
exfoliate, because it falls in leaves before the blowpipe. It is extremely soft,
being from between 4 and 5 in Mohs’s scale. The stone is found in a variety
of colours—milk-white, greyish, green, yellow, red, pink. It is seldom used
by jewellers. The apophyllite is under the sign Taurus.

AQUAMARINE. (See BERYL.)

ASBESTOS. The word is derived from the Greek ASBESTOS,
inconsumable, and is identified with the Amianthus (impollutible) of the
ancients. It is a variety of hornblende, of a fine and fibrous texture, of which
Marbodus wrote:

“Kindled once it no extinction knows
But with eternal flame increasing glows.
Hence with good cause the Greeks Asbestos name,
Because once kindled nought can quench its flame.”

The incombustibility and weak heat conducting qualities of asbestos
render it extremely useful as a protection against fire. The ancients used it
for the wicks of their temple lamps, and in order to preserve the ashes of the
departed their dead bodies were laid on asbestos before being placed on the
funeral pyre. Cloths of asbestos were thrown in the flames for the purpose
of cleaning them. So fine and flaxy is the mineral that gloves have been
made of it. Asbestos is under the zodiacal Gemini.

AVENTURINE. Aventurine or goldstone is a quartz of a brownish, semi-
transparent character, spangled with spots of golden-yellow mica. This
stone is identified with the stone called by Pliny the “Sandaresus”—“of
stars of gold gleaming from within.” The name Aventurine (per adventura,
by accident), arose, it is said, from an accident in a Venetian glass factory,
where a workman found that eight parts of ground glass, one part protoxide
of copper and two parts of oxide of iron well heated and allowed to cool
slowly, produced the peculiar appearance admired in the real gem to even
better effect. The aventurine variety of quartz is under the zodiacal Leo.

AXINITE. The name Axinite is derived from the Greek AXINE, an axe,
on account of the sharp and axe-like form of the crystals. The axinite is
about the same degree of hardness as the Spodumene or the demantoid
garnet (6.5 to 7). It is pyro-electric and highly vitreous. The colours vary
between pearly-grey, clove, brown, honey-yellow, violet, plum-blue. The
axinite is under the zodiacal Sagittarius.

AZURITE. Azurite is a blue copper carbonate obtaining its name from its
colour. It is kindred with malachite, from which it differs but slightly. Some
mineralogists call it blue malachite. It is under the zodiacal Libra.

CHAPTER XIII
THE BERYL FAMILY

THE BERYL FAMILY: SOME LARGE SPECIMENS: VAUQUELIN’S DISCOVERY: THE CELESTIAL
SIGN OF THE BERYL FAMILY: OLD MINES OF KLEOPATRA: WOMEN SEARCHERS OF
EGYPT: THE CANOPY OF HOLOFERNES: STARS OF THE PLEIADES: EMERALD AND THE
EYES: POPE JOHN XXI AND HIS ASSERTION: THE SERPENT’S GAZE: TAURUS, SCORPIO
AND THE STORY OF EDEN: THE TRUE VENUS: REPTILES OF OVER-INDULGENCE: CIRCE
AND THE SWINE: DIANA, GODDESS OF THE MOON: VIRTUES ASCRIBED TO THE
EMERALD: ESMERALDA: THE DRAGON OF THE EMERALD MINE: PRESCOTT’S STORY:
PIZARRO’S LARGEf EMERALD: THE TRICK OF PEDRAZA: INDIAN BELIEF: APOLLONIUS
OF TYANA AND THE EMERALD OF IARCHUS: THE EMERALD IN ROSICRUCIAN
PHILOSOPHY: SWEATING EMERALDS: EMERALDS IN OLD EXCAVATIONS: ESTEEM OF
THE ROMANS: PERSIAN BELIEFS: ALBERTUS MAGNUS, CARDANUS AND THE
PHILOSOPHY OF THE MASTERS: MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS’ STONE IN BRAZIL: HINDOO
BELIEFS: THE HEAVEN OF THE MUSLIMS: THE INHABITANTS OF PARADISE:
PARACELSUS AND THE EMERALD: EARLY CHRISTIAN EMBLEM: BERYL IN MAGICAL
RITES: “THE TEMPEST”: RECOMMENDATION OF LEONARDUS: WATER DIVINATION:
STORY OF THE RING OF POLYCRATES: FISH AND RING STORIES: HERODOTUS AND OLD
WRITERS ON THE RING OF POLYCRATES: PHILIP II AND THE FATAL RING OF SPAIN:
SPAIN’S DEFEAT BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE BURIAL OF THE ILL-
OMENED RING: GIFT OF POPE ADRIAN VIII TO HENRY II: EMERALD OF KING ARTHUR:
POPE INNOCENT’S PRESENT TO KING JOHN: SWEDENBORG’S EMERALD
CORRESPONDENCE: THE FALSE AQUAMARINE AMONGST THE BRITISH CROWN JEWELS:
THE FATAL EMERALD OF RUSSIA.

BERYL

“What rings of Eastern price his fingers hold.
Gold decks the fingers, beryl decks the gold.”
Parnell.

The name beryl is derived from the Greek and Latin BERYLLUS; some say
also from the Persian BELUR. Some of the old fashions of writing the name are
included in the following: beril, beryll, berall, birrall, byral, byrrall, byralle, berial,
beryall, bureall, beryl stone.
Dr. Holland’s rendering of Pliny’s remarks on the beryl (Chapter 36) is
interesting: “Many are of the opinion that beryls are of the same nature that the
emeraud, or leastwise verie like: from India they came as from their native place,
for seldom are they to be found elsewhere.”

Beryls are pale green stones coloured by iron. Some very large crystals have
been found. Professor Rutley mentions one specimen found at Royalston in
Massachusetts, which weighed nearly 2½ tons.

EMERALD

“As when an emerald green enchas’d
In flaming gold, from the bright mass acquires
A nobler hue, more delicate to sight.”
J. Philips.

The name in days of old was variously written: emeraud, emeraude, emraud,
emeroyde, emmorant, emerant, ameraud, emerode, emrade, hemerauld,
smaragdus. The derivation is from the old French word ESMERALDA, through
the modern French EMERAUDE; Greek SMARAGDOS, Latin SMARAGDUS.
Amongst some large sized emeralds Professor Dana notes one in the cabinet of
the Duke of Devonshire, which specimen is 2¼ inches long by about 2 inches in
diameter; a finer specimen weighing six ounces, once in the possession of Mr.
Harry Thomas Hope; one formerly in the Royal Russian collection, 4½ in. in
length, 12 in. in breadth, 16¾ pounds troy in weight; another weighing six
pounds, which is 7 in. long and 4 in. broad.
Dr. Holland’s translation of Pliny (Book 37) is as follows:

“True it is that we take great delight to behold green hearbes and leaves of trees
but this is nothing to the pleasure we have in looking upon the emeraud, for
compare it with other things, be they never so green, it surpasseth them all in
pleasant verdure.”

The Emerald is the beautiful green variety of the beryl family, coloured by
chromium.

AQUAMARINE

“One entire stone of a sea-water green known by the name of agmarine.”
Stow. Chron.
1598.

The word is derived from the Latin AQUA, water, and MARE, the sea. It was
known under various forms: aigue marine, ague marine, aque marine, agmarine,
etc. In colour the aquamarine is pale blue, bluish green and light sea-green.

Here may be mentioned the Golden Emerald—an emerald of charming golden
colour, and the Rose Beryl named Morganite after the late J. Pierpont Morgan.
The whole beryl family is classified under the sign Taurus. Their crystalline
form is hexagonal (six-sided), and six is the traditional number of Venus, whose
earth house or mansion in astrology is the heavenly Taurus. Beryllium enters
largely into their composition, and because of the sweetness of its salts this
element is also termed Glucinum (Greek GLYKYS, sweet). Glycina was first
discovered by the great chemist Vauquelin while experimenting with emeralds in
1797. Much confusion has arisen amongst authors on the subject of gems and the
Heavens, from confounding the beryl with the tourmaline—a distinctly Mercurial
gem. The beryl, aquamarine and emerald present only colour shade differences. It
is more difficult, however, to find really fine emeralds than it is to find other
varieties of the same family. The emeralds found in the workings of the old
Kleopatra mines, whose very existence was at one time doubted, are of the lighter
or beryl variety. These gems were much sought after in ancient times, the
Egyptian women being esteemed the best searchers “because of their superior
eyesight.” There is no doubt, as before noted, that the sex was considered as well
as the sight, and the selection of women “daughters of Venus” for this work was
not without design.
The splendour of the canopy of purple and gold under which Holofernes, the
Assyrian general, rested was enriched according to the Apochrypha with emeralds
and precious stones (Judith X. 21). This symbol of Assyrian luxury—considering
the accredited virtue of the emerald amongst the ancients—was of evil import to
the leader of the army of Nabuchodonosor, the “King of all the earth.”
Astrology notes that a person born in the sign Taurus, especially from the 20° to
the 30° amongst the nebulous stars of the Pleiades, or with violent stars in that
sign at birth, has his sight always affected to a greater or lesser extent, hence the
accredited virtues of the emerald as an eye stone, and no pharmacy of the Middle
Ages would have thought of omitting it from its dispensary. As eye stones the
stones of the beryl family have always been held in high esteem, Pope John XXI
affirming that a diseased eye treated with an emerald became sound again. It was
not claimed that the emerald would restore lost sight, but it was regarded as
extremely potent in eye disease, injury or trouble of any kind. Sometimes it was
sufficient, especially in the case of inflamed eyes, to bathe the eye in water in
which emeralds had been steeped for six hours; at other times the stone was
reduced to the finest powder, an extremely small quantity of which was placed in
the eye at stated intervals, Tom Moore sings in Lalla Rookh:

“Blinded like serpents when they gaze
Upon the emerald’s virgin blaze.”

The tradition that when a serpent fixes its eyes on an emerald it becomes blind
is echoed from Hebrew philosophy, and Ahmed Ben Abdalaziz in his “Treatise on
Jewels” has it that the lustre of emeralds makes serpents blind. As this ancient
statement has occasioned some mirth and ridicule amongst those swayed by
surface considerations it may be as well to consider the matter from another point
of understanding. The symbolist will at once perceive the hidden parable: in
astrology, serpents have been classed under the Scorpion of the zodiac, and the
Venusian Taurus in the zodiac is opposite to the Scorpion. In the story of the
Garden of Eden it is the Scorpion (snake) who tempts Eve, and her fall is held by
occult students as a symbol to compel Man to exert his highest strength to enable
his triumph over the lowest to be complete. The zodiacal Scorpio is accursed on
its lower expression, and is symbolical then of the corruption which can menace
virgin purity. Man on the lowest borderlands to which over-indulgence will ever
draw him has been faced by serpents and reptiles whose immaterial lives exist
only in those dark realms. The story of Circe and the Swine finds its parallel in the
power of the pure and beautiful Venus to expel even by her symbolic emerald lust,
envy, malice and grossness, to destroy the serpent’s gaze and to call the blind and
suffering Man back to his peaceful Heaven again. So, as the Moon in astrological
philosophy is exalted in Taurus, Diana the goddess of the Moon is the friend of
chaste women. In Cutwode’s “Caltha Poetarium, or the Humble Bee,” written in
1599, Diana adorns the heroine with an emerald ring.
It can easily be seen why the emerald is the emblem of true happiness and the
preserver of chastity, and why it was said to fracture if chastity were violated: to
one taking vows of chastity and breaking them, the emerald could never appear
the same again—before his spiritual vision it would be broken and shattered.
Leonardus said that the emerald protected women in childbirth, and most old
writers are impressive in warning men to wear one as a charm against spiritual
and mental weakness.
The Peruvian goddess Esmeralda was said to reside in an emerald as big as an
ostrich egg, and it was the custom of this little Venus in her symbolic emerald egg
to receive emeralds as offerings from her devotees who also, it was said,
sacrificed their daughters to her.
Stevenson (“Residence in South America”), writing of the emerald mine of Las
Emeraldas, says: “I never visited it owing to the superstitious dread of the natives
who assured me that it was enchanted and guarded by an enormous dragon who
poured forth thunder and lightning on those who dared to ascend the river.” It is
peculiar how the symbols of mankind coincide: the dragon is another of the
zodiacal Scorpio varieties ever opposite Taurus, and was of old regarded as the
agitator of thunders, lightnings and earth commotions. Prescott, in his “History of
Peru,” tells us how the Spaniards after murdering the trusting Indians raided their

dwellings and seized their ornaments and precious stones, for this was the region
of the esmeraldas or emeralds. One of the jewels that fell into the hands of Pizarro
was as large as a pigeon’s egg. Fra Reginaldo di Pedraza, one of the Dominican
missionaries, told the Spaniards that the method of proving the genuineness or
otherwise of emeralds was to try if they could be broken with a hammer; Prescott
adding: “The good Father did not subject his own jewels to this wise experiment,
but as the stones in consequence of it fell in value, being merely regarded as
coloured glass, he carried back a considerable store of them to Panama.” The
Indians held that the emerald protected against poisons and cleansed man from
sin.
As an emblem of Eternal Spring, Iarchus included the emerald in the mystic
necklace of Apollonius of Tyana. In Rosicrucian philosophy it is advised that if an
emerald set in a ring of gold be placed on the solar finger of the left hand when
the Sun entered Taurus, the wearer would attain his cherished aim and be enabled
by the sweating of the stone to detect poisons. Experiment has shown that heat
causes the emerald to lose water but does not affect its colour, hence the reports of
the “sweating” emerald cannot be set aside as mythical. Specimens of the beryl
family have been found in tombs and in old excavations, and there is little doubt
that the stones “of the colour of transparent sea-water” found by the old Romans
at Cyprus belonged to it. The Romans greatly esteemed the emerald as an eye
stone and a natural specific for ophthalmia, holding that what healed and calmed
the spiritual eye would heal and calm the natural eye. The Persians applied ashes
of burnt emeralds to ulcers with curative effect. They said that the emerald
brought mental tranquility, cured unnatural thirst, stomach troubles, jaundice, liver
troubles, obstructions, gravel, stricture, bodily pains and epilepsy. Albertus
Magnus also recommends it as a cure for epileptic attacks. Mystics have always
regarded the emerald as of the highest worth. It is spoken of by Cardanus as an
ideal gem for divinatory purposes—no doubt because of its pure spiritual import.
Aristotle writes that an emerald hung from the neck or worn on the finger protects
from the “falling sickness.”
The ancient writers held that all kinds of divination were helped by the emerald,
and when worn during the transaction of honest business it gave favour to the
wearer. In Brazil, medical students on becoming doctors of medicine wore on
their fingers rings of emeralds as an indication that they had received their
diploma. The lighter emerald, or beryl, bound man and wife together in mutual
love, and raised the wearer to success and honour.
Among the Hindoo philosophers the emerald held its place as a gem of the
zodiacal Taurus, and in the First Heaven of the Muslims the tents of the faithful
are represented as studded with emeralds, pearls and jacinths.

Mr. E. W. Lane (“Modern Egyptians”) writes that the inhabitants of Paradise are
said to be clothed “in the richest silk, chiefly of green, and all superfluities from
their bodies will be carried off by perspiration which will diffuse an odour like
that of musk”—a plant recognized by old astrologers as belonging to the sign
Taurus. Paracelsus wrote that the emerald was in sympathy with the metal copper
—also recognized as the chief metal of Venus. Mr. King notes a fine emerald, a
quarter inch square, belonging to the earliest Christian periods, on which is cut a
fish, which besides being an early Christian emblem is symbolical of Venus and
later of the Virgin. Venus is exalted in the Zodiacal sign of the Fishes which enters
largely into the Christian mysteries. The beryl was used in magical rites as an
instrument for foretelling future happenings. For special magical purposes the
stone was held in the mouth when—says Freeman, writing in the early part of the
18th century—a person may call an elemental and receive satisfaction for any
question he might ask. In this connection one is tempted to think of the delightful
Venusian spirit Ariel in Shakespeare’s “Tempest.” Again the beryl is
recommended by Leonardus as a charm against diseases of the throat and jaws. In
the “water divination” of the Middle Ages a beryl stone was suspended just to
touch the surface of the water in the bowl, and it answered questions by
automatically striking the edges of the vessel. It was also thrown into a shallow
dish of water, information being gathered from the reflections seen in sunlight in
the water.
Herodotus tells the story of the Thalassokrat (Sea-king) Polycrates of Samos
whose never-failing fortune so alarmed his friend and ally, the Pharaoh Amasis of
Egypt, that he wrote to him begging him to sacrifice something he valued most
highly to propitiate the fateful Nemesis, goddess of retribution. In obedience to
this request Polycrates, with many regrets, threw from a boat his precious emerald
ring into the sea far from the shore. Some few days afterwards a fisherman caught
a fish so large and shapely that, thinking it a prize for the King, he took it to the
palace of Polycrates. When the cook was preparing the fish for the King’s table he
found within it his master’s emerald ring. Amasis, when informed of the incident
by Polycrates, was greatly concerned as it foretold to him a fatal end for the
Thalassokrat, with whom he broke off negotiations and alliances. Polycrates,
being induced by his crafty enemy the Persian satrap Oroetes to visit him, was
seized and crucified. The story is discredited by some historians—notably Grote
—but this is not the only story of a fish swallowing a ring or some other article of
value. The legend of Solomon’s ring has been already alluded to. Mr. King
collecting evidence from Herodotus, Pausanius, and other old writers finds that
the ring of Polycrates was a “signet of emerald set in gold, the work of Theodorus
of Samos.” That famous father of the church, Titus Flavius Clemens, better known
as Clemens Alexandrinus, says that on the emerald ring of Polycrates was

engraved “a musical lyre.” A fine quality emerald bearing a similar device was
found about fifty years ago in a vineyard at Aricia, and that this may have been the
famous ring is not impossible.
In the reign of Philip II, of Spanish Armada repute, there appeared in Spain a
strange ring of gold, in the centre of which was an emerald cut so as to contain a
ruby surrounded by diamonds. This curious ring is said to have been the symbol
of misfortune wherever it came. The church which received it as a gift from the
King was destroyed by fire; the fatal ring, rescued from the fire, was placed in a
museum that was badly damaged by lightning; whilst again in the possession of
the King of Spain, Spain was defeated in the war with the United States of
America. Then this ring of ill-omen was buried in an iron coffin in a secret place.
Its evil influence can readily be accounted for in the light of occult philosophy—
the ruby is a stone under the Celestial Leo, the emerald is under Taurus. These
signs form the evil square, being counted in astrological science 90° apart. A
square aspect is always accounted an evil one. The admixture of the beautiful
crystal symbols was unfortunate. Spain again is under the celestial Sagittarius, and
would not hold gems of Taurus. Philip II himself had an evil influence on Spain.
Astrologically neither the emerald nor the ruby would be in harmony with his
nativity and the diamond would be fatal.
John of Salisbury states that Pope Adrian VIII confirmed the right to hold and
govern Ireland on Henry II of England with the gift of a rare emerald set in a ring
of gold, and the Papal bull or seal. The right to bestow all islands was claimed by
the Pope by virtue of the laws of Constantine. It is curious in connection with this
historical transaction that Ireland and the emerald come under Taurus, and that the
right of Henry II as sovereign of Ireland is confirmed by the Papal Bull!
Tennyson in “Elaine” says that Arthur, “the glorious King”

“Had on his cuirass worn our Lady’s Head,
Carved of one emerald centred in a sun
Of silver rays, that lighten’d as he breathed.”

The beryl was the symbol of undying youth, the emerald of incorruptibility and
triumph over sin, the aquamarine of social uplifting. One of the four rings sent by
Pope Innocent III in the year 1205 to King John of England was an emerald
which, wrote the donor, is the emblem of faith. To dream of beryls is said to
denote happy news to come; to dream of aquamarines is interpreted as symbolical
of loving friendships; to dream of emeralds is set down as a sign of worldly
benefit and goodness. The Angel of the beryl family is the inexpressibly beautiful
and tender Anael. Emanuel Swedenborg says that the beryl signifies “the good of
charity and faith or the spiritual love of truth; the emerald the appearance of the

divine sphere of the Lord in the lowest heavens; the emerald family as indicating
the sphere of divine love and wisdom.”
The wonderful aquamarine which adorned the crown of James II of England
has been recently found to be merely a piece of coloured glass. This fact was
recently communicated by Sir George Younghusband, so well known as the
keeper of the Jewel House in the Tower of London. It is presumed that the real
stone was replaced by this imitation, but how and when is a matter of speculation.
The whole emerald family were regarded as stones of fortune for King James II.
Before closing this account of the beryl family it may be interesting to recall the
fatal emerald of Russia. This large and beautiful gem was given to Peter of
Holstein-Gottorp (afterwards Peter III), by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Peter was
assassinated. Emperor Paul wore it next and was strangled. Alexander II then had
the stone newly set and it fell from his finger after his assassination. Alexander III
would not wear it, but Nicholas II, allured by its beauty, did. Who now has the
fatal emerald?

CHAPTER XIV
BALAS—CRYSOCOLLA

BALAS: BLOODSTONE: BONE TURQUOISE: CAIRNGORM, AN ANCIENT CAUTERISER:
CARBUNCLE: THE PATHWAY OF THE FOURTH HEAVEN ILLUMINATED THE ARK
OF NOAH: “A BURNING GEM”: THE MAGICIAN OF KING KAJATA: THE LUSTROUS
CARBUNCLE OF CEYLON: NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE’S STORY: VIRTUES OF THE
STONE: A CAPTAIN’S TALISMAN AT GALLIPOLI: CARNELIAN AND THE SARD:
SENSITIVENESS OF THESE STONES: SARD INTAGLI: ALARIC THE GOTH AND HIS
CARNELIAN: MADAME BLAVATSKY AND THE SHAMANS OF TARTARY: OCCULT
VIRTUES OF THE CARNELIAN: MEANING IN ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES: MOSLEM
TRADITION. CATSEYE, ITS CURIOUS OPALESCENCE: LORE OF THE CATSEYE:
RABBI BEN ADOULAH’S ASSERTION: THE EYE OF BELUS: CEYLINITE:
CHALCEDONY: PERSIAN CYLINDERS: SIGNET OF DARIUS: EARLY
IDENTIFICATION BY ALBERTUS MAGNUS: PLINY’S DESCRIPTION: STONE OF ST.
STEPHEN: VIRTUES OF THE CHALCEDONY: CHALCEDONYX: CHERT:
CHIASTOLITE: STONE OF ST. JAMES: PEDRO THE CRUEL: MIGUEL PEREZ AND
THE BLOOD-RED CROSS: MARSHAL SOULT’S PLUNDER: THE STONE OF
COLUMBUS: CHRYSOBERYL, ITS VIRTUES: CRYSOCOLLA, A MUSICAL CHARM.

BALAS. See SPINEL.

BLOODSTONE. See HAEMATITE and JASPER.

BONE TURQUOISE or Odontolite. Bone turquoise is often mistaken for
true turquoise. It is really fossil teeth or bones coloured blue by the action
of phosphate of iron. Its organic difference can easily be seen under a good
glass. ODONTOLITE is under the influence of the zodiacal Capricorn; it is
a degree less in hardness than the true turquoise, being in this respect equal
to apatite and lapis lazuli.

BORT. (See DIAMOND.)

CAIRNGORM or SCOTCH TOPAZ.

“O Caledonia, stern and wild!”
Scott.

The mountain cairngorm, the name of which comes from the Gaelic
CARNGORM, meaning Blue Cairn, is between the shires of Aberdeen,
Banff and Inverness, and it is there that the cairngorm stones are mostly
found. The stone is a variety of quartz of a fine smoky yellow or brown
colour. It is found in other places than the Cairngorm Mountains, and has
usurped many of the attributes of the true topaz. It is remarkable for its
brilliance and beauty, and was known to the ancients. According to Pliny,
this stone was used by old physicians for cauterizing affected parts of the
body by directing the sun’s rays through it after the manner of a “burning
glass.” It was carried in times of epidemics as a protective charm, and it
was held to bestow a degree of craft and subtlety on the wearer. As a martial
stone in harmony with Scotland, it was set in the head of dirks and other
knives, and adorned the Highland dress. The Cairngorm was considered a
talisman against venereal diseases, sore throats, etc.
It is under the zodiacal Scorpio.

CARBUNCLE

“The Carbuncle
Which from it such a flaming light
And radiancy ejecteth
That in the very darkest night
The eye’s to it directed.”
Drayton.

