Jet is a black stone, light and highly lustrous. It is not a mineral in the strict sense but fossil wood: the remains of ancient trees which, buried for millions of years under pressure, turned into a compact substance, akin to coal but able to take a velvety polish. This modest stone, warm to the touch, has for centuries accompanied two great human experiences: pilgrimage and mourning.
The gagates of the ancients
The name derives from the Latin gagates, in turn linked to Gagai, a place in Lycia, in Asia Minor, where according to Pliny the Elder this stone was found. Pliny describes it as a black stone, smooth, light and similar to wood, which burns giving off a characteristic smell. He also reports various beliefs the magi attributed to it, with his usual scepticism.
One property of jet especially struck the ancients: when rubbed, it takes on a static charge and attracts small fragments of straw or dust, like amber. This capacity to "attract" heightened its mysterious aura.
Roman and British jet
Already in Roman times jet from the Yorkshire coast, in present-day England, was worked and prized. In the Roman city of Eboracum, today's York, pendants, rings and bracelets of jet have been found, some with carved portraits or figures. Whitby jet, from the same coast, became in later centuries the most famous in the world.
The azabache of Santiago
In the Middle Ages jet played an important role along the Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela. In Spain it is called azabache, and in the city of Santiago a whole guild of craftsmen developed, the azabacheros, who carved images of the apostle James, scallop shells, crosses and small devotional objects in this stone.
Pilgrims who reached the apostle's tomb took these objects home as souvenirs and as signs of the journey completed. Together with the scallop shell, the supreme symbol of the Santiago pilgrim, azabache became one of the emblems of devotion to Saint James. The black stone, humble and gleaming, accompanied the return of those who had undertaken a long journey, inner as well as outer.
The figa against the evil eye
In Spanish and Portuguese folk tradition jet was also used for amulets against the evil eye. The most widespread was the figa, a small closed hand with the thumb thrust between the index and middle fingers, an apotropaic gesture of ancient origin. These amulets were given above all to children, a custom that survived in some regions until recent times and also reached Latin America.
The choice of jet for this use is no accident. Its black, glossy, reflective nature was associated with the ability to repel or absorb the malevolent gaze. It is a logic similar to the one that in Italy has linked other materials, such as coral, to protection from the evil eye.
Victorian mourning
Jet's greatest moment came in the nineteenth century. After the death of Prince Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria wore mourning for the rest of her life, and the British court adopted strict rules on funeral dress. Mourning jewellery had to be dark, matt or of a deep black, and Whitby jet became the favoured material.
The town of Whitby experienced a real boom: hundreds of craftsmen worked the stone to produce brooches, necklaces, earrings and lockets, often with floral decoration or small compartments to keep a lock of the departed person's hair. Demand was such that imitations in black glass and other materials appeared.
Symbolic meaning
| Use | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pilgrim's souvenir | completion of a journey, memory of the sacred |
| figa against the evil eye | protection, defence against the envious gaze |
| mourning jewel | memory of the departed, fidelity beyond death |
| fossil wood | slow transformation, deep time |
A stone born of wood
One aspect of jet makes it particularly rich on the symbolic plane: its plant origin. It is a tree that, over immense spans of time, has become stone. What was alive and grew towards the light went down into the earth, was transformed in the darkness and emerged again as black, gleaming matter.
It is not hard to see in this process an image of mourning itself. Grief for a loss, passed through over time, can become something compact and precious: a memory that does not weigh but shines with a discreet light. And the pilgrim who brings home a piece of azabache carries with him the sign of a journey that has transformed him.
In short
- Jet is fossil wood, black and lustrous; the Latin name gagates comes from a place in Lycia.
- In Spain, as azabache, it became the souvenir of the pilgrims of Santiago de Compostela.
- In Iberian tradition it was used for the figa, an amulet against the evil eye.
- In the nineteenth century Whitby jet was the stone par excellence of Victorian mourning jewellery.
