The onyx, if worn on the neck, was said to cool the ardors of love, and Cardano relates that everywhere in India the stone was worn for this purpose.[135] This belief is closely related to the idea commonly associated with the onyx,—namely, that it provoked discord and separated lovers. The close union and yet the strange contrast between the layers of black and white may have suggested this.
OBSIDIAN MASK, FROM THE FAYOUM, EGYPT.
Twelfth Dynasty. Late De Lesseps Collection. Collection of Mrs. Henry Draper. The obsidian is the typical stone of Mexico.
Pyrites
Crystals of iron pyrites (pyrite, native iron disulphide) are sometimes used as amulets by the North American Indians, and the belief in their magic power is attested by their presence in the outfit of miscellaneous objects which the medicine-men use in the course of their incantations. Because these gleaming yellow crystals are occasionally mistaken for gold, the name “fool’s gold” has been popularly bestowed upon them.[136]
OBSIDIAN MIRROR, FROM OAXACA, MEXICO. NOW IN TROCADÉRO MUSEUM, PARIS.
See “Gems and Precious Stones of North America,” by George Frederick Kunz, New York, 1890, p. 299.