The name Carbuncle is derived from the Latin CARBUNCULUS,
diminutive of CARBO, a coal. During the past centuries it has been written
as charbucle, charbokel, charbokll, cherbukkill, carbokyl, charboncle,
carbunculum, karboncle, carbunacle, carbuncle stone. Of it Dr. Wilkins
writes: “It is believed that a carbuncle does shine in the dark like a burning
coal, from whence it has its name.”
The carbuncle is the Iron Alumina Garnet known as Almandine or
Almandite, which varies in colour shades from red, ruby red, columbine red
to brownish red. The name is said to be derived from the town of Alabanda
in Asia Minor where, according to Pliny, the Carbunculi Amethystozontes

were cut. Dr. Holland’s translation of the passage relating to the carbuncle
in Pliny, Book XXXVII, is as follows: “Amongst these red gems the rubies
otherwise called carbuncles challenge the principall place and are esteemed
richest; they have their name in Greek of the likenesse unto fire, and yet fire
hath no power of them which is the reason that some call them apyroti.”
The apyroti is our pyrope which indicates “fiery” in Greek. It is a magnesia
alumina garnet and was, as it now is, cut en cabochon. Specimens chosen
for this purpose are from deep to black red.
Almandines form the pathways of the Fourth Heaven (Dar as-Salam) of
the Muhammedans; and the traditional symbol of the Ark illuminated by a
large carbuncle stone occurs in the Rabbinical writings. To students of the
mysteries this must ever appeal as a forceful and subtle symbol of man’s
immortality and sublime power. Leonardus writes of the carbuncle
“brandishing its fiery rays on every side and in the dark appearing like a
fiery coal.” “It is regarded,” he says, “as the first among ‘burning gems.’”
That the carbuncle gave out a glowing light without reflection is frequently
repeated by ancient authors, and the Palace of the Magician in the Russian
story of King Kajata was hewn out of a single carbuncle which lit up the
whole surrounding district. Sir E. Tennant quotes from a Chinese work a
narrative which tells that “early in the 14th century the Emperor sent an
officer to Ceylon to purchase a carbuncle of unusual lustre which was fitted
as a ball to the cap of the Emperor of that country. It was upwards of an
ounce in weight and cost 100,000 strings of cash. Each time a grand levee
was held at night the red lustre filled the palace, and hence it was
designated the Red Palace Illuminator.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s beautiful story of “The Great Carbuncle” in his
“Twice-told Tales” is based on the Indian tradition which is, he says, “too
wild and too beautiful to be adequately wrought up in prose.” Nevertheless
the author does so with old-world charm: “Some few believe that this
inestimable stone is blazing as of old, and say that they have caught its
radiance like a flash of summer lightning, far down the valley of the Saco.
And be it owned that many a mile from the Crystal Hills I saw a wondrous
light around their summits and was lured by the faith of poesy to be the last
pilgrim of the Great Carbuncle.”
In the Middle Ages the carbuncle was worn as a charm to protect the
wearer against the plague, and it was said to protect travellers on long
voyages by sea from drowning, and by land from accidents. It was also

credited with the power of resisting poisons, of averting evil thoughts and
dreams. It was an up-lifter of the soul and a preserver of the health of the
body. When its lustre changed, the death of the wearer was indicated. In
addition to being the stone of undying hope and the dispeller of sadness, the
Indians and Arabs credit it with protecting from wounds and harm in the
midst of battle. A story was told to the author by the mother of an Australian
Captain born, according to astrology, with the Sun rising in the sign of the
Archer. This officer wore at the author’s suggestion a ring of carbuncle. At
Gallipoli he, with a few men, was cut off by incessant gunfire which,
although directed their way, did not injure them and from which they were
eventually rescued. During this ordeal the Captain looked often at his calm,
flame-burning ring, the unearthly brightness of which seemed to him an
emblem of salvation.
Emanuel Swedenborg compared the carbuncle with the good of celestial
love, and it was regarded as a heart stimulant by some old medical writers.
It represents the red arterial blood and is connected with the fiery sign of
the zodiac Sagittarius. A great part of Australia is much influenced by this
sign according to astrology and large quantities of extremely beautiful
almandines—which were at one time mistaken for rubies and termed
“Australian rubies”—have been already found.
To dream of the carbuncle was said to indicate acquirement of wisdom.
The carbuncle is under the zodiacal Sagittarius.

CARNELIAN

“Let not the Muse the dull Carnelian slight,
Although it shine with but a feeble light.”
Marbodus.

The Carnelian obtains its name from the Latin word Carnis, flesh, which
describes its colour. The Sard (Greek, Sarx, flesh) called by Swedenborg
and the ancients the “sardine Stone,” of a deeper brownish red is said by
Pliny to have been named from Sardis in Asia Minor. Carnelian is also
written cornelian, cornelien, and carnelion. Woodward in his “Natural
History” (1695) alludes to the ancient Roman tradition that the pale red
carnelians were called females and the deeper colours males. The yellow
carnelian was anciently regarded as the female loved by the Sun. These

gems are extremely sensitive, being affected by oils and acids. It has been
demonstrated from olden times that carnelians exposed to the rays of the
sun were brightened and heightened in colour, a result which could not be
obtained by ordinary heat. The carnelian and sard were greatly used in all
ages, and many beads, charms and ornaments have been found in the old
lands. The writer had in his possession two beautiful Etruscan scarabs of
sard—one bearing a portrait of Æsculapius and the snake, the other
portraying Venus disrobing—neither of which had suffered much from the
attacks of time.
Mr. King describes a sard intaglio showing an Ibis stepping out of a
nautilus shell, seizing a snake—a symbol of the eternal war between the
Sun, represented by the Ibis, on the stone of the Sun, and the earth
moistures, represented by the snake. Another from the Rhodes collection
represents Venus showing Cupid how to use the bow, appropriately cut on a
sard or heart stone; another, also cut on sard, shows Cupid riding on a lion
—symbol of the Sun and the heart (organ of the Sun in astrophilosophy).
Alaric the Goth entered the city of Rome with his victorious army August
27th in the year 410 A. D. His birthday cannot be ascertained with any
degree of certainty, but it may have been somewhere near that time for he
wore on his finger a large carnelian talismanic ring on which was engraved:
“Alaricus Rex Gothorum.”
Madame Blavatsky relates stories of the Shamans of Tartary who carried
carnelians under their left arms, and by employing these stones in certain
ways they were enabled to separate the astral from the physical body. The
carnelian was used by them in certain magical work and was reputed to be a
stone of wonderful power. It is significant that these Shamans carried the
carnelians on their left sides, near the great Sun of the human body—the
heart. Madame Blavatsky herself possessed a carnelian to which special
virtue was attached. She was born when the Sun was in the sign of the Lion,
and the carnelian was therefore one of her chief talismanic gems. The
carnelian was called the Stone of the Martyrs. It is said to bestow the power
to see into the astral plane if, when placed before a light for about four
minutes, it is steadily gazed upon. Considering the powerful effect the Sun
has on the carnelian, it were best that, if phenomena of this order are to be
obtained through the agency of such an instrument, the stone be first
exposed to the rays of the Sun. It is inadvisable, however, to look directly at
the sun with the naked eye.

The carnelian is said to bring content to the wearer, and Albertus Magnus
said that it made the soul happy, drove away the evil effects of sorcery,
witchcraft, enchantment and fear. It was the stone of the victor and of
victory, and was used as a charm against bad temper—for bad temper
according to the masters is a form of black magic. Black magic was evilly
directed in the light of a waning moon, and it was detected by the varying
sheen of the protective carnelian or sard. Also in dreams the stone was a
symbol that evil thoughts were being directed against the dreamer. It
represented the magical force of Faith and the weakening folly of
scepticism in the Rosicrucian mysteries. Medicinally the stone was used to
stop bleedings, and in the Middle Ages it was administered in powdered
form. At this period it was stated that the yellow variety was the gem for
Dies Solis or Sunday. Both the carnelian and sard are attached to the
zodiacal Leo, the Mansion of the Sun, and the connection apart from
tradition is proven scientifically by the effect of the solar rays on the stone
itself. It is said to promote coolness in argument and dignity in dispute, and
the Muhammedan tradition tells that Muhammad held that to procure
contentment and blessings, it was necessary with right mind to Allah, to
wear a carnelian.

CATSEYE

“The Catseye is one of the jewels of which the Singhalese are especially
proud.”
Tennent’s “Ceylon.”

The catseye is a chalcedonic quartz, translucent, of various colours—
yellow-green, yellow-brown, hyacinth-red, grey, green-grey, etc. It is of a
peculiar opalescence, resembling the eye of a cat, when cut en cabochon, an
effect produced by amianthoid asbestos filaments which run parallel
through the stone. The virtues ascribed to the catseye are many. It was said
to put colour into pale faces, to give pleasure to the mind, to relieve the soul
of melancholy, to cure chronic disorders and wasting diseases, and to keep
the wearer from financial distress and ruin. It is said to have been
successfully employed in relieving croup and asthma. Pressed on to the
forehead between the eyes it aided thought and helped foresight. Carried by
those with Capricorn rising in the horoscope, or with the Sun, Jupiter or

Venus in Capricorn, it is credited with especial value as a charm for success
in speculative ventures. Enwrapped in women’s hair, it was employed as a
birth charm, and if calcined and applied to wounds, said Rabbi Ben
Adoulah, it healed them. Further, it cured inflammations of the eyes, if
lightly rubbed on the closed lids. To dream of a catseye was said to warn of
treachery. It was the Eye of Belus in old Assyria, and a talisman which
made the wearer invisible to his enemies. Old Indian masters advise that the
specimen worn be as perfect as possible, saying that bad stones should not
be worn at all.
The Catseye is attached to the sign Capricorn.

CEYLONITE. (See SPINEL.)

CHALCEDONY

“With lustre fair is the Calcedon graced.”
Marbodus.

The chalcedony obtains its name from Chalkedon in Asia Minor, and
appears written as calcedony, calsydoyne, calcidoine, chalcedun, calcideny,
chalcidonye, calcedon, calchedonie.
This stone includes a number of varieties such as carnelian, sard, agate,
catseye, prase, plasma, heliotrope, chrysoprase, moss agate, onyx,
sardonyx, hornstone or Chert, and flint. Chalcedony is classed under the
great Silica family. It is translucent, waxy, white, pale grey, light brown or
bluish.
The Blue Chalcedony is identified with the ancient Sapphirine—a stone
confused with our sapphire. Mr. King says that the “finest Persian cylinder
known, engraved with the usual type of the King fighting with the lion, was
formed out of this variety: the signet doubtless that once graced the wrist of
some Darius or Artaxerxes of the latter days of the Persian monarchy.”
It is said that Albertus Magnus first identified the chalcedony of today in
the 13th century, although according to many authorities this was not done
until the 15th century at the very earliest. The ancient chalcedony is classed
amongst such stones as the Leucachates and Cerachates. Pliny describes the
ancient chalcedony as of “green mixed with blue as the feathers of the
peacock’s tail or of the pigeon’s neck,” and Holme quoting from Pliny in
the Armoury, 1688, says: “The chalcedon or calchedoine, being well chafed

and warmed, will draw a straw or a rush to it.” The calcedon described by
Pliny was not found in his time, but our chalcedony was greatly used in fine
art work in all ages. A chalcedony showing tiny red and brown spots has
been termed the stone of St. Stephen, in allusion to the martyrdom of that
Saint as described in Chapter 7 of the Acts.
The chalcedony is a symbol of enthusiasm, and is the emblem of Victory
Divine amongst the jewels of the Rosicrucians. It has also been termed the
Mother Stone, and under the name of Leucachate was sacred to Diana. It
protected the voyager on the ocean tracts from tempests and terrors, drove
away evil spirits, banished sadness and melancholy, secured public favour
and protected the wearer in times of political revolutions.
The chalcedony is under the zodiacal Cancer.

CHALCEDONYX. The chalcedonyx is really a chalcedony adorned with
lines of white and grey. It is included in the zodiacal Cancer.

CHIASTOLITE

“On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore.”
Pope.

The Chiastolite obtains its name from the Greek word CHIASTOS,
crossed. It is also known as Macle, from the Latin Macula, a spot. It is a
form of Andalusite found in certain metamorphic rock. During the process
of crystallization certain impurities of a carbonaceous nature are dispersed
across the stone which displays from this cause different forms of cross,
tessellated or lozenge-shaped markings, which show out curiously when the
stone is cut or broken. The hardness of the stone is not great—specimens
sometimes being as low as 3 in Mohs’ scale. The colour varies from grey to
yellow, pink, red, white, and deep brown.
The chiastolite is reported to have been first found in Andalusia in Spain,
at which place legend says St. James suffered martyrdom. A further
amplification of this legend tells that the origin of the chiastolite dates back
to that time when it sprang into being just where the Apostle laid his hands
on the rocks. At the time of Pedro the Cruel of Spain (14th Century), a
peasant, by name Miguel Perez, found a rare specimen of this stone over an
inch in diameter, exhibiting two crosses, the most marked being of a rich
dark red hue. Wishing to obtain this remarkable gem as a present for his ally

Edward the Black Prince (whose title, be it said, was not bestowed from the
colour of his armour but as Froissart says, “from the terror his arms
inspired”), Pedro ordered the peasant to bring it to him. When Perez was
ushered into his presence the King demanded the gem under pain of death.
The terrified peasant, after faltering for a few moments in nervous fear, at
length held out the gem for the King to take. As Pedro was about to seize it,
the blood-red cross met his gaze and he fell in a swoon on the palace floor.
The stone seems to have disappeared for a long period, and it is believed to
have been discovered in the possession of Philip V of Spain who carried it
as a jewel charm till his death when it was hung about the neck of the statue
of St. James in the St. Jago di Compostella. Marshal Soult, having
plundered the Cathedral during the Peninsular War, gave the stolen stone to
Napoleon Bonaparte, who presented it to Murat. Astrologically, the
chiastolite would not be a fortunate stone for Pedro, Soult, Napoleon, Murat
or the Black Prince—notwithstanding the latter’s name. It would be a
fortunate stone for Philip V.
It is quoted as a fact that when Columbus sailed on his voyage of
discovery to America he wore a charm of chiastolite. The historical
Chiastolite of Spain is said to be at the present time in the possession of the
French family De Bodts.
The chiastolite is a symbol of prudence, faith, caution and sincerity. To
dream of one is a sign of struggle, delay or limitation. It is a stone of the
zodiacal Capricorn. Chiastolite is also written as chiastolith and
chiastolithe. The name was bestowed on it in the year 1800. Some very fine
specimens have recently been found in South Australia.

CHRYSOBERYL

“Time will run back and fetch the Age of Gold.”
Milton.

The name is derived from CHRYSOS, golden, and BERYLLOS, beryl.
Suitable stones are cut into catseyes of opalescent gleam. The chrysoberyl is
harder than the topaz, and is composed of alumina and glucina. The colours
of the stone are asparagus green, grass green, greenish white. The
Alexandrite variety changes its colours in real and artificial light.

The chrysoberyl was credited as a charm against evil spirits and a
disordered imagination, against deceit, craft and conspiracy. To dream of a
chrysoberyl was a warning against waste. It is under the zodiacal Pisces.

CRYSOCOLLA. This hydros copper silicate derives its name from the
Greek CHRYSOS, gold, and KOLLA, cement. It obtained its name from its
resemblance to a gold solder known and used by the ancient Greeks. It is a
very soft, light substance, varying in colour from a blue-green to a sky or
turquoise blue. The texture is enamellike, and the occurrence is earthy and
massive. Chrysocolla is a musical charm, to dream of which was favourable
for musicians, florists and singers. It is under the zodiacal Taurus.

CHAPTER XV
CHRYSOLITE—CRYSTAL

CHRYSOLITE: “EVENING EMERALD”: THE ANCIENT AMIANTHUS: BANISHER OF EVIL
INFLUENCES: STONE OF INSPIRATION: “THE PRECIOUS STONE”: CHRYSOPRASE:
STONE OF DREAMS AND HAPPINESS: BAD EFFECT OF EXCESSIVE LIGHT:
CINNAMON STONE: CITRINE OR FALSE TOPAZ: ITS TALISMANIC VIRTUES: COAL:
BLACK DIAMONDS: “HAULING OVER THE COALS”: TAX ON COAL: FIRST COAL
LICENCES: PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE USE OF COAL: FIRST COAL EXPORTED
TO PARIS: THE NATURE OF CORAL: OLD BELIEF: TREVISA ON THE CORAL: CORAL
SPECIES: PERSEUS AND THE MEDUSA: THE WORK OF THE SEA-NYMPHS: THE
RISING OF THE LOVE GODDESS: THE EVIL EYE: FASCINATION: ROMAN CUSTOM:
CORAL AND HEALTH: DISPELLER OF EVIL SPIRITS: INCUBI AND SUCCUBI: DR.
HARTMANN’S TESTIMONY: BARTHOLOMEUS AND THE WYTCHES’ STONE:
MYSTICAL PROPERTIES ASCRIBED TO CORAL: CUSTOM OF OLD GREEK SAILORS:
LEMNIUS AND CORAL: THE GEM OF THE GARDEN OF EVERLASTING LIFE: A 17TH
CENTURY PRESCRIPTION: THE STONE OF THE DANCERS: CORUNDUM:
CORDIERITE: CROCIDOLITE: CRYSTAL: EARLY USE ON SCARABEI, ETC.: TRIAL OF
PSYCHE: THE ETHIOPIAN KING AND THE CRYSTAL TOMBS: THE HAPSBURG
CRYSTAL VASES: CRYSTAL IN CHINA AND JAPAN: THE TALISMAN OF
CONCENTRATION: THE MEDICINE INDIANS: AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINALS AND
THE CRYSTAL: RAIN STONE: THE CORADGEE: CRYSTALLOMANCY AMONGST
THE NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA: CRYSTAL BALLS AND THE SUN’S RAYS: DR.
BABBITT’S REMARKS ON THE CONVEX LENS: HYDROLITES: THE THIRD EYE: AN
ANTIQUE SEAL RING: CRYSTALS IN THE HIGHLANDS: SIR WILLIAM RIDGEWAY
ON CRYSTALS: SWEDENBORG’S STONE OF TRUTH.

CHRYSOLITE

“When morning rose, to land
We haul’d our bark, and moored it on the strand,
Where in a beauteous grotto’s cool recess
Dance the green Nereids of the neighboring seas.”
Homer. (Pope’s Translation.)

The Chrysolite obtains its name from the Greek CHRYSOS, gold, and
LITHOS, a stone. This gem is of a light greeny-yellow; when deep olive

green it is known as a Peridot, when yellowish-green as True Olivine.
Among the ancients the Chrysolite was our topaz. Its name, literally
“Golden Stone,” indicates the beautiful golden topaz so highly esteemed by
gem-lovers, which, we are told, derives its name from that mysterious
Island of the Mists which Pliny calls Topazion. Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith
writes of the variety peridot as bearing the pretty name of “the evening
emerald,” and the most charming specimens resemble the light green of the
sea waters near the shore, illuminated by the setting sun. This gem appears
to be the Amianthus of post-Biblical writers, known as “the gem of
miracles,” which drove away the spirits and influences of evil, protected
against obsession, dissolved enchantments, and the phantoms of the night,
gladdened the heart with hope, strengthened the soul, inspired thought,
banished illusion, despair, madness, aided the faculties of inspiration and
prophecy.
In the History of Monsieur Oufle—quoted by Brand—it is advised: “To
expel phantoms and rid people of folly, take the precious stone chrysolite,
set it in gold, and let them wear it about ’em.” Francis Barrett says that it is
good for the lungs and cures asthmatical complaints; also that when held
under the tongue it cures fevers, aids prophecy, bestows eloquence and
inspiration. The peridot was known as “the” precious stone, and was often
valued more than the diamond.
The hardness of the chrysolite is from 6 to 7 on Mohs’ scale. It is under
the zodiacal Pisces.

CHRYSOPRASE
The chrysoprase derives its name from the Greek CHRYSOS, golden,
and PRASON, a leek. It is an apple-green chalcedony, the colour being
caused by oxide of nickel. The chrysoprase was esteemed the perfect stone
of dreams in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. It was believed that if one
condemned for any offence whatever held a chrysoprase in his mouth he
would escape punishment. It was a stone for the voyager on deep seas, a
kindler of the imaginative faculties, a banisher of greed, selfishness and
carelessness. It was the stone of happiness and enterprise, awakening
slumbering faculties. It calmed irritability, the pains of gout, and, bound to
the left arm, it prevented or cured the stone. It was the stone of prudence,
adaptability and versatility, rousing to action, progress and adventure. To
gaze into the chrysoprase was said to strengthen the eyes, especially when

the Moon was passing through Taurus and Cancer. In many ways the
chrysoprase was a religious symbol. In its Hebrew name of NOFEK it was
the fourth stone of the Breastplate, and as the tenth jewel of the
Rosicrucians it was the symbol of strength, moral and physical, and of
invisible power. Swedenborg sees in it “the supreme heavenly love of
truth,” and the Fathers see “triumph over sin.” Its symbology is reflected to
the gateway through which the soul passed when entering the sphere of
earth, and its dream influence was like an angel’s smile. Light in excess has
an unfavourable effect on this stone, robbing it of its colour. Introduced into
England in the reign of Ann, it was much loved by the Queen. It enjoyed
great popularity during the times of the 3 Georges, and was a favorite gem
of Queen Victoria.
The chrysoprase is under the zodiacal Cancer.

CINNAMON STONE. (See ESSONITE.)

CITRINE
Citrine is a clear light yellow quartz crystal, obtaining its name from its
citron tint. It is correctly called False Topaz, and incorrectly Brazilian
Topaz. It presents no cleavage like the topaz. It is also known as Spanish
topaz and Occidental topaz. The citrine was carried as a protective talisman
against miasmatic exhalations, plague epidemics, eruptive diseases, evil
thought forms, alcoholic and other forms of indulgence. It was also
employed as a charm against the bites of snakes, venomous reptiles and
insects, and against scandal, libel and treachery.
The Citrine is under the zodiacal Scorpio.

COAL

“A live coal from the altar (Is. VI. 6) signifies divine love from which all
purification is derived.”
Swedenborg.

Coal derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon word KOL, to kindle. It is a
well-known solid black combustible substance, the remains of old forests
and earth vegetation which chemical action has changed chiefly by the
elimination of oxygen and hydrogen. Many dyes, acids, gases, flavourings,
etc., are obtained from this important product. Amongst these are tar, coke,

creosote, carbolic acid, naphtha, sal-ammoniac, ammonia, various
explosives, drugs, mineral vanilla, etc. Dr. Brewer explains that to “haul
over the coals” is historically and literally true: “At one time,” he says, “the
Jews were ‘bled’ whenever the Kings or barons wanted money, and one
very common torture, if they resisted, was to haul them over the coals of a
slow fire to give them a roasting.” Sir Walter Scott alludes to this practice in
“Ivanhoe.” Professor John Henry Pepper, writing, on “Coal and Coal
Mines,” introduces the following interesting details: "In olden time, before
a cargo of coals could be discharged from a collier, it was necessary to
obtain the permission of the Lord Mayor who, for a certain consideration,
granted the required permission. This much honoured magistrate and his
worthy coadjutors, the aldermen, with the common councilmen and livery
called the Corporation were permitted to lay a tax upon the “black
diamonds” that amounted to something like £50,000 per annum. In 1830 the
heaviest of the coal duties were abolished: and since that time the trade has
assumed gigantic proportions which have made it the marvel of the
civilized world. The first licences to dig coals were granted to the burgesses
of Newcastle by Henry III and in 1281 a very good trade existed in that
fuel. A proclamation in the reign of King Edward I shows the introduction
of coal as a substitute for wood, and a charter of Edward II indicates that
Derbyshire coal was used in London. In the same reign coals were first sent
from Newcastle for the benefit of those trades which required fuel: and in
1316 a petition was made from Parliament to the King praying His Majesty
to forbid all use of the new and pestilent fuel called “coals,” which was
acceded to, and a proclamation made, commanding all use of coals to cease
and determine, and threatening all who burnt coals to be mulcted, and on a
second offence to have their furnaces demolished. In the reign of Queen
Elizabeth the burning of stone coal was again prohibited during the sitting
of Parliament. At a subsequent period, about 1648, coals were once more
placed under a ban.... In 1520 Newcastle coal was first exported into Paris."
A piece of coal was carried by thieves in the belief that it would protect
them from detection, and help them to escape when pursued. To dream of
coals is indicated as a symbol of disappointment, trouble, affliction and
losses, except if the coals be burning brightly when the symbol gives
promises of uplifting and advancement, for the fire symbol of Mars is
rousing to action the coal symbol of Saturn. Coal is under the celestial
Capricorn.

CORAL

“In the pleased infant see its power expand
When first the coral fills his little hand.”
Sprague.

Coral is a carbonate of lime effected by gelatinous marine mollusks
known as “polypi.”
For long ages coral was supposed to be a marine plant of which Trevisa
wrote in 1495: “Corall is gendred in the Red See, and is a tree as long as it
is coveryd with water, but as it is drawen out it torneth into stone,” and
Jordan in 1699 tells us that “coral also being a plant and nourished with this
juice, turns to a stone.” The name is derived from the Greek word
Korallion, and is found written as corale, corral, correil, curalle, curroll,
quyral, etc.
The various species have been set down as follows:

Pink Coral
Red Coral
White Coral
Black Coral
Blue Coral
Yellow Coral, etc.

