Stones & crystals
Gems, sacred stones and crystals in history, lapidaries and world cultures.
Amethyst: the stone of sobriety, of wine and of violet
Amethyst in symbol: the Greek amethystos «not drunken», the Renaissance myth of the nymph and Bacchus, liturgical violet and the bishop's ring.
Baetyls: the sacred stones fallen from heaven in the ancient world
Baetyls, sacred stones held to be divine dwellings: from Jacob's Bethel to Cybele's black stone brought to Rome, the baetyl of Emesa and sacred meteorites.
Ceraunia: the thunderstones of European folklore
Thunderstones: prehistoric axes believed to have fallen with lightning, Pliny's ceraunia, stones placed beneath thresholds and Michele Mercati's discovery.
The cintamani: the wish-fulfilling jewel of Asian traditions
The cintamani, the wish-fulfilling jewel of Hinduism and Buddhism: Avalokiteshvara, Ksitigarbha, the wind horse and the mantra of the jewel in the lotus.
Coronation stones: Lia Fáil, Scone and sovereignty
The stones on which kings were consecrated: the Lia Fáil of Tara that cries out under the rightful king, the Stone of Scone and Jacob's pillow legend.
The diamond: adamas, the unconquerable, and the vajra of tradition
The diamond in symbol: the Greek adamas «unconquerable», Pliny's beliefs, the Indian vajra, Dante's diamond threshold and the betrothal ring.
Figured stones: landscapes and faces hidden in stone
Stones that seem painted by nature: the agate of Pyrrhus, Florentine landscape stone, Chinese dream stones, Kircher and the writing of stones.
Glyptic art: engraved gems, seals and images in stone
The art of engraved gems: Mesopotamian cylinder seals, Greek and Roman intaglios and cameos, Augustus' seals and the symbolic value of images in stone.
The Grail as a stone: the lapsit exillis and the Sacro Catino
The Grail imagined as a stone in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the emerald fallen from Lucifer's crown and the Sacro Catino kept in Genoa.
Jade in China: the stone of virtue, heaven and earth
Jade in Chinese civilisation: the bi discs and cong tubes of Liangzhu, jade as an image of Confucian virtue and the jade burial suits of the Han princes.
Jet: the black stone of mourning and of the pilgrim
Jet in history: Pliny's gagates, the azabache of the Santiago pilgrims, the figa against the evil eye and the mourning jewellery of the Victorian era.
Lapis lazuli: the blue of the gods from Ur to the Renaissance
Lapis lazuli in history and symbol: the Badakhshan mines, the treasures of Ur, Inanna, pharaonic Egypt and the ultramarine blue of the old painters.
The lodestone: the stone that loves iron
Magnetite in tradition: Thales and the soul of the stone, the shepherd Magnes, the Chinese compass, Gilbert's De magnete and the symbolism of attraction.
The navaratna: the nine planetary gems of Indian tradition
The navaratna, a jewel of nine gems linked to the nine celestial bodies of Indian astrology: the Sun's ruby at the centre, Rahu and Ketu and cosmic order.
Obsidian: the glass of volcanoes and the smoking mirror
Obsidian in history and symbol: Neolithic blades, the mirrors of Çatalhöyük, Tezcatlipoca the «smoking mirror» and the black mirror of the Renaissance.
The omphalos of Delphi: the stone navel of the world
The omphalos of Delphi, stone of the world's centre: Zeus' two eagles, the stone swallowed by Kronos, the woollen net and the symbolism of the centre.
Opal: the stone of all colours, between favour and superstition
Opal in the history of symbol: Pliny and the stone uniting the colours of all gems, the exile of Nonius and the ill repute born of a 19th-century novel.
The pearl in symbol: the gem born of the waters and of the soul
The pearl in tradition: born from dew according to the ancients, the pearl of great price in the Gospel, the Hymn of the Pearl and the image of the soul.
Pliny the Elder and the gems of the Natural History
Book XXXVII of Pliny the Elder's Natural History: gems, famous rings, Roman anecdotes and a critical view of the beliefs attributed to the magi.
Rock crystal: from eternal ice to the seer's sphere
Rock crystal in tradition: krystallos believed to be petrified ice, Fatimid ewers, medieval reliquaries and the crystal ball used for contemplation.
The sapphire: the colour of the heavenly throne in the Bible
The sapphire in symbol: the sapphire pavement of Exodus, Ezekiel's throne, the ancient sappir as lapis lazuli and the blue ring of medieval bishops.
The stones of fire of Eden: Ezekiel 28 and the cherub
The gems of Eden in the Book of Ezekiel: the king of Tyre covered in precious stones, the stones of fire, the fallen cherub and the gold of Havilah.
Theophrastus and the treatise On Stones: the first science of gems
Theophrastus' treatise On Stones, written by Aristotle's pupil: how it classified stones and earths, the touchstone, the carbuncle and the lodestone.
Tongue stones and snakestones: fossils in folklore
Fossils read as marvellous stones: the tongue stones of Malta and Saint Paul, the ammonites of Whitby and Saint Hilda, fossil urchins and Steno's insight.
Turquoise: the stone of the sky from Sinai to Mexico
Turquoise in history: Hathor lady of turquoise in Sinai, the Nishapur mines, Aztec xiuhuitl mosaics and the value of the stone among many peoples.