Chapter I: Preface

In these pages a sincere attempt is made to blend modern science with the ancient and occult philosophy of the precious, semi-precious and common stones of the earth. It will be shown that many of the seemingly absurd narratives of old authors are but cunningly concealed truths, the unravelling of which can be followed with interest and profit along the lines herein indicated. The ancient masters held that the influences exerted by the heavenly bodies entered into harmonious relations with various terrestrial substances. Hence we have the venerable philosophy of fortunate stones, planetary gems and “stones of power,” which form a part of the vast department known as talismanic magic. It is the philosophy of sympathy and antipathy prevailing through nature—atom for atom, stone for stone, plant for plant, animal for animal, man for man. This observation was subjected to an orderly scientific arrangement which for completeness of detail would compare, in some cases, more than favorably with the most careful synthesis of modern science. In order to make easily understood the matter treated and to secure pronunciations as nearly correct as possible, it has been considered advisable to render _all foreign words_, ancient and modern, in familiar letters.

I have to express my grateful thanks to the friends who have, in various ways, been helpful to me in regard to this work.

To Mr. Kelsey I. Newman, for the use of his unique collection of opals and precious stones, including the wonderful opal, “The Flame Queen,” and especially for his co-operation, without which this book could not have been published.

Likewise to The Right Honorable the Viscountess Astor, M.P.; Lieutenant Sir Edward Mackenzie-Mackenzie, Bart., for his original Heraldic drawings of the horoscopes of royal and notable persons from my charts; Professor Sir William Ridgeway, Sc.D., LL.D., Litt.D., F.B.A., of Cambridge University, England; Miss Kathleen Watkins, for her help in preparing the sheets for the press; Mrs. Beatrix Colquhoun, for her paintings of the Flame Queen and other gems from Mr. Kelsey I. Newman’s collection; Mr. and Mrs. C. G. King, Melbourne, Australia; Mr. and Mrs. Henry T. Seymour, New York City; Mr. William Howat, Melbourne, Australia; Mrs. S. Kozminsky, Melbourne, Australia; Mrs. Alice Walker, Melbourne, Australia; Mr. G. S. Brown, Melbourne, Australia; Mr. G. A. Osboldstone, Melbourne, Australia; Mr. James Mackenzie, Adelaide, Australia; Mr. M. Susman, Hobart, Tasmania, and to my wife to whom this book is dedicated.

ISIDORE KOZMINSKY.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA,

January, 1922.

“_Another, ere she slept, was stringing stones
To make a necklet—agate, onyx, sard,
Coral, and moonstone—round her wrist it gleamed
A coil of splendid colour, while she held
Unthreaded yet, the bead to close it up—
Green turkis, carved with golden gods and scripts._”

EDWIN ARNOLD—“The Light of Asia.”

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I.— STUDY OF PRECIOUS STONES IN EARLY TIMES 3

II.— THE MOST ANCIENT SCIENCE 6

III.— THE EPHOD OF THE HIGH PRIEST 9

IV.— THE BREASTPLATE OF JUDGMENT 12

V.— INTERPRETATION OF THE BREASTPLATE ACCORDING TO ANCIENT 18
PHILOSOPHY

VI.— THE STONES OF THE BREASTPLATE AND THE ZODIAC 57

VII.— OLD LEGENDS 61

VIII.— STONES IN VARIOUS MYTHOLOGIES 72

IX.— STONES AND THEIR STORIES 83

X.— THE GREATEST CHARMS IN THE WORLD 104

PRECIOUS AND SEMI-PRECIOUS GEMS ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