In more modern times species have obtained names from their
appearance. Thus:

Brain Coral
Cup Coral
Mushroom Coral
Organpipe Coral
Star Coral

The appeal of coral to the poet finds expression in some charming
legends:
Ovid (Metamorphoses) wrote that Perseus, after he had cut the head from
the body of the dreadful Medusa, laid it on the branches of the trees which
grew by the sea shore; but the power never departing, turned these

branches, as it had turned every other living thing, into stone. The sea
nymphs drew these fossils beneath the waves and they became the coral
seeds. A variation of this legend tells that the blood which fell from the
bleeding head on to the shrubs, flowers and trees turned them into seeds of
coral which the sea nymphs drew beneath the waves. It arose again in
flower-like beauty with Venus when she emerged in all her glory from the
sea, symbolical of the exaltation of Venus in the zodiacal Pisces, and in this
connection also concealing a deeper meaning. No gem has been more
employed as a charm for averting the fell spell of the evil eye than the
innocent coral which was credited with the power of destroying the first
stroke of the glance, after which it—like the drawn fang of the serpent—
was rendered incapable of injury. Scot writes in “Discovery of Witchcraft:”
“The coral preserveth such as bear it from fascination or bewitching and in
this respect corals are hanged about children’s necks.” Pliny mentions that
the Romans hung on babies’ cradles and around their necks pieces of red
coral as an aid in teething and an influence against the falling sickness and
infantile diseases. Plato says: “Coral is good to be hanged about children’s
necks, as well to rub their gums as to preserve them from the falling
sickness. It hath also some special sympathy with Nature, for the best coral,
being worn about the neck, will turn pale and wan if the party that wears it
be sick, and comes to its former colour again as they recover health.” Brand
mentions a similar idea in the “Three Ladies of London,” 1584: “Coral will
look pale when you be sick.” Little bells were also attached in the Middle
Ages to children’s coral charms in order to ward off evil spirits, storms and
pestilence, and scare away the Furies; this same belief exists in Japan,
China and other countries. It is a fact that coral is affected by the health of
the wearer; some writers say that it becomes spotted or stained when the
illness is of a serious nature. It was regarded as a very potent charm for
women. In Italy the coral was also called the Witch Stone, because it was
said to protect women from the wizards and men from the witches. In
connection with these Paracelsus writes: “They are the outgrowths of an
intense and sensual imagination of men and women, and which Rabbinical
traditions relate in an allegorical manner, are connected with Adam (the
animal Man), and Lilith, his first wife. They are afraid of red corals as dogs
are afraid of a whip: but the brown corals attract them. Red corals are
disagreeable to monsters, Incubi, Succubi, Phantasmata and all evil spirits,
but brown corals are not, and they delight in them.” In commenting on this

Dr. Franz Hartmann, a physician of note and distinguished writer, says that
he knew of cases of melancholy, depression of mind, hypochondria, etc.,
that had been successfully treated by the wearing of red corals, while other
articles employed for the same purpose had no effect, the cure therefore not
being merely attributable to the belief of the patient. He concludes: “The
ignorant will find it easier to ridicule such things than to explain them.”
A curious passage in Bartholomeus (“De Proprietatibus Rerum,” 1536) is
of interest: “Wytches tell that this stone withstondeth lyghtnyng,
whirlewynde, tempeste and stormes fro shyppes and houses that it is in. The
Red Corall helpeth ayenst the feudes, gyle and scorne, and ayenst divers
wonderous doyng and multiplieth frute, and spedeth begynnyng and ending
of causes and of nedes.” Oriental mystics warn against the wearing of dull,
dirty or discoloured specimens. The pure coral was deemed a protection
from plague, poison, storm and tempest. In a house it charmed away
disharmony, envy and evil influences. It banished evil dreams and the
“terrors of the night,” wild animals, the lightning stroke, witchcraft,
epilepsy, stomach complaints, night sweats, etc. It was a cure for sores,
diseased gums, whooping cough, disorders of the spleen, teething troubles,
troubles of the feet and toes, madness, etc.
It is interesting to note that natural corals in the form of vegetable
growths were, and in some places still are, tied to fruit trees to ensure their
fertility, and that women of ancient times wore such specimens as charms
against sterility. Thus, “she who hath risen from the sea foam,” Venus, was
regarded as employing the moistures so needed in perfecting the material
dresses of the animal, mineral and vegetable worlds when entering earth
conditions: and the ancient masters held that such examples of the doctrine
of Sympathies, Similitudes, Signatures and Correspondences guide man to a
correct knowledge and understanding of the mysteries of Nature. The
ancient Greeks attached coral to the prows of their ships to protect them
from the onslaughts of sea and storm. Lemnius says: “Bind corall to the
neck, it takes off turbulent dreams and allays the nightly fears of children.”
The gem of the Arabian Garden of the Everlasting Life—Jannat al Khuld—
is the yellow coral.
To dream of red, pink and coral of beautiful lustre is said to denote
recovery to the sick and good health to any one, but ill-conditioned
specimens symbolize the opposite. As a cardiac stimulant, for stopping

hæmorrhages, warding off contagion, etc., the old physician Rulandus
(Medicina Practica, 1564) prescribed half a drachm of powdered coral.
The following 17th century prescription was administered as a cure for
colic, purging and vomiting, and is given here as of especial interest:

Tabellæ Corallatæ
(Transcription)

Amongst the Spaniards it was usual at one time for conjurers and
jugglers especially to wear tight-fitting coral-coloured costumes. Good
specimens of coral are greatly esteemed by dancers. It is especially a luck
gem of the ballet, the sign Pisces of the Zodiac, under which all corals are
placed—ruling the feet.

CORUNDUM. Also written at earlier periods as coriundum, corundon,
corindon. (See under Ruby, Sapphire.)

CORDIERITE. See IOLITE.

CROCIDOLITE. Also written Krokydolite, krocidolite. This stone was
named in the year 1831, from the Greek KROKIS, a variation of KROKUS,

the nap of woollen cloth, and LITHOS, a stone. It is well described as an
asbestiform variety of hornblend of indigo-blue, leek-green or golden-
brown colour—the latter variety being also known as Tiger’s Eye. When cut
en cabochon this stone has a fine chatoyant effect. There is little doubt that
the ancients knew of this stone of the asbestos family under the zodiacal
Gemini. It was regarded as a fortunate stone for people of literary or
mercurial tendencies, and as a nerve and lung soother. Held against the
temple when the Moon is passing through the sign Gemini, in good aspect
to Mercury, it would assist thought and mental speculation.

CRYSTAL
The crystal obtains its name from the Greek word KRUSTALLOS, ice. It
is a pure and transparent variety of Quartz, so called because of its
resemblance to clear ice. In literature it appears as cristalla, cristal, crestal,
kristall, cristalle, christall, chrystal. Webster writes that the English spelling
was gradually changed to CRYSTAL between the 15th and 17th centuries.
We have evidence of its early use by man, Egyptian scarabei and
Babylonian cylinders having been found, dating back as far as 1500 B.C. In
the trial of Psyche—that beautifully symbolic legend—Venus gives this
graceful lover of Eros the magical vase of pure crystal with the request that
it be filled with the waters from the Fountain of Forgetfulness. The
Fountain waters flowed through a narrow channel at the summit of a steep
mountain, and they murmured: “To attempt is to perish. Be warned. Be
warned. To attempt is to perish; fly from us.” Psyche saw two caves, one on
each side of these icy waters, and in these caves were two terrible dragons.
With the precious vase in her trembling hands, the faithful lover prayed for
help in her perilous task. Jupiter heard her prayer in pity, for love had been
kind to him, and he sent his eagle to her. The eagle drew the vase from
Psyche and, filling it with the waters, brought it to her. Then she ran to
Venus, thinking that pitying love would exact no more. “Thy witchery has
gained thee these waters,” said the Goddess, “I have another test for thee.”
The King of the Ethiopians showed the messengers of Cambyses
amongst other wonders the tombs of pure crystal in which could be seen the
bodies of the departed, perfect in form and feature. In the imperial vault of
the Hapsburgs in the Church of the Capucins, Vienna, there are 150 crystal
vases, gold mounted, with a crown on the top of each, which contain the
hearts of the Royal members of the Family. This practice dates from Duke

Francis who, dying in Switzerland, directed that his heart should be
preserved and sent to Vienna.
In China and Japan the crystal is called SINSHO. The Japanese know it
also as Tama or Jewel of Perfection, and it is used by them for making
crystal balls and beautiful objects of art. It is cut in the shape of a ball,
esteemed in Japan as the Stone of Concentration, and several in a family
will sit round gazing at a specimen in which they see guidance and help in
the path of life. In China it is also known as CHING, and symbolized as an
upright triangle of three suns, it has always been highly esteemed. It is cut
with great patience into figures of deities and sacred objects. The Chinese
regard it as a talisman of concentration and perseverance; it recalls to them
the magnificence and immensity of what man calls space, this “jewel of
perfection” which the Japanese also term “Breath of the White Dragon.”
The Medicine Indians of South America say that a holy spirit is in the
crystal, and for this reason the sacred stones must not be seen except by
initiates. The aboriginals of Australia and Tasmania regarded the crystal in a
mystic way. It was known by the Murray tribes as Katto and Maako. The
South Australians generally termed large crystals Kanwenmuka, and
smaller specimens Kanyappa. It is the Teyl of the West Australian, the
Leeka and Heka of the Tasmanian and it is called Tendeagh by the East tribe
and Mughramallee by the South. The late Mr. James Bonwick says that the
natives usually wore the crystal in its bag, suspended from the neck; he
gives their song of magic as follows:

Kano Kano (lizard)
wimmari
Kano Kano (crystal)
Kanwemuka
Kano Kano (flint)
Makkitya
Kano yeruka
Makkitya
Makkitya
mulyeria.

Gazing Crystal on Dragon Stand. Presented to
the Author by the Late Judge Casey of
Victoria, Australia.

Mr. Bonwick also gives instances of the prevalence of Crystallomancy
amongst the aboriginals, the use of the Rain Stone, the Coradgee Stone
which was wrapped in hair and was not to be seen by a female, “not always
a simple white stone, it was more commonly a quartz crystal.” He says
further “Some men, by proper use of this magical agency (the crystal) could
work wonders.” Thus, the crystal has been employed by savage and
civilized man in all ages. It was said to enclose within its bright form all the
knowledge and secrets that have ever been; if worn during sleep it banishes
evil dreams and spells, and guards the wearer against sorcery, witchcraft,
secret enemies and evil thoughts. It was said to indicate the presence of

poison by clouding or by breaking—hence its employment in the
manufacture of precious goblets by the ancients. It was employed as a
preventive of watery, wasting and infectious diseases, tumourous
complaints, blood impurities, heart, bowel and feet troubles, renal
affections, etc. Pliny recommends it as an external medicine for women
when in the form of fine powder mixed with honey. With regard to the
employment of crystal balls and lenses for medical purposes, this venerable
author says: “I find it asserted by physicians that when any part of the body
requires to be cauterized it cannot be better done than by means of a crystal
ball held against the sun’s rays”; it is interesting to compare this statement
with a more recent one made by the late Dr. E. D. Babbitt, M.D.:
“Sunlight can lubricate and even vesicate the skin without causing much
pain or without leaving any permanent scars like those formed by
sinapisms, moxas, lancings, etc. Many a tumour which under the old system
is cut out without even reaching the cause, is destroyed by concentrating the
light upon it through a convex lens.”
Many beautiful crystals bearing intagli of a large size have been
discovered. Mr. King mentions two choice specimens of Valerio il
Vicentino and his rival Geo. del Castel Bolognese. Some crystals have been
found encasing drops of water very much like the spirit in the spirit-level.
These are known as Hydrolites or, as Pliny writes them, Enhydros. They are
mentioned by the poet Claudian as—

“A stream unfettered pent in crystal round,
A truant fount by hardened waters bound.”

Mr. King received information that miners in California have died from
drinking the water from a hydrolite, and this circumstance exhibits the
subtle action of some of the stones attached to the sign of the Fishes. The
crystal, wrongly but frequently termed “beryl” stone, is highly esteemed as
an instrument for heightening the imagination and bringing out the gazing
power of the third eye previously mentioned. Mr. William Jones gives an
illustration of the seal of a divination ring from Licini’s “Antiqua
Schemata.” It shows a half nude woman holding a serpent in her left hand,
the head of which is bending towards a crystal ball held by a nude man, his
right leg resting on a wooden stand, his left stretching towards an altar on

which the sacred fire is burning. The female bends over the male who gazes
intently into the crystal ball. The work is full of expression and force.
In the Highlands of Scotland large pieces of crystal were used for
charms, and cattle were given to drink water which had been poured over
crystals. Similar crystals were employed for the protection of cattle in
Ireland, a fine specimen being still kept by the Tyrone family.
The sign Pisces is the natural 12th celestial House, ruling large cattle. It
is also the sign of occult and mysterious things and of the elevation of
Venus. Thus, all the legends, stories and philosophies connected with this
bright stone of the sign Pisces are easily understood. Professor Sir William
Ridgeway, of Cambridge, England, in his work, “The Drama and Dramatic
Dances of Non-European Races,” draws attention to the fact that “crystals
have always been and are still regarded as the most amuletic of precious
stones, and comedians also are frequently cut into faceted shapes by the
Arabs and others. The diamond and spinel are both octahedral. The
Japanese are especially fond of rock crystal, one of their favorite amulets
being a double gourd cut out of such a crystal.” Swedenborg recognized in
the crystal “Divine Truth in all its brightness” and truth certainly has its
correspondence in the clear glistening magnetic crystal.

CHAPTER XVI
THE DIAMOND

ARNOTT’S OBSERVATION: EXTREME HARDNESS: BOYLE AND DU FAY PROVE
ELECTRICAL QUALITIES: DR. KUNZ AND PHOSPHORESCENCE: SIR WILLIAM
CROOKS ON RADIUM AND THE DIAMOND: EXPERIMENTS IN ARTIFICIAL
PRODUCTION BY MARDEN, MOISSAN AND CROOKS: SIR CHARLES PARSONS’
CONCLUSIONS: “SEARCH FOR THE ABSOLUTE”: DISCOVERY OF A LARGE
DIAMOND AT JACOB’S FARM ON THE ORANGE RIVER: SIR WILLIAM
WODEHOUSE’S PURCHASE: DIAMONDS IN MUD BRICKS: AUSTRALIAN
DIAMONDS: FIRST DIAMOND BROUGHT TO EUROPE: GOLCONDA: BRAZIL:
FLORENTINE DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUTH OF BOETIUS’S BELIEF AND
NEWTON’S DEDUCTIONS: BOYLE’S EXPERIMENTS AT HIGH TEMPERATURE:
AVERANI PROVES THE FORCE OF THE SUN’S RAYS ON A DIAMOND: EASILY
BURNED BUT UNAFFECTED BY ACIDS: THE GNOMES OF THE ROSICRUCIANS:
GNOME LEGENDS: SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE ON THE DIAMOND: RABBI BENONI,
BOETIUS DE BOODT AND THE HINDU WRITERS: ES-SINDIBAD OF THE SEA AND
THE VALLEY OF DIAMONDS: SIMILAR STORIES: EL-KAZWEENEE: MARCO POLO:
MR. MARSDEN’S OBSERVATIONS: GOLCONDA: LITTLE PRINCESS MARY’S
DIAMOND MARRIAGE RING: LORD LISLE’S DEATH DIAMOND: THE DIAMOND
HEART RING OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS: QUEEN ELIZABETH AND SIR WALTER
RALEIGH: DIAMOND SAVES THE LIFE OF QUEEN ISABELLA OF SPAIN: EX-
PRESIDENT KRUGER’S UNLUCKY DIAMOND: KING ARTHUR AND THE DIAMOND
JOUSTS: THE AFFAIR OF THE DIAMOND NECKLACE: INDIAN DIAMOND CUTTERS:
LOUIS VAN BERGHEM: CHARLESMAGNE’S DIAMOND CLASP: HERMAN THE
LAPIDARY: PERUZZI: CLEMENT BIRAGO AND JACOPO DA TREZZO ENTER THE
SERVICE OF PHILIP II: POPE HILDEBRAND SENDS A DIAMOND RING TO WILLIAM
OF NORMANDY: THE DIAMOND SWORD IN THE TALE OF THE YELLOW DWARF:
THE ZODIACAL SIGNS OF THE DIAMOND: THE DIAMOND IN LOVE AND
MARRIAGE: BORT.

DIAMOND

“The lively diamond drinks thy purest rays.”
Thomson.

The diamond derives its name from the Greek ADAMAS,
ADAMANTOS, adamant. It has been written at various times as

dyamawnte, dyamamaunt, dyamant, diamant, diamownde, dyamonde,
dyamount, diamonde, diamont, dimond, dymauntz, and adamant stone. It is
but pure crystallized carbon, and Arnott (Physics, 1830), writes: “The
diamond has nearly the greatest light-bending power of any known
substances, and hence comes in part its brilliancy as a jewel.” It is
remarkable also for its extreme hardness and for its variety of colours—
steel, white, blue, yellow, orange, red, green, pink and black. This “prince
of gems” in days of old was considered the royal stone which only a prince
was privileged to wear. The highly electrical properties ascribed by the
ancients to the diamond were proved in the 17th and 18th centuries by the
chemists Boyle and Du Fay, and Dr. Kunz has demonstrated today that all
diamonds “phosphoresce when exposed to the rays of radium, polonium, or
actinum, even when glass is interposed.” In a paper read to the Royal
Society, London, November 5th, 1914, the late Sir William Crooks said:
“Many substances become coloured by direct exposure to radium, the
colour depending on the substance. Diamond takes a full sage-green, the
depth of tint depending on the time of exposure to the radium. In addition to
the change of colour the diamond also becomes radio-active, continuously
giving off α, β, γ rays. The acquired colour and activity withstand the action
of powerful chemical agents and continue for years with apparently
undiminished activity. Removing the surface by mechanical means removes
both colour and radio-activity. The appearance of an auto-radiograph made
by placing an active diamond crystal on a sensitive photographic plate and
the visual examination of its scintillating luminosity suggest that there is a
special discharge of energy from the corners and points of the crystal.”
The several experiments for the production of diamonds by artificial
means have since 1880 been conducted by some eminent scientists, notably
Professor Marden, Professor Henri Moissan and Sir William Crooks. For
many years Sir Charles Parsons has been working closely at the problem,
and the main conclusions arrived at by this scholar were communicated to
the Royal Society, London, in 1918. They were as follows:
That graphite cannot be converted into diamond by heat and pressure
alone within the limits reached in the experiments;
That there is no distinct evidence that any of the chemical reactions under
pressure have yielded diamond;
That the only undoubted source of diamond is from iron previously
heated to high temperature and then cooled.

That diamond is not produced by bulk pressure as previously supposed,
but by the action of gases occluded in the metal and condensed into the
centre on quick cooling.
In connection with these experiments it will be found interesting to read
Balzac’s “Search for the Absolute,” in which it is told how after many
ruinous attempts to produce a diamond by artificial means one, self-formed,
is found in the old chemist’s laboratory after his death. The worth and
romance of the old mines of Brazil and India are dwelt on by many of the
writers of the past, and although diamonds were discovered in South Africa
in the 18th Century, yet no important discoveries were made until 1867,
when a large stone was found by children of a Dutch farmer, Mr. Jacobs,
not far from their farm near Hopetown on the Orange River. Not knowing
what the stone really was and attaching no value to it, Mrs. Jacobs gave it to
Mr. Schalk van Niekerk, a neighbour, who entrusted it to Mr. O’Reilly, a
hunter and trader, asking him to submit it to some mineralogist for an
opinion. Mr. O’Reilly took the stone to Colesberg and showed it to Mr.
Boyes, the acting commissioner for that district, at whose suggestion it was
submitted to Dr. W. G. Atherstone of Graham’s Town. Thanks to his
mineralogical knowledge, Dr. Atherstone proved the stone to be a diamond.
It was exhibited in Paris in March, 1867, as “The First African Diamond
Discovered,” and was purchased by the Cape Governor, Sir Philip
Wodehouse, for £500. Sir Philip sold it to Garrards and it has changed
hands several times since then. The weight of this stone was 21 carats. The
famous Du Toit’s Pan was found through a Boer farmer actually
discovering diamonds in the mud bricks of which his house was built.
As early as 1866, Mr. C. W. King expected that quantities of diamonds
from Australia would reach the world’s markets, and there is no doubt that
this expectation will be realized when those parts of the vast
Commonwealth from which many diamonds have already come, have been
thoroughly tested and proved. In 1885 several companies were working at
Bingera, a township in New South Wales, 350 miles from Sydney, and
many small but pure hard stones were found. The writer has handled some
few specimens of fine blue white from Bingera, ranging from a quarter to
half a carat after cutting. The hardness of the Australian gem—which may
well add another point to Mohs’s scale—has counted against it, but modern
cutters will not consider this a bar especially if sufficient quantities be
submitted for treatment. Gold has also been found at Bingera and, as Mr.

King writes: “The observation made of old by Pliny that the diamond
always accompanies gold has been fully borne out by the experience of
succeeding ages.” The first Australian diamonds were found in New South
Wales, at Reedy Creek, near Bathurst, in 1851. In 1869 during a gold rush
near Mudgee some fair diamonds were found by the miners. Professor
Liversidge of Sydney describes the occurrence of diamonds at Bingera “as
being situated in a sort of basin about four miles long and four miles wide,
hemmed in by hills on all sides, save on the North. An old river-drift,
probably an ancient bed of the river Horton, rests upon rocks of Devonian
or Carboniferous age, and is associated with basalt by which it appears to
be overlain. In some places the materials of the drift are compacted together
into a conglomerate, so that the mode of occurrence of the diamond at
Bingera strikingly resembles that at Mudgee. The minerals composing the
gravels are also generally similar in the two cases, though points of
difference are not wanting. Some of the diamonds are clear and colourless,
others have a pale straw tint. Thousands have been found in this district, as
well as in many other localities of New South Wales.” The gravels enclosed
agate, sapphire, ruby, zircon, jasper, rock crystal, garnets, grey corundum,
ilmenite, tourmaline, gold and tin. Mr. A. R. Pike who, with his partner, Mr.
John O’Donnell, has had much experience with Australian diamonds at
Inverell, New South Wales, writes interestingly concerning them. “With
slates and diorites from the bed-rock, gold is found in the wash, in addition
to its diamond output. Rich yields of alluvial gold have been won from the
Gulgong district. The wash deposit of this field also carries diamonds and a
special class of semi-precious gems. They embrace sapphires in large
numbers and various tints; cornflower, blue, green, dark blue, straw, yellow,
and blood-red are plentiful. The red sapphires in many cases are true rubies
of the desired pigeon-blood colour. Unfortunately all the sapphires
represent small flat fragments and are too small for cutting purposes.” A
few months ago the writer picked out about a dozen fair but small diamonds
for a “fossicker” from a little bag of different stones that he had found in
Spring Creek, Beechworth, Victoria.
It is recorded that diamonds were first brought to Europe from the first
known of the mines of Golconda, the mine of Sumbulpour, in 1584. The
mines of Brazil were discovered in 1728. Boetius de Boodt asserted in the
year 1609, his belief in the inflammability of the diamond, and in 1694 the
Florentine academicians demonstrated the truth of Boetius’ belief and

Newton’s deductions—Sir Isaac Newton having based his similar
conclusions on the refracting power of the diamond in 1675. Boyle
discovered in 1673 that when the diamond was submitted to high
temperature it ejected a pungent vapour in which a part of it was consumed.
In 1695 Averani experimenting with the concentrated rays of the sun on the
diamond demonstrated that “it was exhaled in vapour and entirely
disappeared while other precious stones only grew softer.” That the
diamond can be burned is easy of proof, as is also the fact that acids have
no effect upon it.
The gnomes figure in the elemental system of Rosicrucian philosophy,
being described as small people who guard the mines and treasures of the
earth, the precious stones and the metals. They are robust little fellows of a
brown colour, and their sympathy extends to philosophic minds amongst
both miners and scholars. They hate frivolity, for they are serious little
fairies. Comte de Gabalis details an argument with their Prince who came to
the upper earth in respect to the will of the Irish sage Macnamara.
Macnamara has sympathy for the gnomes whom he calls “the unhappy
guardians of treasures,” in the mystical chapters on “The Irreconcilable.”
There are numerous legends of the Gnomes, the meanings of which are not
difficult to interpret if the mind of the student is filled with the desire to
know. It is said that these little fairies suffer much, and that when they
grieve for those they have loved and lost their tears change into diamonds,
which remain as the jewel emblems of pure and unselfish grief. That great
old English traveller of the 14th Century, Sir John Mandeville—a copy of
whose MS., said to date from the time of the author, is in the Cottonian
Library—wrote that the diamond should always be worn on the left or heart
side of the body, and that it is possible for a diamond to lose its occult virtue
after being handled by evil people: for in the human body there is more
potency for good or ill than is generally understood. There are many stories
of misfortune and discord following the possessors of stolen diamonds.
Ample evidence exists that substances handled by diseased persons are
quite capable of conveying their symptoms to others. The Diamond, ever a
symbol of purity, was regarded as a charm against all evil, but—said the
philosophers—it must not be touched by evil, by lemures, incubi, succubi
or by the formed or formless devils of the material and super-material
spheres. In this philosophy it is advised that a woman about to give birth to
a child should refrain from wearing diamonds. Rabbi Benoni wrote in the

14th Century that the diamond was capable of producing somnambulism
and spiritual ecstasy, a suggestion which was acted on in the last century by
experimenters at Nancy. According to Boetius de Boodt, diamonds were of
different sexes, and some Hindu writers classified them as masculine,
feminine or neuter.
In the Mani Mali it is stated that:

an ill- diamond carries danger
shaped
a dirty diamond carries grief
a rough diamond carries unhappiness
a black diamond carries trouble
a 3- diamond carries quarrels
cornered
a 4- diamond carries fear
cornered
a 5- diamond carries death
cornered
a 6- diamond carries fortune
cornered

However, the three, four and five cornered diamond would not be
reckoned evil in a flawless stone of good colour. It is asserted by some of
the Hindu masters that diamonds, according to their colours and qualities,
appealed to the taste as sweet, sour and salty. Marbodus calls the diamond a
potent magical charm for protecting the sleeper from evil dreams and the
child from the dreaded goblin. The fifth Arabian Heaven, the Garden of
Delights, Jannat al-Naim, is said to be composed of the purest diamonds.
In the second voyage of Es-Sindibad of the Sea (commonly known as
Sinbad the Sailor) in the “Thousand and One Nights,” E. W. Lane’s
translation, the hero finds himself in the Valley of the Serpents: “Then I
arose and emboldened myself and walked in that valley: and I beheld its
ground to be composed of diamonds, with which they perforate minerals
and jewels, and with which also they perforate porcelain and the onyx: and
it is a stone so hard that neither iron nor rock have any effect upon it, nor
can anyone cut off aught from it or break it, unless by means of the lead

stone.... I then walked along the Valley, and while I was thus occupied, lo, a
great slaughtered animal fell before me, and I found no one. So I wondered
thereat extremely: and I remembered a story that I had heard long before ...
that in the mountains of the diamonds are experienced great terrors, and that
no one can gain access to the diamonds, but that the merchants who import
them know a stratagem by means of which to obtain them: that they take a
sheep and slaughter it, and skin it, and cut up its flesh which they throw
down from the mountain to the bottom of the Valley: so descending, fresh
and moist, some of these stones stick to it. Then the merchants leave it until
midday, and birds of the large kind of vulture and the aquiline vulture
descend to that meat, and, taking it in their talons, fly up to the top of the
mountain: whereupon the merchants come to them and cry out at them and
they fly away from the meat. The merchants then advance to that meat, and
take from it the stones sticking to it: after which they leave the meat for the
birds and the wild beasts and carry the stones to their countries. And no one
can procure the stones but by means of this stratagem.” In his notes and
comments on this passage, Mr. Lane says: "Though I believe that there is no
known substance with which the diamond can be cut or ground except its
own substance, I think it not improbable that the Eastern lapidaries may be
acquainted with some ore, really—or supposed by them to be—an ore of
lead, by which it may be broken, and that this is what is here called “the
lead stone” or “the stone of lead.” It is well known that those diamonds
unfit for any other purpose than that of cutting or grinding others, are
broken in a steel “mortar.” In further notes on “The Valley of Diamonds,”
Mr. Lane added the following: “El-Kaz-weenee after describing the
diamond, saying ‘It breaketh all other stones except that of lead (el-usrub, a
bad kind of lead): for if it be struck with this the diamond breaketh,’”—
relates as follows: “To the place in which the diamond is found no one can
gain access. It is a valley in the land of India, the bottom of which the sight
reacheth not: and in it are venomous serpents which no one seeth but he
dieth: and they have a summer abode for six months, and a winter abode
(where they hide themselves) for the like period. El-Iskender (either
Alexander the Great or the first Zu-l-Karneyn) commanded his men to take
some mirrors and to throw them into the Valley that the serpents might see
in them their forms and die in consequence. It is said also that he watched
for the time of their absenting themselves (or retiring into their winter
quarters) and threw down pieces of meat, and diamonds stuck to these: then

the birds came from the sky and took pieces of that meat, and brought them
up out of the valley whereupon El-Iskender ordered his companions to
follow the birds and to pick up what they easily could of the meat.” The
valley or valleys of diamonds we also find described by other writers,
among them Marco Polo, in his account of the Kingdom of Murphili or
Monsul. Mr. Marsden observes: “This is no other than Muchli-patan or, as it
is more commonly named, Masuli-patam: the name of a principal town by a
mistake not unusual, being substituted for that of the country.... It belongs to
what was at one period termed the Kingdom of Golconda, more anciently
named Teligana. Golconda, of which Masulipatam is the principal seaport,
is celebrated for the production of diamonds.” In the astronomical
observations of Mr. Topping, printed in Dalrymple’s Oriental Repertory,
mention is made of the famous diamond mines of Golconda at a place
named Malvellee, not far from Ellore. Caesar Fredericke who was at
Bijanagar in 1567 mentions that the diamond mines were six days’ journey
from that city. Es-Sindibad’s adventure in the Valley of Diamonds has been
amply illustrated by the learned writer from whom the above remarks are
borrowed, and by Hole. The following is an extract from Marco Polo’s
Travels: “In the mountains of this Kingdom (Murphila) it is that diamonds
are found. During the rainy season the water descends in violent torrents
amongst the rocks and caverns, and when these have subsided the people go
to search for diamonds in the beds of the rivers, where they find many. In
the summer, when the heat is excessive and there is no rain, they ascend the
mountains with great fatigue as well as with considerable danger from the
number of snakes with which they are infested. Near the summit, it is said,
there are deep valleys full of caverns and surrounded by precipices amongst
which the diamonds are found, and here many eagles and white storks,
attracted by the snakes on which they feed, are accustomed to make their
nests. The persons who are in quest of the diamonds take their stand near
the mouths of the caverns and from thence cast down several pieces of flesh
which the eagles and storks pursue into the valleys and carry off with them
to the tops of the rocks. Thither the men immediately ascend, drive the birds
away, and recovering the pieces of meat frequently find diamonds sticking
to them.” Mr. Marsden transcribes from Hole’s ingenious work part of a
quotation from Epiphanius, upon which he remarks: “Thus it appears
incontrovertibly that, so early as the fourth century of our era, the tale of the
valley of diamonds and the mode of procuring the precious stones from it

was current, divested, it is true, of the extraordinary incident of the
adventurous sailor’s escape, but in conformity with what was related to
Marco Polo—with the exception of the scene being laid in Scythia or
Western Tartary where, in fact, diamonds are not found. The question of
locality,” he adds, “is however determined by another Oriental navigator
Nicoli di Conti, who visited the coast of the peninsula in the 15th
Century....” Hole observes that a story somewhat resembling this of the
Valley of Diamonds is recorded in the travels of Benjamin of Tudela and
that the translator supposes it to have been borrowed from “The Thousand
and One Nights.” “However,” he adds with better judgment, “I rather
suspect that the account of Benjamin of Tudela and of Es-Sindibad were
derived from some common origin.”

