C o rn e r L i b ra ry

1. L OV E -L E TT E R S O F F A M O U S P E O PL E
By FREE MAN BUNT I N G
2. T H E P OW E R O F G E M S A N D C H A RM S
By G EO . H . B RATLEY
T HE PO WER OF GEM S
AN D C HA R M S

G EO . H .
ERA TLEY
A ut h or of T he A rt 0 ? Fas ci n at i on ,
”
e tc .

LONDON

GAY AN D BIR D
m a
p d 13, H EN RI ET TA S T REET , S T RAN D

!A ll ri g hts r es erved
 PRE F ACE

least r om an ce in h is soul
is interested in charms ,

though few of th e present

age have ever troubled
th emselves to inquire into
th eir origin and history To openly
.

declare one s belief in such thin gs whether

’
,

it be in any ordinary charm , in a

gem or jewel is to lay oneself open to
,

ridicule if nothing worse Why is this P

, .

Th e answer must be because of the in

ability to distinguish bet ween superstition
and romance To rise superi or to super
.

st it i on is progress and enlightenment but , ,

alas ! the day wh e n romance ceases to

vi PREFAC E

e xist .S hakespeare when he wrote , ,

Th m eth t h t h
an m i i h i m lf
a a no us c n se ,

N ior t m d wi th
s no d f w t” d
ov e c on c o r o s ee s ou n s,
I fit f
s t or t tgm d p il
r e a s o n , s ra a e s, an s o s,

might have substituted the word

romance for “
music for verily ,

romance may be said to distinguish the

human being from the animal It is a .

product o f the imagination and animals ,

have no imagination so far as we are ,

aware Every normal human b eing has

.

this faculty of romance either l atent or ,

active ; and i f this book can in some

measure fructify or strengthen that faculty
in its readers then the writer will con
,

sider it has done good work Let romance .

grow along with knowledge and the result

will be spirituality but i f with ignorance ,

we get superstition .

Here the question wi ll naturally arise

I s the belief in the power of charms all
imagination P To this the writer would
emphatically say No and it has been his ,

endeavour to show in the foll owing pages

the reas on and logic o f the power c l ai med
f or th ese things .
 PRE FAC E vii

B ut even i f this work were but the

means of exciting the imagination o f its
readers into activity then theirs will be
,

the benefit Has the reader ever con

.

si de r e d what imagination is P It must

not be con fused with f ancy f or it is the
,

creative or f ormative power o f the mind

—a power o f the higher soul of man .

I magination with faith and will f orm the

three angles of the triangle o f power ,

without which no creative work or ma

t e ri alisat i on of thought would be possible
thus we see that a strong and well organ
ised imagination adds to the creative
power of the human mind .

A few years ago wireless telegraphy ,

aerial navigation human radiations and

, ,

many other achievements of modern

science would have been laughed at as
the vain imaginings of a superstitious
dreamer .
- To day these things are
labell ed science ; therefore the writer
ventures to suggest that the efficacy of
charms and precious stones may be
recognised and placed on a scientific
basis before many yea rs are p ast .
 PREFAC E
I n writing this work it has been
,

necessary to borrow from various authors ,

ancient and modern and to these the

,

writer acknowledges his indebtedness .

Much of the matt er i n S ections II and .

III is original and the outcome o f years

.
,

o f study and investigation .

GEO . H . B RATLEY .
 CO NT ENT S

JE C TI ON I

H I ST O R I CA L CHA R M S
Chap .

I . W ELLERY
JE

I I GEMS AN D C O I N S
.

III VAS ES GO B L ETS A N D WEA PO N S

. , ,

I V STON E S
.

V BU I LD I N GS TR EES AN D H ER B S
. , ,

V I H U MAN S KU LLS
.

VII H U MAN B E I N GS A N D AN I M ALS

.

V III D I VE RS C H ARMS
.

I X C H ARMS I N REL I G I O N
.

ix
 C O NTE NTS
Ch ap .

x . C H ARME D WELLS AN D HOLY WATER

XI . HORS ESHO E A N D SOM E OLD DAY
T HE -

C H ARMS
X II SOM E C U RATI VE C HARMS
.

X I II SPELLS OR WR I TTEN C H ARMS

.
,

XI V THE I N D IV I DU AL FAM I LY TRI BA L

.
, , ,
AN D
N AT I ON AL C H ARM

OCCU LT JEWE L L E RY A N D G E M S
When Where an d Ho w t o Use The se
, ,

XV WH AT T HE WORLD SAYS
.

XV I D ES C R I PT I O N O F STO N E S U S ED AS
.

C H ARMS
XV II NAT I O N S AN D T H E I R FAVOU R I TE GE MS 1 12
.

XV I I I T HE LAN GU AGE O F PRECI OU S STO N ES 118

.

X IX T HE PLAN ETS AN D B I RTH MO NTH STON ES 187

.
-

XX TAL I SM A N I C EN G RAVED J EW E LS
.

XX I L U C KY M AS C OTS AN D T R I N KETS
.

XXII HOW TO W EA R C HARMS AND TAL I SMA N S I “

.
 C O NTE NTS xi

JE C TI ON I I I
THEIR E F FI CA CY

A n cle n t an d M ode m Th e ori es

Chap .

XXIII . MAG I C
XXI V . AN C I E NT O CC U LT T H E OR I E S

XXV . MODER N SC I EN C E AN D O CC U LT TH EOR I ES 162

XXV I . N ATU R E SP I R I TS : T HE POWE R B E H I N D

T HE G E M

XXV II C LASS I FI CAT I O N O F C H ARMS

.

XXV III GEMS W H EN C E TH EI R EFF I CACY

. :
 S ECT I O N I

H I J TOR I C A L C H A R M J
‘ ‘
 Th e n sp e ak s t h el o rd, an d wave s i t li g , ht
Th i
‘
h
s g l as s o f fl as i n g c rys al all, t t
G va e t o my s i re s t h e F ou n ai n - S p ri e ; t t
t
S he wro e i n i t : If t h i s g las s dot h fall,
Fare we ll t h e n , 0 L a ck of Eden hall I
—Long fe ll oW, Th e L a ck of Ede n hall .

The y hav t h i h y t al I do k ow d i g
e e r c r s s, n , an r n s,
A d v i gi
n r n
p h marct d th i d e d m
en s ku ll
an e r a en s
’
s,
Th i v wi g th i li gh t
,

e r ra en n s, d pe t l
e r s , an n ac e s ,
W i t h ch ar t rs ; I h a s
ac e all t h e
”’
een es .

B e n Jon s on , De vil ’
s an Ass , I . 2 .

h
A ll t i n g s i n e ar h an d ai r, t
B ou n dwe re b y magi c sp e ll,
N e v e r t o do h i m arm ; h
t
E v e n t he p l an s an d s on e s , t
A ll s av e t h e m i s le oe t t
T he s ac re d
m i s le o e "
t t
—
.

L ong fe ll o w, Teg n e r s Drap e

’
.

A n d s t i ll o e r m an
’
y
a n e i g b o uri n g oor h d
S he s a w t h e h ’
h
o r s e s oe s c u rv e c ar m , d h
d t
T o g u ar ag a i n s h e r m o e r s
’
arm
”
th h
W W
.

h i t ti e r, Th e i t ch s Da ug h t e r
’
.
’
C HA PT ER I
J EW ELLERY

AGI G and not mere a st he

,

t i cism was the original

,

m o t i v e for w e a r i n g
jewellery said Professor
,

Ridgeway to the An thro

p o log i c al Society in April
,

1 9 04
. Numerous examples were given
which could not leave a doubt that
j ewellery was always and is ,

even now subconsciously worn n ot,“ for

,

for its magic properties Any we ari ng .

“ n u ”
jewel or ge m so worn must
be classed as a charm which ,

word means anyt hing worn to avert ill

or secure good fortune Some prefer the
.

name mascot which is the French for

—
,

a little sorcerer or magician anyt hing

 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

bringing good luck By this it is clear .

that the French recognise magic as the

power acting through the charm I t is .

n ot necessary that the object to which

this power is ascribed need be a piece of

jewellery for charms have taken as many
forms in design and material
Yu le “
as there have been varieties of
fo ms of
r magic practised by their use
mam “
.

M inerals metals precious stones

—
, ,

indeed all of Nature s products ’

—may be said to possess this mag ical

,

property while any object may be con

verted into a charm by one who possessed
the necessary knowledge and essential
qualifi cations Among historical charms
.

we find gems jewels coins vases goblets

, , , , ,

stones weap ons herbs trees skulls

, , , , ,

bones buildings animals water human

, , , ,

beings ; there is also that large section

called spells wh ere the charm consists of
,

a formula of words or written characters ,

often the object and formula being used

in conjunction They may also be classed
.

as individual family tribal and national

, , ,
.

There are numerous stories connected

6 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

ring with the correct j ewel for every day

in the week Speaking of his magical
.

power J ustin M artyr asks

, ,How is it
that the talismans of Apollonius have
power in certain members of creation P
There was long preserved in West
minster Abbey a ring which was reported
to have been brought to King Edward
by persons from J erusalem this ring
was said to prevent the falling sickness .

Cardinal Wolsey was openly accused be

fore the court oi confederacy with a man
named Wood a sorcerer who said that
, , ,

My Lord Cardinale had suche a ryn ge

that whatsomever he ask yd of the Kyn ge s
grace that he hadd yt . This case is to be
fou n di n the record o ffice of the Rolls House.

The Emperor William of Germany

possesses a ring which has a very curious
history It is the talisman of the family
. .

Legend relates that since the

The time of the Elector J ohn of
m
g B randenburgh ,
every ruler of
ri n g the House of Hohenzollern
has when dying if possible
, , ,

h anded a sealed packet to his suc cessor .

 J EWELLERY
This packet contains a ring in which
is set a b lack stone that was dropped by
an enormous toad upon the bed o f the
wife of the Elector immediately after
she had given birth to a son the toad ,

afterwards mysteriously disappearing .

The stone was zealously taken care of ,

and the fath er o f Frederick the Great had

it set in a ring S chneider the li b rarian
.
,

of William I declares that he witnesse d

.
,

the handing over of the precious packet

by Ge ilin g th e treasurer to his royal
, ,

master on h is accession and he further

asserts that h e read the full accoun t of
the stone to the Emperor who fully ,

confirmed it The ring has ever since

.

been worn by the head of the House of

Hohenzollern William II wears it on
. .

all great occasions and he has great ,

respect like every Hohe nzollern for the

, ,

curious old jewel I n the arc h ives at

.

B erlin are man y documents o f that time

referring to it .

A well known story is that o f th e

-

Spanish opal and many are the Spaniards

who be lieve that the long series of
8 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

misfortunes that has befallen Spain

and the present dynasty comes of a
cursed opal ring that a neglected
beauty spitefully bestowed upon
Alfonso X II The opal is of a
.

very large size and of brilliant

colouring I t is set in filigree gold and
.
,

has no ot her jewels about it The ring

.

belonged to a famous beauty and ad

ve n t u re ss
,
the Comtesse de Castiglione ,

who was in the glory of her be auty and

power during the reign of Napoleon I II .

Among her most ardent admirers was

Alfonso X II then an outcast and a
.
,

pretender When he became King and

.

married one of his own royal blood the ,

jealousy of the Comtesse was aroused ,

and her hatred was terrible A few .

months after the K ing s marriage he

’

received a package from the Comtesse ,

containing a beautiful opal ring of rare

colouring I t was called a wedding gift
.
-

and a mement o of the friendship the

King had held for the Comtesse . The
King showed it to his wife Queen Me r
cedes who was charmed with i t s beauty
,
 J E WE LLERY 9

and begged to keep it Alfonso gave it .

to her readily and she slipped it on her

,

finger From that moment she com

.

m e n ce d to ail and in a few months she

,

died The ring fell from her dead hand

.
,

and the King gave it to his grandmother

Queen Christina who died a few months ,

later Next th e ring was gi ven to Al

.
,

fon so s sister the

’
I nfanta M aria del
Pilar who wore it but a few days before
,

she died of a mysterious sickness The .

sister i n law then came into possession

- -

o f it the youngest daughter of the D uc

,

and D uchesse de M ontpensier and in ,

three months the young Princess was

dead After this series of fatalities the
.

K ing determined to keep the ring himself ,

and he slipped it on his little finger but

he did not wear it long as his unhappy ,

life shortly came to an end Queen .

Christina who is not in any way super

,

st it i ou s took possession of the ring after

,

her husband s death but the other mem

’
,

b ers of the famil y begged her to destroy

it this she refused to do but attached ,

th e fatal ring to a gold chain , wh ich she

 HISTORI CA L C HARMS

hung round the neck of the Virgin of

Almudena the patron saint of Madrid
,
.

Not content with the evil influence of

the cursed opal Spain possesses another
,

piece of jewellery of deadly m ale fi ce n ce .

”
Mephisto s ring as it is
’
,
“
M l mm fl called is a gold ring set with
’

m
e ’
,
g
ifgs 111 a large emerald the centre of ,
“W“ which has been hollowed out
and contains a ruby sur ,

rounded with tiny diamonds It came .

to Spain !no one knows from whence!

in the reign of Philip I I and following .
,

its arrival came the succession of calami

,

ties which brought about the decline of

Spanish power T o those who owned
.

the ring it seemed to bring personal

disaster and at the time of the Spanish
American war it was presented by the
Spanish royal family to a church possibly ,

in the hope that its baneful influence

would be thus neutralised The church .

was burned to the ground but the ring ,

was saved and this time given to a

,

museum The museum was afterwards

.

struck by lightning twice and the return ,

 JE WELLERY

of the ring to the royal family was

followed by the defeat of the Spanish
army and navy The ring has now been
.

placed in a strong box and buried .

The Czar of Russia is said to be very

superstitious and to have great confidence
in relics He wears a ring in which is
.

embedded a piece of the true

cross and it is said to have The Cm f
, .
o
the virtue of shielding its wearer Russi a has
t“ ” in"
from any physical danger .

It was originally one of the

treasures of the Vatican and was pre
,

sented to an ancestor of the Czar for

diplomatic reasons The value wh ich
.

its owner sets upon the ring is shown by

the fact that h e will never if possible
, ,

move an y distance without it Some .

years ago h e was travelling from St .

Petersburg to M oscow when he suddenly

discovered h e had forgotten th e ring .

The train was stopped immediately an d ,

a special messenger sent back in an

express for it nor would the Czar allow
the train to mo ve until eight hours
afterwards , wh en the messen ger returned
rz HISTORI C AL C HARMS

with the ring I t is sai d that when his

.

ill fated grandfather was so cruelly as

-

sassi n at e d he had left the ring behind him .

The Czar has also another ring with a

more pleasant history to it the story is ,

both pretty an d romantic I t is a plain

.

ring and of a quaint Gothi c design The .

ring was given to Princess Charlotte of

Prussia daughter of Frederick Wi lli am III
,
.
,

by her governess while the Princess was

,

still a schoolgirl On the inside of it

.

in fai nt characters the words Russia s

,
’

Czarina are just legible M any years

.

later Prince Nicholas of Russia then ,

without any hope of succeeding to the

throne saw and fell in love with the young
,

Princess and during dinner on the first

, , ,

evening of their meeting begged her to,

give him a little remembrance as a sign

that h is love was returned Pray give
.

me that little ring he whispered and

,

secretly it was handed to him Eight .

years later the prophetic words engraved

within the ring came true Nicholas .

became Czar of Russia and Charlotte its

Czarina .
r4 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

in the magic of charms for we find the ,

great composer Hadyn had a ring which

was his source of inspiration .

Jim W ithout the ring he could rack

due t o a his brain in vain for melodies
with it the music would leap
to his fingers .

M r Rider Haggard the novelist wears

.
, ,

a quaint signet ring which once adorned

the finger of that Pharaoh who made
Israel captive and to this ornament the
,

novelist ascribes many virtues .

M Santos D umont the conqueror of

.
,

the air is stated to attribute his provi

,

dential escape from injury in 1 9 0 1 to

the fact that he was wearing
on his wrist a bracelet to
313222: which hangs a medal of St
1
9
“m m
.

B enoit given him by the Coun

,

tess D Eu ’
.

M iss Yvonne Lamor the young Spanish

,

proté gé e of the late King of S erv ia wears ,

a curious tortoiseshell brooch which has

an interesting history I t was it seems
.
, ,

given to the King Milan by his mother .

He in turn gave it to King Alexander .

 J E WELLE RY r
5

A few days before his assassination the ,

King sent for Miss Lamor and gave her

the brooch Wear it as a mascot he
.
”
,

said. When you have it on you will

have good luck S he has worn it daily
.
’

ever since .

The well known jeweller Mr Streeter

-
, .
,

of B ond Street though not afraid to walk

,

under ladders spill salt and do other

, ,

unlucky things always carries attached

,

to his watch chain a small quaint sharply

-
, ,

carved seal which was originally found

in an Egyptian co ffin He has worn it .

for many years and says he would not,

be without it for anything .

The clever black and white artist Mr - - .

Austin Osman Spare once picked up a

golden skull bearing the word
,

One in opals A black .

“
On the night he picked it up fi g s?
he dreamed that as long as he solder! skull
kept the tri nket he would be
lucky S o far his dream has come true
. .

I t is for this reason that he signs his

drawings One .
’

Miss Kellermann the swimmer pos , ,

16 HISTO RI C AL C HARMS

sesses a little mascot in the shape oi the '

model of a diver .

Madame Esty never appears in public

without a small green heart which is ,

attached to a delicate necklace of gold .

S he also values highly an antique topaz

trophy which she has converted into a
,

brooch This stone was once possessed

.

by a famous I ndian necromancer By .

appealing to its power he was able to

command the appearance of food and
drink One night he lay by the side of
.

a su ffering comrade on the battlefield .

He himself was wounded by a dart He .

heard his comrade moaning in an agony

of thir st and taking the charm from
, ,

his bosom threw it to the side of the

,

su fferer saying
,
Wear it near thy heart
,

if thy parched throat would find relief ,

and fell back dead The strange com .

mand was obeyed and when at dawn the ,

grateful soldier looked for his benefactor ,

no trace could be found With this legend .

it was thought to be especially appropriate

in the possession of a singer and Madame ,

Esty regards it with due reverence .