XI.— AGATE-AMAZONITE 111

XII.— AMBER-AZURITE 121

XIII.— THE BERYL FAMILY 137

XIV.— BALAS-CRYSOCOLLA 151

XV.— CHRYSOLITE-CRYSTAL 166

XVI.— THE DIAMOND 184

XVII.— SOME FAMOUS AND WONDERFUL DIAMONDS AND THEIR STORIES 204

XVIII.— DICHROITE-IOLITE 226

XIX.— JACINTH-LODESTONE 242

XX.— MALACHITE-NEPHRITE 260

XXI.— OBSIDIAN-ONYX 276

XXII.— THE OPAL 286

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN OPAL

XXIII.— THE FLAME QUEEN 300

XXIV.— VARIOUS KINDS OF OPAL 302

XXV.— PEARL 307

XXVI.— PEARL 322

XXVII.— PERIDOT-RUBY 333

XXVIII.— RUTILE-SAPPHIRE 351

XXIX.— SARDONYX-SUCCINITE 362

XXX.— TITANITE-TOPAZ 374

XXXI.— TOURMALINE-ZIRCON 382

XXXII.— STONES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS 396

XXXIII.— FORMS, COMPOSITIONS, CHARACTERISTICS, ZODIACAL 412
CLASSIFICATION, AND PLACES OF ORIGIN

XXXIV.— GEMS IN HERALDRY, MAGICAL SQUARES OF ABRA MELIN THE 420
MAGE, CHARUBEL’S GEM INFLUENCES, GEMS OF COUNTRIES

XXXV.— THE INEVITABLE LAW OF TRANSMUTATION 431

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

THE GREAT OPAL—THE FLAME QUEEN (_In colour_) _Frontispiece_

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

RARE OPALS (_In colour_) 40

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

HIEROGLYPHICS 55

A PERFECT SPECIMEN OF THE ENGLISH GOLD NOBLE (1344) 96

In the Kelsey I. Newman Collection. Traditionally
stated to have been made from Alchemical Gold.

LARGE SCARAB 106

William Howat Collection.

RARE SCARAB OF RAMESES II—A FAMOUS PHARAOH OF THE BIBLE 106

Mrs. C. G. King’s Collection.

RARE ANTIQUE SCARAB OF BLACK JASPER 106

Talismanic Charm—Mercury, Guardian of Sailors.

Mrs. C. G. King’s Collection.

_TABELLÆ CORELLATÆ_ 177

GAZING CRYSTAL ON DRAGON STAND 180

Presented to the Author by the late Judge Casey of
Victoria, Australia.

HOROSCOPE OF KRUGER 198

HOROSCOPE OF ISABELLA II 199

HOROSCOPE OF NICHOLAS II 208

HOROSCOPE OF JAMES II 212

“INSPIRATION” 262

Marble group in Central Hall, Art Institute,
Chicago. Signed—Kathleen Beverly Robinson.
Memorial to Florence Jane Adams. Presented by
Friends and Pupils of Mrs. Adams, 1915.

By Kind Permission of The Art Institute of
Chicago.

ANTIQUE MOSS AGATE PATCH BOX 268

Mrs. W. R. Furlong’s Collection.

MOSS AGATE BASKET 268

William Howat Collection.

OLD MAIORI CHARM OF GREENSTONE KNOWN AS HEI TIKI 274

VENUS, CUPID, AND THE GRACES—A SARDONYX CAMEO BY CERBARA 284

Newton Robinson Collection.

Sold at Christie’s, London, in 1909.

THE ARGONAUTS CONSULTING HYGIEA 284

Large and Rare Cameo.

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

OPALS OF WONDERFUL COLOUR (_In colour_) 288

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

HOROSCOPE OF ALFONZO XII 297

OTHER ASPECTS OF THE GREAT OPAL—THE FLAME QUEEN (_In colour_) 300

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

SMALL NECKLET OF PERFECT ORIENTAL PEARLS 310

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

HOROSCOPE OF MARY OF SCOTLAND 318

HOROSCOPE OF ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND 319

HOROSCOPE OF HENRY VIII OF ENGLAND 349

BEAUTIFUL COLOUR GEMS (_In colour_) 360

Kelsey I. Newman Collection.

SPECIMEN OF ROUGH TURQUOISE (_In colour_) 390

Victoria, Australia

HOROSCOPE OF SHAKESPEARE 402

The Magic and Science
of
Jewels and Stones