Horoscope of Kruger
Kruger’s Diamond was once in the possession of Chaka, the Zulu chief, killed by
his brother who was in turn murdered. It is stated that this stone changed owners
15 times, tragedy following each possessor.

Perhaps the smallest diamond ring mentioned was placed by Cardinal
Wolsey on the tiny finger of the little Princess Mary, aged just two years,
daughter of Henry VIII, on October 5th, 1518, on the occasion of her
marriage with the baby Dauphin of France, son of Francis I. The baby
bride’s dress was of cloth of gold and her black velvet cap sparkled with
jewels. Another historical diamond ring was that sent to the imprisoned

Lord Lisle, giving freedom and forgiveness—an act so unexpected that it
caused the unfortunate man to die of joy. The ring sent by Mary, Queen of
Scots, to Queen Elizabeth, is described by Mr. William Jones, quoting from
Aubrey, as “a delicate piece of mechanism consisting of several joints
which, when united, formed the quaint device of two right hands supporting
a heart between them. This heart was composed of two separate diamonds
held together by a central spring which, when opened, would allow either of
the hearts to be detached. Queen Elizabeth kept one moietie and sent the
other as a token of her constant friendship to Mary, Queen of Scots, but she
cut off her head for all that.” Another story of Elizabeth, quoted by Fairholt,
is that Sir Walter Raleigh wrote on a window with his pointed diamond
ring: “Fain would I rise, but that I fear to fall,” the Queen writing beneath
with her ring: “If thy heart fail thee, do not rise at all.” Very different was
the experience of Queen Isabella who was saved from death by a diamond.
Ex-President Kruger’s diamond had a bad history that did not change with
its different holders. In allusion to the Diamond Jousts instituted by King
Arthur, Dr. Brewer says: “He named them by that name since a diamond
was the prize. Ere he was King he came by accident to a glen in Lyonnesse,
where two brothers had met in combat. Each was slain, but one had worn a
crown of diamonds which Arthur picked up, and when he became King
offered the nine diamonds as the prize of nine several jousts—‘one every
year, a joust for one.’ Lancelot had won eight and intended to present them
all to the Queen when all were won. When the knight laid them before the
Queen, Guinevere in a fit of jealousy flung them out of the palace window
into the river which ran below.”

Horoscope of Isabella II

This Queen was saved from assassination when the
dagger of her would-be murderer glanced off the
diamond she wore.

The affair of the Diamond Necklace is familiar to readers of history and
romance. It attracted the perceptive mind of Dumas who moulded it into an
interesting story, but of its reality no doubt has ever been entertained. The
Prince Cardinal de Rohan, having entertained a secret affection for Queen
Marie Antoinette, the Countess de Lamotte to forward her own nefarious
designs persuaded him that the Queen reciprocated his passion. By thus
working on the Cardinal’s feelings, Madame de Lamotte managed to relieve
him of some sums of money, and succeeding so well in this way, she and

her husband resolved on a more imposing venture. Louis XV had had made
a wonderful diamond necklace which he intended as a present for his
favorite Madame Du Barry. Before it was finished Louis had passed away,
and his favourite had been driven from court. The necklace which was
made by Boehmer consisted of 500 magnificent diamonds, the whole when
completed being valued at 1,800,000 livres. Madame de Lamotte
represented to the Cardinal the Queen’s desire for this handsome necklace,
asking him as Her Majesty was at the time unable to pay the amount of the
purchase money, which she said amounted to £700,000 sterling, to become
security for her for this amount. This he gladly consented to do, and added
his name to the forged signature of the Queen. On February 1st, 1786, the
Cardinal carried the precious jewel to Versailles, whence by arrangement a
messenger from the Queen was to take it. The next day, as arranged by
Madame de Lamotte’s husband, an accomplice dressed in the uniform of a
court official entered the Cardinal’s apartments at Versailles and muttering
several times “De par la Reine” (in the Queen’s name) relieved the trusting
Cardinal of the necklace. It was afterwards broken up and disposed of by
these three conspirators, in England it is believed. Some time afterwards
Boehmer, not receiving his payment, applied to Marie Antoinette for his
money. She denied all knowledge of the affair. Boehmer thereupon brought
the case before the Parlement de Paris in 1785, and in May, 1786, after a
trial of 9 months, the Cardinal, Monsieur de Lamotte and his accomplice
were acquitted, but Madame de Lamotte was sent to prison for life, each
shoulder being branded with the letter V (Voleuse, thief).
The Indians were the first to polish a diamond with its own dust, but their
cutting only consisted in burnishing the original facets or concealing defects
by a number of new and smaller ones. Louis van Berghem is credited with
being the first to cut and polish diamonds with their own dust in 1456, but
both Emanuel and King refer to four large diamonds which adorned the
clasp of the Emperor Charlemagne 1373, and to numerous cut specimens of
older date set in church monuments. Emanuel mentions the skillful Herman
who worked in the year 1407. Towards the end of the 16th Century, Peruzzi
invented the double cutting known as “Brillants recoupes,” and of late years
the modern cutters have reached a high degree of artistic excellence,
producing the most beautifully cut specimens the world has seen. Clement
Birago and Jacopo da Trezzo were the first to engrave upon the diamond,
and both “enriched in the service of Philip II.” In giving the Papal Sacred

Banner and Blessing to William of Normandy when about to invade
England after the excommunication of Harold, Pope Hildebrand sent a
diamond ring, said to enclose a hair from the head of Peter the Apostle. In
the Comtesse d’Anois’ pretty fairy story, “The Yellow Dwarf,” the mermaid
gives the captive King an all-conquering sword made from a single
diamond, which rendered invincible anyone who carried it.
The diamond is astrologically under the sign of the Sun Leo, and has
power especially in Aries and Libra. To dream of diamonds was considered
symbolical of success, wealth, happiness and victory, and its reputed power
of binding man and woman together in happy wedlock has made it a
favourite stone for engagement rings, and in some countries for wedding
rings.
BORT or BOART is the name applied to imperfect greyish or blackish
specimens which are powdered and used for cutting and polishing
diamonds and hard gems, among other purposes.

CHAPTER XVII
SOME FAMOUS AND WONDERFUL DIAMONDS
AND THEIR STORIES

THE KOH-I-NOOR: PITT OR REGENT: THE ORLOFF: THE SANCY: THE BLUE HOPE: THE
PAUL THE FIRST: THE DRESDEN: THE NIZAM: THE CUMBERLAND: THE
NAPOLEON: THE EUGENIE: THE POLAR STAR: THE SHAH: THE MOON OF THE
MOUNTAINS: AKBAR SHAH, OR THE SHEPHERD’S STONE: THE RIVER OF LIGHT:
THE GRAND MOGUL: THE GRAND TABLE: THE NASSAK: THE PIGOTT: THE
PACHA: THE TUSCANY: THE STAR OF ESTE: THE WHITE SAXON: THE GREAT
WHITE: THE MATTAM: THE STAR OF THE SOUTH: THE ENGLISH DRESDEN: THE
DE BEERS DIAMONDS: THE STAR OF SOUTH AFRICA: THE JUBILEE: THE STAR OF
AFRICA OR THE CULLINAN: THE BRAGANZA: THE TIFFANY: STAR OF MINAS: THE
ARABIAN “DEATH”: THE MOONSTONE.

“Jewels
Of rich and exquisite form: their value great.”
Shakespeare.

THE KOH-I-NOOR

This famous stone is said by Dr. Brewer to have been found in the
Golconda mine in the year 1550, but Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith states that it
was known as far back as 1304, “when it fell into the hands of the Mogul
emperors, and legend traces it back some four thousand years previously.”
Mr. Emanuel says that the Hindu accounts “deduce it from the time of the
God Krischna,” while Mr. King states that it was turned up by a peasant
when ploughing in a field 40 miles distant from Golconda, “and was in its
rough state fully as large as a hen’s egg.” The traveller Tavernier saw it
amongst the jewels of the great Mogul King Aurungzebe. This was after it
had been badly cut and unskillfully reduced by Hortensio Borgio from 793
carats to 1861⁄16 carats. According to Tavernier its original weight was

787½ carats. Borgio’s work so angered Aurungzebe that he deprived the
unfortunate cutter of all his possessions, grudgingly allowing him to escape
with his life. The Koh-i-Noor had an evil reputation amongst the Hindus
who held that it “produced inordinate greed, viciousness and various
misfortunes on the King who possessed it.” In 1739 Nadir Shah sacked
Delhi and took the gem from Mohammed Shah, naming it the “Koh-i-
Noor,” or “Mountain of Light.” Returning victorious to Persia, Nadir Shah
was murdered by his officers. One of these, Ahmed Shah Doorannee,
founded the Afghan kingdom, and the last of his dynasty Shah Sujah was
starved into surrendering the stone to Runjeet Singh. The latter when dying
sent it to the Temple of Juggernaut. His successors, however, would not let
it remain there, and when the British annexed the Punjaub in 1849 it was
presented by Lord Dalhousie on behalf of the East India Company to Queen
Victoria and, writes Mr. King, “within ten years the usual consequences of
its possession were manifested in the Sepoy revolt and the all but total loss
of India to the British Crown in which beams its malignant lustre, lighting
up a very inauspicious future for that region, fated ever apparently to be
disturbed by the measures of ignorant zealots at home and the plots of
discontented and over-powerful allies in the country itself.” The Koh-i-
Noor was recut in 1862 by Mr. Coster of Amsterdam, losing 80 carats in the
cutting. The weight of the stone is now given as 1061⁄16 carats, and its value
is estimated at £100,000 sterling, by Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith, and at
£120,664 Sterling by Dr. Brewer. It was believed that all diseases could be
cured by the water in which the Koh-i-Noor had been placed. The stone
could never be fortunate for India according to astro-philosophy because
India is a Saturnine country ruled by the celestial Capricorn. It is more
fortunate for England because England is a martial country ruled by the
celestial Aries.

PITT OR REGENT DIAMOND
This famous gem, bought in Golconda from an Indian merchant by
William Pitt, grandfather of the Earl of Chatham, and said to have been
originally stolen, was found at Gani-Puteal, 150 miles from Golconda in
1701. Mr. Pitt gave £20,400 sterling for the gem which weighed 410 carats,
and returning to England he had it recut at a cost of £5,000 and two years’
work. In this process the weight of the stone was reduced to 163⅞ carats,
the fragments when sold returning £2,000 over the cost of cutting.

Possession of this gem worried Mr. Pitt who sold it to the Duc d’Orleans,
regent of France, whence it obtained the name “Regent,” for £135,000
sterling. It was stolen from the Garde-Meuble when the Sun was in the
Diamond sign Leo, August 17th, 1792, and was mysteriously returned.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had the Sun in the sign Leo—the sign of France
—at his birth, had the Regent set in the pommel of his sword. It was
exhibited at the French Exhibition in 1855, and is now shown in the Apollo
Gallery of the Louvre, Paris. During the attempted advance on Paris in the
late war, it is stated that one of the French ministers took the Regent with
him to Bordeaux whence the danger being passed, it was afterwards
returned to its honoured place in the capital city of France. Its value is
stated at £480,000 sterling.

THE ORLOFF DIAMOND
This gem was stolen by a French soldier from a temple near Trichinopoli
in Mysore, where it was set as an eye stone in the statue of Brahma. The
weight of the stone, which is rose cut, is 194¾ carats. The soldier sold it to
an English ship’s captain for £2,000—Mr. Emanuel says £2,800—and the
captain sold it to a London dealer for £12,000 sterling. It was afterwards
sold to Prince Orloff, whence it obtained its name, for £90,000 sterling, and
an annual pension of £4,000. The Prince presented it to Empress Katherine
who had it set as an ornament at the top of the imperial sceptre. This large
diamond was a stone of ill omen for Russia, a country ruled by the celestial
Aquarius and opposed to the diamond sign Leo. When we reflect, in
harmony with celestial philosophy, that the late Czar Nicholas II, the last of
the Romanoffs, had the sign Leo in the 12th heavenly mansion at birth we
can only see in the Orloff diamond the symbol of sorrow and restraint.

Horoscope of Nicholas II

The last of the Czar’s to whom the ancients would consider
the diamond a symbol of ill omen.

THE SANCY DIAMOND
Few historical objects surpass the beautiful Sancy Diamond in romance
and importance. Its origin is involved in uncertainty prior to the early 15th
Century. The first definite account concerning the famous gem states that
after the battle of Nancy, January 5th, 1477, it was taken from the dead
body of Charles the Bold, by a Swiss soldier. Charles adorned his dress with
many diamonds, the Sancy holding the place of honour. The soldier not
knowing the value of the gem he had stolen sold it to a minister of religion
for a gulden. The minister sold it some years later to a dealer in Lucerne for

5,000 ducats. King Manoel, known as the Fortunate, of Portugal, purchased
it in 1495, two years before he dispatched the navigator Vasco da Gama, on
his voyage of discovery. Don Antonio, known as Prince of Crato and King
of Portugal in partibus, sold the gem to Nicolas de Harlai Sieur de Sancy,
whence it obtained its name. As the friend and treasurer of Henry IV of
France, the Sieur in order to aid the King to protect his crown, raised a loan
for him on the security of the stone, from the bankers of Metz. The servant
entrusted with the safe delivery of the diamond being waylaid by robbers,
swallowed his master’s precious gem to protect it; the thieves in fury at
being unable to discover the stone, on the person or in the baggage, of the
loyal servant, murdered him. The Sieur evidently knew what his messenger
would do in an extremity, and he afterwards recovered the gem from the
body of the murdered man. It was next sold to the English Crown when it
was worn by Queen Elizabeth. It remained in possession of the Crown, and
is mentioned in the Tower inventory of March 22nd, 1605, until the reign of
James II, who took it when he fled to France to seek asylum at the court of
the Grand Monarque. James then sold the Sancy to his sympathetic friend
Louis, for £25,000 sterling. Another account states that the Sancy came into
the possession of Cardinal Mazarin who had it recut and included amongst
the twelve famous diamonds in the Crown of France, known as the
Mazarins. Robert de Berquem says that Queen Henrietta Maria proudly
wore it (“Merveilles des Indes,” 1669). Louis XV it is recorded, wore the
Sancy at his coronation in 1715, and his Queen, Maria Lesczynska,
daughter of the dethroned Polish King, Stanislas, afterwards wore it as a
necklace pendant. When Marie Antoinette became Queen of France she had
this royal pendant taken from the necklace and mounted in brooch form.
With the tragic end of the unhappy Queen some uncertainty follows the
wanderings of the Sancy. It is stated that the widow of Charles IV of Spain
gave it to the “Prince of Peace,” Manuel de Godoi, Duke of Alcudia. One
account states that Godoi sold it to Napoleon, another that Godoi’s son after
vainly endeavouring to induce Louis XVIII to purchase it in 1822, sold it to
Prince Demidoff. The Prince sold it to Monsieur Levrat, Director of the
Society of Mines and Forges of Grisons, Switzerland, for £24,000. A
dispute over the price led to an action at law and a verdict in favour of the
Prince on June 1st, 1832.
The stone was afterwards purchased by Sir Jamisetjee Jeejeebhoy in
1865, from the family of Prince Demidoff. It was sent from Bombay to

London by Messrs. Forbes & Co., the agents for Sir Jamisetjee Jeejeebhoy,
and was exhibited by M. M. Bapst at the Paris Exposition of 1867. During
the tour of King George (when Prince of Wales) in India, the Sancy is said
to have been worn at the Great Durba by the Marajah of Puttiali. In 1892
the beautiful gem passed into the possession of the Astor family it having
been purchased by the Hon. William Waldorf Astor for his wife, Mary,
daughter of James W. Paul, Esq., of Philadelphia, U. S. A. It now passes
into the hands of the Right Hon. Viscountess Astor who wore it on taking
her seat as the first lady elected as a member of the House of Commons.
The writer is indebted to Lady Astor for her kindly interest in this book, and
for a presentation of a handsome volume on the Sancy Diamond by William
Waldorf Astor, published in 1892. The Sancy Diamond is described by Dr.
Smith as of an almond shape, covered all over with tiny facets by Indian
lapidaries. The weight is given as 53½ to 53¾ carats.
Considered astrologically a diamond would be unfortunate for Charles
the Bold who was born at Dijon 10th November, 1435. It would be
considered fortunate for Henry IV of France in whose horoscope the planet
Jupiter was ascending in the sign Libra. Jupiter being in the 12th Heavenly
Mansion would be considered fortunate for secret negotiations and
diplomacy, and it is worthy of notice that the Sancy Diamond should be
employed as a powerful helper in these very matters. The sign of the Lion,
the sign of France, is also on the Mid Heaven of the King’s nativity, and
Leo is distinctly a diamond and Royal sign. It was a truly fortunate gem for
King James II of England whose horoscope is here shown with the Royal
Lion ascending.

Horoscope of James II
The ancients would consider the diamond a symbol of fortune and
adventure for this King.

THE HOPE DIAMOND
Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith says of this gem that it is of “a steely or greenish
blue, not the royal blue colour of the glass models supposed to represent it.”
If the accepted history of the stone be true, it must be regarded as a strange
specimen. It was stated to have been discovered at the Kollur mines, and to
have been purchased by Tavernier in 1642. In 1668, Tavernier interested
Louis XIV in the gem so much that he purchased it. After this the fortunes
of the great traveller began to change. His son defrauded him of a large sum
of money, and he was later, being a Protestant, compelled by the Edict of
Nantes (1685) to fly from France and seek protection in Switzerland.

Thence he went to Berlin, where the Elector of Brandenburg offered him
the Directorship in a projected East India Company. In the endeavor to find
a road through Russia to India, Tavernier left Berlin, but he succumbed to
fatigue and financial worry soon after, dying, it is said, in want, in his 84th
year at Moscow. After wearing this diamond at a Court Ball, Madame de
Montespan lost the favour of her Royal lover. It was a stone of ill fortune
for Marie Antoinette, to whom, however, all diamonds were unfortunate.
After the tragic death of Louis XVI and his Queen, the stone was stolen
with the French regalia. Afterwards it is stated to have been stolen from
Fals, the Dutch gem cutter, by his son. Fals died a broken-hearted man, and
his son, after selling the gem to Francois Beaulieu, went insane and killed
himself. Beaulieu, after selling the stone to Daniel Eliason, a London dealer,
died suddenly the following day. Mr. Eliason sold it to Mr. Thomas Philip
Hope, the banker, in 1830 for £18,000 sterling. Mr. Hope’s grandson, Lord
Henry Francis Hope, married the Australian actress, Miss May Yohe, in
1894. This lady wore the diamond and misfortune followed her. In 1901
Lord Hope was glad to sell the stone to Mr. Weil, a London diamond
merchant, who, without waiting for its influence to affect him, sold it
immediately to Mr. Simon Frankel, jeweller, of New York, who suffered
financial hardships consequent on the difficulty of finding a purchaser. At
last he sold it to Mr. Jacques Colot, a French dealer in gems, and with it
went his troubles also. Monsieur Colot quickly sold the gem to the Russian
Prince, Kanitovski, and, it is stated, became insane and died mysteriously a
few weeks afterwards. The Prince lent it to Mademoiselle Lorens Laduc of
the Folies Bergeres, with whom he was in love. As she wore it one night on
the stage the Prince in a mad fit shot her. A few days later he was himself
stabbed to death by some members of a secret political club. The Blue
Terror next came into the possession of the Greek jeweller, Simon
Montharides, who, after having sold it to the Sultan, Adbul Hamid, was
killed by accident with his wife and two children whilst driving. Abu Sabir,
the Sultan’s lapidary, was entrusted with the polishing of the jewel, and
whilst he had it he accidentally destroyed a large pearl belonging to Abdul
Hamid, who ordered him to be severely flogged and cast into prison. A little
later the keeper of the Sultan’s jewels was found murdered, and his
successor was hanged by a mob in a street of Constantinople. The Sultan’s
favourite, Salama Zubayba, incurred his anger by wearing the blue gem and
the infuriated ruler shot her as Prince Kanitovski had shot Lorens Laduc.

All diamonds, however, would be unfortunate for Abdul Hamid. The
diamond then fell into the hands of the Turkish revolutionary party and was
sold by them to Senor Habib, a rich Spaniard, who was drowned in the
wreck of the French mail steamer, Seyne, off Singapore. The gem was not
lost with its owner, and was later sold to Messrs. Cartier Bros, of Paris and
New York by Monsieur Rosenau, a well-known diamond merchant. In 1911
it was bought by Mr. Edward McLean, proprietor of the “Washington Post,”
for £52,000 sterling, from Cartier Bros. It is said that both Mr. and Mrs.
McLean were doubtful about the wisdom of purchasing this stone of ill
omen which, according to report, had been previously refused by the Court
of England on account of its evil reputation. Misfortunes quickly followed
the new owners, culminating with the tragic death of little Vinson Walsh
McLean, their only son, who was knocked down and killed by a motor car
close to his father’s estate. After leaving the possession of the McLean
family this stone found a purchaser in Monsieur de Hautville. Within three
months the same peculiar misfortune which had befallen its previous
owners befell them. Madame de Hautville, sharing the same fate as little
Vinson McLean, was killed by a motor car whilst crossing a street in Paris.
Following on this the eldest son, having taken poison by mistake, died in
terrible agony. Mademoiselle de Hautville was accidentally drowned and
the younger son whilst out shooting was blinded by the explosion of his
gun. Quickly the de Hautvilles parted with this peculiar gem of ill omen.
Where will it next find a home? The weight of the Hope diamond when sold
by Tavernier to Louis XIV was 67 carats; its present weight is 44½ carats. It
presents a curious psychical study and an undeniable evidence of fatal
influence which it would indeed be difficult to explain away.

THE PAUL THE FIRST
This diamond is described as a brilliant red, weighing 10 carats. It was
one of the Russian Crown jewels, being purchased by Emperor Paul the
First for 100,000 roubles. It was a stone of ill omen for both Paul and
Russia. He was murdered in 1801, and in his nativity the planet Neptune
was, as in that of Marie Antoinette, in the sign Leo, accompanied by
unfortunate planetary afflictions.

THE DRESDEN

The Dresden diamond which is in the Green Vaults at Dresden is
described as of the purest apple-green colour. Authorities differ as to its
weight, which is variously given at 40 and 48½ carats. It is stated that the
gem was purchased by Augustus the Strong in 1743 for 60,000 thalers, but
this Augustus died of an old wound in 1733. It was probably his son
Frederick Augustus III who died at Dresden in 1763.

THE NIZAM
This gem which belonged to the Nizam of Hyderabad was, to judge by its
particular native cutting, probably employed in certain sex mysteries. Its
weight is 340 carats, and strangely enough, it fractured just before the
Indian Mutiny. The diamond is not a stone of harmony for India.

THE CUMBERLAND
After the battle of Culloden (1746) the city of London presented this
diamond, which weighed 32 carats and cost £10,000, to the Duke of
Cumberland. During Queen Victoria’s reign the stone was claimed by the
City of Hanover, to which place it was sent by the Queen’s command.