 J EWELLE RY 17

M rs . Nicholas
Longworth s favourite ’

ornament is a beautiful jade necklace .

which was given to her when she visited

the Empress of China The Empress
.

herself decorated M iss Roosevelt with

the necklace and told her that the
,

linked bits of stone were very old that ,

they had been cut by an artist who had

the reputation of being one half wizard ,

and that the ornament would bring to its

owner her heart s desire Of the many
’
.

rich and curious gifts which M iss Roose

velt received during her tour this was ,

the only one which she kept for herself

and wore constantly After her engage
.

ment to Congressman Nicholas Longworth

was made public she confided to some
,

of her friends that she believed there

really was virtue in the necklace .
C HAP T ER I I
G EMS AND C OI NS

EMS are so beautiful and

possess such a mysterious
fascination for the human
mind that it is in no way
,

surprising that they should

have received so large a
share of attention from the earliest periods
of human histo ry .

A large sapphire figures as the mascot

of the Jews the same stone is believed to
have been the signet of the wise S olomon .

I t is supposed that this stone ha s its

home in the Holy of Holies t he
m
,
m “ very centre of the ark I t is
3 1
Jew
.

much mixed up with the fortunes

s

of the Jews and was nearly

,

lost to them at the sacking of J erusalem

by the Roman Titus Around it is built
 GEMS AND C OI NS 19

the story of the Wandering J ew Carta ,

p h i lu s ; while we find it mentioned in

a story of Cornelius Agrippa the famed ,

magician .

One of the most famous diamonds is

the K oh i Noor which is said to have
- -
,
’

been found near the Krishna river and ,

to have been worn more than five thousand

years ago by Karhm a one of the heroes ,

celebrated in the Mahabharat ha I n the .

course of centuries it often changed

hands I n I 5 6 0 it was in the possession
.

of B aber the founder of the M ogul

,

dynasty I n 1 665 it is reputed t o have

.

weighed 2 80 carats but as it has so often ,

been recut it is impossible to say what

,

its origin al weight was It was of such .

immense value as a charm that

w
one rajah who owned it is L fort une
g ofl
stated to have refused
”
o ffered by the Governor of I ndia Noo .
r

The rajah said that the fortunes

of his family were bound up with the
stone and he would not risk them by
,

parting with it One virtu e ascribed to

.

this diamond is that the water in which

so HISTO RI C AL C HARM S

it was placed would cure all diseases .

When the Pun j au b came under B ritish

rule the stone was presented to Queen
Victoria who had it recut for the last
,

time It is now the property of Queen

.

Alexandra .

Another celebrated diamond is one

which was in the possession of the late
President Kruger and his mis ,

Pre i d nt
s e fortunes were believed by many
fi fig
n
to be due to this stone At one .

di amond time it belonged to Chaka a Zulu ,

chief Chaka himself owned it till

.

his assassination by his brother who then ,

entered into possession The brother was .

himself assassinated and within a few ,

years the diamond changed hands fifteen

times and in every case the owner died
,

a violent death .

There are four rubies in existence which

have brought misfortune on generations
of th eir possessor One almost destroyed
.

a native state in I ndia so that the people

,

with all due ceremony removed it to

the Himalayas and buried it secretly .

Another has brought disaster on a

22 HISTO RI CAL C HARM S

that known as The Penny of Lee ,

which has been rendered famous by Sir

Walter S cott s work
’
The Talisman
, .

The story of this coin is that S ir Simon

Lockhart a friend of and knighted by
,

Robert B ruce went on a crusade and

, ,

while in the Holy Land took a S aracen

chief prisoner The wi fe of the latter
.

came to ransom her husband and while ,

paying o v er the money dropped a small ,

silver coin with a precio us stone in the

centre this the canny S cot at once picked
up and kept This is the famed Pen ny
.
,

and a remarkable point about it is that

it has the property of curing any ailment
of man or beast It i s only necessary
.

to immerse the coin in water and for the

patient to drink this How highly it was
.

v alued for this purpose is shown by the

fact that during the plague of 1 665 the
, ,

town of Carlisle borrowed the charm ,

depositi ng securities val ued a t thousands

of pounds for its safe return I
The Russian Czar has recentl y come
into possession of some charmed coins .

B ernhard Tut n au e r a J ew who lives at

, ,
 G EMS AND C O I NS 23

Radautz , a town in the Austrian crown

land B ak evi n a had as a guest three , , ,

years ago a wonder working ,

-

rabbi from the Orient On de Cha m d

mm
,
. r e

parting the rabbi rewarded the 2

, 3 ,
hospitality shown him with by a Jew
some coins saying My son , , ,

although thes e pie ces may seem a p oor

gift they will protect those far greater
,

than you in time of danger For three .

nights in succession the vision of Alex

ander III the Czar s father appeared to
.
,
’
,

Tut n au e r and told him the rabbi s coins

,
’

would shield any one who wears a crown

from violent death Tut n au e r sent the .

coins to the Russian Charge d Affai res ’

at Vienna with a message which vividly

,

described his triple dream The Charge .

appeared visibly impressed and undertook ,

to have the magical coins sent to the

Czar who on receiving them sent a
, , ,

message to Tut n au e r thanking him for ,

the mascot .

S ome time previous to King Alfonso s ’

visit to England he encountered an old

gipsy woman to whom he o ffered some ,
24 HISTORI CAL C HARMS

douros but which were haughtily refused

,
.

King ,
said the woman keep thy ,

money My race is older than

.

‘ m thine
fi éf 1 am .the last of the
t ip y
s Almoravides who ruled over ,

M orocco and the south of Spain

in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries I t is I on the contrary who
.
, ,

will present thee with a piece of gold .

With this the gipsy o ffered the King a

sequin bearing the effigy of I shag son of
, ,

Tache fi n the last of the kings of the

,

Almoravides Take good care of this

.

talisman ,she added ;

’
it will guard
thee against all dangers There exists .

only one other sequin like it I gave it .

to an exquisitely beautiful and highly

charitable young lady when I fell into
a ditch one day I was badly wounded
.
,

and she dismounted and bound up my

forehead with her handkerchief Those .

who accompanied her addressed her as

her highness King if ever thou shouldst
.
,

marry wed only this young girl she alone

, ,

can make thee happy This story is .

spoken about a good deal in M adrid and ,

 G E M S AND C O I NS 25

it is asserted that the King was just

showing the sequin to M Loubet when
.

the bomb was thrown at him

on his last o fficial visit to
Paris The talisman thus saved
.
m the
s
d
his life . The story also goes
that when in London the King
ascertained that the other golden sequin
was in possession of Princess En a of
B attenberg whom he has since taken as
,

his Queen .
C HAP T ER I I I
VAS ES . G O B L ETS , AND WEAPONS
than on e family s
ORE
’

luck is connected with a

vase or goblet Edenhall .
,

Penrith Cumberland is
, ,

the home of S ir Richard

and the Hon Lady Mus .

grave whose mascot is in the form

,

of a cup or vase of crystal ,

Th
e said to be one of the oldest
glasses in England Legend .

Edenhall tells how the butler having ,

gone to bring water from the

well called St Cuthbert s near the hall
, .
’
, ,

surprised a party of fairies dancing on

the lawn They had left their cup lying
.

upon the grass The butler seized hold

.

of it and though called up on to restore

,

es
VASES , G O B LETS . AN D WEAPONS 27

it he ran toward the hall hearing this

, ,

couplet as he ran
If
’
e er t h at c up s h ould
b re ak o r fall ,
F are we ll t he lu c k of E e n all ”
d h .

This cup is guarded with the most

jealous care and has attained world wide
,
-

celebrity partly because of its antiquity

, ,

though probably more through Long

fellow s poem’
.

Another family that of M uncaster , ,

possesses a gobl et claimed to be the one ,

which King Henry V I drank from when .

he was sheltered from his pursuers

by S ir J ohn Pennington in the
year 1 4 6 1 The welfare of the Th
.
e
family is believed to depe nd l unoaste r
mm “
on the safety of this goblet .

D uring the great Civil War a

careless servant dropped the box in which
it was kept and we are told that for
,

more than fifty years afterwards no one

of the family dared to open the case to
see whether the goblet was injured or
not At last a young heir was bold
.

enough to risk it The case was unlocked .

,

and to the delight of all concerned it was

, ,
28 HISTO RI CAL C HARM S

discovered that the Muncaster mascot

had not received the slightest damage .

Many are the weapons said to be

invested with magical qualities There .

is a strange dread existing amongst

reigning houses that the exist
ence of the innocent but u n
hallowed weapons by which
“ aw “
rulers have been assassinated
is fraught with peril to their
des cendants Most of these weapons are
.

now destroyed .

The S hah of Persia has a diamond set

in a scimitar which renders its possessor
,

invincible He has also a dagger with

.

the same property but it is ordained that

,

those who use it shall perish by it so it ,

is carefully kept shut up in a sandal wood -

box on which is engraved a verse from

the Koran .

Mr C W Leadbeater in his work

. . .
,

The Other S ide of D eath tells a story

,
’

“
of a charmed dagger He says . A
friend of mine has a dagger which was
said to have the gruesome property of
inspiring any one who took hold o f
C HAP T ER I V
STONES

E RTAI N stones are said to

be fated for luck or other
wise and we find these
,

ranging from those worn

as ornaments to those
w e i g h i n g m a n y tons .

Among the former class is one belong

ing to the famous L ady Ellenborough ,

known among the Arabs of Damascus

and in the desert after her last marriage
, ,

as Han oum Me dj ou ye . It was pre

sented to her by a Druze from Mount
L ebanon This charm is a green stone
.

of a pentagonal form : at the bottom

is engraved a fish ; higher Solomon s
,
’

seal and still higher the four Chaldaic

,

lett ers which form the name o f the Deity .

 STONES 3 I

There are many strange stories connected

with this stone .

It is commonly thought that M r .

Leopold de Rothschild owes his luck in

winn i ng the Derby with St Amant to a .

litt le green stone carved in the shape o f ,

a Hindoo god which he carries ,

about with him ; though it is The litt le

suspect ed that his luck was fla
strengt hened on the above De by
e“
r
m
occasion through a soap stone -

which some one anonymously sent him

with a lett er saying that it often brought
its owners luck .

M r B L Farj e on the novelist wears

. . .
, ,

a litt le green stone on his watch chain -

,

which he picked up many years ago in

New ! ealand and which is supposed to
,

hold the eminent writer s luck ’

.

Madame H P B lavatsky had in her

. .

possession a carnelian stone of a magical

nature Writing of the Shamans o f Tar
.

tary she says that they all have such

, ,

a stone which they wear attached to a

,

string and carry under the left arm On .

one occasion she was witness to some

3 2 HISTORI CAL C HA RMS

weird sights and doings brought about ,

by a S haman through one of these

charmed stones who appeared to be able
,

to separate his astral body from the

physical and travel in this at the bidding
,

of her unspoken wish .

Among those stones which places them

outside of the category of j ewellery or
ornaments we must name the ,

The stone
C oronation Stone in Westminster
mas t f
co Abbey E nclosed in the seat
o

m m
.

“
of St Edward s chair it is a
.
’
,

stone to which some peculiar

properties are attributed I t is asserted .

to b e the same which the Patriarch rested

his head upon in the plain of Luza and ,

is said to have been carried first to

B rigantia a city of Galli ci a in Spain
,
.

From thence Simon B rech brought it into

Ireland : he lived about seven hundred
years before Christ and was the first K ing
,

of the S cots From there about three

.
,

hundred and seventy years later it was ,

taken into Scotland by King Fergus In .

the year 85 0 A D King Kenneth placed

. .

it in th e Abbey of S cone t his being the ,

 STONES 33

place where th e S cottish kings were

usually crown ed In the year 1 2 9 7 it
.

was brought into England by King Ed

ward I and placed in Westminster Abbey
.
, .

The tradition is that it murmurs approv al

at the coronati on when the rightful heir
assumes his or her seat on it I t was .
,

in former times carried at the head of the

,

army as a mascot of victory an d the ,

hooks by which it was suspended still

remain .

Some curious stori e s att ac h to the

stones on Stone henge one of th ese is that
,

when one of the large stones fall a

sovereign will die ; and it is said that
only a few days before the death
of Queen Victoria one of the
great blocks whic h help to form de a
u g

t
gy
h f
“
m o

the old Druid temple fell from $335,

its place during a severe gale .

In the island of Fladda Chuan there

is a chapel dedicated to St Columbus
, . .

On an altar a round blue stone rests ,

which is always moist The fishermen

.

wash this stone to procure a favourable

wind There is another stone in I ona
.

3
34 HISTO RI CA L C HARMS

over which if a man stretches his arm

three times he will never err in steering
a v essel .

I n the island of B e rn ora there is a stone

in the form of a cross At one time it.

was the custom of the natives to erect it

when they wished rain and to lay it flat
,

on the ground for dry weather From .

this it derived the name of the water cross .

A green stone about the size of a goose

egg was the pride of the island of Arran .

B y laying it on the side of a person troubled

with pain in that part of the body ,

the patient immediately recovered unless ,

the patient was doomed to die when the ,

stone would move of its own accord from

t he side .

Just beside the chief gate of the Imperial

Palace of Mukden stands an insignificant
black stone I t is nothing to
.

The hl h
ee
look at and
,
one might pass it
st one or t he a dozen times without attach
Chine“
ing any importance to it It .

is an ordinary shaft of black

basalt eighteen inches high oct agonal
, ,

in s h ape old and worn This stone is to

, .
 STO NES 35

the Manchurian race the mascot of their

imperial position ; and the legend runs
that when the Chinese dynasty loses
,

possession of the black stone of Mukden ,

it will lose the throne of China as well

.

The celebrated Dr Dee posse ssed a

.

charmed stone of which he made inquiries

as to the future This charm came into
.

the keeping of Horace Walpole and was

,

long if not now in the Strawberry Hill

, ,

collection
.
C HAP T ER V
B UI LDI NG S , T REES , AND H ERB S

all parts of the world

N
there are h ouses that are
practically un le t able on
account of weird legends
att aching t o them Give .

a dog a bad name an d hang

him ,
is an old saw whic h many owners
of property could easily para
Uh lh ehy
phrase and then apply it to cert ain
h use! are houses they possess and to which
o

an ill fate appears to att ach for

-

when this has once established

“

itself then the owner might as well raze

,

th e house to the ground I ll luck or its .

opposite may be said to be built into a

house and it is seldom that those who
,

36
3 8 HIST O RI C AL C HARMS

and the house stands as a monument to

the futility of human ambition .

The Empress Eugenie s sister the ’

,

late Duchess of Alba only occupied the ,

palace erected for her in the Champs

E lysees a few months before she was
seized with a sudden illness and died in ,

a mysterious manner which gave rise

to curious rumours The palace was .

subsequently pulled down .

In history we find that there are some

trees herbs and vegetables to which this
, ,

mysterious faculty has been ascribed and ,

which appear to have some strange

affinity with individuals and families .

Aubrey in his writings says I cannot

, , ,

omit taking notice of the great misfortune

in the family of the Earl of Winchelsea ,

who at Eastwell in K ent felled

, ,

down a most curious grove of

m
Str ause
“ w
? trees near his o n noble seat
fig t ees and gave the first blow with his
r

own hands Shortly after his

.

countess died in her bed suddenly and ,

his eldest son the L ord Maidstone was

, ,

k i ll ed at sea by a cannon ball .

 B UI LDI NG S , TR EES , AND H ER B S 39

At B re t ley near B urton

,
Trent the- on -
,

old seat of the Stanhopes and now of L ord

,

Carnarvon by inheritance in the female

,

l ine the charmed tree is a fine old cedar

,

near the hall from whence a bough falls

when a death occurs in the family It .

is stated that this tree is now chained up

and banded with iron .

For several hundred years it has been

affirmed that prior to the death of an
E arl of Se afi e ld there is a violent storm
,

and a fir tree which is the crest of the

,

Grants is invariably uprooted and cast

,

to the ground with its head lying in the

direction of the Se afi e ld s residence ’
.

Many people will have heard of the

Coalstoun Pear this fruit was given as
a talisman on her wedding day to the
daughter and heiress of the family by a
wizard more than three centuries
Em ma“
ago with the injunction that di sa t
, s er
l t was never to be eaten or cut t h ugh ro
m m
.

At the close of the e i ght e e n t h phe “ a

century the wife of the he ad

of the family out of curiosity bit a
, ,

piece out of the fruit At once came .

4 0 HISTORI C AL C HA RMS

financial disaster and part of the property

,

had to b e sold The remains of the pear

.
,

now shrunk to the size of a marble are ,

carefully preserved in a silver casket .

The mandrake perhaps unsurpassed

,

for its mystic qualities is said to bring

,

good luck to those who possess it It is

.

regarded as a species of elf in France ,

and J oan of Arc is thought to have owed

her v ictories to a mandrake root.
C HAP T E R V I
HUMAN S KULLS

HERE are many charmed

skulls in existence at the
present day and perhaps
,

one connected with B u r

ton Agnes Hall is the
most celebrated .This
hall is the country seat of the B oyntons .

In the time of Elizabeth the

hall and estates became vested 1 wei d
m
r

in three sisters co heiresses a ?

,
-
,

who determined to have erected c A ne! Hall

for themselves and their de

s ce n dan t s t he present mansion instead
of the older building The younger of
.

the three sisters who had taken special

,

interest in the erection of the new house ,

4 2 HIST O RI CAL C HARMS

was brutally maltreated by some ru ffi an s

when paying a visit to Harpham Hall ,

the residence of Lady St Quentin and .

,

died very shortly after B efore her death.

,

she made her sisters promise that her

head should be removed from her body
and preserved within the hall to remain ,

there for ever She also left a weird

.

message to future owners of the house

that if they disobeyed these injunctions
she would render the place unhabitable .

Her sisters who had only made the

,

promise to pacify her had the body ln ,

t e rre d in the church without decapitation .

A very short time afterwards such dis ,

t u rban c e s took place that the servants

refused to remain in the hall and it ,

became in truth impossible to live there

, ,
.

