Superstitions
Superstitions (FROM the East that fertile)
FROM the East, that fertile pasturage for vivid imaginations, originated the fictions about precious stones, which, transmitted through…
Superstitions: Gabriel
While Abraham and Ishmael were thus occupied, the angel Gabriel brought them a stone, about which traditional accounts are greatly at…
Superstitions: Vitalis
Among the Arabians, serpents, either from the brilliancy of their eyes, or because they inhabit the cavities of the earth, were supposed to…
Superstitions: Shah
The Shah of Persia has a little casket of gold studded with emeralds, which is said to have been blessed by Mahomet, and has the property…
Superstitions: Snake-stone
To the Snake-stone a popular superstition is still attached in the East. In the narrative of a voyage in H.M.S. "Samarang," Captain Sir…
Superstitions: Louis
A similar silver box for the same purpose, and about the same date, formerly belonged to Horace Walpole, and is now in the possession of J…
Superstitions: Elizabeth
Faith in the virtues of certain precious stones for the cure of diseases was transmitted from early ages to a comparatively late period. In…
Superstitions: Bargrave
In the "Mercurius Rusticus" is the following entry:--"Among other things valuable for rarity and use, the rebels took from Mr. Bartlett a…
Superstitions: Canterbury
Dr. John Bargrave, Dean of Canterbury, was born in 1610, and bequeathed his museum to Christchurch, Canterbury, 1676.
Superstitions: Roman
The Jasper was a charmer of scorpions and spiders, and was used as a talisman by the Roman athlete. The Granatus (an imperfect kind of…
Superstitions: Ruthven
A diamond ring was given to Mary, Queen of Scots, by Ruthven, as a talisman against danger. After the assassination of Rizzio, the Queen…
Superstitions: Leonardus
With regard to the indestructibility of the diamond, Ben Mansur tells us that one laid upon an anvil, instead of breaking, is drawn into…
Superstitions: Richard
In the alliterative poem of Richard of Maidstone on the deposition of King Richard the Second (preserved among the Digby Manuscripts in the…
Superstitions: Rajah
A marvellous curative power was supposed to exist in a diamond belonging to the Rajah of Matara in the Island of Borneo, the Malays…
Superstitions: Horsey
The Marbodeus, quoted by Scot, was Marboeuf, Bishop of Rennes, who wrote a Latin poem between 1067-1081, the "Lapidarium," a tissue of…
Superstitions: Ages
The Eastern fictions respecting precious stones were transmitted through many ages, and were the delight of old writers in our own country…
Superstitions: French
The metropolitan cathedral of Saint Lawrence at Genoa claims a very dubious possession of the reputed valuable emerald dish, known to the…