THE NAPOLEON
This diamond which was bought by Napoleon Buonaparte for £8,000
sterling was worn by him when he married Josephine in 1796.

EUGENIE
This gem was purchased by Katherine II of Russia, who gave it to
Potemkin. It is a very pure gem of 51 carats. Napoleon III gave it to
Eugenie as a wedding gift. Afterwards it came into the possession of the
Gaekwar of Baroda.

THE POLAR STAR
This brilliant jewel formed one of the chief ornaments in the Russian
regalia. The weight is given as 40 carats.

THE SHAH

The Shah diamond was given to the Czar of Russia by the Persian prince
Chosroes in 1843. It is a flawless, pure gem which originally weighed 95
carats and was engraved with the names of three distinguished Shahs of
Persia. In the recutting this engraving was eliminated and the stone reduced
to 86 carats.

MOON OF THE MOUNTAINS
Nadir Shah, having stolen this gem from Delhi, it was after his
assassination taken by a soldier who sold it to Shaffras, an Armenian. It was
included in the Russian Crown jewels. Many diamonds adorned the regalias
of Russia, but they are no more fortunate to Russia than they are to India.

AKBAR SHAH, SHEPHERD’S STONE
This gem belonged to Akbar, the Great Mogul, and was formerly
engraved with Arabic writing. After having been lost for some years it was
identified as the Turkish Shepherd’s Stone. It originally weighed 116 carats,
and was reduced by cutting in the elimination of the engraving to 71 carats.
It was purchased by the Gaekwar of Baroda for £23,330 sterling.

RIVER OF LIGHT
This beautiful rose diamond of 186 carats was seized by Nadir Shah at
Delhi. It adorns the Persian regalia and is known as the Darya-i-Nor, or
River of Light.

GRAND MOGUL
This remarkable diamond was seen by Tavernier amongst the jewels of
the Emperor Auranzeb in 1665, five years after its recorded discovery in the
Golconda mines. Its original weight is given as 787 carats by some records
and as 787½ by others. This was greatly reduced in cutting to a rose shape
by Hortensio Borgio when, it is said on account of numerous flaws, it lost
547 carats. Tavernier describes it as “rounded rose cut, taller on one side.”
The present whereabouts of the “Grand Mogul” is unknown.

THE GRAND TABLE
This gem is also recorded by Tavernier who saw it at Golconda in 1642.
Its weight is given at somewhat over 242 carats. Where it now is, is not

known.

THE NASSAK
This gem which came from the Deccan loot was sold in London in 1837.
Mr. Emanuel, into whose possession it came, sold it later to the Duke of
Westminster for £7,200 sterling. Its original pear-shaped form was altered
to triangular, an operation which left the weight at 78⅝ carats.

THE PIGOTT
Lord Pigott obtained this stone in India in 1775, and disposed of it for
£30,000 sterling. The weight is given as 47½ carats. Ali Pacha, the last
owner of the gem, left instructions to destroy it at his death, and his wishes
are said to have been respected.

THE PACHA
This brilliant of 40 carats is mentioned as having been acquired by
Ibrahim Pacha for £28,000 sterling. Very little seems to be known about it.

THE TUSCANY
This yellow-tinged stone, of double rose cut and 133¾ carats, was
formerly in the possession of the Dukes of Tuscany. Mr. King states that,
being mistaken for a piece of yellow quartz, it was purchased for a trifle at a
bric-a-bric stall in Florence.

STAR OF ESTE
This diamond which weighs 25½ carats is mentioned by Dr. Smith “for
its perfection of form and quality.” It belonged to the ill-starred Archduke
Franz Ferdinand.

WHITE SAXON
The White Saxon is a square gem, 48¾ carats in weight, for which
Augustus the Strong is said to have given a million thalers.

THE GREAT WHITE

This large, clear diamond is also known as the Imperial or Victoria. Its
weight before cutting is given as 457 carats, and after cutting at 180 carats.
The Nizam of Hyderabad purchased it for £20,000 sterling in 1884.

THE MATTAM
The Mattam is a pear-shaped diamond of the purest water, recently—and
probably still—in the possession of the Rajah of Mattam. Found in 1760—
Dr. Smith says 1787—at Landak, Borneo, it is held responsible for much
worldly trouble. Its weight is stated as 367 carats. Mr. Emanuel says: “The
Dutch Governor of Batavia offered two gun-boats with stores and
ammunition complete and £50,000 sterling for it: but the offer was refused,
the Rajah replying that on its possession depended the fortunes of his
family.” Its genuineness is doubted by Dr. Smith.

THE STAR OF THE SOUTH
This most perfect brilliant was discovered at Bagagem in July, 1853. It is
said to be the largest Brazilian diamond yet found. It weighed 254½ carats
in the rough, and 125½ carats when cut by Mr. Coster of Amsterdam.
Although not perfectly white, it is regarded as one of the finest large
diamonds of the day. £40,000 sterling was paid for it before cutting.

THE ENGLISH DRESDEN
This brilliant was also found at Bagagem in Brazil four years after the
“Star of the South.” Its weight before cutting was 119½ carats, which was
reduced in cutting to 76½ carats. Its present form is an egg-like oval drop.

THE DE BEERS DIAMONDS
These were discovered in the famous De Beers mine; the first, a pale
yellow, 428½ carats in the rough, 228½ when cut, in 1888; the next 503¼
carats, of similar hue, in 1896. Some others weigh 302, 409 carats, etc.

THE STAR OF SOUTH AFRICA
This gem was found in the Vaal River diggings in 1869. Weight before
cutting was 83½ carats, after cutting 46½ carats. It is triangular in shape,
and was bought by the Countess of Dudley for £25,000 sterling.

THE JUBILEE
This faultless brilliant was found in the Jagersfontein mine in 1895.
Before cutting, its weight was 634 carats; after cutting, 239 carats. The
Jubilee was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1900.

THE STAR OF AFRICA
This remarkable stone was discovered in the Premier mine near Pretoria,
January 25th, 1905. It was named the “Cullinan,” after the chairman of the
Premier Company, Sir T. M. Cullinan. It was renamed the “Star of Africa,”
at the desire of King George V. Dr. Smith writes as follows with regard to it:
“The rough stone weighed 3025¾ carats (about 1⅓ lbs.): it displayed three
natural faces and one large cleavage face, and its shape suggested that it
was a portion of an enormous stone more than double its size: it is
transparent, colourless, and has only one small flaw near the surface. This
magnificent diamond was purchased by the Transvaal Government for
£150,000 sterling and presented to King Edward VII on his birthday,
November 9th, 1907. Messrs. I. J. Asscher & Co. of Amsterdam, cut from
this a drop brilliant 516½ carats, a square brilliant 3093⁄16 carats, another
drop brilliant 92 carats, a square-shaped brilliant 62 carats, a heart-shaped
stone 18⅜ carats, two marquises 89⁄16 and 11¼carats, an oblong stone 6⅝
carats, a drop brilliant 49⁄32 carats, and 96 small brilliants weighing together
7⅜ carats: the total weight of the cut stones amounts to 10365⁄32 carats.”
The large drop brilliant adorns the sceptre, the large square brilliant the
crown. The “Star of Africa” comes from the mine to adorn the regalia of the
British sovereigns. It has no record of evil, no doubtful past, nor is it tainted
with evil desires, violence or sorrow.

THE BRAGANZA
This stone, the weight of which is given as 1680 carats, is in the
Portuguese regalia. It is believed, on good grounds, to be a large white
topaz.

THE TIFFANY
This orange-tinted brilliant which was found at Kimberley, South Africa,
in 1878, is in the possession of Messrs. Tiffany. Its weight is given as 125⅜

carats.

STAR OF MINAS
This stone was discovered at Bagagem in Brazil, in 1911. Its weight in
the rough is given as 174¾ carats.

THE ARABIAN DEATH
The first Earl Lytton became possessed of a fine diamond on which were
engraved certain Arabic words, and his death which took place soon after he
had obtained possession of it has been attributed to its malignant influence.
The gem was bequeathed by Earl Lytton to Madame la Comtesse Greffuhle,
who showed it to a learned Indian Prince who was in Paris at the time. After
reading the mysterious Arab words the Prince told the Comtesse that it was
a stone of death, and advised her not to keep it. The lady, desiring to end the
power of the stone for mischief, threw it into the river Seine from the Pont
Neuf.

THE MOONSTONE
The famous novel by Mr. Wilkie Collins entitled “The Moonstone,” is
based on the histories of “the magnificent stone which adorns the top of the
Russian imperial sceptre, once the eye of an Indian Idol,” and the Koh-i-
Noor. Some writers confuse this Moonstone with the well-known orthoclase
feld-spar. The following extract from the Prologue of Mr. Collins’s book
states: “The earliest known traditions describe the stone as having been set
in the forehead of the four-handed Indian God who typifies the Moon.
Partly from its peculiar colour, partly from a superstition which represents it
as feeling the influence of the Deity whom it adorned, and growing and
lessening in lustre with the waxing and waning of the Moon, it first gained
the name by which it continues to be known in India to this day—the name
of the Moonstone. A similar superstition was once prevalent, as I have
heard, in ancient Greece and Rome: not applying, however, as in India to a
diamond devoted to the service of a god, but to a semi-transparent stone of
the inferior order of gems supposed to be affected by the lunar influences—
the Moon, in this latter case also, giving the name by which the stone is still
known. The adventures of the Yellow Diamond began with the 11th century
of the Christian era. At that date the Mohammedan conqueror Mahmoud of

Ghizni crossed India: seized on the holy city of Somnauth and stripped of
its treasures the famous temple ... the Moon God alone escaped the rapacity
of the conquering Mohammedans.... An age followed another until the first
years of the 8th Christian century saw the reign of Aurungzebe, Emperor of
the Moguls. At his command havoc and rapine were let loose.... The shrine
of the four-handed God was polluted ... and the Moonstone was seized by
an officer of rank in the army of Aurungzebe ... The warrior who had
committed the sacrilege perished miserably. The Diamond fell into the
possession of Tippo, Sultan of Seringapatam, who caused it to be placed as
an ornament in the handle of his dagger—and after, General Baird himself
found the dead body of Tippo under a heap of slain.” (See Koh-i-Noor,
Regent, Orloff.)

CHAPTER XVIII
DICHROITE—IOLITE

DICHROITE: DIOPTASE: DISTHENE: EMERALD: ENSTATITE: EPIDOTE: ESSONITE:
EUCLASE: FLINT, THE STONE OF EARLY MAN: ITS USE IN ANCIENT EGYPT:
ETHIOPIAN ARROWS: THE ELF DART: FAIRY STONE: CHIAS, THE FIRST TO PROVE
THE FLASHING OF STRUCK FLINT: ITS USE IN THE PREVENTION OF NIGHTMARE:
“HOLEY” STONES: BUTLER AND THE HOLLOW FLINT: THE MARA: THE GARNET:
PECULIARITIES: DANA’S CLASSIFICATION: SUCCINITE, A HARMONY CHARM:
GROSSULARITE, A HEALTH CHARM: PYROPE OR BOHEMIAN GARNET: LARGE
SPECIMEN IN SAXON REGALIA: EMPEROR RUDOLPH’S SPECIMEN: A TALISMAN
OF FRIENDSHIP: HOPE AND PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT: SPESSARTITE, A PRAYER
CHARM: ANDRADITE, A BANISHER OF UNWORTHY THOUGHTS: SPECIMENS
FOUND ENGRAVED WITH ANGELS’ NAMES: OUVAROVITE: GARNETS AFFECT
MAGNETIC NEEDLE: GREENSTONE: GROSSULARITE: HAEMATITE: SOTACUS’S
CLASSIFICATION OF HAEMATITE VARIETIES AND THEIR ACCREDITED VIRTUES:
DANA’S CLASSIFICATION: PLINY’S RECOMMENDATION: USE IN ANCIENT TIMES:
MUMMY’S HEAD-REST: ANDREAS BALVANCENSIS’ IDEA: STENCH STONE:
GALEN’S PRESCRIPTION: HIDDENITE: HORNSTONE: HYACINTH: VIRTUES OF THE
HYACINTH: THE JACINTH VARIETY: THOMAS DE CANTEMPRE’S DESCRIPTION:
OPINIONS OF LEONARDUS AND DE BOODT: FRANCIS BARRETT’S COMMENTS:
OBSERVED CHANGES IN THE STONE: AVICENNA’S COMPARISON: THE HYACINTH
IN THE GARDEN OF PEACE AND AMONGST THE ROSICRUCIAN JEWELS:
HYDROPHANE: HYPERSTHENE: IOLITE.

DICHROITE. (See IOLITE.)

DIOPTASE. The name is derived from the Greek DIA, through, and
OPTOMAI, to see. This pretty emerald-green copper silicate was named in
1801 by Hauy, who found on looking through it cleavage directions. As the
crystals are usually so small Dioptase, which is of about the same degree of
hardness as lapis lazuli, is seldom used in jewellery. According to ancient
philosophy, dioptase would strengthen the sight of those who gazed upon it,
and benefit if worn on the neck in throat troubles. Astrologically, dioptase is
under the celestial Taurus.

DISTHENE. (See KYANITE.)

EMERALD. (See BERYL.)

ENSTATITE. Named from the Greek ENSTATES, an opponent, because
of its infusibility before the blow-pipe and its resisting power against acids.
It occurs in various colours—grey, brown, yellow, colourless, and chiefly
green; hence it has been erroneously called the Green Garnet. The Enstatite
is a silicate of magnesium, and is scarcely as hard as the opal, yet it is found
with the diamond, hardest of stones. It is esteemed as a talisman in
examinations, arguments, debates and all contests in which the mind is
employed. The Enstatite is under the celestial Gemini.

EPIDOTE. This stone is named from the Greek EPIDOSIS, increase. It
was first used by Hauy (“Mineralogie,” 1801), as “lit qui a recu un
accroissement,” but—writes Dr. Smith—“not on very precise
crystallographical grounds.” There are several varieties, chief among which
is the Pistacite, or true Epidote, of a yellow-green colour like the nut of the
Pistachio. The epidote is nearly as hard as the garnet. According to ancient
philosophy it may be used as a charm for fruit and cereal growers. The
epidote is under the celestial Taurus.

ESSONITE. From the Greek ESSON; also, known as Hessonite and
more familiarly amongst jewellers as Cinnamon Stone. It is a garnet of the
Lime Alumina order, of a reddish brown or cinnamon colour, and granular
structure. This stone is often confounded with the Hyacinth and other
varieties of the Zircon with which it is found. It is regarded amongst ancient
philosophers as a protective talisman for virgins born between August 24th
and September 23rd. The Essonite is a gem under the celestial Virgo.

EUCLASE. The name is derived from the Greek EU KLASIS, easily
fractured. It is a silicate of aluminium and beryllium and is related to the
emerald. Westropp says: “The euclase is of the same chemical composition
as the emerald.” (“Manual of Precious Stones.”) It is a very rare and
expensive mineral, glassy and extremely brittle. The euclase closely
resembles the aquamarine in its varying shades of pale blue and pale green.
Sometimes it is found quite colourless. It is frequently found with topaz,
and is of the hardness of the beryl. As a love talisman it is advised that it be
worn in the rough. The euclase is under the celestial Taurus.

FLINT

“So stubborn flints their inward heart conceal
Till art and force th’ unwilling sparks reveal.”
Congreve to Dryden.

Flint derives its name from the Greek PLINTHOS, a brick. It has been
written at various times as vlint, vlynt, flent, flend, flynd, flynt, flynte. Flint
is described as an “intermediate between quartz and opal, consisting almost
entirely of silica with a little lime, oxide of iron, water, carbon and
sometimes traces of organic matter.” Mr. G. R. Porter says that flint is silica
“in a state nearly approaching to purity.” (“Porcelain and Glass,” 1832.)
Today it is classed amongst the varieties of chalcedony and is found in
various colours—greyish white, grey, black, light brown, red and yellow. It
is semi-translucent, breaking with a well-defined shell-like fracture. This
mineral was extensively used by aboriginal man in the making of
implements, weapons, magical instruments, etc., and many fine worked
specimens are still found in all parts of the world. Mystery and magic are
associated with the flint which was used in ancient Egypt for fashioning
scarabs and making the first incision in a dead body, prior to embalming.
The Ethiopian Arrows noted by Herodotus were, as discovery has proved,
arrow heads of flint. The Elf Arrow-head or Elf Dart with a hole drilled
through it was regarded especially in Scotland and Ireland as an effective
talisman against poison, witchcraft, and the evil wishes of enemies. Sir
Edward Mackenzie, Bart. built his charming little story “The Romance of
the Elf Arrow” on these beliefs. Robert Gordon, of Straloch, who wrote in
the year 1654, relates that a friend of his while out riding on horseback was
struck on the top of his riding boot by one of these fairy stones. In this case
there is no doubt that the horse’s hoof caused the incident, but chance was
not admitted by the old masters who would regard the hoof of the horse as
the instrument made use of by the mischievous fairies.
Pliny relates that Chias being the first to demonstrate the fire flashing of
struck flint, was given the name of Pyrodes. Aubrey states that it was an old
custom to hang on a string a flint with a hole in it “to hinder the nightmare.”
“It is best of all, they say, hung about their necks, and a flint will do it that
hath a hole in it. It is to prevent the night mare, viz., the Hag, from riding
their horses which will sometimes sweat at night. The flint thus hung does

hinder it.” Another writer, Grose, quoted in Brand’s “Antiquities,” says: “A
stone with a hole in it hung at the bed’s head will prevent the nightmare. It
is therefore called a Hag Stone from that disorder which is occasioned by a
Hag or Witch sitting on the stomach of the party afflicted. It also prevents
witches riding horses: for which purpose it is often tied to a stable key.”

“Hang up Hooks and Sheers to scare
Hence the Hag that rides the mare.”
Herrick.

These flints were called Holy or Holey Stones in the North of England,
also Ephialtes stones, Night Mare or Witch Riding Stones, and Butler
mentions the chasing away of evil spirits by hollow flint. The “Mare” of
Night Mare is derived from the Saxon Mara, an incubus, which attacked
during sleep, depriving the victim of movement and speech. The Mara or
Mare is an order of vampires. Hebrew MARIA, an evil spirit against which
the flint is a charm. As a correspondent of flint, Emanuel Swedenborg gives
Truth. Its connection with the ninth heavenly mansion is well defined. Flint
is under the celestial Sagittarius.

GARNET

“Without the aid of yonder golden globe
Lost were the garnet’s lustre.”
Smart.

The garnet derives its name from the Latin GRANATUS, grain-like. Mr.
King gives Granatici, from its resemblance to the scarlet pomegranate
blossom. It is found written as garnet, gernet, garnette, garnat, garnet or
garnat stone.
The mineral group passing under the general name of garnet exhibits
some distinct peculiarities which, adopting the classification given by
Professor James Dana, can be considered under three heads, as follows:
Alumina Garnet Iron Garnet Chrome Garnet
ALUMINA GARNET
The sesquioxide base is chiefly aluminium.

(a) IRON ALUMINA GARNET
Shades of colour: Red, ruby red, hyacinth red, columbine red, brownish
red. Precious garnet is translucent, common is not. Example, Almandine or
Carbuncle. Astrologically classed under the celestial Sagittarius.
(b) LIME ALUMINA GARNET
Shades of colour: Pale green, cinnamon, amber. Example: Essonite or
Cinnamon Stone is cinnamon coloured; Grossularite (Latin
GROSSULARIA, a gooseberry), is pale green; Succinite (Latin
SUCCINUM, amber), is of the colour of amber. The Grossularite is a health
talisman, the Succinite a charm for securing harmony and success in
dealing with employees. They are both under the Celestial Virgo.
(c) MAGNESIA ALUMINA GARNET
Shades of colour: Deep red changing to black and green. Example:
Pyrope. Under the celestial Aquarius.
The Pyrope or Bohemian Garnet derives its name from the Greek word
PUROPOS, fiery, and is known to Pliny as Apyroti. It is a stone of the same
hardness as the beryl and is commonly called the “Cape Ruby,” or the
“Arizona Ruby.” In the regalia of Saxony, set in the Order of the Golden
Fleece, is a large pyrope, 468½ carats in weight, and that strange Emperor
Rudolph II under whose patronage Tycho and Kepler worked at the
Rudolphine (Astronomical) Tables, is said by De Boodt to have possessed a
specimen worth 45,000 thalers. One as big as the egg of a pigeon lies in the
Green Vaults at Dresden. Large pyropes are, however, rare. Swedenborg
corresponds Pyrope to “good,” and it is regarded as a talisman of
faithfulness and stability, of hope, of happiness and true friendship. Its
influence is said to aid psychic development and occult understanding. It is
a health stone, and in the East is regarded as a banisher of plagues and
poison, changing colour, it is said, when danger or mishap of any kind
threaten the wearer.
(d) MANGANESE ALUMINA GARNET
Shades of colour: Red, brownish red, hyacinth red. Example: Spessartite
or Spessatine. Under the celestial Virgo.
The Spessartite obtains its name from SPESSART in Germany. It is
sometimes called the Brown Garnet, but is little used in jewellery. The

Spessartite is a prayer charm for the uplifted soul.

IRON GARNET
The sesquioxide base is chiefly iron.
LIME IRON GARNET
Shades of colour: Various.
Example: Andradite, named after the Portuguese mineralogist
D’Andrada. In the variety called Topazolite (so named after the topaz), the
colour is wine yellow, in Jelletite it is green, and in Melinite and Pyreneite
it is black or grey-black. The Aplome (named by Hauy after the Greek word
APLOOS, simple), is red. The Kolophonite, named after Kolophon in Ionia,
is coarse, granular, resinous and frequently iridescent. Green Andradite has
been termed the “Uralian Emerald” and the Olivine (wrongly so-called
under this head). Brilliant specimens have been named by jewellers
DEMANTOID. A dark, almost black, andradite showing a gleam of red was
much used in mourning jewellery. This is the stone which Leonardus said
drove away pestilential airs and banished unworthy thoughts. It was a
binding charm for friends. It protected from epidemics and the lightning-
stroke, and lent favour to the desires of the native. Specimens have been
found engraved with the names of angels in Chaldaic, Hebrew, Greek and
other ancient languages. It is under the celestial Aquarius.

CHROME GARNET
The sesquioxide base is chiefly Chromium.
Shades of colour: Emerald green.
Example: Ouvarovite, Uvarovite or Uwarowite, after the Professor of that
name of the late Russian Imperial Academy at Petrograd. This variety will
not, like other varieties, yield to the blow-pipe. It is a hard stone and few
specimens large enough for cutting have been discovered. It is under the
celestial Aquarius.
Many specimens of ancient engraved garnets have been found. Friction
produces in the stone a positive order of electricity which has a perceptible
effect on the magnetic needle.

GREENSTONE. (See JADE.)

GROSSULARITE. (See GARNET.)

HAEMATITE

“The Haematite, named by the Greeks from blood,
Benignant Nature formed for mortals’ good.”
Marbodus.

The Haematite obtains its name from the Greek HAIMATITES, blood-
like. It is a specular iron ore of reddish, brown, steely gray, and iron black
colours. Commercially it is spelt Hematite, though it is also written as
Ematite, Emathites, Emathitis.
Sotacus, described by Pliny as one of the most ancient writers, classified
five varieties of haematite, as follows:
1. Ethiopic, which he said was a remedy for burns and inflamed eyes. It
is probable that this is the Ethiopian Stone, a hard species of flint. (See
under FLINT.)
2. Androdamus, or Conquerer of Man, which is given as a remedy for
bilious attacks. This stone is described by Sotacus as “very black and
heavy,” and by Marbodus as “silvery white with the hardness of a
diamond.” It would seem that each writer is describing a different stone.
Sotacus’ description would imply a species of iron stone, that of Marbodus
may stand for a corundum or even a diamond, and man may be subdued by
either the iron stone or the diamond.
3. Arabian, recommended for stomach troubles and burns.
4. Elatite, or when burned Melitite.
5. Mixed stone for eye troubles.
The varieties given by Professor James D. Dana are:
1. Specular Iron. Lustre perfectly metallic.
2. Micaceous Iron. Structure foliated.
3. Red Hematite. Submetallic or unmetallic brownish red.
4. Red Ochre. Soft and earthy and often containing clay.
5. Red Chalk. Firmer and more compact than red ochre and of fine
texture.
6. Jaspery Clay Iron. A hard, impure, siliceous, clayey ore, having a
brownish-red jaspery look and compactness.
7. Clay Iron Stone. The same as the last, the colour and appearance less
like jasper.

8. Lenticular Argillaceous Ore. An oolitic red ore consisting of small
flattened grains.
9. Martite. Martite is hematite in octahedrons, derived, it is supposed,
from the oxidation of magnetite.
Pliny says that Haematites are found in mines and when burned have the
colour of Minium. (Minium of today is our red lead of commerce, Red
Oxide of Lead). He recommends it for affections of the bladder and for the
healing of dangerous wounds, bites of serpents and as a check to female
disorders. It seems probable in these enumerations that he refers to
Loadstone (q.v.), for he says “the sanguine Loadstone called Haematite.”
The Haematite and the Loadstone were used in Babylon, Assyria and other
ancient lands as far back as 2000 B.C. Amongst the specimens handled by
the author was one notable Haematite intaglio cylinder of very fine
workmanship—an old magistrate’s seal of great antiquity. The ancient
Egyptians generally selected Haematite as a fitting pillow (Urs) for the head
of the Mummy to rest upon. On it were often cut verses from Chap. CLXVI
of the “Book of the Dead”—the Per em Hru or Coming forth by Day.
An old 17th century writer, Andreas Balvacensis, advances the curious
idea that the Haematite was made of “dragon’s bloud,” and Holme in his
“Armoury” says that it is called a Stench stone, for its accredited virtue of
stopping the flow of blood. Generally the old writers of the Middle and later
ages followed Galen in prescribing Haematite for inflamed eyes and
headaches, and he was undoubtedly learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians
and the old medical philosophies mentioned by Sotacus. Several modes of
use are mentioned; one was to mix the powdered stone with honey and
apply it to the eyelids, another was to rub the smoothed stone lightly over
the lids. The Kidney Ore Haematite which has a strong metallic silky lustre
and is formed somewhat like a kidney, was recommended for external
application over the region of that organ when ill conditions prevailed. This
application of a Mars substance for the cure of a Venus affection is
technically dealt with in works devoted to medical astrology, ancient and
modern. The Haematite is under the celestial Aries.