The two sisters then consulted with the

vicar of the parish and had the co ffin
,

brought up from the vault and on opening , ,

it found the head severed from the body

, ,

and rapidly assuming the appearance of

a fl e shle ss skull The skull was duly
.

brought to the house and placed on a table

in the hall where with the exception of
, ,
 H UMAN S KULLS 43

very short periods it has remained ever

,

since On one occasion the B oynton of

.

the day ignoring or disbelieving his

,

ancestress s power to make things u n

’

pleasant caused the skull to be buried

,

in the garden The result was that

.

dreadful wailings and numerous crashi n gs

were heard about the hall and the skull ,

had to be taken up again .

At B ett iscombe House near B ridport

, ,

in Dorsetshire there is a charmed human

,

relic known as the Screaming Skull

it is said to be that of a negro though the ,

true history of the skull does not

appear to be known Tradition 932mm “
.

says that the negro had de Sk ull ”

f o
m
c lare d before his death that if 532 1:
his body was not taken to his
native land his spirit would not rest The .

body was buried but such disturbances

,

took place in the house that it had to be

taken up for peace and quietness The .

skeleton has gradually disappeared but ,

the skull remains and is kept as a charm

,
.

Another skull is preserved for similar

r easons at Tunstead Farm near Chapel ,
44 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

on -
Frith in Derbyshire This is a
lo
-
, .

female skull and if it is removed every

,

thing ou the farm goes wrong The .

inhabitants of the locality have many

tales to tell of its mystical performances .

Wardley Hall near Manchester is , ,

noted for its possession of an unburied

human skull It is supposed to be the
.

skull of Roger Downe who was the heir ,

to the property but having met his death

in a brawl in L ondon his head was sent ,

to his sister and this head has been kept

,

at the hall ever since for any ,

1 skull one trying to get rid of it is

t punished
o
severely —indeed it is ,
st ay stated that do what they will , ,

it is always sure to return The .

place has changed hands many times but ,

each succeeding tenant endures the skull s ’

presence rather than put up with the

annoyances and terrors which take place
on its removal .

At the Old M anor House Kn ares ,

borough ln Yorkshire there is a haunted

, ,

room called the B lue B edroom the door ,

of which cannot be kept closed It has .

C HAP T ER V I I
H UMAN BEI NG S AND ANIMALS

T is a well established be
-

lief that some human

beings possess it may be
,

unconsciously this same

,

strange power and are

,

notably lucky or unlucky

to those they come into close contact with .

I t is stated that the Rothschilds

M nd
eh e
will never employ a man if
wm no ethey know him to have been
8" hu m“
c
unlucky . The writer of this
work is acquainted with a man
who boasts of his power as a mascot for
good luck to any one who has dealings
with him .

I n society Lady B ancroft was always

46
 H UMAN BEI N G S AND AN IMALS 47

credited with the power of being a mascot

so much was this believed that many of
her friends begged some object from her
that she had worn and to these favoured
,

ones she usually gave a shoe .

Examples of human beings who act as

unlucky forces are numerous and prob ,

ably the most prominent of these are to

be found among those of royal
blood who have adopted a sea h ,
“ e
faring life as a profession il who sa ors
m
.

“
i “I “
Among these may be mentioned n '

the Grand Duke Alexis the ,

Duke of Coburg his brother in law Arch- -

,

duke J ohn of Austria and the Prince of

, ,

Leiningen .

Mr Da rn borou gh the successful Ameri

.
,

can player at Monte Carlo appears to ,

have discovered two human charms We .

are told that his luck changed

when he substituted a gold pig as
a luck bringer for the two young h u nt
g
- e o e

ladies who always accompanied mfiafi l

fl
'

him as mascots when he played .

When he first went to the Casino he ,

would not play unless he had one of these

48 HISTO RI CAL C HARMS

ladies on each side and a number of st acks

of gold pieces in front S uddenly he .
,

changed his tactics The ladies dis

.

appeared and he put a lit tle gold pig on

,

the table in front of him Since then he .

has had little luck .

This same mystic force will often attach

itself to a name irrespective of the tem
,

p e r am e n t of the individual bearing it .

I n 1 66 4 , on December st h the ship ,

Men ai was crossing the Straits and ,

capsized in a gale Eighty one passengers

.
-

were on board and only one was saved

, .

His name was Hugh Williams On De .

c e m be r st h 1 785 a schooner was wrecked

, ,

on the I sle of Man S ixty persons were

.

aboard among them one Hugh

,
Th
ehf m ed W illiams and his fa m ily Only .

n am e o f one survived the shock and that ,

m was old Hugh W illiams On .

August st h 1 82 0 a picnic
, ,

ing party on t he Thames was run down

by a coal barge Of the twenty five
.
-

p i cn i c e
,
r s most of whom were under
t welve years of age only one child aged
, ,

five returned to tell the tale His name

, .
 H UMAN BEI N G S AND ANIMALS 49

was Hugh Williams On August l gt h .

,

1 889 a Leeds coal barge with nine men

, , ,

foundered Two of them were rescued

.

by some fishermen They were an uncle .

and his nephew and both were named ,

Hugh Williams .

Turning to animals we find that the ,

black cat is held in high favour as a luck

bringer in I taly ; while many
people in England look upon it Th hl h e ee
as a good omen when a strange t a ca s a
lu k b mg“
black cat comes and takes up ’
'

its residence in the house .

At Cowes the Kaiser s Cup was won

,
’

by the S a tan l ta wi th S ir Maurice Fitz

,

ge rald s black e at on board

’
.

Three black cats are stated to have been

taken by Dr B arton the aeronaut on one
.
, ,

of his trips these were carried as luck

,

bringers .

Mdlle Nathalie J
. an ot ha court pianist to ,

the German Emperor possesses a mascot ,

in the form of a cat which is black but , ,

answers to the name of White Heather - .

This cat wears a golden necklet which has ,

been blessed by the Pope and he possesses ,

4
So HISTO RI CAL C HARMS

gi fts innumerable for he has visited nearly

,

every European Court and a tuft of his ,

hair is in possession of most of the crown ed

heads who keep it as a charm One day
, .
,

while M dlle J an ot ha was playing to Mr

. .

Gladstone during his last illness this

, ,

favoured cat entered the room with a

sprig of white heather in his mouth which ,

he presented to th e aged statesman .

I n the Park of Chartley near Li chfie ld , ,

a seat of the Fe rre rs family was preserved ,

a species of wild cattle Their colour .

was white muzzles black the whole of

,

the inside of the ear and about one third -

of the outside from the tip downwards

, ,

red ; horns white with black ,

Th wild
e
tips I t is recorded
. that in the
cat t le or year wh en the battl e of B urton
Ohm ”
B ridge was fought and lost ,

that a black calf was born in

this herd and th e downfall of the house
,

of Fe rre rs happened about the same time .

The belief was that the birth of a black

or dark hued calf from this wild herd was
-

a sure sign of death within the same year

to a member of th e Fe rre t s family Th e .
 H UMA N B EI NG S AND AN IMALS 5 1

S t a ffords h l re of J uly 1 83 5 says

Ch ron i cle , ,

that a calf of this description has been

born whenever a death has happened in
the family of late years .

The mascot of the Re n o wn the vessel ,

which conveyed the Prince and Princess

of Wales to I ndia in 1 9 05 was a rabbit, ,

which died on the voyage and was con

signed to the waves of the B ay o f B iscay .
C HAP T ER V I I I
DI VERS C HA RMS

HOSE readers who have

visited the B ritish Museum
m ay h a v e n o t i c e d a
mummy case No , .

This case has a strange

st ory attached to it All .

those whose hands it has passed through

have in some manner or other come
under the curse of the Priestess of
Am e n Ra wh o s e b o d y o r
-
, ,

mummy the case has been the

,

t l u mummy c ov e r i n g
a to . Th o u gh th e
mummy still rests in its native
M use um land one of the hands was
brought to England . Among
the list of the remarkable occurrences
which befell those who were connected
5 2
S4 HIST O RI C AL C HARMS

on which he was captured was the only one

on which he had failed to wear this charm .

The Marquis of Ripon who though

, ,

a Roman Catholic yet traces his descent

,

back to Oliver Cromwell possesses a

,

curious relic of his ancestor When the.

body of the Lord Protector was taken from

its resting place in Westminster Abbey
-
,

in order to be decapitated and buried under

the gallows of Tyburn there was attached
,

to it an inscription on a meta l plate This .

plate passed to the daughter of the sergeant ,

who was entrusted with the horrible task ,

and came into t he han ds of the Ripon family ,

where it has remained since as a mascot .

A stream which is connected with the

fortunes of the family is to be found on
the estates of the Countess of Cromarti e .

S ome time ago she lost her little

h me d
child
, and what made the death
st e am or
r more than usually tragic is that ,

it seemed to be the fulfilment

of an old prophecy which was
,

to the effect that when this stream was

turned the estates would in future not go
in direct succession and it happened that
 DI V ERS C HA RM S 55

some alterat ions or improvements had

been made on her property which entailed
this being done .

Th e B lack B e d of the Otway family ,

which the owners will not part with for

any price is another mysterious possession
, .

I t is a gigantic four poster made of ebony

-

and beautifully carv ed A peculiarity of it

.

is th at all its furniture is as black as night .

A curious sto ry is told of the late

President K ruger Many years ago the
.

President bought from an old half breed -

woman pedlar a meerschaum pipe to ,

which she ascribed the power

of foretelling the future The fhfm ed ’

m
.
e
old woman predi ct ed that three y:

important changes in his life

would be foretold by accidents
befalling the pipe Early in the year
.

1 88 1
, before the independence of the
Transvaal was modified the stem came ,

to pieces a little before the J ameson

Raid he c h ipped a piece of the bowl ;
just before his departure for the B loem
fontein Conference the pipe fell to the
ground and was smashed to fragments
, .
5 6 HISTO RI C AL C HARMS

I n L aing sTravels among Tim anni

’
,

the K ou ran k os and the Sou lim as there

, ,

is a description by an English traveller

of a very curious scene A body of .

picked soldiers fired upon a chief who had

nothing to defend himself with
Bull te but certain charms Although
”
.

PM W “ their muskets were properly

loaded and aimed not a ball
could strike him .

A similar case is given by Salve rt e ,

”
in his Philosophy of Occult S ciences ,

where in 1 5 68 the Prince of Orange

, ,

condemned a Spanish prisoner to be shot

at Juliers The soldiers tied him to a
.

tree and fired but he was not hurt They

, .

at last stripped him to see what armour

he wore but found only an amulet
, .

When this was taken from him he fell

dead at the first shot .

Nelson the hero of Trafal gar had

, ,

great fai th in the luck of a

0
horseshoe and one was ,na i led
to the mast of the ship Vi c t ory .

Among the numerous charms possessed

by the S hah of Persia may be mentioned
 D I V E RS C HA RMS 57

a gold star called Me rz ou m which has ,

the reputation of making conspirators

immediately confess Another important
.

one is a cube of amber this is supposed

to render the S hah invulnerable and he ,

wears it about his neck A third charm .

is a little box of gold set in emeralds and

, ,

blessed by the prophet .

We must not pass the famous Roth

schild talisman which is an heirloom
, ,

and on the possession of which

the fortunes of the family are The t alis
thought to depend I t is in the
.

form of a small gold casket family ,

about the size of a snuff box -

,

but the secret of its power lies hidden in

words inscribed within .

Lord B acon was of o pinion that if a

man wore a planet seal it might aid
him in obtaining the affections of his
sweethe art give him protection at sea
,

and in battle and make him more

,

courageous .

When at Paris Lord Verulam had his

,

hands covered with warts They were .

removed by the English ambassador s ’

5 8 HIST O RI C AL C H ARMS

wi fe wh o resorted to a ch arm f or this

,

purpose .

The famous wrestler known as the ,

Terrible Turk has a charm ,

l
Ei-2mm, which was placed round his neck
by his father this charm never
“
chm leaves him for whether,wrest l in g
or sleeping he always wears it .

At a meeting of the Cheshire Football

Association it was reported that a B arnton
,

player when taking part i n a leagu e

,

match at Davenham had th e misfortune,

to break his leg and that another player

,

attached to the same club had also

fractured a limb a fortnight later As .

both men had worn th e same pair of

boots the club s o fficials believed that
,
’

there was an affinity between the second

and th e first accident and promptl y ,

ordered the destruction of the boots .

The M acleods of Dunvegan Castle ,

Syke possess a fairy flag said to be

, ,

powerful when waved to avert any mis

fortune to the family .
C HAP T ER I X

C HAR M S I N RELI G I O N

we turn to th e various
religions of the world we ,

find that a belief in a

magical power such as has ,

been ascribed to amu lets ,

charms etc , has pre

.
,

vai led in some form or another and even ,

does at the present day Either it is the be

.

lief i n th e miraculous power of relics idols , ,

consecrated water or some of the other

,

numerous so called superstitions found

-

among the many religions and the di fferent

races I n a work of this kind it is only
.

possible to give a few historical references

from a vast number of cases which could ,

if space permitted be gath ered together

, .

D escendants of Abraham believed that

59
60 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

their great ancestor wore suspended f rom ,

his neck a precious stone the sight o f

, ,

which cured every diseas e .

J osephus maintains that the precious

stones o f Aaron s breast plate were the ’
-

Th h ed “ ,
e
Ue
rim and Thum m in and that ,

“one: on these possessed certain properties

m t
ah “ so that ,
they discovered or
“th dicted the issue of events to
pre
£3232 those who consulted them
e

Many people are o f opinion that the

e arrings which J acob buried under the
oak of Se che m were ch arms ; while we
have already seen that S olomon was the
possessor of a magic ring .

Again in the Western scriptures Acts

, ,

xix 1 1 1 2 we read
.
,
And God wrought
,

special miracles by the hands

fl
fififife
‘
of Paul so that from his body
101 i th were brought unto the sick
$ ; : h andkerchiefs or aprons and
e
t
,

the diseases departed from them ,

and the evil spirits went out of them .

I t is quite probable that St J ohn .

alludes to the white carnelian a gem ,

well known among adepts for its occult

62 HISTORI CAL C HARMS

I t was the custom at one time f or the

Popes to send a golden k e yt o fai t hfu lp ri e st s ,

wherein was enclosed a small quantity o f

the filings of St Peter s keys kept sacred
.
’
,

at Rome These charms were worn in the

.

bosom to protect the happy possessor from

disease misfortune and evil spirits
, , .

I t is stated that an angel delivered a

written charm to one of the Popes and ,

h m i t t en
directed him to take it to King
char m gi ven Charles when he went to the
battle of Roncesvalles The holy .
at
the b at t l
e messenger said t hat whoever
carried a copy of this writing ,

and every day said three pater

nosters three aves and one creed would
, , ,

be saved from all enemies and dangers .

The charmed tomb of Abbé Paris a ,

J ansenist who died in 1 72 7 is worthy

, ,

of mention Hume in his Philosophical

.
,

Essays says, There surely never was

,

so great a number of miracles ascribed

to one person as those which were lately
said to have been wrought in France
upon the tomb of the Abbé Paris .

To day we have a charm of great valu e

-
 C HARMS I N RELI G I O N 63

in the Holy Coat of Treves which is

,

perhaps the most famous of all the

various religious charms ; it s magi cal
properties being att ributed to its having
been worn by J esus the Christ This .

coat is made o f a dull brown material

unlike anyt hing manufactured nowadays .

I t is about four feet six inches in length ,

the back being a trifle longer

Th 1“ ,
than the front ; the width at 002, 02
the chest is twenty seven inches
-
,

Whils t at the bottom it is about prope -fl ag l

three feet and a half . It

is seldom that th is coat is exposed to
—
popular gaze indeed only three ex
,

positions have taken place during the

last century the first was in 1 8 1 0 when ,

a hundred thousand people passed through

the cathedral the second was in 1 844 ,

when the number of pilgrims exceeded

a million ; and i n 1 89 1 the number
exceeded all that had formerly been
known I f we gl an ce at these numbers
.
,

it will be di ffi cult to say that the interest

in charms is on the decrease Many .

cures o f various diseases and affl i cti ons

64 H I S T ORI C AL C HA RMS

took place during the last exhibition .

Among these may be mentioned cases o f

complete blindness lupus a withered
, ,

limb St Vitus s dance an issue of blood

, .
’
, ,

paralysis an d intestinal tuberculosis

, .

These cures have of course been placed

down to imagination and suggestion ;
but this explanation is placed out o f
court when we take into consideration
,

the cures of children or rather infants

, ,

under two years of age such as Peter B u l

, ,

of B urdenbach Th i s child of .

I t i not
s little more than eighteen months
£ 32333? old is certified by Dr W eber as .

“on having completely lost the sight

of his right eye owing to i n ,

fl am mat i on o f the brain while the sight

,

of the left eye had become weak and ,

the right arm had become paralysed .

Medical treatment had hitherto had no

results and any considerable improve
,

ment was almost out of the question .

The child was taken to the cathedral ,

an d the moment it touched the charmed

coat it utt ered a cry f or it is always

,

necessary to come into contact with this

 C HARMS I N RELI G IO N 65

ch arm i f a cure is to be perf ormed .

When they o ffered the chil d f ood it ,

grasped it with its paralysed arm and on , ,

returning home they f ound the child

,

could see Two ye ars later the doctor

.

certified that the child could see with both

eyes an d the p aralysis had completely
,

disappeared from it s arm This is only

.

one case out o f many wh i ch places the

cures outside the realm o f suggestion
an d imagination .

Under the heading o f religious charms

must be placed the Holy H and or as , ,

it is sometimes called the Dead Hand

, .

This hand is known to have

belonged to Father Edmund l d ad hand e
wit h u a
Arr owsm l t h a J e su l t who suf m m
c r
, ,
p e
fe re d the extreme penalty of the parti es

law at Lancaster on August 2 8t h

, ,

1 62 8
. The story is that after his body
was cut down the right hand was cut off ,

i n compliance with his dying injunctions

and to fulfil h is promise that he would
work miraculous cures on those it was
brought into contact with For many .

years th e hand was kept at B ryn Hall

5
66 HISTORI C AL C HA RMS

then it was removed to S ir Robert Gerard s ’

res idence Garswood Hall and afterwards

, ,

it was placed in the custody of the priest

in the Catholic Chapel at Ashton in -

Mask e rfi e ld Numerous and marvellous

.

are the cures placed to its credit .

