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    A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources
    A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources
    A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources
    Ebook486 pages5 hours

    A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources

    By Claude Lecouteux

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    About this ebook

    A comprehensive dictionary of sacred and magical gem lore that draws on the rarest source texts of Antiquity and the Middle Ages

    • Reveals the healing and magical virtues of familiar gemstones, such as amethyst, emerald, and diamond, as well as the lore surrounding exotic stones such as astrios, a stone celebrated by ancient magicians

    • Examines bezoars (stones formed in animals’ bodies) and “magnets” that attract materials other than metal

    • Based on ancient Arabic, Greek, Jewish, and European sources, ranging from the observations of Pliny the Elder to extremely rare texts such as the Picatrix and Damigeron’s Virtue of Stones

    Our ancestors believed stones were home to sacred beings of power, entities that if properly understood and cultivated could provide people protection from ill fortune, envy, and witchcraft; grant invisibility and other magical powers; improve memory; and heal the sick from a wide variety of diseases. These benefits could be obtained by wearing the stone on a ring, bracelet, or pendant; through massage treatments with the stone; or by reducing the gem into a powder and drinking it mixed with water or wine.

    Drawing from a wealth of ancient Arabic, Greek, Jewish, and European sources--from the observations of Pliny the Elder to extremely rare texts such as the Picatrix and Damigeron’s Virtue of Stones--Claude Lecouteux provides a synthesis of all known lore for more than 800 stones. He includes such common examples as the emerald, which when engraved with the figure of a harpy holding a lamprey in its claws will banish panic and nightmares, and beryl, which when appropriately carved can summon water spirits or win its owner high renown, as well as more exotic stones such as astrios, a stone celebrated by ancient magicians and whose center glows like a star. Lecouteux also examines bezoars--stones formed in animals’ bodies--as well as “magnets” that attract materials other than iron, such as gold, flesh, cotton, or scorpions.

    This comprehensive dictionary of sacred and magical gem lore, drawn from the rarest sources of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, represents a one-of-a-kind resource for gem enthusiasts and magical practitioners alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInner Traditions
    Release dateDec 4, 2012
    ISBN9781594775086
    A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources
    Author

    Claude Lecouteux

    Claude Lecouteux is a former professor of medieval literature and civilization at the Sorbonne. He is the author of numerous books on medieval and pagan afterlife beliefs and magic, including The Book of Grimoires, Dictionary of Ancient Magic Words and Spells, and The Tradition of Household Spirits. He lives in Paris.

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      A Lapidary of Sacred Stones - Claude Lecouteux

      A

      Abel: A stone by this name appears in Twinger and Closener’s Vocabulary (fifteenth–sixteenth century). It should, in fact, refer to the name of a Baltic island off the shores of Frisches Haff (Eastern Prussia) where amber is found. See succinum.

      Closener ab 31.

      Abeston: Iron in color, asbestos comes from the mountains of Arcadia and Arabia. Once ignited, it cannot be extinguished because—or so it is said—it has a wooly texture called salamander feather. See asbeston.

      abesios, absectos, abston, besteon, bestion, asbestus, asbostus, aspectus, aspecus, albestus, albeston, arbestos, abestos; MFr. abestos, ebesto, asbeste, ageste, egeste; MHG abestô, bestîôn; MSp. asençio, abestus.

      Albertus Magnus 2, 1, 1; Summarium Heinrici VI, 2, 3; De lapidibus preciosis 4; Wolfram von Eschenbach 791, 4 and 16; Arnoldus Saxo 1; Konrad von Megenberg VI, 4; Saint Florian v. 555–64; Thomas de Cantimpré 14, 5; Secrez 3, 26; Liber secretorum II, 1, 10.

      Absinctus: Having been warmed by fire, this heavy black stone streaked with red veins will remain hot for seven days; this is an interpretation of its name, which in Greek means that which cannot get cold again. It is thought to possibly be some kind of lignite. It was believed to be effective against chills and paralysis.

      Under the name of asiste, the Lapidary of King Philip describes this as a Spanish stone resembling a top, or sometimes alum. If one rubs it lightly, it will glow again like fire. If one touches or rubs one’s clothing with it, then places them in the fire, they will not burn but will be cleaned and bleached. It resists poisons and necromancy.

      absynthus, absectos, absictus, abistos, asyctos, asycto, apsyctos, absuctos, absictos, absyctos, adsyctos, absictus, absintus, abaccintus, absiccos; MFr. absictos, absite, as(s)iste; MHG absist; MSp. asençio; MDu. abscicus.

      Pliny 37, 137–42; 148; Isidore of Sevilla 16, 11, 2; Marbode 52; Lambert de Saint-Omer 55, 55; Lapidary of Marbode, 1st Romanesque translation LII; Meliteniotes v. 1136; De lapidibus preciosis 7; Cambridge Lapidary v. 1245–52; Wolfram von Eschenbach 791, 19; Arnoldus Saxo 2; Bartholomaeus Anglicus XVI, 13; Albertus Magnus 2, 1, 3; Vincent de Beauvais VIII, 36; Saint Florian v. 710–25; Thomas de Cantimpré 14, 8; Lapidary of King Philip 65; Konrad von Megenberg VI, 7; Jacob van Maerlant XII, 10; Leonardi II, 7, 13 and 20; Poridat 23; Phisice 44; Hortus sanitatis V, 4.

      Absturt: A deformation of the name of the apsyctos / absinctus.

      Lapidary of King Philip 52.

      Abtalune: A deformation of the name of the opal (ophthalmius).

      Lapidary of King Philip 50.

      Achates: A black stone with white stripes that exceeds other stones of this type in size. It comes in many varieties, hence the many nicknames. Distinctions are made between iaspachates; cerachates; smaragdachates; haemachates; leucachates; dendrachates, which appears to be decorated with small bushes; autachates, which when burned has an odor similar to that of myrrh; and coralloachates, which like sapphire is spotted all over with specks of gold. It is quite common in Crete where it is considered sacred. It is good against the stings of spiders and scorpions. The mere sight of it is good for the eyes, and when placed in the mouth, the agate eases thirst. Magicians distinguish those that resemble lion hide and are effective against scorpions. In Persia, the fumigation of these stones is used to divert tempests and hurricanes and for stopping the course of rivers. They are recognized as possessing this virtue if, when tossed into a boiling pot, they turn the water cold, although the same is said of rubies. For them to be truly useful, however, they must be attached with hairs from a lion’s mane. Magicians detest those that resemble hyena skin and spread discord in homes. The stone that is a single color renders athletes invincible and makes men desirable to women; it incites desire. The one that has the color of lion hide is good against scorpion stings if it is tied on to the body or is crushed and mixed with water to make a balm, as it removes the victim’s pain. When crushed into powder it can be sprinkled on viper bites or drunk with wine. When worn on a ring, it renders one eloquent, sociable, persuasive, powerful, vigorous, and makes one look good and amiable in all matters pertaining to God and men. It is made sacred by carving Iachó on it with a bronze pin, after which it should be set in a ring and worn.

      The agate provides rich harvests when placed on the horns of draft animals; it earns men women’s favor and grants the gift of bewitching mortals with the power of words; if held in the hand, it helps against all diseases, notably those of the bladder, and it relieves the ills of aging. The agate strengthens he who wears it. It will make one invisible if held in one’s closed hand with the plant called heliotrope (Solsequium, a distorted form of which can be seen in the Old French sorsique). To learn if the stone you are holding is a good one, you should rub it while warming it next to a fire: the true agate will release a very pleasant aroma.

      In the Physiologus and certain bestiaries, the agate works as a pearl magnet, and fishermen use it at the end of a

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