HIDDENITE. (See Spodumene.)

HORNSTONE. Hornstone obtains its name from the Anglo-Saxon
STAN. It is a fragile variety of flint, and is known in its more impure state

as Chert. It had some reputation as an eye stone in certain parts, and is
regarded as under the celestial Taurus.

HYACINTH

“The island of Sandareeb ... containeth varieties of jacinths and different
kinds of minerals.”
The 6th Voyage of Es-Sindabad of the Sea.

The name of this stone is derived from the youth Hyakinthos. It has been
written at various times as hiacinth, hiacinthe, hyacint, hiacynth, hyacinthe,
hiacint, etc. The true hyacinth, which is not to be confounded with the
sapphire, the hyacinthus of the ancients, is a brilliant zircon (q.v.) of a
transparent red or ruddy cinnamon colour. It is found with a garnet of
similar hue which is also called hyacinth but which shows structural
differences and is classified under the name ESSONITE (q.v.). The peculiar
granular nature of this hyacinth can be seen, even when cut, under an
ordinary lens. It is said in ancient story that Apollo caused the death of the
lovely and beloved youth Hyakinthos when throwing his disc, and that from
the blood which fell to the ground a lovely flower sprang. The myth
symbolizes the fertility of Nature and was celebrated by the festival
Hyakinthia, which expresses the grief of Apollo over the precious life he
had taken and the subsequent joy when the flower gave promise of the
return of the slain one in harmony with Nature’s immortal moods. The gem
hyacinth was considered a charm against bowel disorders, as a mental tonic
and a strengthener of the mind against all kinds of temptation. It promised
bountiful harvests to the farmer and filled the Cornu Copia of the Virgin
Goddess. The name JACINTH, usually applied to the yellow variety of the
gem, is a contraction of hyacinth, and appears as Iacincte, Iacynkte, Iassink,
Jacounce, Jagounce, Jacincte, Jacynct, Jacynth, etc. Like all the Zircon
family these stones are electric and attract fluff and exhibit
phosphorescence. Thomas de Cantempre describes the jacinth as a stone of
yellow colour which protected the wearer from melancholy and poison,
drawing to him the love of God and man. Leonardus said that it brought
sleep to the tired brain and gave wisdom and protection in times of
pestilence. De Boodt also recommends the gem as a cure for insomnia,
advising that it be worn enclosed in a small bag of brown material

suspended just over the solar plexus. Francis Barrett in the section of his
book devoted to Natural Magic says: “The jacinth also possesses virtue
from the sun against poisons, pestilences and pestiferous vapours: likewise
it renders the wearer pleasant and acceptable: conduces also to gain money:
being simply held in the mouth it wonderfully cheers the heart and
strengthens the mind.”
So in ancient astrology these stones which are under the celestial Virgo
have these powers: Wisdom and Prudence, Worldly Gain, Wealth. It is said
that so powerful were these gems of the zircon family that one wearing
them could pass unharmed through places infected with fever and
pestilence. Mystic authors wrote that the jacinth grew dull when stormy
weather was approaching, and bright with the promise of fine weather;
similarly it indicated the degrees of health of the wearer (Virgo is a sign of
health and sickness). Cardanus says that in tempestuous weather the
hyacinth assumes “the ruddy tint of a glowing coal.” As an amulet against
plague it was said to change colour when touched by affected persons.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina), the famous Arabian philosopher of the 10th century
compared the action of the jacinth with that of the magnet. Paracelsus says
that it is distinctly under the government of the planet Mercury. In old
Polish pharmacies a jacinth was kept set in a mount of silver, ready to be
used to avert mortification in cases of accident. Held against the forehead it
was reputed to give clearness of thought and calmness of mind.
Swedenborg corresponds it to “intelligence from spiritual love and in an
opposite sense, intelligence from infernal love which is self-derived
intelligence.” To dream of the hyacinth is interpreted as protection in
approaching worries; to dream of the jacinth indicates triumph. Jacinths are
placed with almandines in the Dar as Salam, the Arabian Garden of Peace,
and amongst the Rosicrucian jewels the hyacinth represents the true
knowledge of absolute love and the triumph over the crude elements of
earthly understanding. These two zircon varieties are under the celestial
Virgo.

HYDROPHANE. (See OPAL.)

HYPERSTHENE. The name is derived from the Greek HYPER, over,
and STHENOS, strength. It is also written as Hyperstene. It is a stone of the
Pyroxene group, a silicate of magnesium and iron. Its colours are brown-

green, grey or green-black, pinchbeck brown. Its hardness is about the
hardness of lapis lazuli. The hypersthene is under the celestial Scorpio.

IOLITE. The iolite derives its name from the Greek ION, violet and
LITHOS, a stone. Hauy named it the DICHROITE (DIO, twice, CHROA,
colour). It was known also as the Cordierite, and more familiarly as the
water sapphire. It is a silicate of alumina magnesia and protoxide of iron. It
possesses extraordinary dichroism, the smoky blue and yellowish-grey
being easily seen with the naked eye. This circumstance induced Hauy to
name it DICHROITE. Viewed in two directions it presented different
colours. These colours are shown to advantage in stones cut for ornament.
In 1758, Sir James Hill wrote a “History of the Iolithos or Violet Stone,” a
work now most difficult to obtain. The iolite is a stone of friendship and
friendly help. It benefits the eyesight and is an aid to high thoughts. It was
also written as yolite, iolithe. It is of about the hardness of quartz. The iolite
is under the celestial Aquarius.

CHAPTER XIX
JACINTH—LODESTONE

JACINTH: JADE: JARGOON: MATURAN DIAMOND: JASPER: THE LYDIAN STONE OF THE ANCIENTS:
THE HELIOTROPE OR BLOODSTONE VARIETY: THOMAS NICOLS AND ARTIFICIAL
INFUSIONS: ST. ISIDORE ON THE JASPER: LEGEND OF THE CROSS: NUMBER FIVE AND THE
STONE OF THE VIRGIN: RARE WORKS IN JASPER: GALENUS ON ITS VIRTUES: THE ANODYNE
NECKLACE: THE JASPER AMULET OF NECHEPSOS: THE WHEEL OF EZEKIEL: JASPER SIGILS:
TRALLIANUS AND THE JASPER: MOTTLED JASPER, A CHARM TO PROTECT FROM
DROWNING: ZODIACAL REFLECTIONS: THE STONE OF VICTORY: VAN HELMONT’S
EXPERIMENTS: THE JASPER AMONGST THE JEWELS OF THE ROSICRUCIANS: JET: KAURI
GUM: KOLOPHONITE: KUNZITE: KYANITE: LABRADORITE: LAPIS LAZULI: COLOURS AND
NAMES: PERSIAN LAJWARD, ITS VIRTUES: ITS PLACE IN THE BOOK OF THE DEAD:
COMMANDMENT STONES: LAPIS LAZULI IN CHINA: KATHERINE II AND HER PALACE ROOM:
A STONE OF THE ALCHEMISTS: LIMONITE: LODESTONE: PLINY’S STORY OF ITS DISCOVERY:
HOW TERMED BY TITUS CARUS LUCRETIUS: THE STONE OF HERCULES: LEGEND OF THE
PHOENICIANS: THE AGE OF THE MARINER’S COMPASS: CONSTRUCTION OF ONE BY THE
CHINESE EMPEROR HOUANGTI: PAUSANIAS AND THE STONE IMAGE OF HERCULES: A
CRAMP STONE: A DIVINATORY INSTRUMENT: THE PLAN OF PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS:
PROFESSOR NOAD AND THE POWER OF THE LODESTONE: BARRETT’S “ANTIPATHIES”:
STORY OF CLAUDIANUS: MAGNET AND THE ONION.

JACINTH. (See HYACINTH.)

JADE. See (NEPHRITE.)

JARGOON. The Jargoon or Jargon, by which name it is known in France, is
derived from the Italian GIACONE. It is a greyish or smoky variety of the zircon
(q.v.), which so closely resembles the diamond that it is often sold by unscrupulous
dealers for the more precious gem. In allusion to this, Sir A. H. Church in his work on
“Precious Stones” says: “The diamond and the jargoon do not improve or bring out
each other’s qualities for they have too many points in common.” The jargoon,
however, is nearly three degrees softer than the diamond and more easily injured. It is
usually brilliant and rose-cut. At Matura in Ceylon where it is found in fair quantities
it is frequently termed the “Maturan Diamond.” The jargoon is frequently used set as
a talismanic charm against plagues and disease, for which purpose it was esteemed
greatly in the Middle Ages in the East and in Europe. Worn on the little finger, set in a
ring of silver, it was reputed to help the physician to correct diagnoses especially if,
when in doubt, he held the stone against his forehead, at a point between the eyes. The
jargoon is under the celestial Virgo.

JASPER.

“Jasper stone signifies the divine truth of the Word in its literal sense, translucent
from the divine truth in its spiritual sense.”
Swedenborg.

Jasper derives its name from the Hebrew YASHPHEH, Greek IASPIS, Arabic
YASB. It is found written as jasp, jaspre, iaspere, iaspar. It is a hard siliceous mineral
of dark, dull colours, chiefly red, green, yellow and black. In the variety termed
RIBAND the mixed and striped colours form in concentric irregular zones. Ruin
Jasper occurs in darker shades of browns and yellows, giving the appearance of
venerable ruins. The lapis Lydius or Lydian Stone of the ancients—our basanite,
commonly known as Touchstone—is a velvety black flinty jasper, used as much today
as ever it was, for ascertaining the fineness and quality of gold and precious metals,
and says Bacon, “Gold is tried by the touchstone and men by gold.” Its connection
with Mercury is shown in the Greek story of the transformation of the betrayer Battus
into Touchstone by the God. The Heliotrope or so-called Bloodstone variety is green
with spots of red. Pliny enumerates ten varieties, giving preference to the purple and
rose-coloured. Marbodus in the Lapidarium writes of seventeen species all differing in
colour, the best of all being the bright translucent green. The jasper was held in high
favour by the ancients and Babylonian seals as old as 1,000 years before the Christian
era have been found. The THET or Buckle of Isis was made chiefly of jasper. In those
times the stone was found in quantities in the vicinity of the historic town of On or
Heliopolis. Thomas Nicols, writing in the 17th century, protests that the Egyptians
knew how to infuse artificial colours into this gem: “It is ascribed by way of glory to
the King of Egypt that the first adulteration of jasper by tincture was from him, but
the glory of this praise, if I be not mistaken, doth even become his shame.” St. Isidore
of Seville (16th century) writes of the green jasper as “shining with the greenness of
glory,” and this variety—commonly known as bloodstone because it is spotted with
red specks resembling drops of blood—is regarded as an essentially religious
substance, and is associated with the old Easter ceremonies. There is an old legend,
frequently retold, that the green jasper lying at the foot of the Cross at the Crucifixion
received the blood drops from the five wounds of the dying Christ, which drops were
forever impregnated in the stone. Five is the number which in mystic writings is
identified with the planet Mercury, and the significance of the blood of the Son of the
Virgin in the stone of the Virgin will be understood by those who search for truth
beneath the mantle of parable. Mr. William Jones in “Finger Ring Lore” gives an
illustration of a Christian octagonal-shaped ring of the 3rd or 4th century, set with a
red jasper in which is cut in intaglio a shepherd and his flocks: the import of this is
clear enough. A jasper bust of Christ in which the red spots are so manipulated by the
skilful artist as to represent drops of blood is mentioned by Professor James Dana as
being in the royal collection at Paris. “Some indeed assert,” writes Claudius Galenus,

the famous physician of the second Christian century, “that a virtue such as is
possessed by the green jasper which benefits the chest and mouth of the stomach if
tied upon it, is inherent in precious stones.... I have had ample experience having
made a necklace out of such gems (jaspers), and hung it round the neck, descending
so low that the stones might touch the mouth of the stomach, and they appeared to be
of no less service than if they had been engraved in the way laid down by King
Nechepsos.” This is the famous anodyne necklace so valued, especially in England,
and the source of which the distinguished physician Dr. William Cullen ascribes to
Galenus. Several books are credited to King Nechepsos (circa 600 B. C.). Galenus
alludes to this King’s jasper amulet which took the form of a rayed dragon. This
dragon form symbolizes the mystery of the three zodiacal signs—Virgo, Libra and
Scorpio—known to students of Rosicrucian philosophy as the Wheel of Ezekiel, and
personified in Pallas Athene or Minerva, the embodiment of wisdom, sympathy and
strength. Galenus carried as his talismanic gem a jasper engraved with a man carrying
a bundle of herbs, as an aid to his judgment in indicating various diseases—a power
long ascribed to stones under the celestial Virgo. A similar sigil is given by the ancient
Israelitish Rabbi Chael: “A man with broad shoulders and thick loins, standing and
holding in his right hand a bundle of herbs engraved on a green jasper is good against
fevers and if a physician carries it about with him it will give him skill in
distinguishing diseases and knowing the proper remedies. It is also good for
hæmorrhoids and quickly stops the flow of blood.” The same authority recommends
for good luck in buying and selling “Aquarius cut on a green jasper,” which is also
termed “a stone of good counsel for traders” (all trade is under Mercury, the ruler in
astrology of the signs Gemini and Virgo). A man’s head facing and a bird holding a
leaf in its beak, cut in jasper, was held to give riches and favour; a hare cut in jasper
protected from evil spiritual forces. The green jasper, as before stated, was also
known as the Heliotropion (Heliotrope), a word derived from Greek HELIOS, the
sun, and TROPOS, a turn—probably in allusion to the planet Mercury which turns
nearest the Sun. It is stated that if this stone were placed in water it would reflect the
blood-red disc of the sun, and if held before the eyes it would assist in the observation
of the Solar and Lunar eclipses. Trallianus, a 6th century philosopher, recommends
the jasper for pains of an acute nature in the stomach or bowels—a use for which it
was especially esteemed by all ancient scholars. Mottled jasper was worn to protect
from death by drowning, or from death whilst on or near the water, and this presents
one of the many instances of what astrologers term “sign reflection,” for the water
sign of the Fishes (Pisces) is opposite to the earthy sign Virgo and serves as an apt
illustration of antipathetic action. Another virtue ascribed to jasper was the calming of
uneasy minds and the securing of victory in battle. In this latter connection, Cardanus,
physician, philosopher and astrologer of the 16th century, says that it has action on the
feelings, causing something akin to timidity which induces caution and the evading of
needless risks—a distinctly Mercurial attribute. De Boodt advises the wearing of
jasper to check hæmorrhage and relieve stomach pains. The stomach was regarded as

the seat of the soul by the remarkable Baptista van Helmont. Deleuze credits him with
“creating epochs in the histories of medicine and physiology, and of first giving the
name of ‘gas’ to aerial fluids,” adding that without him, “it is probable that steel
would have given no new impulse to science.” Van Helmont writes: “In the pit of the
stomach there is a more powerful sensation than even in the eye or in the fingers. The
stomach often will not tolerate a hand to be laid upon it because there is there the
most acute and positive feeling which at other times is only perceived in the fingers.”
For purposes of experiment Van Helmont touched a root of aconite with the tip of his
tongue—a risky action—taking care, however, not to swallow any of it.
“Immediately,” he says, “my head seemed tied tightly with a string and soon after
there happened to me a singular circumstance such as I had never before experienced.
I observed with astonishment that I no longer felt and thought with the head but with
the region of the stomach, as if consciousness had now taken up its seat there.
Terrified by this unusual phenomenon, I asked myself and enquired unto myself
carefully, but I only became the more convinced that my power of perception had
become greater and more comprehensive. This intellectual clearness was associated
with great pleasure. I did not sleep, nor did I dream.... I had occasionally had ecstasies
but these had nothing in common with this condition of the stomach in which it
thought and felt and almost excluded all co-operation of the head. This state continued
for two hours after which I had some dizziness.” Van Helmont writes of the “Sun
tissue” in the region of the stomach which from the earliest recorded times has been
identified with the zodiacal Virgo around which so many myths, parables and legends
cluster. Jasper is associated with this part of the body of man, and to dream of it is
said to symbolise love’s faithfulness known to the mind before the heart:

“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,
And therefore is Dan Cupid painted blind.”

Amongst the symbolic jewels of the Rosicrucians this stone was regarded as the
centre stone of the vibrations of light and of its penetrating diffusions. All varieties of
jasper are under the celestial Virgo.

JET

“Your lustre too ’ll draw courtship to you as a iet (jet) doth straws.”
Ben Jonson.

The name jet is derived from the Greek GAGATES, from GAGAS, a river in Syria.
It is also written as jesstone, and jeetstone. Dr. Murray gives the following forms gete,
geet, get, geete, geyte, geitt, gett, gette, geytt, gate, giette, geate, ieet, iete, ieit, ieate,
iet, jeat, jett, jette. It is a variety of coal resembling cannel coal, but harder, of deeper
colour and with a higher degree of lustre. Pliny writes that “Gagates is a stone so-
called from Gages, the name of a town and river in Lycia.” When burnt it gives out a

sulphureous smell which, according to the Venerable Bede (7th century), drove away
serpents. Its virtue was esteemed in cases of hysteria, in detecting epileptic tendencies
and in loss of virginity. A decoction of jet in wine was esteemed as a cure for
toothache, and in combination with wax it was used in cases of scrofula. Magicians, it
is said, make use of Gagates in the practice of what is known as “Axinomancy”—a
form of magic in which a piece of jet is placed on a red-hot axe—prophesying events
according to the burning of the substance. Jet is highly electrical and will attract fluff
in the same way as amber does, hence it was known as Black Amber, especially in the
16th century, by the people of the Baltic coast. It was much used in magical
ceremonies, especially those in connection with the dead, as a charm against evil
magic, spells and envy, and as a cure for dropsy, colds, chills and loss of hair. The
fumes from burning jet are no doubt very relieving in what is commonly known as
cold in the head, the action being homœopathic in this case, as such discomforts are
Saturnine and the employment of jet is the employment of a saturnine substance for
the removing of a saturnine affliction. The use of jet for rosaries is noted by Cardan: it
cooled the passions and protected the wearer against evil influences. Its fumes were
considered potent in female disorders. Boetius says that it protected the wearer against
nightmares and night terrors. Mr. King mentions the discovery of a number of jet
ornaments at Cologne in 1846 which were believed to have belonged to the ancient
priestesses of Cybele or Rhea, the goddess of the mountain-forests and caves of the
earth. Her worship was wild and weird, her votaries with torches ablaze rushing
through the trees in the darkness of the night, fighting and wounding each other to the
accompaniment of the screeching of the pipes, the clashing of cymbals and the mad
uproar of drunken song. Cybele was associated as a mountain goddess with the forest-
god Pan, the goat-god, who is identified with the Zodiacal Capricornus, and jet was
used in her worship. It was regarded as a banisher of melancholia and a protective
badge for travellers. To dream of it was said to signify sadness. In the form of a shield
against the bites of serpents it was advised that powdered jet be taken and mixed with
the marrow of a stag. To many writers this has seemed ridiculous but beneath the
surface the true meaning may be detected. Astrologically jet is under the zodiacal
Capricorn and the planet Saturn, the stag is under Gemini and the planet Mercury, the
marrow of the stag is ruled by Venus and in this case signifies the essence supreme,
the serpent is under the planet Mars. Interpreted, this symbolic passage would read:
Use wisdom and caution (Jet) knowledge (stag) and love (marrow) then wilt thou
overcome, subdue and defeat the lower self (serpent) and the sting of sin. Crypts of
this kind were very frequently employed by Hermetic brotherhoods for conveying
their teachings to each other. The use of parables, secret signs, tokens and symbols
was the real method of conveying truths employed by the ancient masters. By this
means concentration was impelled and the soul prepared to receive great truths.

KAURI GUM

“As some tall Kauri soars in lonely pride.”
Renwick.

Kauri obtains its name from the Maoris and appears in various forms: kowrie,
cowry, courie, coudie. It is gum of a light amber colour which has exuded from the
Kauri pine (Dammara Australis) a species of Dammar growing in New Zealand. The
gum is obtained by digging over spots where the trees once grew, and it is found
sometimes in lumps the size of a football. Kauri gum is electric and much softer and
less durable than amber. It has been suggested as a useful substitute for amber in
throat troubles, asthma, hay fever and glandular swellings. It is under the celestial
Taurus.

KOLOPHONITE. (See GARNET.)

KUNZITE. (See SPODUMENE.)

KYANITE. Kyanite derives its name from the Greek KUANOS, blue. It is also
written as Cyanite and, because of its unequal hardness, Disthene (twice strong).
White specimens are termed RHOETIZITE. Chemically kyanite harmonizes with
andalusite (q. v.) for both are silicates of aluminium, but as Dr. Smith writes, “points
of difference show how large a share the molecular grouping has in determining the
aspect of crystallized substances.” Usually kyanite is found in long, thin blade-like
crystals and more rarely in short, full crystals. Its colours are light blue, blue and
white, white, grey-green and, more rarely, black. Its hardness varies from 5 to a little
over 7 in Mohs’ scale. When cut the blue variety resembles the light sapphire
although it cannot display the same brilliancy. The stone is, however, very little
employed in jewellery. The peculiarities of kyanite place it under the celestial
Aquarius.

LABRADORITE

“The beautiful opalised kind of felspar called Labrador stone.”
Pinkerton.

Also written Labrador, is an opalescent grey-blue felspar of extraordinary gleam,
often reflecting green, yellow and red. It obtains its name from the place of its origin,
as it was first found by Moravian missionaries in 1770 at St. Paul Island off the coast
of Labrador. Specimens have also been found in stones of meteoric origin. The stone
is effective and might with advantage be more extensively used in jewellery. Its
hardness is the same as the opal. Labradorite is under the celestial Aquarius.

LAPIS LAZULI

“The appearance of the Lord’s divine sphere in the spiritual Heavens.”
Swedenborg.

Lapis Lazuli derives its name from the Latin word Lapis, a stone, and the Arabic
Azul, blue. It has been variously written as Zumemo Lazuli, Zemech Lazarilli,
Stellatus, Lapis Lazary, Lapis Coelestus, the Azure Gem, the Armenian Stone, Lapis
Lazari. Its composition includes for the greater part silica and alumina, with soda,
lime, iron, sulphuric acid, sulphur, chlorine and water. It is assumed to be a product of
contact metamorphism, and is described by Pliny as “opaque and sprinkled with
specks of gold” (yellow pyrites). It is found in Persia, Tartary, China, Thibet and
Siberia. Badakhshan or Budukhshan in Central Asia is famous for its Lapis Lazuli
mines in which, it is recorded, the rock is split with the help of fire. The stone is often
found in tints of green, red, violet, or colourless, but these may be termed varieties.
The miners of Budukhshan call the blue Lapis “Nili,” the sky-blue “Asmani,” and the
blue-green tints “Sabzi.” Some of the finest lajward (lapis lazuli) is sent from the
Persian markets whence formerly specimens of rare beauty were exposed for sale at
the fairs of Nijni-Novgorod. From very remote times Persia supplied the ancient
world with the greatest quantities of lajward. The “sapphirus” of old is the Lapis
Lazuli of today, and it is recommended that the 26th chapter of The Book of the Dead
should be recited before a deific figure cut from this stone. As early as 1500 years
before Christ we have a record that the Lapis Lazuli placed on the neck of a sick child
reduced fever. Many of the Egyptian priests wore images formed from the stone
which was regarded as an emblem of the heavens. Epiphanius, Bishop of Constantia
in Cyprus, at the latter part of the 4th century, quotes from older sources the tradition
that the tables of the Law of Moses were written on two blocks of Lapis Lazuli, which
is identified as the eleventh stone of the magic Breastplate. In the ceremonies of the
Temple of Heaven in China, ornaments of LIU-LI (Lapis Lazuli) were used, and the
Chinese sacred writings record how at one time the priest-kings bore it as an offering
to the Lord of the Universe. In accordance with the desire of Catherine II of Russia
her favourite room in the Zarskoe Selo palace was adorned with lapis lazuli, symbolic
of the country she governed, and amber, as a symbol of herself. The ancient Greeks
and Romans considered a piece of Lapis Lazuli—the stone of Heaven—as the most
fitting distinction to bestow for personal bravery. It was regarded as a true stone of
friendship and of the affection arising from friendship. Ancient physicians regarded
this gem as of potent value in eye troubles, one old prescription advising that a
specimen be placed in a bowl of water, warm but not hot, for the space of some few
minutes, and then that the eye affected be bathed in the water which must be as pure
as can be obtained. The stone was also valued if placed, just warm, on swellings or
seats of pain. It was also regarded as a cure for ague, melancholia, disorders of the
blood, neuralgic affections and spasmodic action. As a talisman it was worn to protect
against injuries, especially to the ankles, to attract friends, gain favours and realize
hopes. Lapis Lazuli was used by many of the old alchemists in special work of an

esoteric nature and is frequently alluded to as the Stone of Heaven in which the stars
are held. It is under the zodiacal Aquarius.

LIMONITE. This stone was named Limonite by Professor Hausmann in 1813 from
the Greek word LEIMON, a meadow. It is a species of brown haematite (scarcely as
hard as the opal) which according to Professor Dana appears to have been the result in
all cases of the decomposition of other iron-bearing rocks or minerals. It is under the
celestial Aries.

LODESTONE

“The magnet weds the steel, the secret rites
Nature attends and th’ heavenly pair unites.”
(Claudianus of Alexandra.)