At one time Spe dlin s Tower which ’

,

stands on the bank of the Annan pos ,

sessed a B ible which acted as a charm

to keep a restless spirit in order and
confine it to one portion of the building .

On one occasion when the B ible was

removed the spirit made such a com
moti on that the B ible was quickly recalled
an d pla ced in its usual position on the
staircase after this had been done the
,

disturbance c eased .

General Kuropatkin the famous Rus

,

sian general had in his possession a

,

valuable ikon or holy pict ure

, ,

which was supposed to have

g“ t the power o f protecting hl m i n
en ral
e

h ? 31;
.

e
t all-
man times of danger This ikon .

was presented to him by the

town council of St Petersburg I t con
. .

sists o f six h andsome paintings of saints

 CHARMS IN RELI G ION 67

o f the Greek Church enclosed in a ,

magnificent gold f rame The idea is .

very prevalent among Russi an soldiers ,

that it would be unwise to court danger

without some talisman of this kind .

The famous stone of Caaba must be

c las sed as a holy charm I t is a black .

stone and sometimes is called the B lack

,

Stone of Mecca The faithful devoutly

.
’

kiss it and look upon it as a talisman

,
.

The S ca rab so called from its resem

,

bl ance in form to that of a beetle was ,

used as an amulet and was ,

pla ced over the heart o f the Th ac ed e s r

mummy by the Egyptians or ,

used to replace the heart itself ti am .

They are mostly composed of

a hard yellowish or dark green stone
, .

The Egyptians were firm believers in a

future state an d thought that the scarab
,

would help to re unite the soul and body

-

when the time came f or the soul to again

inhabit the body which was preserved ,

f or this reason .

The subject of beads is a vast one and ,

many people have an idea that these were

68 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

manufact ured f or ornaments only but ,

he e d “ re
e e
in E gypt they were worn as a
o i gi all y
r n religious ch arm . The lotus ,
“m m
crux ansata and tat o f Osiris
, ,

are o f this type and were used as such

, .

To day we find the Hand of Mary

-

an d the Eye B ead of Sy ria used as amulets.

70 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

countryside Her name was Gu e n frewi

. .

Marri age had no att ractions for her and ,

great was the consternation of the youths

in the neighbourhood when it was whis
pered that she was going to bury her
beauty in the cloister One named Cara .
,

doc determined that he would not lose

,

the girl for want of courage and attention .

He called at her parents house and found ’

,

Gu e n fre wi all alone Caradoc seized the

.

opportunity and o ffered her his heart an d

,

his hand but to all his pleading she

,

turned a deaf ear an d absolutely refused

,

to reconsider her decision to adopt a

monastic c areer Caradoc began to
.

threaten and Gu e n frewi rushed through

,

the open door toward the church where

her parents were hearing mas s cele
brat e d by St B euno Caradoc who was
. .
,

more fleet of foot overtook her and

, , ,

with a blow from his sword severed ,

her head from her body Hearing the .

commotion her parents came on the

,

scene and raised a piteous cry whereon ,

St B euno left the altar and confronted

.

Caradoc , who stood with dri ppi ng sword

 C HARM ED WELLS 7 1

besi de his victim S eeing what had hap

.

pened the priest cursed the murderer

, ,

an d in a moment the earth

Opened and Caradoc was swal at Beuno
m
.

lowed up Taking up the severed

.
2
:
head o f Gu e n frewi St B euno Ca adoc
, . r

fitted it as best he could to her

shoulders and covered it over with his
cloak returning to complete the cele
,

bration o f mass When this was over

.

he removed the covering from the corpse ,

when 10 they f ound that a great wonder

had been worked for the maiden was
,

alive and well her head had reunited to

her body and where the head of the
,

beautiful maiden had fallen there sprung ,

up a well of water which from that day

,

to this has never ceased to flow Guen .

fre wi afterwards known as St Wi n e fri de

, .
,

entered into a religious course of lif e ,

and lived at Holy Well till St B euno died . .

S he was subsequently canonised and ,

f rom th at day to this remains an obj ect

of dev otion The rush o f pilgrims to
.

this charmed well is so great as to some

what overwhelm the primitive resources
73 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

of the litt le village o f Holywell The .

magical properties o f the water cannot

be doubted and even the Lan ce t does
,

not seek to repudiate the truth

Th e of the cures but admits their
,

curati v
realit
e
y a n d seeks
,
to account for
f
lit e r o them in th e usual way ; but as
with the Holy Coat o f Treves ,
doub t ed it will be f ound a di ffi cult task
to place all these cures down to
imagination or suggestion .

T he ch armed waters of Wales do not

stand alone f or what Holywell is to
,

B ritain so is Lourdes to France and

, ,

M ugnano to I taly The cures are as

.

c ri be d to S t Wi n e fride at the one to the

.
,

B lessed Virgin at another an d the honour ,

given to St Philomena at M ugnano

. .

We need not take a j ourney to the

ch w ed places mentioned to find ch armed
m
e

or holy water f or it is used in

g all Roman Catholic Churches ,

R m
o an

that is i f the priests have carried

,
5
out their duty conscientiously .

Originally the position o f the planet

J upiter was taken into accoun t i n the
 C HARME D WELLS 73

b l essi ng of h o l y water I t is placed at the

.

door and the faithful on entering dip their

,

fingers into the water and make with it ,

the sign of the Cross upon their foreheads

or breasts This is done in order to drive
.

away from them evil thoughts or feelings ,

and to puri fy them f or the services in

which they are about to take part I n .

baptism what we may term charmed

,

water is again used and this not only in

,

the above Church but also in the Church

,

o f England .

I n the S outhern Church o f B uddh ism

in the East there is a ceremony that of
,
—
the recitation o f the verses of Paritt a
—where charmed water is used Ropes
,

are held in the hands o f the monks and

connected with a large vessel o f water
during the time taken to recite The
the sac red verses After the Buddhi t
.
s

ceremony the water is distributed 22 z 3’ffm

° ‘

m
e

and the ropes cut into pieces

which are given away and the
a ,

people receiving a piece wear it as a

c h arm .
C HAP T ER X I
THE HORS ESHO E AND SOM E OL D
DAY C HA RMS
belie f in the efficac y
HE
of the horseshoe as a
lucky charm is wide
spread andever since it was
,

recognised as a horseshoe ,

it appears to have been

accounted lucky I t may be seen used
.

as such in any town village or

, ,

Th h se
e orhamlet throughout England ; it
1
$2; is popular in the United S tates
b inge
r r the belief flourishes among
the Teutonic and S candinavi an
races and as far east as I ndia
, . No
witch is said to be able to enter a building ,

no evil come where a horseshoe is nailed ,

p rongs down wards Popular superstition

.
 THE HO RSES HO E

has for ages endowed the metal iron wit h

protect ing powers while the half ci rcle
,
-

o r crescent is also considered fortu nate .

M any are the exp lanations given as to

why this crescent of iron the horseshoe , ,

was and sti ll is looked upon as such a

, ,

powerful charm .

One story is that the holy St D unst an .

,

who is the patron saint of blacksmiths ,

was one day at work in his forge when

S ata n assailed his virtu e di sguised in ,

fem ale beauty St D unstan

. .

detected the personation and St Dunst an ,

.

when the S atanic courtesan was

trying to fascinate him through ho se shoe s r

his forge window he ni pped the ,

demon s nose with hot pincers Again

’
.

S atan tried his luck in similar disguise ,

but St D unstan tied him to the forge rack

.
-
,

and shod him with red hot horseshoes - .

From that day forth S atan avoids black

smiths and even a horseshoe strikes him
,

or his followers with terror .

The Moham m e de n says it is because

of the form which is the sacred crescent
,

o f I slam The Cin gale e use th em be cause

.
76 HI S TOR I CAL CHARMS

of th e resemblance to the sacred snake ,

Nagendra ,
one of their deities The .

Jew looks upon it as a symbol

m y “the of the Passover where
, the blood
ho seshoe
r sprinkled upon the lintel and
I m“?
‘
door posts appeared in the form
-

of an arch The Arabs and the

.

Tuscan peasants associate the shoe with

the new moon Here we appear to
.
,

approach very near to the true origin of

the belief and why it is so frequently
found on doors and entrances ; for the
crescent was the symbol of the Moon
goddess D iana who was supposed to be
,

the guardian of doors and houses There .

is another explanation based on astrology ,

and one which is worth taking into con

sideration The horse is ruled by Jupiter
.
,

so is therefore considered lucky ; and

anything that has been worn by this
animal becomes a charm especially when
,

in the form of a crescent and made of the

lucky metal iron .

Another popular luck bringer and one

-
,

much sought after by sailors and fishermen ,

i s a chi ld s caul If hun g in a cabi n it

’
.
78 H I STORI CAL C HA RMS

by some of the magicians and philosophers

of the past we find menti on of many
,

quaint and peculiar objects and some of

,

these are used and believ ed in at the

present day .

One writer tells us in al l sincerity how

to make a charmed comb which will
remove any headache I f the pain is
.

on the right side o f the head the comb

,

must be made from the right horn of a

ram if the other side then use the left
,

horn .

The hare has always been looked upon

“
as a mystery animal by those who
believe in these things The.

23 l ittle bone in the knee j oint

- of
the hind leg of a hare will
quickly cure the cramp if the
part afflicted is touched with it .

Of the fox we learn that : A small

piece of the tongue of a fox being
moistened and made soft in vinegar after ,

being dried draweth out a thorn or any

,

other thing deep in the flesh by laying

it thereon.

The heart of a kite worn about the neck

,
 THE HO RS ESHOE 79

or finger mitigates choler wrath con

, , ,

tention and preserves the wearer from

,

all evil e ffects thereof I t also stops .

bleeding of every kind .

Albertus Magnus says of the herb

he li ot r opi on that if a man wrap it in a
,

bay leaf with a wolf s tooth no one can ’

speak an angry word to the wea rer Put .

under a pillow it will bring a vision before

,

the eyes of the man who has been robbed ,

and he will see the thie f and all his be

longings .

The heart of a toad suspended by a

blue ribbon round the neck will cure the
king s evil The skin of a civet cat
’
.
-
,

worn in battle will protect the wearer ,

from injury A weasel s tail .

’

carried in the pocket will repel Shine “he , ,

the attacks of savage dogs A n d t o gu s a n e
m
.

chameleon s tongue carried by’ “

a man he can defy all the
,

sharpers in the world Moonwort is a .

powerful charm ; it will loosen fetters ,

locks and the shoes from horses feet

,
’
.

One bone of a frog will engender love ,

another will cause hatred .

C HAP T ER X I I
SOM E C URATI VE C HARMS

worn during the middle

ages and their use in
,

various forms has not

bee n discarded at this day .

At one time they were

blessed and used by every English S ove
reign from Edward the Confessor down to
Queen M ary They were worn chiefly
.

as a virt ue against the cramp ,

rheumatism or falling sickness

, .

ev r y
e I n 1 5 2 9 Henry VIII wished to
.

5355223“ be divorced from Catherine

of Arragon Stephen Cowley
.

was dispatched to Rome t o plead with

Pope Clement to grant it Ann B oleyn
.

was natu rally interested i n t he success

80
 S O ME C URATI V E C HARMS 81

of the mission and sent several rings

, ,

wit h the following letter

.
—
Mr Stephen I send you here the ,

cramp rings and pray you to di stribute

-

them as she !you may assure them!will

,

be glad to do them any pleasure which

shall be in my power And thus I make .

an end praying God send you Good Health

,
.

Written at Greenwich 1 4t h day of ,

April 1 5 2 9
, ,

B y your assured friend ,

ANN B OLLEI N .

The se cramp rings gained their effi cacy

-

from the fact that they were made from

the K ing s Good Friday o ffering of gold
’
,

and blessed with a very elaborate cere

mony .

Among many of the S panish peasants

a belie f exists that a candle is a
charm against colds or coughs .

A small box made of a piece cur d by e

of a peculiar bark is filled with g xfifi

wet earth A candle is then
.

ta ken and fixed at one side of the box .

On retiring to rest t he candle is ligh t ed

6
82 HIST O RI C AL C HARMS

and set near the patient s bed When the

’
.

candle is burnt out the cough will have

disappeared .

I n the agricultural districts of England

it is a popular idea that all those who
carry a raw potato in the pocket can
keep off all forms of rheumatism These .

are sometimes carried until it is di fficult

to distinguish them from a large polished
pebble .

The seventh son of a seventh son is a

human charm for he possessesthe charmed
,

touch or gift of healing This belief is .

so metimes varied by being ap

plied to a seventh male child
se v nth son in succession whether or not his
e

P E M ‘
f ather has been a seventh
I n Lupton s Notable Things
’
son
,
.

ed 1 6 60 we find
.
,
“
I t is manifest by
experience that the seventh male child by
j u st or de r !never a girl or wench being born
bet ween ! doth heal only with touching ,

through a natural gift the king s evil ,

’
,

which is a special gift of God given to ,

kings and queens as daily exp eri ence

,

doth witness .
 S O ME CURATI V E C HARMS 83

The number seven plays a great part in

all magical operations thus we find that
a certain cure for blindness is to take
seven pieces of spleen fromseven heifers ,

and use these as food which a friend must

partake of After eating the friend must
.
,

break the plate they were served on or he

himself will become blind Rabbi Huna .

gave a charm f or fever and the ,

patient had to take seven di f The numbe

m
r

fe re n t grapes from seven different 3

3 “
grapevines seven chips from in charms
,

seven j oists seven nails from

,

seven bridges seven small quantities of

,

ashes from seven stoves seven bits of ,

earth from seven holes in the ground ,

seven pieces o f pitch from seven ships ,

seven grains of cumin seven hairs from

,

an old dog B ind all these together and

.

wear them over t he nap e o f the neck .

C HAP T E R X I I I
SPEL LS , OR WRITTE N C HARMS

H E RE are many forms o f

words and designs by
means of which certain
occult results are supposed
to be achieved these are ,

usually called spells Per .

haps the most common one is the

well known word Abracadabra some
-
,

times written as Abrasadabr a This .

word must be written on parchment

or pap er the first line in full then the
, ,

second line has the last letter

The my st i c omitted and so on till in the
, ,
'
Xi a n “ .
last line there only remains the
dab a
r
"
letter A the whole forming an
,

inverted cone I t is used f or

.

the curing of diseases Lord B yron who

.
,

was a believer in the p ower of such

84
86 HISTO RI C AL C H ARMS

of the old day charms used for

On e -

good or evil contains the following verse

It is n ot thi bl oo
s I wi s d h t o b urn ,
B ut h e ar t
I wi s to h tu rn ;
L et th e m n o t e at , s l e e p , di
r n k , n or re s t
U n il t th y e co me to me an d d o my re q ues t .

There is a spell in I ndia named t he .

S corpion charm and this is used for the ,

treatment of scorpion bites and neuralgic

pains I t is made in the form of a five
.

pointed star with the figure of

Th floo
h i
e
eh eh m a
e
scorpion
r
in the centre the ,

o f I ndi fo whole
a enclosed in a double
r
bit es an d
he u lei
e
circle
e
in which is written the
eighteenth verse of the six
t ee n t h chapter of S t Mark . .

A short inscription on paper skin or , ,

cloth is the most widespread form of

charm known in the Eastern Countries .

The writer of these charms often goes

through a special course of instruction
to prepare him for the work Among .

these are those which will enable the

wearer to discover treasure to win the ,

favour of a woman or man to discover ,

a run away wife to deliver a house or ,

 SPELLS . OR WRITT EN C H ARMS 87

p erson from evil spirits and even those ,

to bring friction bet ween husband and

wife or to compass the death of an enemy .

S ome of these professional charm writers -

have over t wo hundred of these spells

to choose from .

I t is not usually known that each

Psalm of our Western B ible is a potent
spell yet this is found to be so if we
,

read the Mosaic books of the Cabala

and the Talmud For example of Psalm
.
,

seventeen it is written that

3“
A traveller who prays this 32
, 33
1

psalm early in the morning ,

“
with ardour together with the
, a ,

proper prayer in the name om

,
cer t ain par
p
of J ah , will be secure from all
evil for t wenty four hours The prayer is
-
.

as follows May it be thy holy will 0 J ah , ,

J enora ,to make my j ourney prosperous ,

to lead me in pleasant paths to protect me ,

from all evil and to bring me safely back

,

to my loved ones for thy mighty and ,

adorable name s sake Amen ’

. .

Psalm t wenty one will give safety in

-

storms , we read : D uring an existing

88 HISTO RI C AL C HA RMS

storm at sea when there is danger at

,

hand mix rose oil salt water resin ;

,
-
, , ,

pronounce over it slowly this psalm and ,

the holy name J e hae n and then pour ,

the consecrated salve into the foaming

sea while uttering the following prayer
Lord o f the world thou rulest the ,

pride of the foaming and roaring sea and ,

calmest the terrible noise of the waves .

May it please thee for t he sake of thy

most holy name J e hae n
, to calm the ,

storm and to deliver us mercifully from

this danger Amen S elah . . .
’

I n Psalm twenty three we find a c harm

-

by which we may receive reliable instr u o

tions in regard to something through a
dream or vision The method i s
1 mm
.

hm ab ut
, to purify
o by fast ing and bathing
pro t i
e c pronounce the Psalm
d e ams o h oly name J ah seven ti mes and
r r
with the
m i n,e ,

pray at the end of each repeti

“
tion Lord of the world notwithst anding ,

thy unutterable might power exaltation , ,

and glory thou wilt still lend a listening

,

ear to the prayer of thy humblest c reature ,

and wilt fulfil his desires Hear my .

9 0 HIST O RI CAL C HARMS

Other scri ptu ral charms are Chapter

5 J ob verses
,
2 2 and 2 3 are good
against furious be asts Verses 1 9 2 0
.
, ,

and 2 4 against trouble in general For .

the overcoming of enemies take I saiah ,

Chapter 1 2 verse 2 Chapter 1 3 verse 1 0

, ,

and Chapter 1 7 verse 1 4 while to protect

,

from peril by fire and water I saiah ,

Chapter 4 3 verse 2 is potent

, .
C HAP T ER X I V
THE I NDI V ID UAL FAM ILY TRI BAL
, , ,

AND NATIO NAL C HARM

ND E R the first heading

must be placed charms
outside o f those handed
down from one person to
another for the individual
,

ch arm is o f benefit t o
one person only and may be one which
,

has been found or bought be

cause of some impression or The h,
p r e s e n t i m e n t t h a t i t w o ul d dividual
“m “
bring good luck An example
.

of this class will b e the golden

skull mentioned as belon gn g to M r .

