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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 of rendering the royal wearer invisible as long as he remains celibate. A diamond set in a scimitar and a dagger render him invincible. He has also a talismanic fivepointed star, supposed to have been worn by Rustem, called "Merzoum," and believed to make conspirators instantly confess their crimes. To test its efficacy, it was shown to the Shah's brother, who was accused of treason some time ago. He immediately confessed his fault, and implored mercy. As a potent amulet, the Princess Badoura carried a red carnelian in a purse attached to her girdle. When the curiosity of the luckless Camaralzaman prompted him to open the purse, he found the precious stone, which was engraved with unknown figures and characters. "This carnelian," says the prince to himself, "must have something extraordinary in it, or my princess would not be at the trouble to carry it with her." And, indeed, it was Badoura's talisman, or a scheme of her nativity, drawn from the constellations of heaven, which the Queen of China had given her daughter as a charm that would keep her from any harm as long as she had it about her. The amulet, however, was snatched from the grasp of the prince by a bird of ill-omen. He, however, eventually recovers it, "and having first kissed the talisman, wrapped it in a piece of ribbon, and tied it carefully about his arm." Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, when at Oxford, invented charms for expelling diseases, words for exorcising fiends, and mysterious characters of wonderful power, which were inscribed on valuable gems. Pierre de Boniface, a great alchemist, and much versed in magic, who died in 1323, is the reputed author of a manuscript poem on the virtues of gems, of which the celebrated Nostradamus gives the following pretended extract:--"The Diamond renders a man invisible; the Agate of India or Crete, eloquent and prudent, amiable and agreeable; the Amethyst resists intoxication; the Carnelian appeases anger; the Hyacinth provokes sleep; and various properties are in a similar manner ascribed to other kinds."

It was for these reasons that King John was a great admirer and collector of gems.

A topaz was said to have been presented to a monastery by the noble Lady Hildegarde, wife of Theodoric, Count of Holland, which at night emitted so brilliant a light that, in the chapel where it was kept, prayers were read without the aid of a lamp.

According to the "Honest Jeweller," a German writer of the seventeenth century, "the virtue and internal strength of the topaz are said to increase and decrease with the moonlight, and consist in the fact that when thrown into boiling water, it at once deprives it of its heat."