Jasper
In the collection of the Biblioteca di Ravenna there is a red jasper amulet engraved with a device representing Hercules strangling the Nemæan Lion. Amulets of this type are recommended for the cure of the colic by the Greek physician Alexander Trallianus, who flourished in the first half of the sixth century A.D. He directs that this design be engraved on a “Median stone,” which is then to be set in a gold ring and worn by the patient.[[286]] The fact that the constellation Leo was believed to rule over the stomach, and possibly over the liver also, probably determined the selection of the design. On the reverse of the Ravenna amulet are inscribed the letters K K K, which are believed to stand for Κωλική, “colic.”[[287]]
After noting the power of the jasper (probably the red variety) to check hemorrhages from any part, and its general effect upon the circulation of the blood in reducing the pulse, thus calming desire and quieting the restless mind, Cardano turns to another of the reputed virtues of this stone, that of rendering the wearer victorious in battle. The true reason for this he finds in the stone’s tendency to diminish passion, and hence to render the wearer timid and cautious, for “the timid usually conquer, since they avoid a doubtful contest if possible.” Gesner states that he saw “in the possession of a writer of Lausanne,” a green jasper, bearing the image of a dragon with rays, similar to the gem described by Galen.[[288]]
Of the jasper, De Boot relates,[[289]] from his own experience, that for checking hemorrhages the red variety is the most effective, and, in this connection, he describes the case of a young woman in Prague, who had suffered for six years from hemorrhages. Many different remedies had been tried without avail, and when De Boot was called in to attend the case, he advised the woman to wear a red jasper. As soon as this stone was attached to her person the hemorrhage ceased. After wearing the jasper for some time, the woman thought she could safely lay it aside, but whenever she did so the hemorrhage returned after a longer or shorter interval, while it always ceased immediately she resumed wearing the stone. This seemed to prove conclusively that it checked the flow of blood. Eventually the woman was so effectively cured that she was able to give up wearing the stone. Green jasper, if worn attached to the neck so as to touch the gastric region, was, according to De Boot, a cure for all diseases of the stomach. The same writer alludes to the belief that the virtue of this stone was enhanced if it were engraved with the image of a scorpion while the sun was entering the constellation Scorpio, but he rejects this belief as entirely superstitious and futile, while admitting that, to obtain the best results, the jasper should always be set in silver.
Pear-shaped pieces of red jasper seem to have been more especially favored for use as amulets. Italian amulets of to-day show this, and Bellucci finds that the form is chosen as representing a drop of blood, and thus aiding, by sympathetic magic, in the cure of hemorrhages or wounds, and preventing the infliction of the latter. Sometimes such amulets of red jasper are attached to the bed-post by a red ribbon. In the case of a particularly valued amulet of this type, Bellucci was informed by the peasant owner that it owed its great virtue to having been blessed by the parish priest. Thus the traditional power of a pagan amulet received the sanction of the church and the object was associated with purely Christian amulets.[[290]]