Austin Osman Spare the artist These

, .

individual ch arms appear t o come i nt o

9 2 HIST O RIC AL C HARMS

the life at some period and to herald ,

luck or to shield from danger and ,

to lose their e fficacy and drop out of

history at the death of the one they
have benefited .

The family class is a large one and ,

consists of those handed down from father

to son or by one member of the family
,

to another and such as appear to affect

,

the whole family Here we can .

The famil y place the toadstone ring of the

“m German Emperor the Spanish ,

opal the ring of the Napoleons

, ,

the vase of Edenhall and many others

,

given in the previous part of this

work .

Under the heading of tribal we can

include various religions organ isations , ,

and bodies and though this is not so large

,

as the family class yet it will ,

The t i b al
r not b e di fficult t o gi ve some
“m example We have the various
.

religious sects with their relics

the Mohammedans with their black stone
of Mecca ; the j ewels with their Caba
list i c designs of the Masons ; the gems
 HISTORI C AL C H ARM S

the national we will include the Union

J ack the Stars and Stripes and all other
, ,

flags used to inspire the many nations

with patriotism and the soldiers with
courage .
 S E CT I O N II

O C C UL T JE WE LL ER Y A N D
G EM J : WH EN WH ERE A N D
. ,

H O W TO UJE TH EJE
‘ ‘
 A gi ft i s as a p re c i ou s s on e t y
in t he e e s of him t h at
hat h i t : wi th it tu rn e th , i t p ro s p e re
”
th
—
e rs oe v e r .

P ro ve rb s x vii 8 .

S we e t are t h e u se s of a v e rs i d ty ,
W ic
h h li ke a t o ad u gl y an d v e n o m ou s ,
W e ars
,

h e ad
,

ye t a p re c i o u s j we l
e i n hi s .

He wh o p os s e ss e s a t urquoi s e will al way s be s ure

of fri e n d s. —Un k n own .

Of T ali s man s S i g ils kn e w t h e p owe r ,

an d
An d c ar e fu l wat c h d t h e P lan e t ar
’
ou r
”
yh .

Oh , mi c kle i s t he p o we rful grac e t hat li e s

In he rb s , p lan t s, t
s on e s , an d the ir tru e quali ti e s ”
.
9 8 HIST O RI C AL C HARMS

then gives the answer by stating that ,

A glance into the fashionable jewellers

of London is sufficient to answer the
question negatively Here is an amulet .

of ancient Egyptian workmanship a tiny ,

figure of Amen Ra or a miniat ure of the

-
,

god Osiris which is supposed to bring my

,

ladye fayre luck at bridge or at Goodwin .

Little amulets usually in the form of

,

dogs or horses are being worn on watch

chains or bracelets and ancient gems of
,

weird and mystic design are hung upon

slender neck threads and tucked out of
-

sight but touched on occasion to ensure

,
”
good luck to the wearer .

A writer in Th e Re fere e says The ,

belief in mascottes or talismans is very

popular Charms in the form of horse
.

shoes pigs four leaved clover

, ,
-
,

be e n won , and coun tless other fancies are

»

m
giterg
t r
'
in
very general and at present very
e
fashionable I hav e worn a
.
,

T“ R"
lucky bean for seven years
‘

an d ne v er lost it I should .

very much dislike to part with it and ,

have a sort of half belief in its bringing

-
 WHAT THE WORLD SAYS 99

me luck or at least keeping off ill

,

luck .

From another source we read A

fancy is now shown for wearing stones
or other things which are supposed t o
bring good fortune S ome women wear .

a pendant or charm made of Ne w Zealand

jade known as Pounamu stone Then
,
.
,

others hav e faith in some ornament found

on a mummy and worn by an
Egyptian princess when the fi
world was young
l “

S uch for B nha dt :

.
,
m
er r

example are the quaint jewels

,

owned by Mrs Clarence Mackay

.
,

or the weird cornelian necklace given by ,

S ir J ohn S cott to the Hon Mrs St J ohn . . .

B rodrick at the time of h er marriage .

Madame S arah B ernhardt s favourite mas ’

cot is a necklet of nuggets given her by ,

the miners in California and an English

actress Miss Irene Vanbrugh pins her
, ,

faith to a girdle of splendid uncut t ur

q u oi s e s .

Under the title of The Present Craze

for Pretty Mascots another paper says
, ,

The jewellers have little to complain

1 00 HISTORI CAL C HARMS

about in these days Customers who

.

come in and ask for tiaras t h at cost ten

thousand pounds or so may not be as
common as raindrops in Fe b ruary but ,

the number of people who buy

The Ki ng pretty little ornaments now far
h m ehee
e
exceeds those of a generation
”
b ooche
r ago Again
. The King him
self has revi ved the popularity of
gemmed horseshoe brooches by giving
one set with rubies to a recent bride .

It is also stated that the King is partial

to those litt le charms in the shape of
dogs and has presented many of these
,

to his friends Miss Constance Collier

.
,

we are told inclines to the black sweep

,

as a mascot which brings luck Two .

little wooden clogs are cherished for the

same purpose by Miss Louie Fre e ar and
Miss Charlotte Granville believes in the
efficacy of white heather as a charm ,

but also wears the lucky pig of green

stone that hails from New Zealand The .

gold heart is the fancy of Miss B eatrice

Ferrar who always wears one given by
,

her sister for good luck .

C HAP T E R XV I
D ES C RIPTIO N OF ST ONES US ED
AS C H ARMS

following list will give

HE
some idea of the large
number of stones used in
occult jewellery some of ,

which are very rare and

'
seldom met with Re ade fs .

will hbc able to cl assi fy any gems the y

may possess by referring to this list .

semi pellucid i n cryst alliz e d

-
,

variety of quartz of which there are many

,

kinds The same specimen presents vari

.

ous tints and the colours are delicately

,

arranged in stripes or bands or blended

,

i n clouds Th e fortificat ion agate or

.

S cotch pebble the moss agate and the

,
-
,

clouded agate are familiar varieties .

 D ES C RI PTI ON O F ST ONES 1 03

Al e x an drl tnewly discovered

e .
-
A
precious stone and so named because it
,

was found in Russia on the birthday o f

the present Czar I n dayli ght it is green
—
.
,

and in artificial light red th e Russian

war colours
—
.

A m be r .A yellowi sh translucent resin

found as a fossil in allu via l soils or on ,

the seashore in many p laces By friction .

it becomes strongly electric

—
.

A me t hy s t A v ariety of crystallize d
quartz of a purple or bluish v iolet colour .

An Oriental Amethyst is similar to a

sapphire
—
.

Am m o n l te A fossil cephalop od s h ell

.

related to the nautilus usually dark

or black and round in shape and per
,

forat e d in one or two places S ometimes .

called the serpent stone .

A q uamari n e A sea green variety of

.
- -

b eryl
—
.

Ber n A mineral of great hardness ;

there are many shades o f colour sea ,

green or b luish green yellow pink and , , ,

white
—
.

B e z oar or B e n t There are two kinds

1 04 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

one found in I ndi a and the other in Peru ,

it is a calculous concretion found in

ce rtain an imals as the wild goat the , ,

gazelle and the lama

, .

Bloods t on e A green siliceous stone

.
-
,

sprinkled with red jasper as if with b lood .

I t is also called the heliotrope .

Braz i li an Pe bble A transparent and .

-

colourless rock crystal

—
.

Bri lli an t A precious stone of sea

green colour though it is applied to other
,

gems of the finest cut formed into faces ,

and facets so as to reflect and refract the

,

light by which it is rendered more

,

brilliant .

B ufon i t e An old name for the toad

.
-

stone so called b ecause this stone is

,

supposed to have been found in the head

of a large yellow species of toad
—
.

Car bun cle A b eautiful gem of a rich

.

red colour found in th e East I ndies .

When held up to the sun it loses its deep

tinge and b ecomes of the colour of a
burning coal S ometimes this name is.

applied to the ruby sapp h ire red spinel , , ,

and garnet .
1 06 HIST O RI CAL C HAR MS

sapphire which is the fine blue variety

,

the oriental ruby or red sapphire ; the

orienta l amethyst or purple sapphire ; ,

and adamantine spar the hair brown ,

variety The gem varieties of the corn n

.

dum have always been considered by

Oriental nations as the most valuable
after the diamond
—
.

C oc doli e
r i t A mineral occurring in.

silky fibres of a lavender blue colour - .

A variety of this is named the Tiger s ’

Eye .

Cry s tal — The material of quartz in

.

crystallization transparent or nearly so , ,

and either colourless or slightly tinged

with grey .

D i a m on d — A precious stone or gem

.
,

excelling in brilliancy and beautiful play

of prismatic colours remarkable for ex ,

treme hardness Usually colourless but .

,

some are yellow green blue and even , , ,

black They are said to be of the first

.

water when very transparent and of the ,

second or third water as the transparency

decreases The rose diamond one side
.
,

of w hi ch i s flat and the othe r out int o

 D ES C R IPTION OF ST ONES 107

t wenty- four triangular facets in two

ranges which form a convex face pointed
,

at the top
Egy p t i an Pe bble —A brownish yellow
.

variety of j asper
—
.

Emerald A variety of beryl o f a rich

green colour
—
.

Fe i t s u i
.
The Chinese name for pale
green jade
Fi re -s ton e — A name given to t he car
.

bun c le .

Cri m e a— This is a silicate ; t here are

white green yellow brown and black
, , ,

varieties . The transparent red stones

used as gems are related to the car
bun e le of the ancients
—
.

H e l i o t mp e S ee B loodstone
—
. .

Hy a ci n t h A red variety of zircon ,

consisting of silica and zirconia .

Ja ci n t h . S ee Hyacinth
-
.

Jada — A stone commonly of a pale

to dark green colour sometimes whitish , .

A pale green jade is the feitsui or yu chi -

o f the Chinese
—
.

Jarg on Pal e yellow or smoky brown

varieti es o f zircon .
1 08 HISTO RI CAL C HARMS

Jasp e r .
—An opaque variety of quartz
of red yellow and other dull colours
, ,
.

When the colours are in stripes it is called

striped or banded jasper See Egyptian .

Pebble .

Lap i s laz uli

- — An aluminous mineral of a
.

rich blue colour known as Armenian stone , .

Malach i t e — A stone usuall y of a con

.

centric fibrous structure in colour green ,

or blue .

M o s ton e
on —A pellucid variety of feld
.

spar showing pearly or opaline reflections

,

from within The best specimens are .

said to come from Ceylon I t derives it s .

name from it s fancied resemblance in

lustre to the moon S ee Selenite
—
. .

010 do B uey A j ewel like product o f

.
-

nature probably a fossil bean I n size

, .

an d appearance it resembles an ox s eye

’

—
.

Oli vi n e A common name of the yel

lowish green mineral chrysolite
—
.

Ony x A veined gem

. chalcedony in
parallel layers of di fferent shades of
colour I t is used for making cameos
.
,

the figu re being cut in one layer with t he

next as a ground .
 HI ST O RI C AL C HARMS
°

1 10

S ardon y x — A variety of onyx of a

.

reddish yellow colour consisting of sard

-
,

an d white chalcedony in alternate lay ers .

S cot c h Pe bble Vari oti cs of quart z as .

-

agate chalcedony etc

—
.
, ,

S ei e i te
n S ee Moonstone
. .

S i de r i t e An indigo variety of quartz

-

—
. .

S n ak e s t on e This stone or rather

.
, ,

bone is said to be taken from the head

,

of the cobra and is only found in one ,

cobra out of a great number maki ng that ,

snake a king cobra I t is similar in .

composition to the toadstone

—
.

S p i n el A mineral o f great hardness

.

an d various colours as red green blue , , , ,

brown and black The red variety being

, .

the spine! ruby

—
.

Sh a w na The asteriated sapphire

—
.

S t on e of M e mp h i s
- - A small pe bbl e .
,

r ound po lished and very sparkling

, Di o
, .

sc ori de s and Pliny give a f ull description

of this famous stone
—
.

Tig e r s Ey e
’
A yel l ow brown variety
.

o f crocido lite similar to the cat s eye ’

—
, .

Toa ds t on e S ee B u fonite
. .

Top az A mineral occurring in rhom

.
-
 D ES C RIPTI ON O F ST ONES 1 11

bic prisms generally yellow and pellucid

, ,

sometimes massive and opaque .

Top az oli t e — A topaz y ellow variety of

.
-

garnet .

Tourm a li n e — A name given to a stone

in Ceylon of which there are many shades ,

black is the most common but there are ,

also blue red green brown and white

, , , , .

The red and green when transparent are

valued as j ewels .

Tur q uoi s e — A fine light blue colour ;

a hydrous phosphate of alumina con
taining a little copper Often written .

Turcois and Turkois S ee Chalchihuitl

. .

Yu Ch i
- .
— S ee Jade .
C HAP T ER XV I I

NATI ONS AND THE I R FAVOUR I TE

G EMS

widely spread was the

belief i n the mystical pro
p e rt i e s of precious stones
that we find Pliny citing
thirt y six writers on this
-

subject . Nearly all na

tions have their favourite gem thus opals
Thi t y “
r
were
,
favoured by the Greeks ,

and were thought to possess

m
an i nt
c e

5 2 “?
1
great power of giving the gift
p pe t i es
ro rof prophecy and foresight to
°f “m
the owner provided he used
,

it not for selfish gain I f he did it

.
,

became an unfortunate stone the owner ,

becoming unlucky in his loves and de

1 14 HIST O RI CAL C HARMS

The carnelian is valued by the S hamans

of S iberia and Tartary because of it s
magical power through which ,

they are able to perform many

m
Th musi
e c

d
eh
wonder ful feats O ne of these .

Ta t a y
r r stones the Odem in the breast
, ,

plate of the Jewish High Priest ,

possesses a great medicinal power .

The sapphire above all other gems is

, ,

honoured by the Hindus and is the one ,

most frequently consecrated to their

deities . A sacred occult power is as
c ri be d to it and the B uddhists say it will
,

open barred doors and dwellings It .

produces a desire for prayer and brings

with it more peace than any other gem ,

but he who would wear it must lead a

pure and holy life .

The Hebrews claimed the di amond as

the most powerful of all gems I t is .

the emblem of the sun and the charm

of the I nvisible Fire This stone was
.

known to the Greeks as the Holy

Necessity .

The moonstone called by the East e rn s

, ,

chandra kanta is said to be fo rmed an d

-
,
 NATI ONS FAVO URIT E G EM S
’
1 1
5

developed under the moon s rays this ’

,

giving it occult and magical power .

I f we turn to the Western B ible we shall

find how important a part has been
played by gems in religious
symbolism I n the B ook of
.

Revelations we read of the isfi in p ‘ b

i ii ie
t w e l v e f o u n d a t i o n s of the t n es e r
Bib“
holy city The prophet I saiah
.
,

among the good things promised to the

Gentiles speaks of sapphires and car
,

bu n c le s We find mention of them in

.

Ez ekiel J ob Exodus and many other

, , ,

books while in Proverbs we read

, A
gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of
him that hath it whithersoever it turn
eth it prospereth
,
I n the Cabala the
.

writers specially dedicated a branch to

precious stones called Not ariu m in con
, ,

junction with Lithomancy Turning to .

I ndia we have the magic neck

lace of Vishnu which is made Th eeh
—
, e h
oi five precious stones namely lac 1 s 0
m m
,
“
the pearl ruby emerald sap
, , ,

phire and diamond ; while gems

,

of fabulous price are found in th e temples

1 16 HIST ORI C AL C HAR MS

and in the constru ction of the images

throughout the country I n the great .

epic poem of the Ramayana it is related ,

how the demi god Maha Bali is slain- -

,

and that the di fferent parts of his body

became the germs for the various gems .

From his bones came diamonds from ,

his eyes sapphires from his blood rubies

, ,

from his marrow emeralds from his ,

flesh crystals from his tongue corals

, ,

and from his teeth pearls .

The ruby is the sacred stone of the

B urmese who liken it to a human soul
,

about to enter the sacred precincts

of B uddha and consequently in the
, , ,

last stage of transmigration before

entering the eternal embrace of divine
love .

There is rather a pretty idea about the

m eh ruby in B urmah T he natives .

h ld a believe that their colour changes

mm
o s

3 : gradually while they ripen ,in

preci uo sthe earth like a fruit At
m u“ , .

first they say the stone is

, ,

colourless ; then it becomes yellow ,

green blue each in turn the final stage

, , ,
C HAP T ER XV I I I
THE LANGUA GE OF PRE C I OUS
ST ONES

the attributed virtu es of

those gems used for jewel
lery and are those mostly
,

worn for th is purpose at

the present day
—
.

Ag a te This stone is cooling and allays

fevers quenches thirst and quiets the
, ,

pulse and heart throbs insures good ,

health and a long and prosperous life .

They are also said by the ancients to

render their wearer invisible B ound on .

the horns of oxen will give a good h arvest

—
.

A m be r. I s excellent for the fires of

the soul for the eyes and for glandular
, ,

swellings of the throat and l ungs It .

1 18
LANG UAG E O F PRE C I O US ST ONES 1 19

insures the wearer good luck and a very ,

long enj oyment of the qualities which

make the wearer att ractive .

A me t hy s t — This is a sure averter of

drunkenness ; it preserves from strong
passions and brings peace of mind ; it
,

promotes chastity and will strengt hen ,

the will power I n batt le it renders the

.

wearer brave far seeing and honourable

,
-
, .

A m mon i t e — I t is used in the religious

.

ceremonies of the Hindus and is said if , ,

placed near the deathbed of one dying ,

to introduce his soul to the deities .

—
Be ry l Used by the S outh S ea I s
.

landers as a rainmaker and said to be ,

equally e fficacious in bringing drought

on their enemies .

—
Bez oar or Bez a A charm against plague
.

and poison Tave n i e r the traveller in

.
, ,

his works mentions this stone and

, ,

how to tell the true from the counter

feit he says
, There are two infallible
,

tests one is to place it in the mouth ,

and if it is genuine it will give a leap

and fix itself on the palate ; the other
consists in placing the stone in a glas s
1 20 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

of water and if true b ezoar the water

,

will b oil
—
.

