Talismans and Superstitions
A suggestion of the superstitions which have invested gems with supernatural qualities follows:
Agate.—Emblem of health and wealth; inimical to venomous things; alleviates thirst; gains victory for its possessor; stays storms; sharpens sight; increases strength; and-a quality that should make it welcome to orators and lecturers—renders its wearers gracious and eloquent. The Mohammedans believed it would cure insanity when powdered and administered with water or apple juice.
Pierre de Boniface, writing in 1315, said:
"The agate of India or Crete renders its possessor eloquent and prudent, amiable and agreeable."
Dioscorides, in his Materia Medica, prescribes agate as a preventive of contagion.
Amber was believed to be good for stomachache, fits, scrofula, and jaundice. The amethyst—emblematic of sincerity—lost its colour in contact with poisons, and was an antidote for them. It dispelled sleep, sharpened the wits, and promoted chastity; while being a sure preventive of intoxication. Beryl was the favourite stone for divination; reinforced with potent incantations, it foretold the future and reviewed the past. The bloodstone, if rubbed with the juice of the heliotrope, rendered its wearer invisible; it was also a specific for dyspepsia. Carnelian cured tumors, cleared the voice, and preserved harmony; it also stopped bleeding at the nose. Cat's-eye cured croup and colic—it should thus be highly favoured as a stone to be mounted in infant's rings. Chalcedony prevented and cured melancholy; worn in contact with the hairs of an ass it prevented danger during tempests. Chrysoberyl alleviated asthma. Chrysoprase was good for gout. Coral was a fever cure, and has had innumerable curative and preventive qualities ascribed to it. The qualities ascribed to the diamond included the power of curing insanity; powdered it was an excellent dentifrice and it cured epilepsy. In Burma, and in the Middle Ages in Europe, the diamond was supposed to be a poison akin to arsenic. The emerald stopped hemorrhages; it was cooling in fevers and used to strengthen and preserve the eyes. The garnet averted plague and was a defence against thunder, before lightning was known to be the agent of destruction. Jade everywhere and always has rested strong in superstition as a cure for diseases of the kidneys. Jasper was good for lung troubles, was a charm against scorpions and spiders, and would save its wearer from drowning. Jet cured snake bites. Lapis-lazuli cured biliousness. Onyx caused nightmare. Opal was used as an eyestone and heart-stimulant. The pearl cured stomach troubles and skin diseases. Quartz, even to-day, and in the United States, is invested with medicinal and supernatural qualties that hold the firm faith of many persons, especially in remote country places. A "vital ore," which is merely quartz sand, has a vogue in some sections of northern New York State—according to Wirt Tassin—as a panacea; is particularly advocated for sore eyes, hemorrhoids, carbuncles, indigestion, sore throat, giddiness, and blood poisoning. Quartz balls are and have been used with great profit by mystics, astrologers, diviners, and other like fakirs, to foretell the future, disclose the past, and conjure up distant scenes. The ruby is an amulet against plague, poison, sadness, and sensuality; its corundum congener, the sapphire, if placed on the heart, imparts strength and energy; it also cures boils, carbuncles, headache, and cramps. Topaz averts sudden death. The wearer of a turquoise will require no accident insurance, the stone having that power. Zircon stimulates the appetite, aids digestion, and takes away sin.
In India the mystics of that occult land believe in the virtues and malign influences of precious stones; the modern Western spiritualists, who draw upon the Oriental treasure-house of occultism, are said to give credit to gems for mystical properties and influences. A school in Paris teaches a "science" of magnetic emanations, radiance, and crystals, and a Dr. de Lignieres of Nice, France, is the author of a book, in which he seriously considers the medicinal properties and influences of precious stones.