The lodestone, which is also written though not so correctly, Loadstone, obtains its
name from the Anglo-Saxon LAD, a course, LITHAN, to lead, and STAN. Another
form is Lodysshestone, the stone that shows the way. It is also known as Magnetite or
the ancient Magnet, from the Greek MAGNES. The lodestone or magnetite is a black
iron ore of high magnetic quality, and this peculiar attracting force is said to have first
indicated what we now term magnetism. According to Pliny a Greek shepherd—
Magnes, by name—whilst tending his sheep on Mount Ida, found pieces of lodestone
clinging to the ferrule of his shepherd’s staff. Titus Carus Lucretius, in his great
philosophical work “De Rerum Natura” (about 55 B. C.), calls the Magnetite the
Magnesium Stone, which he said obtained its name from Magnesia, a town in
Thessaly. Another name applied to this stone is SIDERIT, but its best-known
appellation in the ancient world was HERACLION, or stone of Hercules. It is
interesting to recall the legend of the old Phoenician mariners, which tells that
Hercules, admiring their daring and skill, desired to help them in the science of
navigation. For this purpose he obtained from Helios a cup of Heraclion which always
turned to the North. This seems to indicate that the mariners’ compass is of older date
than the 11th century; indeed the Chinese assert that in the year 2634 B.C. the
Emperor Houangti first constructed a magnetic compass. The Greek traveller and
historian Pausanias in his “Helbados Periegesis” published in the second century,
writes of the rough stone image of Hercules in the Temple at Hyettos, which the sick
came but to touch in order to be healed of their disorders. As a stone of healing the
lodestone was highly esteemed as a cure for gout, rheumatism, cramp, disorders
which frequently yield to treatment wherein iron is employed. It was used during
childbirth and in diseases of the generative organs. Finely powdered and mixed with
oil or grease it was regarded by ancient writers as a preventive of or cure for baldness.
In the Orphic Lythica it is stated that holding this stone to the head, the voices of the
gods could be heard, heavenly knowledge gained and divine things seen. It is here

advised that one should sit alone in earnest meditation asking the celestial powers for
guidance or help in some particular trouble, when the reply flowing through the stone
would be quickly sensed and understood by the sincere petitioner. A woman’s moral
character was said to be betrayed by the lodestone which endowed strength, will and
the ability to look into the future. It was also carried as a charm to protect against
shipwreck. It is related that after the death of his sister-wife Arsinoe, Ptolemy II
(Philadelphus) planned with his architect Dinochares a temple to be built of lodestone
in order that her iron statue would be held for ever in suspension, seemingly in space,
but death defeated the plan. In referring to the power of lodestones Professor Noad
(“Electricity”) states: “The smallest stones have greater attractive force in proportion
to their size than larger ones.” Francis Barrett under the heading of “Antipathies”
writes that a diamond disagrees with a lodestone and being present suffers no iron to
be drawn to it. However, it is as a lovers’ token that the lodestone is most extolled; it
is often found set in lovers’ rings of the Middle Ages. Claudianus in his “Idyl”
published in the latter part of the 4th century gives a record of a temple wherein was a
statue of Venus in lodestone, and another of Mars in iron—symbols of the attraction
of the wife for the husband and of the husband for the wife. There is an old belief that
the magnet was affected by the onion, and in this connection the following extract
from “Notes and Queries,” December, 1917, is interesting: “The notorious Count de
Benyowsky at the end of Chapter III of his ‘Memoirs and Travels’ mentions the
stratagem which he tried at sea to falsify the compass by the use of iron and garlic. I
now find that in the 17th century the belief actually prevailed in England that an onion
would destroy the power of the magnet. Thus Sir John Pettus of Suffolk, Kt., after
describing his visit as a youth to the lead mines of Derbyshire in company with Sir
Thomas Bendish says that having magnetized the blade of his knife and hearing that
contact with an onion would utterly destroy that power, he preferred to believe rather
than risk losing his magnet. The passage occurs in a rambling note on ‘Mineralls’ in
the second part of his ‘Fleta Minor.’” It might be considered in connection with such
stories that the onion as well as the lodestone is of the zodiacal Scorpio. To dream of
the lodestone warns of subtle dealings and contentions. It is under the celestial
Scorpion.

CHAPTER XX
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.

“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.

Antique Moss Agate Patch Box

Mrs. W. R. Furlong’s Collection

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.

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.

CHAPTER XXI
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.

Venus, Cupid and the
Graces
A Sardonyx Cameo by
Cerbara

Newton Robinson Collection
Sold at Christie’s, London, in 1909

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.

CHAPTER XXII
THE OPAL

THE OPAL IN ASTRO-PHILOSOPHY: PETRUS ARLENSIS DESCRIBES THE OPAL: PLINY’S
POETICAL OPINION: THE PAEDEROS CHILD BEAUTIFUL AS LOVE: THE ORPHAN:
ROMAN SENATOR AND HIS OPAL: OPHTHALMIOS THE EYE STONE: OPINION OF
MEDIAEVAL WRITERS: THE BAY TREE: ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND THE OPALS
THAT SPARKLED IN DARKNESS: THE ZODIACAL SIGN OF ROYALTY AND THE
OPAL: KERAUNIOS OR THE THUNDER STONE: THE BEAUTY STONE: THE STONE
OF HOPE, ACHIEVEMENT AND LOVE: THE LARGE HUNGARIAN OPAL:
AUSTRALIAN OPAL FIELDS: SIR DAVID BREWSTER’S THEORY OF COLOURS IN
OPALS: DR. G. F. H. SMITH’S EXPLANATION: SENSITIVENESS OF THE OPAL:
SUPERSTITION AGAINST OPAL: THE PLAGUE AT VENICE: THE “BURNING OF
TROY”: THE CRIMEAN WAR: SCOTT’S ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN: COMBINATIONS OF
DIAMONDS AND OPALS: DESTRUCTION OF THE VANITIES AT FLORENCE: STORY
OF THE OPAL OF ALFONZO XII OF SPAIN: A CHOLERA STONE FATAL TO THE KING
AND TO ALL WHO RECEIVED IT FROM HIM ACCORDING TO ASTROLOGICAL
SCIENCE: THE BARON’S OPAL OF FORTUNE.

OPAL

“Everyone knows how capriciously the colours of a fine opal vary from
day to day and how rare the lights are which fully bring them out.”
Ruskin.

The word “opal” is derived from the Latin OPALUS, and is identified
with the Sanscrit UPALA, a precious stone. It appears under the forms
opale, opall, opalle, opalis, ophal.
This beautiful inimitable gem is a hydrous silica, and is allied to the non-
metallic minerals of the agate family from which, however, it differs in
brilliancy, lustre and degree of hardness. It is sensitive to the action of
strong chemicals and does not present, like other minerals, crystalline form.
As a gem of the Sun it exhibits flows of fire like the sun at midsummer—as
a gem of Venus its delicate beauty radiates her colourful charms, and as a
gem of Uranus its refusal to submit to the all-embracing law of mineral

structure harmonizes with the iconoclastic character of that planet according
to astro-philosophy. Ancient and modern poets unite in singing the praises
of the opal. Onomacritus, known as the religious poet of the ancient Greeks,
over 2,400 years ago wrote that “the delicate colour and tenderness of the
opal reminded him of a loving and beautiful child.” Joshua Sylvester (16th
century) writes of “the opal-coloured morn,” and the poet Campbell of a
time when “the opal morn just flushed the sky,” thus echoing William
Drummond of Hawthornden’s:

“Aurora ... with her opal light
Night’s horrours checketh, putting stars to flight.”

Emerson writes of the “opal-coloured days,” and Poe with true poetic
fancy sees even the air opal tinted:

“A wreath that twined each starry form around
And all the opal’d air in colour bound.”

Shakespeare in “Twelfth Night” links the mind of the Duke with the opal
(written “opall” in early editions). Boetius, Cardanus and a host of writers
pay their tributes to the “orphan” of the Greeks, and Petrus Arlensis writes:
“The various colours in the opal tend greatly to the delectation of the sight;
nay, more, they have the greatest efficacy in cheering the heart, and the
inward parts especially rejoice the eyes of the beholders. One in particular
came into my hands in which such beauty, loveliness and grace shone forth
that it could truly boast that it forcibly drew all other gems to itself, while it
surprised, astonished and held captive without escape or intermission the
hearts of all who beheld it. It was of the size of a filbert and clasped in the
claws of a golden eagle wrought with wonderful art; and had such vivid and
various colours that all the beauties of the heavens might be viewed within
it. Grace went out from it, majesty shot forth from its almost divine
splendour. It sent forth such bright and piercing rays that it struck terror into
all beholders. In a word it bestowed upon the wearer the qualities granted
by Nature to itself, for by an invisible dart it penetrated the souls and
dazzled the eyes of all who saw it: appalled all hearts, however bold and
courageous: in fine, it filled with trembling the bodies of the bystanders and
forced them by a fatal impulse to love, honour and worship it. I have seen, I

have felt, I call God to witness: of a truth such a stone is to be valued at an
inestimable amount.”

Opals of Wonderful Colour

Kelsey I. Newman Collection

Turning back again, we read Pliny’s poetical opinion that “the opal is
made up of the glories of the most precious gems which make description
so difficult. For amongst them is the gentler fire of the ruby, the rich purple
of the amethyst, the sea-green of the emerald, glittering together in union

indescribable. Others by the intensity of their hues equal all the painter’s
colours, others the flame of burning brimstone or of fire quickened by oil.”
In admiration the Romans called the gem Cupid-Paederos, child beautiful as
love, and it was also known as Orphanus, the orphan, because of its isolated
glory. Leonardus wrote that it partook of all the virtues of those stones
whose colours it showed, and Porta said that it not only drove away
despondency but malignant affections also. So highly valued was the stone
in the ancient world that the Roman Senator Nonius, who wore an opal ring
worth 20,000 sesterces, preferred to be exiled by Marcus Antonius, who
wished to purchase it to present to the Egyptian Queen Kleopatra, to giving
it up. This famous ring was some few years back discovered in the tomb of
the firm-willed senator of old Rome.
Opal was called OPTHALMIOS or Eye Stone in the Middle Ages, and in
the time of Queen Elizabeth it was written ophal and opall. Our “Rare” Ben
Jonson writes of an opal “wrapped in a bay leaf in my left fist to charm
their eyes with.” The opal—ophthalmis lapis—was famous as an eyestone,
taking precedence over the emerald and all gems credited with such virtue.
It was advised by mediaeval writers that it be wrapped in a bay leaf to
sharpen the sight of the owner and to blunt that of others with whom he
came in contact: hence also its reputed virtue of bestowing the gift of
invisibility which earned it the name “Patronus furum,” the patron of
thieves.
The Bay tree is identified in astro-philosophy as a tree of the Sun and the
zodiacal Leo (House of the Sun), and is an ancient recognized charm
against evil forces, thunder, lightning and the afflictions of Saturn which is
the heavenly symbol of darkness, as the Sun is the heavenly symbol of
light. Albertus Magnus, regarding the opal as a symbol of the loveliness of
light, says that “at one time, but not in our age, it sparkled in the dark.” The
zodiacal Leo or Lion is the ancient recognized sign of royalty and old
writers say that kingly government was established on the earth in the
Leonine age. Alluding to the great translucent opal in the Crown of the
Holy Roman Empire, Albertus said that it safeguarded the honour of the
kings. The stone was always considered to protect the wearer from cholera,
kidney troubles, and similar diseases, to soothe the heart, the eyes and the
nerves, and to protect from the lightning stroke. The belief in its power to
ward off lightning was universal in the ancient world when amongst the
people it was believed to have fallen from the heavens during thunder

storms—hence its old name, KERAUNIOS, Thunder Stone, amongst the
Greeks, and CERAUNIUM amongst the Romans. The opal was essentially
the stone of beauty, which coveted gift it bestowed upon the wearer who,
however, must have entered earth life with the Sun in Leo (approximately
between July 24th and August 24th), Libra (September 24th to October
24th) or Aquarius (January 21st to February 19th). It favoured children, the
theatre, amusements, friendships, and the feelings. Held between the eyes it
gave proper direction to the thoughts. Held in the left hand and gazed upon
it favoured the desires. It is the stone of hope and achievement and has been
truly described as the “gem of the gods.” Above all, it is a stone of love, but
if the lover be false its influence is reversed, and the opal proves a sorry
gem for faithless lovers. Mr. Emanuel comments on the two fine opals
which were amongst the imperial jewels of France, one of which was set in
the clasp of the royal cloak. The opal, astrologically considered, is one of
the fortunate gems for France. A beautiful uncut opal discovered at
Czernovitza in Hungary has been valued at over £50,000 sterling; this
specimen, in length 5 inches by 2½ and weighing 3,000 carats, was placed
in the Museum of Natural History at Vienna. The mines at Czernovitza are
known to have been worked over 500 years ago, and at a more remote
period they no doubt supplied the ancient world. There is little doubt,
however, that the wonderful opals from Australia’s fields have eclipsed
anything yet found. The White Cliffs, the Lightning Ridge, and the newer
field out North West are responsible for some of the most beautiful gems
that have ever been unearthed. A kangaroo hunter accidentally discovered
the White Cliffs field in New South Wales over 40 years ago whilst
following the trail of a kangaroo. Rich “blacks” were discovered later in the
iron sandstone of Lightning Ridge (New South Wales) and the new fields
North West of Tarcoola are yielding white and light varieties. Opal country
is dry and dreary and the diggers deserve all they find. Sir David Brewster’s
theory of the colour blends which flash from an opal is that “the stone is
internally traversed with undulating fissures of microscopic minuteness
upon which refraction and decomposition of light takes place. The
variations in the nature of these minute cavities cause the appearance of the
opal to vary considerably, and the different effects of colour thus produced
are technically known as the pattern of the gem.” Hauy held that colour in
the opal is caused by thin films of air which fill the interior cavities. Dr. G.
F. Herbert Smith writes “that the colouration is not due to ordinary

absorption but to the action of cracks in the stone. This is shown by the fact
that the transmitted light is complementary to the reflected light; the blue
opal, for instance, is a yellow when held up so that light has passed through
it.... Opal differs,” he says, “from the rest of the principal gem stones in
being not a crystalline body but a solidified jelly, and it depends for its
attractiveness upon the characteristic play of colour known, in consequence,
as opalescence which arises from a peculiarity in the structure. Opal is
mainly silica (SiO2) in composition, but it contains in addition an amount of
water, thereby differing slightly in refractivity from the original substance.
The structure not being quite homogeneous, each crack has the same action
upon light as a soap-film and gives rise to precisely similar phenomena: the
thinner and more uniform the cracks, the greater the splendour of the
chromatic display, the particular tint depending upon the direction in which
the stone is viewed. The cracks in certain opals are not filled up, and
therefore contain air.” The opal is a very sensitive gem and should not be
put near strong acids nor greasy substances. The heat of the body improves
its lustre for the opal is essentially a stone to be worn, but it is unsafe to put
these gems near liquids or to submit them to fire.

“Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch as the
sunbeam.”
Milton.

Perhaps against no other gem has the bigotry of superstitious ignorance
so prevailed as against the wonderful opal. The reason for it dates no further
back apparently than the 14th century. It was at this time that the dreaded
“Black Death” was carrying off thousands of people in Europe. The year
1348, an astrological Martial sub-cycle, saw Venice assailed by destructive
earthquakes, tidal waves and the Plague. The epidemic in a few months
carried off two-fifths of the population of the city, sparing neither rich nor
poor, young nor old. It is said that at this time the opal was a favourite gem
with Italian jewellers, being much used in their work. It is further said that
opals worn by those stricken became suddenly brilliant and that the lustre
entirely departed with the death of the wearer. Story further tells that the
opal then became an object of dread and was associated with the death of
the victim. On the astrological side it might be considered that the city of
Venice comes under the watery Cancer, and can not, therefore, claim the

opal as its jewel. But, admitting that under special and rare conditions
certain diseases can influence the opal if worn on the body, the truth of the
Venice story can be reasonably doubted. Another theory of the origin of the
superstition is traced to the rigorous order of Jerome Savonarola for the
destruction of the vanities in the year 1497. This remarkable ascetic caused
great bonfires to be lighted in various parts of the city of Florence, the
largest in the Piazza Signoria. Into these bonfires were thrown works of art
and beauty, pictures, statues, jewels and beautiful raiment. The fanatical
spirit so gained ground owing to the impassioned preaching of Savonarola
that women threw into the flames their costliest jewels, authors their books,
students their manuscripts and poets their love songs. It is assumed that the
opal, the gem and symbol of the beauties of Venus came under the ban and
history relates that the most direct onslaughts were made on the pictures
and statues of the goddess. Astrologers show that the year 1497 was
dominated by the planet of war and destruction, Mars, and it is deplorable
that so many wonderful works were sacrificed during that unhappy period.
The artist F. W. W. Topham, R. I., has illustrated this event in his well-
known painting “Renouncing the Vanities by Order of Savonarola,” which
picture now hangs in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. There is also a
story which tells that during the Crimean War the gem was popular with the
English army and navy and that it was found in quantities on the bodies of
the slain. Sir Walter Scott’s romantic story “Anne of Geierstein,” was a
powerful influence in advancing the superstition against the opal, although
Sir Walter alluded to the Mexican Opal known as Girasol and not to the
better known precious opal. Even whilst these superstitions were growing,
to dream of an opal was regarded as an indication of great possessions, of
the favour of ladies and people of influence, and—if the stone be dark—of
sudden happenings of a beneficial nature. Another modern superstition says
that it is not fortunate to set opals and diamonds together in jewels.
Quabalistically, opals and diamonds are set down as particularly
harmonious stones which, in combination, have a fortunate and positive-
negative influence. Astrologically the diamond is attached to the zodiacal
signs Aries, Leo and Libra, and the opal to Leo, Libra and Aquarius, and
astrology is absolutely the special guide to talismanic construction. The fine
fiery opal known as the “Burning of Troy” given by Napoleon to Josephine,
is sometimes quoted as evidence of the evil power of opals. It rather
provides peculiar testimony in favour of old talismanic lore. This opal was

lost and has never since been found—opals would be regarded as
unfavourable for Josephine. Passing over trivial superstitions containing
neither truth nor interest, we may conclude this section with the story of the
Grand Opal of Spain which is said to have brought disaster to the Royal
House:

Horoscope of Alfonzo XII

Astrologically the opal would be accounted unfortunate for this
King.

When Alfonzo XII of Spain was a wanderer he was deeply attracted by,
and fell in love with the Comtesse de Castiglione, then a reigning beauty.

Immediately Alfonzo became King the Comtesse hastened to greet him
with the fond desire to become his queen. However, when she found that he
had set her aside and married the Princess Mercedes her anger knew no
bounds. Resolving on revenge, she sent Alfonzo “in memory of the old
friendship” a wedding present of a magnificent opal set in a filagree ring of
gold—a style of mounting in great favour with the jewellers of Spain. The
delicacy of the jewel so attracted Queen Mercedes that she asked the King
to grace her finger with it. A few months afterwards she died of a
mysterious illness and Alfonzo gave the ring so admired by her to Queen
Christina, his grandmother, whose death shortly followed. The King then
presented the ring to his sister the Infanta Maria del Pilar, who was in turn
carried off by the same mysterious illness. A few weeks afterwards the
King’s sister-in-law, the youngest daughter of the Duc and Duchesse de
Montpensier, who had asked the King for the ring also died. The King then
placed it on his own finger and in a little time the same illness which had
affected his wife and kindred ended his troubled earth-life. After these
calamities Queen Christina attached the ring to a chain of gold and set it
about the neck of the patron saint of Madrid, the Virgin of Alumdena.
Ancient philosophy would have depreciated the wearing or giving of an
opal by Alfonzo XII of Spain. At this time it must be remembered that
cholera was raging throughout Spain—over 100,000 people died of it
during the summer and autumn of 1885. It attacked all classes from the
palace of the King to the hut of the peasant, some accounts giving the death
estimate at 50% of the population. It would be as obviously ridiculous to
hold the opal responsible for this scourge as it was to do so in the case of
the previously noted plague at Venice. All that may be said is that in this
case the opal was not a talisman of good for King Alfonzo XII of Spain and
to those who received it from his hand, and that in the philosophy of
sympathetic attraction and apathetic repulsion man, stones, metals and all
natural objects come under the same law. We may wonder why the King
gave this opal from one of his relatives to another, but the reputation of the
opal as a charm against cholera (noted in the previous chapter) must have
reached the King who, in the intensity of his worry, used a charm which
according to the ancients would act in his hands fatally instead of
beneficially.
In the month of October, 1908, a French Baron sitting in the stalls of the
London Pavilion during Mr. and Mrs. Marriott’s thought-reading exhibition,

handed an opal of uncommon form to Mr. Marriott. Mrs. Marriott seated on
the stage with bandaged eyes gave an accurate description of it, saying
further that it was a stone of fortune to the owner who was about to become
the possessor of over half a million of money. The Baron, who resided in
London for the past 18 years, when interviewed by a representative of the
“Evening News” on the following day, communicated the fact that a few
days before, he had, through the death of a relative in Mexico become heir
to property worth over £500,000, yielding an income of £25,000 per annum.
The Baron who cherished the opal as his sympathetic luck stone, told the
newspaper man that:

"It is an uncut stone which has been in the possession of my family since
the twelfth century. We have always had the tradition that it will bring good
fortune to any direct descendant of the family in the male line who holds it.
"A curious stipulation, however, of the tradition is that the person who
has it must possess qualities which have a sympathetic attraction to the
stone in order that its beneficent effect may be felt. On a flat surface of the
opal is a word in old Spanish, now only dimly seen, which means in
English ‘good luck.’
"I have treasured the gem as an heirloom, but have thought little of the
tradition until lately, when a member of the cadet branch of the family died
and left me the immense fortune I have mentioned to you. I can hardly
realize all that it means to me as yet. Up to now my income has not been
much more than £500, and to suddenly find £25,000 a year at one’s disposal
is a little staggering.
“There have been one or two previous instances where my ancestors
while holding the opal have experienced exceptionally good luck, but,
personally, I have not ever paid much regard to the old tradition. You may
imagine, however, that the gem will be most carefully preserved by me.”

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN OPAL

CHAPTER XXIII
THE FLAME QUEEN

“But who can paint
Like Nature? Can imagination boast
Amid its gay creation hues like hers?”
Thomson.

The Flame Queen, the rarest stone yet won from the barren sun-baked
opal fields of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, near the borders of
Queensland, Australia—takes its place amongst the famous gems of the
world.
It is a large oval-shaped stone measuring 2.8 inches by 2.3 inches and
weighing 253 carats. In structure and colour phenomena it is unique—the
centre slightly in relief whilst the surrounding border stands out boldly as a
frame to a picture. Looking directly on to the stone the inspiration of the
name becomes manifest. The centre, a deep flame, burns scarlet, and two
slight depressions almost parallel to each other give the impression of fire
mountains in eruptive action, the lower of which flings two triangular shafts
towards the enclosing green frame. Viewed from another angle the burning
centre yields as if by magic to a field of cool yet vivid emerald, and the
frame to a royal blue. Another angle shows a bronze centre touched with
points of darker hue within a frame of changing blue and amethyst. The
stone is chameleon-like, bewildering in its living beauty.

Other Aspects of the Great Opal “The
Flame Queen”

Kelsey I. Newman Collection
See also Frontispiece

This stone is the choicest gem in the Kelsey I. Newman collection of rare
opals and precious stones. On the 6th of March, 1916, Mr. Allan Harris of
Brisbane submitted the gem to the Queensland Geological Survey. In the
course of his report Mr. B. Dunstan, the chief Government Geologist,

mentions that the back of the stone “is impressed with what appears to be a
fossil plant called GINKO, which occurs in the Jurassic ricks of Queensland
but not in association with any opal deposits. The stone is a wonderful
specimen and much the largest gem of its class that has ever come under my
notice.” This beautiful opal—unlike some other famous gems mentioned in
this book—is said to have brought good fortune to all who have been
associated with it.

CHAPTER XXIV
VARIOUS KINDS OF OPAL

CACHOLONG, THE OPAL OF FRIENDSHIP: FLOAT STONE, THE LOVERS’ OPAL:
GIRASOL, THE FIRE OPAL: HYALITE, THE EYE OPAL: HYDROPHANE, THE MAGIC
OPAL: MENILITE, THE LIVER OPAL: OPAL JASPER: ROSE OPAL: SEMI-OPAL, THE
FOREST OPAL: TABASHEER: MARCO POLO’S ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION OF
THE GREAT KAAN: THE OPAL OF INVULNERABILITY AND REMOVER OF DREAD:
THE MARVEL OF TRANSFORMATION.

“Grey years ago a man lived in the east,
Who did possess a ring of worth immense,
From a beloved hand. Opal the stone,
Which flashed a hundred bright and beauteous hues,
And had the secret power to make beloved
Of God and man the blessed and fortunate
Who wore it in this faith and confidence.”
“Nathan the Wise,” Lessing.

CACHOLONG. An opaque white or bluish-white variety of opal which
obtains its name from the river Cach in Bokhara, according to some
authorities and from the Tartars according to others. The Easterns set a high
value on the stone which glistens with the opalescent gleam of Mother of
Pearl. It is associated with chalcedony and being of a porous nature sticks to
the tongue when touched by it. The Cacholong is a stone of pure friendship,
sincerity and truth.

FLOAT STONE. A porous opal of a fibrous type which floats on water. It
occurs in concretionary masses and is esteemed as a stone over which the
most sacred promises may be made. Lovers join hands over a Float Stone
floating on a vessel of water and pledge their troth with the utmost
solemnity, misfortune being bound to dog the footsteps of the faithless one.

GIRASOL. The Girasol is the Mexican Fire Opal which reflects hyacinth
and yellow colours. Good specimens are attractive and fairly popular. This
is the opal indicated in Scott’s “Anne of Geierstein.”

HYALITE. The name is derived from the Greek word for glass, and the
stone—a transparent glass-like opal—has been called Muller’s Glass by Dr.
A. G. Werner who is said to have discovered it. It is very like clear gum
arabic and is probably one of the esteemed eye stones of the old writers.

HYDROPHANE. This variety of opal is very porous and beautifully
translucent and opalescent after being left for a little time in water. It is
otherwise of an opaque white or yellow and not very attractive. In the
United States it has been termed Magic Stone.

MENILITE. This variety is found in slate not far from the French capital.
It is termed also Liver Opal and is said to have talismanic action on that
organ. It is a concretionary opal, brown or liver-coloured.

OPAL JASPER. Opal Jasper is a jasper-like resinous, dark red,
ferruginous variety of opal, identified as the opal of beautiful wisdom.

ROSE OPAL. A beautiful rose-coloured opal found at Quincy in France.
This is the opal of the baby Cupid and is termed the Opal of Childhood.

SEMI-OPAL. A silicified wood-opal of waxy lustre, transparent to
opaque. It is found in various colours—white, brown, grey, red, blue, green.
It has the appearance of petrified wood. It is a tree-growing charm and is no
doubt the Forest Opal.