B l o o d s t o n e Gives cou rage success , ,

and wisdom in perilous undertakings .

I n the West I ndies it is used for the cure

of wounds being wett ed in cold water
, ,

and in magical works it is used in ln

c an t at i on s A favourite stone with the
.

Gnostics who employed it largely in

,

their gems and t alismans Also called .

the heliotrope .

—
B ufon i t e Cures the bite o f snakes and
.

other poisonous reptiles

—
.

Car b un cle Corrects evi ls resulting from

.

mis taken friendships ; it holds to the

owner th e passionate love o f all those
whose lov e may be desired
—
.

Ca rn eli an or Carn eli an Gives content

.

and friendship Promotes astral vision

—
. .

Ca t s Ey e
’
A charm against witch
craft I t is lucky and possesses the virtue
.

of enrich ing the wearer S ame as the .

chrysoberyl
—
.

Ch ry s oli t e Cures madness and despair

.
,

banishes misfortune and gives hope ,

.

Coral Guards against evil I t is used

-
.
1 22 HISTORIC AL C HARMS

a beneficial eff ect upon the wearer s own ’

eyes and is a good talisman f or any eye

,

trouble but serpents are sai d to become

blind if they even look at an emerald .

I f worn about the neck or finger is

effi cacious against fits and prevents con
vu lsi on s in children
—
.

Garn e t . Constancy and fidelity in e very

engagement gives cheerfulness and the
ability to ho l d one s own in the world’
.

I f worn out o f season promotes discord

be tween lovers
Hy aci n t h —Worn on the neck or finger
.

will preserv e t he we are r from infection even

i f he go into an in f ected place ; gives
honour the support and esteem of superiors
—
.
,

Ja da A powerful bringer of luck .

All Chinese h ave a great b elief in its

f ortune bestowing powers
-

—
.

Jasmi n Courage wisdom , and firm ,

ness success in dangerous enterprises

—
.

Lodes t on e Will increase the mental

.

powers and enables the wearer to foretell

,

future events
—
.

M al achi t e B rilliant success and h appi

ness in every circumstance o f life .
LANG UA G E OF PREC IO US STONES 1 23

M oon s t on e — Protects from harm and

danger very cooling in fever if applied
to both temples Good fortune in love
.

matt ers
—
.

Oli vi n e Frees the mind from sadness

an d evil passions
—
.

On y x . D isturbs the slumbers and the

m ind gives frightful dreams .

Op al.
— D enotes hope and good fortune
it sharpens the sight and strengt hens the
faith of the possessor The fiery opal
.

possesses the united virtues of all the

gems into whose distinctive hues it is
emblazoned : the ruby s strengt h and ’

courage ; blue the prosperity of the

,

turquoise green the emerald s faithful

,
’

ness and so with the other colours I t

, .

has long been a superstition that the Opal

is an unlucky stone to wear but its ,

original significa nce was good luck I t .

may safely be worn if it is the stone of

the birth month or if one s birthstone
-
,
’

is worn at the same ti me I f these rules .

are not observed it is fatal to love and will

,

break friendships also the femal e wearing

,

it will bear no children .

1 24 HISTORI CAL C HARMS

Op hi t e .
—
Gives the power to see visions
and hear the voices of the invisible .

Pee d — Gives purity an d innocence ,

also clearness to physical and mental

sight The pearl s beauty depends much
.
’

on the health of the wearer

—
.

Pe t i ti on Cheers the mind prevents ,

irritability and removes depression

,
.

R o b yn — D ivine power love dignity

, , ,

and royalty Holds to the owner the

.

love of those loved corrects evils resulting

from mistaken friendships ; discovers
poison ; will quicken the blood and i n
crease the will of the animal body and ,

will give vivacit y ; will cause obstacles

to melt away and inspire with bravery
,

and zeal I t will bring one s due in

.
’

money that has been misappropriated .

S ap p h i re — Truth and constancy ; de

.

notes repentance ; frees from enchant

ment ; signifies piet y and goodness ;
insures protection against many di seases ,

and will warn of hidden dangers I f the .

possessor wears it in any haunt of dissipa

tion his actions will at once be known
to the one he holds dearest .
1 26 HISTORI CA L CHA RMS

the love wane or will change colour

,

i f danger threatens the wearer .

Th e t welve foundations of the New

Jerusalem are supposed to represent as
many apostolic virtues such as ,

1.A me t hy s t : S ob ri e ty an d t e mp e ran c e .

2 B e ry l :
. G d
oo n e s s of m i n d
at all i me s t .

3 Chal ce dony
. d t
A r e n z e al .

4 Chl y s oli t e
.
'
t d
R e s rai n e b y n o ob s ac le s t .

5 C h
. r s
y p o m e S e v e rty t
i ow ar s s in d .

6 Eme ral d
. S uav i tyof m an n er .

7 Jas
.
p e r : F i rm n e ss a n d c o n s an c yt
8 Hy ac i n t h
. C al mn e ss in all hi ngs t .

9 . S app h i re y
H e av e n l an d b e au iful t th ou g ht s .

1 o. S ardi us d
R e a i n e ss for m art r o m yd .

11 . S ardony x : V ari e ty in t e ac i n gh .

1 2. Top az : H e ali n g p o we r .
C HAP T ER X I X
THE PLANETS AND B IRTH MO NTH -

STO NES
CCORDI NG to the laws of
judicial astrology we find
,

that each day of the week

has a particular stone de
voted to it ; an d in ca rrying
out the correspondence of
nature we get a stone for each month
, ,

or each sign of the zodiac and for each

,

of the seven planets .

The gems with their equivalent signs

are
S I GN SY M B OL
1 28 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

S I GN SY M B OL GE M

T h e V ir g i n
Th e B alan c e
T h e S c orp ion
T he A rc he r
T he G t
oa

T he W at e r b eare r
-

T he F i s he s
The stones peculiar to the planets are
as follows
S atu rn onyx ; Jupiter emerald and
, ,

sapphire ; Mars amethyst and blood ,

stone Mercury agate j ade and olivine

, , ,

Venus turquoise an d lapis lazuli S un

,
-
,

ruby and chrysolite ; Moon selenite , ,

pearl and opal .

Certain stones are lucky to every one ,

these are diamonds turquoises and , ,

emeralds ; but the stone to wear for general

luck is the one which is yours by right
of birth Any other stones may
.

Howhe h e be worn at the same time but ,

t he bi t h
r the birthstone should never be
” nth m“
given the second place and
sacrificed to fashion To asc e r .

tain the birth gem the following table

-

should be consulted where it will be seen ,

1 30 HI STORI CAL C HARMS

daily wearing the one with the gem

,

for the day Madame B lavatsky perhaps

.
,

the most prominent occultist of ‘

Th day oi last century writing in her work

m
e
, ,

331 ;
”
The Secret D octrine is in ,

sem favour of this especially where a

person has to mix much in the
society of others .

The stones for the day will be

Sunday the ruby and chrysolite ;
,

Monday the selenite pearl and opal ;

, , ,

Tuesday amethyst and bloodstone We d

,

n esday agate j ade and olivine

, , Thurs ,

day emerald and sapphire ; Friday

, ,

turquoise and lapis lazuli S aturday the -

,

onyx .

The old magicians wore a ring which

“
they called the ring of strengt h contain
ing as it did the seven gems
, ,
°f
IiiIn
,
- a rub
. y emerald selenite ame
, , ,

” t hyst onyx turquoise and agate

fif th
.
, , ,

magi cian, Those readers who wish for a

j ewel of this description should
have as a centre stone their birth gem -
,

which should of course hold the most

prominent position in the ring the oth er ,
 B IRTH MO NTH STO NES
- 131

six stones may be set round this in a

circle or arranged three on each side of
the centre gem . Wear it and fear no
man for thou wilt be invincible as Achil
,

les says Philadelphus

, .

The seven colours in heraldry have

also their symbols in precious
s t o n e s n a m e l y : Or t op az ; The precicus
, ,

A rg e n t crystal ; S a ble diamond $ 3

, , 3 33”
G a l e s ruby ; A z u r e sapphire ln her ald y
, ,
r

Ve r t emerald ; P umure amethyst

, , .
C HAP T ER XX
TA L ISM AN I C ENG RAVED J E WELS

this b ranch of our sub

j e ct we approach the
true science of talismans,

charms and amulets and

, ,

trespass on the fringe o f

practical magic But little
.

can be given along practical lines in a

work writt en for the general
et g g
fpa t f always apply to the individual
t‘
fi ,
public,
for this branch must
r o
,

and the efficacy of th e talis

manic gem will depend on the
ti me of birth and the planetary posi
tions on the day ; so that only with a
knowledge of astrology can the talisman
be constructed with the correct metal ,
1 34 HISTORI CAL C HARMS

gave the necessary ambition to h onours

and renown ; the bery l engraved with a ,

frog and set in gold in the form of a pen

dant is a great love talisman ; the cor
,

nelian be aring a man with a sceptre the

, ,

sardonyx engraved with an eagle are

, ,

good for fortu ne ; the topaz with a ,

falcon procures sympathy for its pos

,

sessor ; the red coral with a man bearing ,

a sword will protect the wearer from

,

epidemics the onyx inscribed with the ,

h ead of a camel will produce frightful,

dreams .

Very potent for good or evil are some

of the geometrical designs such as S olo ,

mon s seal the pent acle and

’
,

Bo mo s ’
t l the seals of the planets
le“h their magic squares the signs
m
p an a c e , ,

et ,
I ti ne a
r and names of the planetary
spirits and many other curious
,

figures which are used to bring the wearer

into touch with the den i zens of other
planes .

The appropriate metal in which to

have set the birt h gem and the design -

or name to h ave en graved on the metal

TAL ISMANIC E NG RAV E D J EWELS 1 35

or gem wi ll be f ound in th e f ollowing

table
B I RT H
T z akm aqi e l The W at e r
b e are r
2 . A m e t h ys t V ac abl e l The Fi s h es

3 . B loo d s t on e S arah i e l T he R am
4 . h
S ap p i re A raz i e l T he B ul l
5 . E m e ral d S arai e l T he T wi n s
6 . A g at e P h ak i e l The C ab
r

7 R u
. b y S e rat i e l T he L i on
8 S ar
. d y on x S c h al t i e l T he V i rgi n
9 . Ch y soli t e
r Ch adak i e l T h e S c al e s
1 o. Op al S art z i e l T h e S c orp i on
1 1. T op az S arit i e l T he H ors e
m an
12. T u q u oi
r se d
L ea S e maq i e l T he G oat

Th e name or design may be engraved

alone or both if desired The designs .

may be f ound in any almanac and can ,

easily be copied f rom ! adk i els .

The astrol ogical symbols f or th e Zodiacal

signs are Aries Taurus o Gemini 11 r
, , ,

Cancer Leo a Virgo ml Libra

23
, , ,
a
,

S corpio m S agittarius r Capricorn w

, , ,

Aquarius m Pisces at Th ese may be

, .

engraved in place o f th e oth er design .

1 36 HIST O RI C AL C HARM S

Eac h of th es e engraved j ewels h as

special rule over various affai rs connect ed
with life besides bringi ng good luck to
th ose wh o wear th em by right of birth .

More than one may be worn at

m t ,l mthe same time b ut it must be
u tlet !b y

mm
o ,

remembered as pre viously stated

: that in all cases t he birthstone
, ,

must always be worn The .

affai rs and events they h ave rule over ,

and the class of people they sh ould be

worn by are given below Th e numbers .

corresponding to th ose i n first column o f

the foregoing table .

1 .For good h ealth content and to

, ,

develop the psych i c powers S hould be .

worn by the sick and depressed or those

desirous of seeking into the mysteries o f
nature .

2 .For protecti on from evil influences

and enemies gives dominion o ver the
,

passions and animal nature Those who .

wish to break the fetters of vice or cement ,

broken friendships should possess this

,

j ewel .

3 .For fruitfulness and propaga t ion .

 HI ST O RI C AL C HARMS

8 .For h ealth success to servants ;

gives luck in the breeding of small an imals
and poultry Sh ould be used by the sick
.

those in subordinate positions breeders

of dogs cats birds etc
, , , .

9 .For friendship j ustice marriage or , , ,

law Useful to those who are engaged

.

t o marry or who are married to j udges

, ,

lawyers and all those seeking favour or

,

friendship .

10 S uccess in warfare contest s dan

.
, ,

gero n s pursuits and in handling medicine

,
.

S oldiers doct ors chemists surgeons those

, , , ,

entering into contests or wherever there ,

is risk to life should wear this .

11 Gi ves success to v oyagers emi

.
,

grants pioneers and those living in foreign

, ,

countries Should be used by adventurers

.
,

explorers those going abroad or dealing

,

with foreigners .

12 For honour preferment seeking

.
, ,

favour for enlightening the understanding

,

and conferring reason To be worn by .

those seeking posi tion or the favour of

those in authority Politicians and rulers .

should p ossess this j ewel .

TAL ISMANI C E N GRAV E D J EWELS 1 39

It may be that there are t h ose who would

like to follow in the steps of Apollonius
and change their gems daily .

If so the gems given to each day f xflflu °

may be converted into potent m a ic

m
n

talismans and worn on their dayfi ff; l

irrespective of birth data .

They will be as below

S un day .
— A ruby or chry solite set in
gold and engraved on the gem or metal
,

a sceptred king upon a lion or a queen ,

with a sceptre .

M on day s
— A selenite pearl or opal , ,

set in silver th e design a king riding ,

on a doe or a woman with a bow and

,

arrow .

Tues day An amethyst or bloodstone

.

set in iron ; design a king on a wolf , ,

or a female warrior
—
.

We dn es day Ah olivine agate or j ade

.
, ,

set in platinum ; design a king riding ,

upon a bear or a woman spinning

, .

Th urs day — An emerald or sapp h ire set

.

in tin ; design a king with a j avelin

,

riding on a stag or a woman bedecked ,

with flowers .
 HIST O RI CAL C HARMS

Fri day .
—A turquoise beryl or lapis
, ,

lazuli se t i n copper design a king on a,

camel or a naked maiden

—
.
,

S a t urday An onyx set in lead

. de
sign a king crowned and seated on a
, ,

dragon or a witc h
, .
1 42 HIST O RI C AL C HARMS

Among thes e mascots we find t he model

of a mummy an d cas e an Egyptian ,

charm from Karn ac the B uddhist prayer ,

wheel the New Zealand green

m
,
‘ l wh st ne god the Lincoln imp the
E
i
‘

, e o , ,

io M i kko monkey th e lucky bean

m
l , ,

i? er black sweep gold h orseshoe the

l ’ -
, ,

mascots little clogs the four leafed clover ,

-
,

snakes spiders grasshoppers , , ,

beetles pigs dogs and many others

, , , .

Man y people do not rel y on these

trinkets but cre ate their own mas cots
,

p erhaps a sudden stroke of good luck will

make th em cast aroun d for the compelling
cause this may be found in having that
,

morning picked up a peculiar stone having ,

received in changing money a lion shilling ,

—
a farthing or crooked Sixpence anything
,

a trifle out of the common may appeal

to the romantic natu re ; and this is then
regarded as th e cause and looked to for ,

luck in th e future .

Those who place f aith in these little

mascots may work according to magical
law by selecting their luck bringers from -

the table here given

LUC KY MASC OTS AND TRI NKETS 143

B I RT HD AY NAM E OF M AS C O T T O BE
WOR N
Jan . 2 1 t o Feb . 1 3. O f T he s we e p , mu m my an d c as e ,

De c . 23 t o J an . 20 t he m on k , L i n c oln i mp , s ku ll,
t he e l e p h an , as s , m ou s e , t
m ole , p i g , t ort oi s e , frog , owl ,
c ro w , b at , e e l, b e e t le .

F e b - 19 t o M ar . 20. or T he Bu ddhi t s p r a ye r- whe e l ,

N ov . 23 t o D ec . 22. t he c log , i vy- l e af, al m on d ,

ac o rn , b e an , c oi n s , ho rs e

s hoe , h o r s e , s a g , u n i c o rn ,t
bee , e agle , d holp i n , t h e fi sh .

M ar . 21 t o A p ri l 20, O f T he so l di mi th
er, s , arr o w ,

Oct . 24 t o N ov . 22 maile d fi t d gg s , a word

er, s ,

i
p s t ol , b omb , r am dog wolf
, , ,

ti g e r, we a s e l , h awk fal c on ,
.

A p ril 2 1 to M ay 2 1 , or Th d
e an c e r , s c al e s , fi gu r e of

S ep . 24 t o O ct . 23 J ti us ce , t he m as k , C up i d ,

l ove r
’
kn o t , t h e t wo h e art s ,
s

t he c la s p e dh d
a n s , t h e b u ll ,

s wan , d ov e , an d i
p g e o n .

M ay 22 t o J u n e 2 1 , or T he mo t or- c ar , t he wi n dmill ,

Aug . 24 t o S ep . 23 t he j u g g le r, wi n g e d M e rc ury ,

b ook , rac u e t , s e rp e n q t , fox ,

q
s u i rr e l, M i kko mon k e y , c at ,

sp i d e r, p arr o t , j ay.

J u n e 22 t o J ly
u 23 The s hip , co m p as s , sp a d e,
an c h or , s ail or, di v e r, s h e ll ,

c rab , lob s t er , d k
uc , wat e r
he n , tt ero , c h ame l e on .

J lyu 24 t o A ug . 23 The he art , di ce , ac e , c ro wn ,

p l a y
i n g -c ar
, scep d t re j oc ke y
, ,

l i on , c oc k, p hoen ix .
C HAP T ER XX I I
HOW T O WEAR C HARMS AND
TAL ISMANS

one time for people to

wear amulets charms or
, ,

talismanic jewellery openly

was to lay themselves open
to charges of witchcraft ,

so it was an art of the

goldsmith to disguise j ewellery into inno
cent semblance . The incantation ring
was often a perfectly plain gold
1
om
s e {3
ar
n e
ti
°

t alls
ring set with two gems and
,

pressing these stones a spring

on

opened and disclosed the surface

beneath inscribed with mystical
,

signs and the names of the spirits T o day

.
-

it is not considered a crime to wear these

146 H IST O RI C AL CHARMS

pretty piece o f j ewellery it is h ard and

,

almost seems a crime to h ide it away

from the sight of others though the ,

ancients were very emphatic in stating

that no person should be allowed to
h an dle or see the talisman or charm o f
another .

