The agate is a variegated chalcedonic variety of quartz, formed of successively attracted coloured layers, and is remarkable for the beauty and peculiarity of the patterns. Lines or bands run through the stone: when these are straight or ribbony the agate is called the “ribbon agate”; when they are zigzag it is known as the “fortification agate” because of its resemblance to a fortification; when the lines follow the form of an eye the term “eye agate” is often employed. In this last form it was considered an excellent instrument for the seer or prophet to hold, as it symbolized the third eye now known as the Pineal Body. Clearly the gray tint of the eye of stone approaches in colour the matter of the human eye. The importance of this peculiar organ, which lies upon the corpora quadrigemina of the brain in front of the cerebellum, was held in great respect by ancient scholars who regarded it as the organ of occult sight, of inner perception and intuition. This hidden eye is bigger in a child than in an adult, and in the woman it is bigger than in the man. There is little doubt that the ancients regarded these markings on the agate stone as symbolic of the faculties of the high spirit of man, of prosperity in peace, and protection in war. The ring of Pyrrhus is recorded by Pliny as representing in its natural colours Apollo with his lyre standing amongst the nine Muses, each with her correct attribute. The Muses and their attributes as indicated in their statues are as follows:

The Rev. C. W. King mentions that agates are still found “adorned with designs which one feels the greatest difficulty in admitting to be the mere fortuitous result of the arrangement of their shaded strata, so exactly does that result imitate the finished production of art.” He instances the “Egyptian Pebble” in the British Museum which shows the head of the poet Chaucer covered with the hood, a faithful portrait even more remarkable when it is considered that the specimen was just broken in two pieces and not even polished. A specimen in the Galleria of Florence shows in the markings of yellow and red a running Cupid. Such curious markings are continually exhibiting the silent, magical symbols of Nature by the aid of which the great but humble philosophers of ancient days read the messages of the Divine. Many and various are the virtues ascribed to the agate by the ancient masters, and when considering these it is well to remember their passion for making meanings obscure in order that the hidden secrets might be successfully guarded. The “pleasant scent of the agate”—obtainable most truly by rubbing together two polished specimens—is lauded by Pliny, and Orpheus recommends that the “changeful agate” be steeped in wine to improve the flavour. Powdered and bound on wounds, it healed them, and Rabbi Benoni of 14th century fame advised that an agate be held in the mouth to quench thirst and soothe fever. It was regarded as a charm against poisons, which no doubt accounts for its being used to form vases, bowls, cups, and vessels for holding foodstuffs, specimens of which are still found in more or less perfect state in the excavations. Mr. King mentions the Carchesium or two-handled agate cup of Charles the Bold (presented by that King to the Abbey of St. Denis) which was used to hold the wine at the ceremony associated with the coronations of the kings of France. It was stolen in 1804, the year Napoleon Buonaparte was crowned Emperor at Paris, and was not used, therefore, at his coronation—a significant circumstance in the career of this man of Destiny who, with his innate love for the occult must have known long before this event that the agate was his birthstone. Shortly after the vase was recovered uninjured, but its jewelled setting had been removed from it, never to be seen again.

The agate, especially the eye agate, was reputed as a cure for tired eyes, also bestowing on the wearer strength and health, and inclining him to grace and eloquence. As one of the seven sea gems, a banded agate was credited with the power of taking away the terrors of the ocean, while to dream of one was held to denote a sea journey. Being astrologically connected with the death sign Scorpio, it was potent in seeking divine aid in this life and in the life to come. It rendered the wearer agreeable, gave him the favour of God, if he employed it as a holy instrument it turned the words of his enemies against themselves, rendered him—symbolically speaking—invisible, gave him victory and induced happy dreams. It was a charm against lightning, thunder, tempests, and all wars of the elements. Albertus Magnus gives it efficacy against eruptive skin diseases; the Mohammedans engraved on it the symbols of Hassan and Hussein, the grandsons of the Prophet of Islam, and placed it round the necks of children to protect them from falls and accident. They also mixed it, in powdered form, with certain fruit juices and administered it as a cure for insanity. It was also prescribed for haemorrhage, the spitting of blood, boils, ulcers, gravel and affections of the spleen and kidneys. Used as a powder it hardened tender gums and arrested bleedings. Some Arabian writers advise against the use of powdered agate as an internal medicine unless carefully blended with other substances. An agate worn about the neck banished fear, indigestion and lung troubles. It was recommended by Dioscorides as a charm against epidemics and pestilential diseases. It protected from the bites of serpents and insects, and was bound to the horns of oxen to induce a good harvest. It was said to have been the “fortune stone” of the Trojan hero Æneas, protecting him in war, voyages and storms.

The agate is always adorned with a system of bands which exhibit variety in hue, shade and tint. The Chalcedony (See [Chalcedony]) is more compact and regular in colour, the two stones therefore being easily distinguishable. Swedenborg sets the agate down as the symbol of the spiritual love of good. It is astrologically attached to the martial sign Scorpio.

ALABASTER

“Why should a man whose blood is warm within,

Sit like his grandsire, cut in alabaster?”

Shakespeare.

The Greek ALABASTROS was derived from Alabastron, a town in Upper Egypt where this beautiful white massive variety of gypsum was found. It was used by the ancients for fashioning perfume bottles, the vials to hold oil for anointing kings, priests, initiates into the mysteries, etc. These articles were commonly called alabastra, and the name continued in use long after other materials had replaced alabaster in their manufacture. The quarries of Hat Nub and those near Minieh supplied ancient Egypt with the material which was compared by ancient masters to the purity of the soul. No doubt this accounts for its use in holy works, and in the making of sarcophagi, statues, etc. In the Book of Matthew we read of the woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment. In Mark “she brake the box and poured it (the ointment) on his head.” In Luke we are told that “a woman in the city brought an alabaster box of ointment,” etc. “Box” is a mistranslation; the “box” holding the oil was an alabastrum, and this “oil of holy ointment compound after the art of the apothecary,” as set down in the Book of Exodus, was put in the alabaster vases which were sealed in such a way that the tops had to be broken in order to release the liquid. This was seemingly done to prevent evaporation. Many of these vases have been found amongst the ruins, together with other Egyptian vases called Canopic jars in which were placed the embalmed viscera of the departed. On the covers of these canopi were drawings of the heads of the genii of the dead known as the four children of Horus—Kesta, Hapi, Tuamutef, and Qebhsennuf. A vessel surrounded by receptacles for holding a number of alabastra was called an ALABASTRO-THECA.