The Curious Lore of Precious Stones / Being a description of their sentiments and folk lore, superstitions, symbolism, mysticism, use in medicine, protection, prevention, religion, and divination. Crystal gazing, birth-stones, lucky stones and talismans, astral, zodiacal, and planetary

by George Frederick Kunz

KABYLE JEWELRY.
Of Mediterranean coral and pearls. Field Museum, Chicago.

Coral, which, for twenty centuries or more was classed among the precious stones, to retain its power as an amulet, must not have been worked, and in Italy only such pieces are valued for this purpose as have been freshly gathered from the sea or have been cast up by the sea on the shore. To exercise all its power against spells, or enchantments, coral must be worn where its brilliant color makes it conspicuous; if, however, it should by accident be broken, the separate pieces have no virtue, and the magic power ceases, as though the spirit dwelling in the coral had fled from its abode. The peasant women are careful to guard the corals they wear for a special purpose from the eyes of their husbands, for the substance is believed to grow pale at certain seasons, regaining its pristine hue after a short interval of time. Indeed, the women believe that the coral shares their indisposition with them. All this serves to show that a kind of vital force is believed to animate the material, gaining or losing in vigor according to certain conditions, and finally disappearing when the form is broken. These beliefs are all clearly traceable to the animistic ideas of primitive man.[73]

Diamond

The diamond is to the pearl as the sun is to the moon, and we might well call one the “king-gem” and the other the “queen-gem.” The diamond, like a knight of old,—brilliant and resistant, is the emblem of fearlessness and invincibility; the pearl, like a lady of old,—pure and fair to look upon, is the emblem of modesty and purity. Therefore it does not seem unfitting that the diamond should be presented as a token to the pearl, and that pearls should go with the diamond. The virtues ascribed to this stone are almost all directly traceable either to its unconquerable hardness or to its transparency and purity. It was therefore thought to bring victory to the wearer, by endowing him with superior strength, fortitude, and courage. Marbodus[74] tells us it was a magic stone of great power and served to drive away nocturnal spectres; for this purpose it should be set in gold and worn on the left arm. For St. Hildegard the sovereign virtue of the diamond was recognized by the devil, who was a great enemy of this stone because it resisted his power by day and by night.[75] Rueus[76] calls it “a gem of reconciliation,” as it enhanced the love of a husband for his wife.

Cardano[77] takes a more pessimistic view of the qualities of the diamond. He says:

It is believed to make the wearer unhappy; its effects therefore are the same upon the mind as that of the sun upon the eye, for the latter rather dims than strengthens the sight. It indeed renders fearless, but there is nothing that contributes more to our safety than prudence and fear; therefore it is better to fear.

The diamond was often associated with the lightning and was sometimes believed to owe its origin to the thunderbolt, but we do not recall having seen elsewhere the statement made in an anonymous Italian manuscript of the fourteenth century. Here it is expressly asserted that the diamond is sometimes consumed or melted when it thunders.[78] Certainly, that the same force that was supposed to have formed the stone should be able to dissolve it, is not an illogical idea. That the diamond can be entirely consumed at a high temperature was a fact not known in Europe in the fourteenth century, and therefore the belief in the destructive effect of the electric current must have arisen from superstitious or poetic fancies, and not from any vague conception of the true nature of the diamond.

In the Talmud we read of a gem, supposed to have been the diamond, which was worn by the high priest.[79] This stone served to show the guilt or innocence of one accused of any crime; if the accused were guilty, the stone would grow dim, but if he were innocent, it would shine more brilliantly than ever. This quality is also alluded to by Sir John Mandeville, who wrote:

It happens often that the good diamond loses its virtue by sin and for incontinence of him who bears it.