A charm sh ould be used intelligently ,

a n d where luck or success are sought

after the wearer must do his part and not
leave i t to the c h arm to bring about the
results alone A charm or gem is not
.

only useful for success in material things ,

but may be used to develop the spiritual

side of the nature Ho ld it bet ween the
.

finger and thumb and gaze at it steadily ,

or if in th e dark simply hold it Con .

centrate your thoughts on your

The chm
h ighest ideal
,
and contemplate
as an aid t o f aithfully the conditions which
“pmmmty
you desire A few minutes spent
.

every day in such quiet medita

tion will put y ou in tune with the infinite
and give the wear er faith strength and
, ,

courage .
 S E CT I O N III

TH EI R EFFI C A C Y : A N C I EN T /I N D
M ODERN TH E ORI EJ
Th us me su i n g thin gs in h av n by th i n gs on
a r e
’
e ar th
A t t hy e q u t n d th t t h u m y t bew e ’
r es a a o a s ar ,

B y wh t i s p s t t the e I h v r v al d
,
’
a a , o a e e e
Wh at mi gh t have e ls t hum n rac be b i d e o a e .

Ye t
s p i ri s of t h e un b ou n dd e u n i v e rs e !
Ye wh o do co mp as s e ar th b a ou t , an d dw l e
In sub tle r e s se n c e ;
I c all u p on ye by t h e e n c h arm , w i tt
—
r
W hi c h gi ve s m e p owe r ov e r you R i se ! A p p e ar !
”

t
A n ac ive p rin c i p le s u b s i s t s
“

h
I n all t i n g s , in all n a ure s , i n t h e s t ars t
h
O f az u re e ave n , t he u n e n i n g clou s , d d
I n flo we r an d t re e , i n e ve r p e b b l s on e y y t
Th a t p av e s t he b rook s , t h e s t a i on e r ro c ks , t y
t
T he m ovi n g wa e r s , an d t he i n vi s ible air ”
.

W h at e e r ’
in t
n a ure is th i ne o wn ,

t
F lo a i n g i n ai r or p e n in s on e , t t
h h
S all ri v e t he ills an d s wi m t h e s e a,
A n d, li ke thy h d
s a ow, foll ow h e e t .

—B mers on .
1 5 0 HISTO RI CAL C HARMS

the realm of science I f this is so then

.
,

if we trace the analogy back to first

principles there is no magic and ,

this name is only another name

m y be t he for science or the name of a
a
,

3 23 5
1 scientific
,
fact before it is under
stood Perhaps i f we take some
.

of the writings of the old magicians and

philosophers we may find that their
,

explanations dressed in modern language

by our professors and scientists p ass as
scientific theories .

Cornelius Agrippa writi ng on magic , ,

says ,
Magi ck is a faculty of wonderful
virtue full of most high mysteries con
, ,

taining the most profound contemplation

of most secret things together with the ,

nature power quality substance and

, , , ,

virtues thereof as also t he knowledg e of

,

The gm “
whole natu re ; and it doth instruct

magi i an c us concerning the di ffering and

agreement of things am ongst
and { In themselves whence it p r odu cet h
,

its wonderful effects by uniting ,

the virtues of things the applica

tion of them one to the other and to their ,
 MAG I C 1
5 1

inferior suitable subjects j oining and ,

knitting them together thoroughly by the

powers and virtues of the superior bodies .

This is the most perfect and chief science ,

that sacred and sublimer kind of philo

sophy and lastly the most absolute
, , ,

perfection of all most excellent phi lo

sophy For seeing that all regulative
.
,

Philosophy is divided into Natural Mathe ,

m at i cal and Theological Natu ral Philo

, ,

sophy teacheth the nature of those things

which are in the world searching and ,

enquiring into their Causes Effects Times , , ,

Places Fashions Events their Whole

, , ,

and Parts also

T h e N u m b e r a n d t h e N a u re o f t o se thin gs th
t h t
C all d E le m e n s , w a F i re , E ar , A i r fo r
’
th th
b ri n g s ,
h
F r o m w e n c e t h e H e av e n s th
e i r b e gi n n i n g s h a d ,
h h Td
W e n c e i e , w e n c e R ai n b ow i n g ay c ol ou rs c la d .

C d th t th d
W hat m ake s t he lou s a g a e r e are , an d b lac k,
d t h ht Th d
,

To sen for L i g n i n g s , an d a u n e ri n g c r ac k;
h t d th ht y
W a o t h e N i g l F lam e s , an d o m e s m ake ; C t
h t th
W a m ake s t he E ar t o s we ll , an d e n t o u ake ; th q
h t d t
W a i s t h e s e e o f M e al s , an d of ol , G d
h t t th d t h
W a V ir u e s , W e al , o N a ure s C ofl e r old ’
t h '
.

All these things doth Natural Philosophy

the viewer of Natu re contain , .

Again he writes Now Theolo gical

, ,
l 5 2 HISTO RIC AL C HARMS

Philosop hy or divinity teach eth what God

is what the mind what the intelligence
, , ,

what an angel what a devi l what the , ,

soul what religion what sacred

m
, ,

e. t he
institutions rit es temples ob , , ,

l ec t and se rvat i on s an d sacred myst eries

re
,
°f
are I t instructs us also con
.

c erning faith miracles the vir , ,

tues of words and figures the secret ,

operations and myst eries of seals and ,

as Apuleius saith it teacheth us rightly ,

to understand and to be skilled in the ,

ceremonial laws the equity of holy things , ,

and rule of religions Pythagoras ,

Empedocles Democritus Plato and many

, , ,

other renowned philosophers travelled far

by sea to learn this art ; and being returned ,

published it with wonderful devoutness ,

esteeming of it as a great
5 “ secret Also it is well known
23 1 33 ,
.

t r av lled e that Pythagoras and Plato went

{222 2335 to the Prophets of Memphis
3

se ts
cr e to learn it and travelled ,

th rough almost all Syria E gypt , ,

J udea and , the schools of the Chal

deans that they might not be ign orant of
,
154 HISTORI C AL C HARMS

White M agic ; d
3 ,
r B lack M agic ; t
4 ,h
Divine M agic . We need only touch
that class to which our subj ect belongs ,

and that is chiefly the first or Natural

,

M agic where we are brought into con

,

n ect i on with the spiritu al world through

art ificial or natu ral agents.

C HAP T ER XX I V
ANC IENT OC C ULT THEO RIES

is wel l kn own by stu dents

of th e occult that Spirit
does not act immediately
upon matter ; there must
always b e a medium be
tween them . Spirit and
matter are the two poles of one and the
same substance needing an i n
t e rme di at e middle as a point
of conjuncti on and exchange 2 221 “of
of energy . S eeing this then 3353 !pe
, ,
a r
tt may not be i nappropri ate formauo e

to suggest that this medi um is

that invisible mysterious something in
,

which the matter atoms float called ,

by the Hindus Akasa ; by the Hermetic

,
156 HISTO RI C AL C HARMS

philosophers Azoth by the Occultists and

,

Magicians Astr al Light or Anima Mundi ;

, ,

by the Rosicrucians the Universal Fire ,

and by Modern S cientists Luminiferous ,

Ether . I t is the indispensable agent of

every magical performance religious or ,

profane It permeates al l things going

.
,

through flesh and blood steel and glass , ,

the diamond and sapphire with the ,

facility of water through a net I t is the .

link between all things bet ween the stars ,

and the human body between plants and ,

mineral s and is the media by means of

,

which all our spiritu al e fforts can be

exerted upon natu re Through .

The secre t it e ach body may produce

certain changes in the activity
pa th!“ of life in another body that
is in sympathy with the former
on it rests the whole teaching of affinities
and antipathies .

We have quoted Agrippa on Magic ,

and will now see what he has to say on

this medium He writes as follows
.

The ever changing universal force the

-
,

soul of the world can fe cundate any,

153 HISTO RI C AL C HARMS

Again h e says , There are certain

,

stars whose influence corresponds to the

medi cal qualities of certain metals and ,

others th at correspond to those of certain

plants and they may act for good or for
,

evil if they are attracted by corresponding

elements in the sidereal body of man .

I f for instance a woman is deficient in

, ,

the element wh ose essence radiates from

Mars and consequently suffers
,

H wli ar s from poverty of blood and want

o

of nervous strengt h an e mia , ,

bod y we may give h er iron because ,

th e astral elements of iron cor

respond to the astral elements contained
in Mars and will attract them as a
,

magnet attracts iron .

Dr Hu felan s in a work on M agic

.
, ,

pro founds the theory of the universal

magn etic sympathy between men ,

animals plants and minerals and con

, , ,

firms the testimony of Campanella Van ,

Helmont and Servius as t o the sympathy

, ,

existing bet ween the di fferent parts of the

body as well as between th e parts of all
organi c and even inorganic bodies .
 ANC I ENT OCC ULT TH EO RI ES 159

I n an old work on M agic it is stated ,

I n the grand laboratory of nature there

are many singular compositions of herbs
and minerals which have a surprising
,

e ffect in themselves without the least

assistance from supernatural agency for
in the commixt ure of bodies of a similar
nature there is a twofold power and
,

virtue first when the celestial

,

properti es are duly di sposed i n $ 0

1?
any natu ral substance then tu l
3 na ra
,

under one form divers influences $ 25;

of superior powers are com t hemsel ves
bi n e d ; and secondly when from
, ,

artificial mixt ures and compositions of

natural things combined amongst them
,

selves in a due and harmonica!proportion ,

they agree with the quality and force of

the heavens under certain correspondent
constellations This proceeds from the
.

occult affinity of natu ral things among

themselves .

I n 1 643 Father Kircher a monk wrote

, ,

several works on M agic wherein he ,

stated that a needle can be magnetised

by simply being held in the hand of a
1 60 HISTO RI C AL C HARMS

st ong willed man ; so that man can

r -

impart his own life and to a certai n , ,

degree an imate inorgan ic obj ects

, .

Coming to the end of last cent ury we ,

find M adame H P B lavatsky refers fre

. .

quently to thi s force in her works I sis ,

”
Unveiled , and The S ecret Doctrine .
’

S he writes The occult power of plants

, ,

animal s and m inerals magical ly sym

, ,

p a t h i se with the superior natu res and ,

the divine soul of man is in perfect i n

t e lli ge n ce with thes e inferior ones .

S peaking of magic she says , ,

The com ” The corner stone of magic

- is
sto e or
n an int imate pract ical knowledge
"M i "
of magnetism and electricity
their qual iti es correlations and
, ,

potencies . Especially necessary is a

familiarity with their e ffects in and
upon the animal kingdom and man .

There are occult properties in many other

m inerals equal ly strange with that in the
lodestone wh ich al l practitioners of magic
,

must know and of which so called exact

,
-

science is wholly ign orant One .

common vital principle perv ades all things ,

C HAP T ER XXV
MOD E RN S C I ENC E AND OCC ULT
TH EO RI ES
H OSE interested in mys
t i ci sm who are living at
the present day find them
,

selves i n the position where

they are able to prove
those words of Pr of E B
. . .

Tyler which were previously quoted

, ,

that , From age to age whole

branches of what was magic passed into
”
the realm of science . The magic of
the ancients is still with us
An i nt
c e for through the far past and
i‘
$5 on to the present centu ry,

wi t h us it has flowed down through

many channels these usually
,

being the various occult lodges and so

 MODERN S C IE NC E 1 63

ci e t i e swhose work it was to keep alive

this knowledge and the di scoveries
,

and lines of investigation pursued by our

modern scientists have justified many of
the statements made in the past by these
ancient m agicians and handed on to the
,

trained scientist of to day by the modern -

occultist I t is not difficult to re cogn ise

.

the ether of our scientists as the universal

force of the ancients akasha and just as , ,

readily may be seen in what is termed

the compounds of modern chemistry the
elements of the old al chemists .

I n its new dress of hypnotism we find

the force Spoken o f by Father Kircher ,

the Animal Magn etism of Mesmer and the ,

M esmerism o f Dr Esdai l and many .

,

others . The N rays of R - .

B lon dlot ,
the Human Radi a 331552 33:
tions of M Tessier d He lbai cy
.
’
e but t he , ar

and those mentioned by Pro f an!? .

Charpentier and others are but o ult ist s , cc

other names f or the luminous

“
” ”
sphere , od odylic fluid
,
and ,

aura of those occult writers and in

ve st i gat ors Paracelsus B aron Rei ch en
, ,
1 64 HI STORI C AL C HA RMS

bach M adame B lavatsky Dr Hartmann

, , .
,

C W Le adbeater J C F Grumbine and

. .
, . . .
,

W J Colville
. . .

R B lon dlot says that al l obj ects store

.

up and radiate what he terms these

N rays ; an cient and modern occultists
-

tell us that everything organic or i n

organic has its astral counterpart which ,

penetrates and surrounds it Reichen .

bach spoke of a mysterious kind of light

emanating from crystals magn ets and , ,

from human fi n ger tips - .

Our latest discoveries go to prove that

these various rays are of great curative
power that human rays or em anations
,

can be manipulated by the human will

and given the power of evil
” y“
$ 5? or good so that they may
, be
i i at ed made poisonous or vitalising
{u ff
na l

him ; by the thought of the person

will
emitting them Experiments .

have been tried on plant life two plants -

,

of the same age and both in a healthy

,

condition are subjected to these human

,

rays one is treated with affect ion and

,

willed mentally to grow to p er fect ion the ,

C HAP T ER XXV I
NAT URE SPI RITS : THE POWE R
B EHI ND THE G EM

T has been shown that both

ancient and modern sci e n
t i st s are at one in a belief
in a general principle of
nature to which they have
given various names and
though this has clear ed our ground in
some measure there is yet another fact in
,

n ature to examine before our theory as

to the e fficacy of charms esp e ci
,

N t ure
a ally gems can be made clear
, .

And here we find a di fference

fo c s
r e between the science of the
ancients and of the moderns .

Modern scientists have not yet dis

covered those living intelligences which
1 66
 NATURE SPI RITS 1 67

function th rough and guide all natural

forces ; so far they have not accepted
from that middle man the present day ,

occultist this truth handed to him by

,

the past grand masters of magic .

We are told that humanity only plays

a small part in nature that there are other
,

evolutions beside ours and that each ,

kingdom of nature has its inhabitants and ,

though these may be invisible to us ,

nevertheless they exist and play a great

part in the evolution of the universe .

They are called Natural Elementals or ,

Nature Spirits and those we have to take

,

into account in our subject are divided

into five main classes ; they are the
creatures evolved in the kingdoms of
ether fire air water and earth
, , , , .

'u
Readers of mythology may {xt flf a

recognise them in the pixies th fi e ,

e er , r ,

fairies , elves and brownies 25

,
2
.

They are di stinct creations and ,

it is seldom they make themselves

visible to man being engaged in the
,

carrying out of t h e activities connected

with t heir own elements for they are the ,
1 68 HISTO RI C AL C HA RMS

powe rs o f nature an d do what is u sually

,

ascri bed to h er I n the Kabala we find

.

th ese creatu res as ministering everywhere

from th e Zodiac down t o the smallest
worm I t is stated that there is not a
.

thing in th e world not the least herb over

,

which is not set a spirit for it ,

1 k it is these wh ich are concerned in

gvleirfihergfb
t
the building of the various forms
e y o f minerals plants and animals
, , ,

also in the building o f the human

p hysical body Their bodies are formed
.

of a rarer class of matter than the human

physical body thus their invisibility
,
.

Among them is found di fferent grades of

unintelligence as in humanity By under
, .

stan di ng their natu re or knowing the

methods o f their control as the old ,

magicians did they can be made to render

,

service .

Comte de Gabalis says When you,

sh all b e numbered among the children

of the p h ilosophers and when your eyes
,

S hall h ave b e en strengthened by the use

of the most sacred medicine you will ,

learn that the elements are inhabited

C HAP T E R XX V I I
C LASSIFI C ATI O N "
OI C HA RMS

the forces at work though

,

sometimes distinct will

often unite and work in
conjunction .

Let us first glance at

what we will term artificial charms these ,

appear to owe their e ffi cacy to some

outside influence usually the
,

h am“ ,human will or t hought , and

cha m
r this may be b rought about con
sc i ou sly or unconsciously. Under
this heading we will class those charms ,

such as religious relics and images .

These have been converted into such and

strengthened in their power by every
 C LASSIFI CATI O N or C HAR MS 1 7 x

devotee and though in most cases this

has been done unconsciously yet they ,

have become soaked with human magnet

ism oi a devotional nature so that the
,

relic or image has become as Colonel,

Olcott terms it a , psychic dynamo .

Another type of artificial charm t hough ,

consciously made so is holy ,

water which has been mag Religi ons

n e t i se d by the priests with a
definite object ; for water easily d yn m s a o

takes on the magnetism of

any one and a sensitive individual
,

can distinguish between water which

has been magnetised and that which
,

has not . Holy water impregnated by

the good thoughts of a man is highly
charged with magneti sm and very potent
for good I n the same way any object
.
,

whether valuable or worthless may be ,

converted into an artificial charm for

good or evil I f charged by some one of
.

trained will and one having a knowle dge

of the forces brought into play the ,

power will remain in the object for

a long period an d if it is made to
,
1 7: HISTO RI C AL CHARMS

radi ate at t he sam e rat e of vibrat ion as

t hat of t h e mak e r it c an be ma de a ,

c h an n el for hi s good or evil in fluen ce .

Mr Leadbeat e r says t hat some

.

of the amulet s and talismans

m
Pai n ful
min t h B ri ti sh Mu eum even
e s
I - em
ll ret ain t he ir magical powe r
now .

