Brain Coral
Cup Coral
Mushroom Coral
Organpipe Coral
Star Coral
The appeal of coral to the poet finds expression in some charming legends:
Ovid (Metamorphoses) wrote that Perseus, after he had cut the head from the body of the dreadful Medusa, laid it on the branches of the trees which grew by the sea shore; but the power never departing, turned these branches, as it had turned every other living thing, into stone. The sea nymphs drew these fossils beneath the waves and they became the coral seeds. A variation of this legend tells that the blood which fell from the bleeding head on to the shrubs, flowers and trees turned them into seeds of coral which the sea nymphs drew beneath the waves. It arose again in flower-like beauty with Venus when she emerged in all her glory from the sea, symbolical of the exaltation of Venus in the zodiacal Pisces, and in this connection also concealing a deeper meaning. No gem has been more employed as a charm for averting the fell spell of the evil eye than the innocent coral which was credited with the power of destroying the first stroke of the glance, after which it—like the drawn fang of the serpent—was rendered incapable of injury. Scot writes in “Discovery of Witchcraft:” “The coral preserveth such as bear it from fascination or bewitching and in this respect corals are hanged about children’s necks.” Pliny mentions that the Romans hung on babies’ cradles and around their necks pieces of red coral as an aid in teething and an influence against the falling sickness and infantile diseases. Plato says: “Coral is good to be hanged about children’s necks, as well to rub their gums as to preserve them from the falling sickness. It hath also some special sympathy with Nature, for the best coral, being worn about the neck, will turn pale and wan if the party that wears it be sick, and comes to its former colour again as they recover health.” Brand mentions a similar idea in the “Three Ladies of London,” 1584: “Coral will look pale when you be sick.” Little bells were also attached in the Middle Ages to children’s coral charms in order to ward off evil spirits, storms and pestilence, and scare away the Furies; this same belief exists in Japan, China and other countries. It is a fact that coral is affected by the health of the wearer; some writers say that it becomes spotted or stained when the illness is of a serious nature. It was regarded as a very potent charm for women. In Italy the coral was also called the Witch Stone, because it was said to protect women from the wizards and men from the witches. In connection with these Paracelsus writes: “They are the outgrowths of an intense and sensual imagination of men and women, and which Rabbinical traditions relate in an allegorical manner, are connected with Adam (the animal Man), and Lilith, his first wife. They are afraid of red corals as dogs are afraid of a whip: but the brown corals attract them. Red corals are disagreeable to monsters, Incubi, Succubi, Phantasmata and all evil spirits, but brown corals are not, and they delight in them.” In commenting on this Dr. Franz Hartmann, a physician of note and distinguished writer, says that he knew of cases of melancholy, depression of mind, hypochondria, etc., that had been successfully treated by the wearing of red corals, while other articles employed for the same purpose had no effect, the cure therefore not being merely attributable to the belief of the patient. He concludes: “The ignorant will find it easier to ridicule such things than to explain them.”
A curious passage in Bartholomeus (“De Proprietatibus Rerum,” 1536) is of interest: “Wytches tell that this stone withstondeth lyghtnyng, whirlewynde, tempeste and stormes fro shyppes and houses that it is in. The Red Corall helpeth ayenst the feudes, gyle and scorne, and ayenst divers wonderous doyng and multiplieth frute, and spedeth begynnyng and ending of causes and of nedes.” Oriental mystics warn against the wearing of dull, dirty or discoloured specimens. The pure coral was deemed a protection from plague, poison, storm and tempest. In a house it charmed away disharmony, envy and evil influences. It banished evil dreams and the “terrors of the night,” wild animals, the lightning stroke, witchcraft, epilepsy, stomach complaints, night sweats, etc. It was a cure for sores, diseased gums, whooping cough, disorders of the spleen, teething troubles, troubles of the feet and toes, madness, etc.
It is interesting to note that natural corals in the form of vegetable growths were, and in some places still are, tied to fruit trees to ensure their fertility, and that women of ancient times wore such specimens as charms against sterility. Thus, “she who hath risen from the sea foam,” Venus, was regarded as employing the moistures so needed in perfecting the material dresses of the animal, mineral and vegetable worlds when entering earth conditions: and the ancient masters held that such examples of the doctrine of Sympathies, Similitudes, Signatures and Correspondences guide man to a correct knowledge and understanding of the mysteries of Nature. The ancient Greeks attached coral to the prows of their ships to protect them from the onslaughts of sea and storm. Lemnius says: “Bind corall to the neck, it takes off turbulent dreams and allays the nightly fears of children.” The gem of the Arabian Garden of the Everlasting Life—Jannat al Khuld—is the yellow coral.
To dream of red, pink and coral of beautiful lustre is said to denote recovery to the sick and good health to any one, but ill-conditioned specimens symbolize the opposite. As a cardiac stimulant, for stopping hæmorrhages, warding off contagion, etc., the old physician Rulandus (Medicina Practica, 1564) prescribed half a drachm of powdered coral.