TABASHEER. Corrupted from Tabixir, is a siliceous aggregation found
in the joints of certain bamboo known in the Malay as the Mali Mali, Rotan
jer’ nauf (blood of the dragon Rattan) and Buluh Kasap (rough bamboo). In
appearance it is generally like clear gum arabic, although sometimes
opaque, and is the sap transformed by evaporation. Under reflective light it
is a kind of blue and under transmitted light it is either light yellow or
amber-red. It is extremely absorptive. In Marco Polo’s account of the
expedition of the Great Kaan against Chipangu, we are told that “when the
people of the Kaan had landed on the great Island they stormed a tower

belonging to some of the islanders who refused to surrender. Resistance
being overcome, the Kaan’s soldiers cut off the heads of all the garrison
except eight. On these eight they found it impossible to inflict any wound.
Now this was by virtue of certain stones which they had in their arms
inserted between the skin and flesh with such skill as not to show at all
externally. And the charm and virtue of the stones were such that those who
wore them would never perish by steel. So when the Kaan’s generals heard
this they ordered that the prisoners be beaten to death with clubs. After their
death the stones were extracted from their bodies and were greatly prized.”
Friar Odoric says that these Stones of Invulnerability were Tabashir
specimens which were used by the natives of the Indian Islands where their
virtue was esteemed. According to Avicenna the Tabashir was a powerful
eye stone and remover of past fears, present dreads and future anxieties.

PSEUDOMORPHIC OPAL. Opalized shells, bones, etc., are found in
quantities in opal country. These specimens are unique and of much curious
interest. A number of shells from the new fields 150 miles North West of
Tarcoola (on the East-West Railway, over 250 miles from Port Augusta)
were submitted to the author. In these the silica slowly and progressively
took the place of the primary substance until it was completely opalized, the
old form of the material being only retained. It is remarkable to contemplate
the change of conditions which placed the former substance so completely
at the mercy of the consuming opal. Such transformation is continual in
Nature, manifesting variously in the mineral world, proving that eternal
progress is eternal change. It was the observation of similar material
phenomena that led ancient scientists to the conclusion that transformations
could be accomplished by the skill, knowledge and wisdom of sincere and
gifted men who undaunted by superficial criticism persevered, and the
triumphs of the chemist served to indicate how much more could be done
by those brave enough to prove the immortality of man by reducing the
unknown to terms of the known.
The word PSEUDOMORPH is derived from the Greek PSEUDO and
MORPHES, disguising one’s form.

CHAPTER XXV
PEARL

PEARL: HOW PRODUCED: SYMBOLIC STORIES OF THE ANCIENTS: BOETHIUS AND THE
RIVER PEARLS: VISHNU CREATES PEARLS: PEARLS ON THE RAMAYANA:
SANDIUS’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON IN 1673: SIR
EVERARD HOME AND DARWIN ON THE FORMATION OF PEARLS: MR. KELAART’S
REPORTS TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CEYLON: RESEARCHES OF PROFESSORS
HERDMANN, HORNEL AND SEURAT: THE TIME OF PEARL MATURITY: HOME ON
THE LUSTER OF THE PEARL: THE FORM OF A PEARL: THE PROCESS OF
“SKINNING”: JEROME AND THE STORY OF THE DOVES: THE PEARL OF PRINCE
IMENHEIT: THE GREAT PERSIAN PEARL: THE HOPE PEARL: THE AUSTRIAN
IMPERIAL PEARL: LA PELLEGRINA: THE GREAT SOUTHERN CROSS: THE PEARL
OF PHILLIP II OF SPAIN: THE PEARL OF THE KING OF MAABAR: THE TIBETAN
PRAYER OF VICTORY: KING JAIPAL’S NECKLACE: THE FAMINE IN EGYPT: EBU
HESHAM’S ACCOUNT OF THE TOMB OF PRINCESS TAJAH: BENVENUTO CELLINI
AND THE PEARL NECKLACE OF THE DUCHESS OF FLORENCE: THE PEARL ROPE
OF MARIE ALEXANDROVNA: PINK PEARLS: RED PEARLS: A DEATH RITE
MENTIONED BY MARCO POLO: PEARLS USED IN BUDDHIST CEREMONIES:
JULIUS CÆSAR, AN EXPERT IN PEARLS: THE BREASTPLATE OF VENUS GENETRIX:
CÆSAR’S GIFT TO SERVILLA: PEARLS IN THE TIMES OF THE CÆSARS: SENECA’S
CYNICISM: KLEOPATRA’S PEARLS: OTHER PEARL SWALLOWERS: PEARLS AND
JEWELS OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND: PEARLS IN HEBRAIC AND ARABIAN
LEGEND: THE PEARL IN CHINA: THE PEARL IN MEDICINE: THE ANGEL GABRIEL
AND THE PEARL: THE PEARL OF PARADISE.

PEARL

“Searching the wave I won therefrom a pearl
Moonlike and glorious, such as kings might buy
Emptying their treasury.”
Arnold.

The name “pearl” is derived from the Latin Pilula, diminutive of Pila, a
ball, and some of the forms of the word noted are perle, peerle, perl, perll,
perill, pearel, peirle, pearle. The pearl is a product of certain salt and fresh
water shell-fish of the Aviculidae family. It is formed by the efforts of the

mollusc to rid itself of irritating substances by the iridescent fluid secretion
with which he lines his shell. The effect of this irritation is shown in a
number of irregular tubercules inside the shell, and within these coverings
is the securely protected pearl. Frequently pearls of most beautiful lustre
and form are found detached from the shell in the fleshy folds of the oyster,
and these are said to be the most perfect. It is now quite certain that disease
is not the cause, as has so generally been believed. Amongst the ancient
writers so much of the purely symbolic was set down in perfectly plain,
matter-of-fact language that it is difficult to make assertions as to what was
really known of the material truth. Both Pliny and Discorides poetically
state that dew or rain from Heaven fell into the open pearl shells and were
transformed by the secretions of the oyster into precious pearls. There is an
old legend which tells that the tears of joy shed by the angels for the
ultimate destiny of man were the tears that fell into the pearl oyster shell to
be transformed into beautiful pearls. Moore delightfully refers to this story:

“Precious the tear as that rain from the sky
Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea.”

The philosopher Anicius Boethius, of the 5th and 6th centuries, A.D.,
writes that the fresh water pearl mussels of the Scotch rivers, the sky being
clear and the weather temperate, open their mouths just a little above water
to catch the heavenly dews, which, when swallowed, cause the breeding of
pearls. These mussels, continues the philosopher, are so sensitive that the
slightest noise causes them to sink to the bottom of the river. He credits
them with “knowing well in what estimation the fruit of their womb is to all
people.” Vishnu, according to Indian mythology, created pearls MOTI by
his word, and consequently these gems are foremost in the adornment of
Indian deities. The Ramayana, perhaps the greatest poem of ancient India,
narrates the story of the death of Maha Bali, telling that pearls sprung from
the teeth of the slain god.
In the winter of 1673 the naturalist Sandius sent—on the authority of
“Henricus Arnoldi, an ingenious Dane”—a letter from which the following
is extracted to the newly formed Royal Society of London:
“Pearl shells in Norway do breed in sweet waters: their shells are like
mussels but larger: the fish is like an oyster, it produces clusters of eggs:
these, when ripe, are cast out and become like those that cast them: but

sometimes it appears that one or two of these eggs stick fast to the side of
the matrix and are not voided with the rest. These are fed by the oyster
against her will, and they do grow, according to the length of time, into
pearls of different bigness, and do imprint a mark both on fish and shell by
the situation conform to its figure.”
The eminent surgeon, Sir Everard Home, unaware of the letter of
Sandius, arrived at the same conclusion independently. He writes that this,
“the richest jewel in a monarch’s crown which cannot be imitated by any art
of man, either in beauty of form or brilliancy of lustre is the abortive egg of
an oyster enveloped in its own nacre.”
Darwin (Economy of Vegetation) writes that pearls are formed “like
those calcareous productions of crabs known by the name of ‘crabs’ eyes’
which are always near the stomach of the creature. In both cases the
substance is probably a natural provision either for the reparation or
enlargement of the shell.”

Small Necklet of Perfect Oriental Pearls

Kelsey I. Newman Collection

Mr. Kelaart in his reports to the Government of Ceylon (1857-1859),
seems to be the first to allude to the part played by parasites in the
production of pearls in tropical seas. The researches of Professors Herdman
and Hornel confirmed the deductions of Kelaart that the larva of a Cestoid
was the identified pearl parasite. Monsieur Seurat, the French naturalist,
who made a long study of the pearl oyster of the Pacific, was also
convinced that pearl formation was caused by a parasite. Whatever the
cause of the irritability which brings into action the nacreous secretion of
the tortured oyster, it is evident that the protective process is a long one.
The pearl culture industry of the Chinese and Japanese has shown that it

takes twelve months for the irritant to be covered with a coat of a tenth of a
millimetre. A new layer is formed over the old one about once a year.
Pearlers say that an oyster must be at least four years old before pearls
begin to form properly, and that it does not mature for from 7 to 9 years.
The beautiful lustre of the pearl Sir Everard Home held to arise from a
central cell of bright nacre, the diaphanous substance admitting the light
rays. “Upon taking a split pearl,” he writes, “and putting a candle behind
the cell, the surface of the pearl became immediately illuminated; and upon
mounting one with coloured foil behind the cell, and by putting a candle
behind the foil, the outer convex surface became universally of a beautiful
pink colour.” The examination of a half pearl will show the concentric
formation which is like an onion, and the process called “skinning” is often
resorted to in the endeavour to gain a more lustrous jewel by removing the
outer layer. The translucency of the perfect pearl has not been correctly
reproduced by any artificial production. A curious passage in Jerome
Cardan’s “De Rerum Varietate” (16th century), repeats an old saying that
the lustre and polish on pearls arises from doves playing with them. To
understand this seemingly absurd story it is necessary to carry our minds far
back to the famous Greek oracle at Dodona in Epirus. According to
Herodotus the Phœnicians carried off the sacred women from Thebes in
Egypt to the Libian oracle of Zeus Ammon and to Dodona—the legend at
Dodona saying that they came in the form of two doves. The Greek word
for “doves” is the same as that for “priestesses,” namely, PELEIAI. The
connection can be carried further, if necessary, but it is sufficient to
establish the tie between women and the doves. The word PELEIAI was
freely used for both and came to be employed as an endearing term for wise
women just as we today call a woman of talent “Diva.” It is a proven fact
and an extremely ancient one that pearls worn near the skin of a woman—
especially, according to ancient philosophy, near one in whose horoscope
the moon was powerfully placed at birth—are improved in lustre and tone.
So let the “Doves” (peleiai) be wise and play with their pearls.
Tavernier writes of “the most beautiful pearl in the world” which
belonged to Imenheit, Prince of Muscat. After a lavish entertainment which
the Khan of Ormus gave in honor of the Prince, the latter took off a chain
which he wore round his neck and to which was attached a small bag. From
the bag he drew forth this wonderful pearl of perfect sphericity, so
translucent that the light could almost be seen through it. The weight of this

gem was 12 carats and so high a value did Prince Imenheit place on it that
he refused 2000 tomans for it from his host, the Khan of Ormus, who
coveted it as a present for the King of Persia, and 40,000 crowns with
which he was later tempted by an agent of the Grand Mogul. This pearl was
discovered off the Persian coast. Another great pearl which, according to
Tavernier, was the most perfect ever discovered, was found at Catifa, a
famous fishery in Pliny’s time. The great traveller says that the King of
Persia obtained it from an Arabian merchant in 1633. It was a pearl of great
size and a “pearl of great price,” the King giving 1,400,000 livres (about
$550,000) for it. It was pear-shaped, and of perfect colour and symmetry.
The weight is not stated, but it was said to be about 1½ inches in length and
63 inches in diameter at its greatest part. The “Hope” pearl of cylindrical
form weighs 454 carats. This gem belonged to Mr. Henry Thomas Hope, so
well-known in connection with the “Hope” diamond. Another famous pearl
of 300 carats once adorned the Imperial crown of Austria. “La Pellegrina,”
an Indian white circular pearl of 28 carats, said to be the most perfect
specimen in the world today, was in the Zosima Museum, Moscow. Nine
large pearls interlinked so as to naturally form a true representation of the
Southern Cross were discovered in a pearl oyster off the West Australian
Coast by Mr. Kelly, of Roeburn, who was familiarly known as “Shiner”
Kelly. The crew of his lugger viewed it with superstitious fear and it was
buried for some years. It was afterwards resurrected and exhibited at the
Colonial and Indian exhibition, London, in 1886, where it caused some
sensation. The pearls which formed the cross were at first thought by many
to be joined together by craft, but experts with powerful magnifying glasses
speedily dispelled this illusion and proved that nature, not man, was the
artist who reproduced the Star Cross of the Heavens—the Cross of
Australian Unity—in pearls in a sea oyster.
In the year 1579 a pearl of 250 carats was obtained amongst others by the
agents of Philip II, of Spain, from the Island of Margarita in the West
Indies. It was said to be worth 150,000 dollars. Marco Polo writes that the
King of Maabar wears pearls and gems worth more than a city’s ransom.
“Nobody is permitted to take out of his kingdom a pearl weighing more
than half a saggio (a Venetian weight, the sixth of an onze), unless he
manages to do it secretly. The King every year proclaims through the realm
that if anyone possesses a pearl of great worth and will bring it to him, he
(the King), will pay three times as much as its value. Everybody is glad to

do this and thus the King gets all into his own hands, giving every man his
price.” This King wore a necklace on which 104 pearls and rubies of great
size were strung on fine silk, and every day, following the custom of his
ancestors, he had to say 104 prayers to the gods. The number is disputed but
in an occult sense the Tibetan prayer of Victory over the 104 devils seems to
confirm it. The pearl necklace which Muhammed forced the Hindu King
Jaipal to surrender to him (1001 A. D.), is said to have been made of great
pearls. It was valued at 20,000 dinars (more than 500,000 dollars). We read
in the Book of Genesis of the terrible famine which affected the peoples of
the earth and drove them to seek corn in the land of Egypt where doubtless,
owing to the great pull on her stocks, some anxiety was beginning to be felt.
The Arabian writer, Ebn Hesham, describes a sepulchre in Yemen which
had been discovered after some heavy floods. In this sepulchre lay the
embalmed body of an Arabian princess around whose neck were 7 strands
of pearls, age-stained and lustreless. There were rings set with precious
stones on her fingers and toes, 7 jewelled armlets on each of her arms and 7
jewelled anklets about each ankle. In the tomb treasure was found, and on a
tablet at her head she had caused to be written the following inscription, the
translation of which by Mr. Forster is reproduced by Mr. William Jones,
F.S.A.:

“In thy name, O God, the God of Himyar,
I, Tajah, the daughter of Dzu Shefarr, sent my servant to Joseph,
And he, delaying to return to me, I sent my handmaid,
With a measure of silver, to bring me back a measure of flour:
And not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of gold:
And not being able to procure it, I commanded them to the ground:
And finding no profit in them, I am shut up here.
Whosoever may hear of it, let him pity me:
And should any woman adorn herself with an ornament
From my ornaments, may she die with no other than my death.”

It would be very unlikely that after understanding these last words of the
Princess Tajah (a name which quabalistically would imply “the Sacrifice”)
any woman would be bold enough to attempt to put on the seven ropes of
dead pearls and the other jewels that adorned the mortal remains of the
famine-stricken princess.

Turning to later times Benvenuto Cellini tells in his interesting memoirs
rather an amusing story of a string of pearls which the Duke of Florence
purchased for the Duchess from “that scoundrel Bernardini” for several
thousand crowns. Princess Catherine Radziwill whose intimacy with the old
Courts of Europe is well known, tells of the love of the Russian Empress
Marie Alexandrovna (grandmother of the unfortunate Nicholas II), for
pearls which she never tired of buying. She wore ropes of from 25 to 30
which, being of varied lengths, would when worn extend from the top to the
hem of her dress. She was reputed to have had some of the largest pear-
shaped pearls in the world. James Bruce, the famous traveller (“Travels to
discover the Sources of the Nile,” 1768-1773), writes that the pinna or wing
shell mentioned by Pliny which is found with its fibre-like rope on the bed
of the Red Sea yields the beautiful pink-tinted pearl so highly prized in
ancient and modern times. Red or rose coloured pearls are termed by the
natives SOHIT-AMUKTI. Marco Polo mentions that they are found off the
island of Chipangu, “big, round and rosy, and quite as valuable as white
ones.” He also writes that when a dead body is burnt one of these pearls is
always put in the mouth, “for such is their custom.” Pearls of this tint are
accounted as precious objects and were used in Buddhist ceremonial and
worship. Julius Cæsar was extremely fond of pearls. Caius Suetonius
(“Lives of the Cæsars”), tells us that he was a great expert and knew so
much about them that he could estimate their exact weights “by his hand
alone.” The same writer tells us that Cæsar’s love of pearls was the cause of
his expedition against Britain, the pearls he obtained there being, greatly to
his chagrin, of poor quality and little lustre. Nevertheless, we are told he
consecrated a breastplate set with British pearls to the temple of Venus
Genetrix. It is recorded that Cæsar gave Servilia, the mother of Brutus, a
pearl worth nearly £50,000 sterling. Pearls in the time of the Cæsars were
the rage in Rome and women adorned themselves lavishly with them, a
custom which drew violent protests from the philosopher Seneca who,
alluding to a lady who wore several pearls dangling from each ear, told her
husband that his wife “carried all the wealth of his house in her ears.”

Horoscope of Mary of Scotland

Pearls would be considered unfortunate for these rival Queens.

In the extravagant intoxication of the rich banquet which Kleopatra VII
(Tryphena the Great) gave to the honour of Mark Anthony, it is related that
this queen—the last of the Ptolemies—throwing one of her valuable pearls
into a vinegar solution, swallowed it. The value of this gem is set down as
£80,729 sterling. Its companion afterwards graced the statue of the
Pantheon Venus at Rome. Kleopatra was not alone in this act of folly for we
are informed that Clodius, son of Æsopus the actor, swallowed a pearl
valued at £8072 sterling. Caligual, the Roman Emperor, added this act also
to his many acts of stupidity. He too enjoyed the reputation of a “pearl
swallower,” which title in the reign of Queen Elizabeth was also coveted by

Sir Thomas Gresham who quaffed off a large pearl at a banquet which the
Queen attended after visiting the Royal Exchange. The poet Hey wood
alludes to this act in the lines:

“Here £15,000 at one clap goes
Instead of sugar: Gresham drinks the pearl
Unto his Queen and mistress.”

Horoscope of Elizabeth of England

Pearls would be considered unfortunate for these rival Queens.

Neither pearls nor diamonds were fortunate for Mary Queen of Scots, yet
she wore both in profusion. Her wedding dress at her marriage with Philip
of Spain is described as being “richly bordered with great pearls and
diamonds,” whilst she wore the great diamond which Philip had sent to her
by the Marquis de las Traves. Mary’s nativity favours few jewels but none
less than diamonds, pearls and rubies. History relates that, when in the days
of her sorrows the Scottish Queen was held captive by the rapacious Earl of
Moray, this man who owed her so much sent her exquisite parure of pearls
with other costly jewels by his agent, Sir Nicholas Elphinstone to Queen
Elizabeth at London.
Madame de Barrera gives the following extract, copy from a letter of
Bodutel la Forrest, French ambassador at the English court, describing the
pearl parure: “There are six cordons of large pearls strung as pater nosters:
but there are five and twenty separate from the rest, much finer and larger
than those which are strung: these are for the most part like black
muscades.” Elizabeth, after obtaining various expert opinions as to the
value of this ornament, eventually purchased it at her own price. But if
pearls, fortunate for Scotland, were unfortunate for Mary (for whom
Scotland itself was unfortunate), they were doubly so for Elizabeth who had
the dark planet Saturn and the subtle Uranus in the sign Cancer at her birth.
The two famous diamond rings of Mary and Elizabeth and Elizabeth and
Essex are stated to have been the indirect cause of the death of both Mary
and Elizabeth.
Old Hebraic legend tells that the manna fell from Heaven, accompanied
by showers of pearls and precious stones, and in ancient Judaea it was
believed that a pearl wrapped in a bag of leather and tied round the neck of
oxen would benefit them and increase their fruitfulness. The Arabs sang that
“Nisan’s Ram (Sun in Aries) brings pearls to the sea and wheat to the land.”
In China the pearl was regarded as the true symbol of ability and so the
Chinese character for Pearl (Tchm) was placed on the vases used by artists,
poets, scientists and writers, and the term TCHM ONAN is translated as
indicating a rare pearl object. Great virtues were ascribed to the pearl by the
Chinese and it was, and still is, used medicinally by them chiefly as a
remedy for blood disorders, swooning, heart troubles, digestive
irregularities and stomach complaints. The ancients used pearls, we are told,
as absorbents or antacids and they were given to the weak-minded Charles
VI of France in distilled water to cure his insanity. Dissolved in acids they

were taken as an absorbent medicine and, as one writer puts it, “for the
purpose of displaying the careless opulence and luxury of their possessors.”
The Pearl was sacred to the angel Gabriel in the East, and amongst the
Mohammedans a great white pearl—the pearl of Paradise—reached from
East to West, from Heaven to Earth. This is the Eternal Table of the Koran
on which Allah has written all that has been, all that is, and all that is to
come. The Arabian Heavenly Home of Glory and the Everlasting Eden of
Wonder is, it is related, rich with red pearls.

CHAPTER XXVI
PEARL

THE BISHOP OF CHIAPA CHAMPIONS THE INDIAN PEARL DIVERS: SIZE OF THE OLD
PEARL FIELDS: VALUE OF EXPORTS TO EUROPE IN 16TH CENTURY: THE PERSIAN
GULF: THE CEYLON FISHERIES: THE “BINDER OF SHARKS”: THE PEARL CHARM
OF THE DIVERS: CLASSIFICATION OF PEARLS IN CEYLON: THE RED SEA
FISHERIES, THE SOURCE OF KLEOPATRA’S PEARLS: THE AUSTRALIAN FISHERIES:
NEED FOR THEIR PROTECTION: OTHER FISHERIES: STORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF
NEW GUINEA PEARLS: TOWN OF THE NYMPHS: RIVER FISHERIES: A RIVER PEARL
IN THE BRITISH CROWN: “SHELLS OF THE FLOOD”: DIVERS BENEATH THE SEA:
THE FOLK LORE OF THE PEARL: VISHNU’S NECKLACE OF 5 PRECIOUS STONES:
EMBLEMS OF PEARLS: PEARLS AND PERSONS: PEARLS AND LUNAR NUMBERS: A
MADAGASCAR BIRTH CUSTOM: THE ANGEL, DAY, SIGN AND PLANET OF THE
PEARL: AS A DREAM SYMBOL: PREJUDICE AND ITS VALUE: THE PEARLS OF
LINNAEUS: CHINESE AND JAPANESE CULTURE PEARLS: PEARL “FAKING”:
COCOANUT PEARLS.

“Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Showers on her Kings barbaric pearl and gold.”
Milton.

The benevolent Bishop of Chiapa, Mexico, Bartolome de las Casas, came
forth as the protector of the Indians in the cruel times of their oppression.
On their behalf he crossed the Atlantic sixteen times, and he tells of the
hellish tortures to which they were subjected by their Spanish conquerors:
“Nothing,” says this good man, “nothing could be more cruel and more
detestable.” (“Brevissima Relacion de la Destruccion de las Indias,”1539).
The story he writes of the Indian pearl divers is a sad one; as soon as the
diver came up from the depths the brutal overseer, scarcely allowing him
time to breathe the pure air, beat him savagely and compelled him to go
down again. His food was poor and scanty, and Mother Earth his bed; his
glossy black hair turned prematurely gray, his lungs became diseased, he
spat blood freely and the ravenous shark ended his tragic life on earth. The
natural result of greed and oppression practically exhausted these fisheries

from the neighborhood of which the ancient kings of Mexico drew so much
wealth. Indeed, it was the sight of the poor natives adorned with ropes of
pearls which excited the cupidity of the first Spaniards who adventured to
their shores. There being no provision made for the protection of the oysters
in this fishery, it “gave out” almost entirely towards the end of the 17th
century. An idea of the magnitude of these fisheries (which included the
ancient grounds between Acapulco and the Gulf of Tehuantepec on the West
Mexican coast, and the Caribbean Sea by the islands of Coche, Cubagua,
and Margarita) can be gathered from the value of the export to Europe up to
the first half of the 16th century. The annual value exported was stated to
exceed 800,000 Spanish dollars, those famous “Pieces of Eight” which
bring us back to the time of “Treasure Island” and the buccaneers of the
Spanish Main. As much as 700 lbs. weight of pearls was sent to Seville in
the year 1587, amongst them, it is stated, being specimens of rare worth and
beauty. Fine quality pearls are still found at Panama and the Gulf of
Mexico. The poor progress of these fisheries is said to be due to the
wretched pay offered to the Indian and negro divers in the past. It is a
strange fact that progress and prosperity are gained only by the pursuance
of an enlightened policy towards employees, and this is nowhere so clearly
indicated as in the history of the pearl.
Pearls from the Persian Gulf are amongst the most esteemed of the
present day. The fisheries of the Great Pearl Bank extend along the West
from Ras Hassan half way up the Gulf. To the Eastern no pearl is so
beautiful and full of colour as the pearl from the Persian Gulf. The colour is
very enduring and improves by being worn next the skin—especially of a
person whose jewel it is. The Ceylon fisheries have not been yielding so
well of late years, but with wisdom will no doubt regain their old place. The
main oyster bank is near Condatchy, about twenty miles from the shore.
Twenty men, ten of whom are divers, under a tindal or captain, comprise the
crew of each boat. The divers are quick and expert at their work, and
although remaining under water seldom more than a minute, have been
known to bring to the surface as many as 150 shells. The pearl diver’s
greatest dread is the ground shark, and all the time the boats are out the
conjurer, termed the “Binder of Sharks” or “Pillal Harras,” stands on the
shore muttering prayers and conjurations. The divers wear also a pearl
about their bodies as a charm against their dreaded enemy. The beautiful
island of Ceylon—the Taprobane of the old Greeks and Romans and the