All object s worn by pe ople take on their

magnetism and be come t uned to their
rate of vibrati on these may be termed ,

artificial charms some obj e ct s taking this

,

on more than others thus their chief ,

power will have much to do with the cha

ract e r of the wearer This is the reason .

why something worn by a lucky man is

eagerly sought for and will in a certain ,

measure help to bring luck to its new

owner ; much depends on whether the
former owner or the present
£hm333:o t he or in other words whether the
0
one s vibrations
’
are the stronger ,

o , r
, ,

$3f §§f charm s vibrations are

’
stronger
than the new owner s for the ’
,

stronger will tune the weaker to its

vibration The same applies to those
.
1 74 HISTORI CAL CHA RMS

pathy existi ng between th em and th e

we arer or possessor th us we fin d that
,

certai n stones are of value to one i n di vi

dual and not anot her ; the same with
plants and herbs as witnessed in curative
,

work For this reason it is recommended

.

that the gem belongi ng t o a person by

right of birt h should be worn The various
.

gems h ave each their own natural rate

o f vibrati on and that o f the ruby
,

di ffers from that of the turquoise,

vi b at i on of and
r so with al l This law of
.

“
£332 2 sympathy and antipathy is the
reason why gems lose their
brilliancy with the health o f the wea rer
and in th e case of th e ru by it is said to
change colour when misfortune threatens
its wearer At the presen t day medica l
.

men recognise th e natural curative vibra

tions o f amber and recommend its being
,

worn as a charm agai nst certain ailments .

Magical charms will be our next class ,

where we have the natural power of a

charm greatly enhanced by the human
will consciously directed f or this purpose .

The knowledge of the various rates of

 C LASSIFI CATIO N OF C HARMS 1 75

vibration and the law of correspondence

with the ability to apply it makes ,

of that man a practi cal magi

oian hence the name of magical l a ted
, s
charm .Any gem or metal cha ms r

whose n atural virtue has been

strengthened by such a man will have
great power either for good or e vi l I f .

the gems of S olomon and of the J ews

are to be accredited they would belong
,

to this class .

Closely related to the magical charm

is talismanic j ewellery talismans and , ,

written s pells Though related there is

.

a di fference between charms and

talismans and the talismanic Talismani c
,

j ewellery would appear to bridge £3 2 32

3
While a charm may be and wells
,

this
.

a nything from a worthless piece

of fabric to a precious stone or even
man the talisman is more or less an
,

artificial production which may be con

,

structed of metal st one or parchment

, , ,

dependi ng for its e fficacy on the binding

of or constraining of the elementary
powe rs to aid the behests of the possessor .
1 76 HISTO RI C AL C HARM S

This is done by preparing them at certain

ti mes and by observing many singular
forms and ceremonies We have .

The bi nding mentioned that the forces behind

ge ,”m
Powe ! r
nature are intelligent
we add that they have many
and when ,

grades and classes from com

paratively insignificant lives to the super
mundane orders and that these are at ,

the back of real talismanic magi c it will

be seen that the forces worked with are
not to be sco ffed at .

Writing of these forces B aron du ,

Potet says , How did I come to find

,

out that art Where did I learn it

I n my thoughts No ! it is nature
herself who discovered me the secret .

And how B y producing before my

own eyes without waiting, for
Ba on d
r o
po t te g y ame to search
g for them i n di sp u t ,
m “ able facts of sorce ry and magi c
331; g .

f i n ds a d And
r e what is it determines
n
un d rst a d
tr ace
e
d sig s these n
att ra ct 1on s
h
these sudden
,

I mpulses these raving e pide

,

mics antipathies and crises these con

, , ,

vu lsi ons which one can make durable

I 7S HIST O RI CAL C HA RMS

Theurgist th rough th e power of arcane

,

signat ures commands mundan e nature ;

,

no longer as man nor as em ,

ploying a human soul but as ,

n umb e sr existing superior to them in the

3323333; order of the gods he makes use
,

of greater mandates than pertain

to h imsel f so far as he is h u man
,
For .

this reason th e magical properties of

numb ers and of geometrical forms are
relied upon by th e true magician who ,

knows that th ey are expressive of certain

active princip les in nature and he there,

fore uses them to bring these principles

into Operation The engraved gems of
.

the Gnostics and all talismanic jewellery

must be placed in this division while all ,

talismans magical squares phylacteries

, , ,

and those charms depending f or their

e fficacy on traced Signs must also be,

included in this class .

There is another form of charm to

which we will give the name o f obsessed
charm as this depends for its power on
,

some entity often a human di sembodied

,

one attaching its elf to the object wh ich

,
 C LASSI FI CATI O N O F C HARMS 1 79

forms the charm . Such are most of

the skulls and those things to which
,

the haunting of houses are

placed. Weapons which have md
been used for crime are some cha m r

times obsessed by the spi rit of

the doer of the crime and perhaps this
,

is the reason why most of these weapons

are destroyed The mummy case men
.
-

t i on e d in another part of this work would

also come under this heading .
C HAP T ER XXV I I I
G EMS : WH ENC E TH EI R EFFI CAC Y
AVI NG given precious st ones
a prominent place among
charms it may be as well
,

to devote a few pages to

them alone giving various
,

theories as to whence they

derive their e fficacy Almost al l p hiloso
.

p he rs have sought to find the reason why a

certain gem wi ll he lp a p art i cu lar individual
,

and m an yhave been the explanations given .

Pythagoras said that all things have

a soul and in the hidden subliminal
,

self conceal ed in the soul of

,
°f
the stone their virtue would be
,

found That when a man gazed

.

upon a stone whose soul was in affinity

with his own it threw out certai n
,
1 82 HI ST O RI C AL CHARMS

hold that certain lower intell igences belong

t o di fferent gems and when their owner
,

cal ls upon them they obey .

These o l d day ideas will h ardly sat isfy

-

t he scientific mind so we will see i f

,

modern science has anything to give on

precious stones which wi ll help us to
discover their power Modern theories .

trace the genesis of gems to the

The gene.“ e arly workings of fire and water ,

through which our planet has

passed in the far past ages ,

while most agree that their constituent

atoms must have been at one time in
either the liquid or gaseous state ; and
scient ists may be divided into two classes ,

one holding the aqueous and the other ,

the igneous theory AS to the colouring

.

matter of gems most are agreed that this

,

consists o f various metallic oxi des though ,

iron appears t o play a promi nent part in

this matter but it depends on the am ount
,

o f o xygen and certain combinations as

to the colour given Hauy says there .

are exceptions an d some gems owe th eir

,

colour to other metals .

G EMS : WH ENC E TH EI R EFFI CAC Y 1 83

Glancing at their electrical capacity ,

we find that nearly all precious stones

possess this quality in varying
degrees being either positive or The eleo
m
,

negative Amoretti s investi fig

’
ff z e

g at i on s o f t h e electric polari t y t one

s s

of precious stones shows that

the diamond the garnet and amethyst
,

are negative while the sapphire is posi

,

tive Experiments have s h own the tour

.

mal ine is positive at its one end and

—
negative at the other a feature which
,

the topaz is also said to possess .

We have here su fficient to enable us

to establish a theory whereby we can
Show h ow precious stones may be related
to human beings for if the colour of the
gem depends on iron then it is well to
,

remember that we have two principal

f orms of iron in the human blood viz , .
,

protoxide of iron and peroxide

of i ron a compound of the two
,

constitutes what was formerly t ween man

m m “

known as lodestone or black

magnetic oxide of iron Per
,

.
m gr
m '

haps science may find that certain gems

1 84 HIST O RI C AL C HARMS

are tuned to t h e human body th rough

vibrat ions generated by this magnetic
principle At any rate there must be
.

some degree of affinit y between the gem

and the man so t uned theref ore we have ,

established a physical relationship .

For any other affin ity we must look

t o t h e nature spirits or elementals previ
ou sly mentioned as these can be said to
,

be related to one of the kingdoms i e ,

. . .

fire air earth or water on the one

, , , ,

hand and to one of the four tempera

,

ments on the other the temperament de ,

pending on the element which

Th mom
e predominates in the body or
“ In“ the nature of the man for man
is composed of al l elements and ,

the element which predominates in his

constitution at birth will be the ruling
element throughout li fe and all things ,

of like element will be in sympathy with

him This is the secret of what we term
.

luck Here we find the reason why

.

some people are lucky in one thing and

not in another Those with th e earth
.
,

or gnomic element having preponderance ,

1 86 HISTO RI CAL C H ARMS

from th e highest to the lowest are like beads

,

on a thre ad and this thread is one of t he

,

rays of t he seven planet s The .

lI an st ands ray on which a man is strung on

” depends on what planet h ad chief
$ 23 12
p anet a y
l r rule at the time of his birth I f .

it was Mars then will h e be t uned

,

ele men t als to all things of th e M ars nature ’

.

The root of all is One or t he

Absolute and from this impersonal prin
cip le emanates the rays Th e ray which
.

is guided by th e great planetary sp i ri t

of M ars is tuned t o the vibration s o f this
planet and passes through th e various
,

orders of spirit s and highl y evolved bei n gs

un til it reac h es man and so on down
, ,

through the animal vegetable mineral

, , ,
—
and lower kingdoms a magnetic ladder
fr om the mineral to the gods All things .
,

from the lowest to t he highest ,

whic h are tuned to this ray must

fl g? be in close affin it y one with the
a ,

mifim fi o
the soda other I n this way we find t hat
.

each planet has its representa

t i ve s on every plane an d in e very ki ngdom
o f nature .
G EMS : WH ENC E TH EI R EFFI CAC Y 1 87

When th e earth was in its maki ng these

rays went forth upon th eir mission , an d
falling upo n an aggregate of atoms in
process of crystal lization the vi brati ons
,

of the ray were caught an d fastened in

t h e rock or pre cious stone t h ere to li e
,

latent until roused into acti vit y by vi bra

ti ons of a like nat ure playing upon th em .

We find a similar law at work i n coal

where t he su n s energy or vibrations lie
’

hidden t o be set free by ot her h eat vi

brat i on s M ay it not be that the vibration
.

o f a h uman wi ll keyed to the same ray

,

as the precious stone can call into actio n

,

th e hidden vi rtue and ensouling elemental

of t h at stone
Each gem is the emblem o f on e of the
seven gre at planetary hierarchies each
i ndividual belongs unalterably
to a certai n hie rarc hy an d will I n “Place
, .

have th e peculi ar conditions of In t h e

“ mm
that on e with in hi mself as t he
guiding principle an d to whi ch
,

vibrati ons h e will be tuned Each h ier

.

arch y h as its special work an d th ough

,

app are ntly di ffering in their meth od yet ,

1 88 HISTO RI CAL C HARMS

ea c h is filling a p art of the divine

t h ought

t d h
A ll ar e b u t p ar t s o f on e s up e n ous w ole ,
Whos e b o n at ure i s , an d G od t he S oul
dy ”
—P .

op e .
Barton, Dr , the Aeronaut, 40
. Burton Agnes Hall, S ull oi , 41 k
m as Charms, 0 7
Bed oi Otw a yF y
amil , 55 Caaba, Stone oi , 07
Berlin, Archives oi , 7 Cancer, Sign oi , 127
Bernhardt, l adame Sarah, 08 Candles, Coughs Cured b , 81 y
Bernora, Island oi , 84 Capricorn, Sign oi , 128
y
Ber l, 108, 110 Carbuncle, 104, 115 , 120
k
Betti scombe House, S ull at, 48 Carnarvon, Lord, harmed reeC T
Bess, 108, 110 oi , 80
Bible at Spedlin s Tow
’
er, 00 Carneli an, 81, 00, 85 , 105 , 114,
Birth-month Stones, 128 120, 134
Black Sw ee p,
”
Mascot , 100 Cast -oil Clothing, 178
ky
Blavats , Madame H P , 81, . . Cat, Civet, 70
100, 104
y
Blondlot, ll , N-Ra s oi, 188 Cattle Chartle , 5 0
oi y
Bloodstone, 104, 120, 127, 188, k
Cauls as Luc -bringers, 78
130 J
Caviglioli , ean, 5 8
F
Bone oi a rog, 70 k
Cha a the 2q K
ing, 20
Boots, Charmed, 58 Chalwdony, 105 , 120
Bracelet oi l Santos Dumont,
. Chalchihuitl, 105
14 Chameleon, 70
Brazilian Pebbl e, 104
Breast plats, Aaron s, 00
- ’
Artificial, 170
Correct l ethod oi earing, W
British Museum, 58 145
Brooch, Tortoiseshell, 14 Dra ma and, 88
C
Buddhist hurch, Strange Cere For l ental Development, 80
mony in, 78 For Protecti on irom Animals,
Buddhist Pra er y W
heel, as 00
a l ascot, 142 For Travellers , 80
B ui oni te, 104, 120 Historical, 4
Bullet-prooi Men, 5 0 Jewels Classed as , 3
 m -
ot3x l g i

Char —
m es ontinucd Cromw ell, Oliver, 5 4
Magi cal, 173 “
Crux Amati ,
”
68
National, 173 y
Cr stal, 106, 113, 116, 121, 131
Natural, 178 Cuba, 21
Obsessed 28, 178
,

Psalms as, 87 Dalham Hall, 87

W riter s, 87
’
Darnborough, Mr at Monte
.

W ritten, 84 00 -
Carlo, 47
y
Chartle Cattle, 50 y
Da s oi W k
ee and Gems, 130,
China, 17, 34, 03 130
Empress oi , 17 Dead Hand oi F
ather
y y
Chr sober l, 105 Arrow smith, 05
y
Chr solite, 105 , 120, 120, Dee, Dr , 35
.

138, 180 Diamonds, 10, 10, 20, 28, 100,

114 0, 121, 131
-

Clogs as Mascots, 100

”
k
Dog Trin ets, 100
Coalstoun Pear, 30
y
Coat, Hol , oi Treves, 83, 72 Earrings, 00
Coins, Charmed, 21, 22, 24, 142 Edenhall, Cup oi , 20
Colouring oi Gems, 182 Edw ard, Ring oi K
ing, 0
Colours in Heraldry, 131 y
Eg pt, 21, 87, 77
Colville, W J, 104
. . Egyptian Pebble, 107
Comb, Charmed, 78 J
Elector ohn oi Brandenburgh,
Comtesse de Castiglione, 8 e
Coral, 105 , 110, 120, 184 Electrical Poles oi Gems, 183
Coronati on Stone, 32, 60, 93 Elementals, 188, 178, 100
Corsica, 5 3
Arabs, 30
Corvisart, Dr 18 Emerald, 10, 5 7, 107, 118, 115 ,
Countess D Eu, 14
’
110, 121, 120, 127, 181, 187,
Cramp Rings, 80 130
Crocidolits, 100 Ena, Princess, 25
Cromartie, Countea oi , 54 England, 28, 20, 74
19 2 !ND EX
y
Est , Madame, 10 Grecian Belicia 118 ,

Evil Eye, 105 Greece 113

,

Experiments w ith Plants, 104 Grumbine J C F 104 , . .

Famil y Charms02 , Hadyn the Composer, 14

Farj eon, B L , the Novelist, 31
. . Haggard, Mr Hider, 14 .

Feitsui, 107 Hair, Human, 5 8, 77

Fire-stone, 107 y
Hall, Br n, 05
Fitzgerald s, Sir Maurice, Blac
’
k Burton Agnes, 41
Cat, 40 Dalham, 37
Flags as Charms, 5 8, 04 Garswood, 80
Fox, 78
France, 4, 25 , 40, 02
F k
rederic the reat, 7 G Hand as a harm, 05 C
French, Magi c recognised by Handkerchiei , Curati ve, 00
the, 4 Hare, 78
Frog, 70, 134 Hartmann, Dr , 104
—
.

Haunted Rooms, 41 5 , 170

Gaballa , Comte do, on Magi c, HebrewBelici a, 114
108 Heli otrope, 107
Garnet , 107, 122, 128, 130 Heliotropian, 70
Gem y
Henr VI , 27 .

Genesis oi , 182 y
Heraldr and Gems, 181
Philosophers 180 and, Herbs, 4, 70, 188, 174
The Soul oi a, 180 Hi ndu Belieis, 114
Gemini, The Sign, 127
German Emperor, 0, 40 Historical Charms, 4
German , 0 y Hohenzollern, House oi , 8
Gladstone, W E 5 0 . Holy Coat oi Treves, 83
Gnostics, 02, 178 Hand, 05
Goblet as a Charm, 27
Gold Heart, 100 oi Holies, 18
k
Gold S ull, 15 Vests, 61
1 94 I ND E X
Names, 48
Napoleon I ., 18
III , 8 .

National Charm, 03
Natural Charms, 173
Nature Spirits, 100, 107
k
Nec lace, ade, 17 J
oi Vishnu, 115
Nei cr, 77
Nelson, 50
New!e aland, 31, 00
Nile Expedition, 13
North American Indian , 03
Numbers, 83, 178
08-100, 141-8
Mecca, Blackstone oi , 87 02 ,
Occult Jewellery , 101
Medal oi St Benoit, 14
. u
0d, 163
”
”
Mephisto s Ring,
’
10
y F ”
Od lic orce, 163
Mesmer 181
,
Ojo dc Buoy, 108
Metals, 4, 70 , 182, 184 , Olcott, Colonel, 171
15 1, 15 8, 182, 185
0117 1110, 108, 1239 139
Mexico, 118 oy
n x. 10 8. 188. 134. 140
Mikko Monkey
”
, 142 Opal, 7, 15 , 02, 100, 112, 113.
Monte Carlo, 47
123, 128, 130, 130
Moonstone, 108, 114, 128 Ophite, 100, 124
O g
r i i nal M o ti ve i or ear W
Jew eller , 8 y
Osiris, 68, 08
Muncaster Mascot, 27 Otw a yF amily. 55
Musgrave, Sir Richard, 20 01 s Eye, 100
’

Mystery Animals, 78

N-Hays, 103
 I ND EX I 9S

Paracelsus on Talismans , 15 7, R ing and Magic, 5

188 Cramp 80,

Parchment Charms, 81 Cursed Spanish Opal, 7

Pear, Coalstoun, 80 Czar oi Russia s, 11, 12
’

Pearl, 100, 115 , 124, 180 F ated, oi Napoleon I , 13 .

J
Pennington, Sir ohn, 27 German Emperor s, 0, 02’

Pentacle, 184 Hadyn s, 14

’

Peridot, 100, 124 in W

estminster Abbe , 8 y
Persia, 28 K i ng Edw ard s, 8
’

Pharaoh, 14 Mephisto s, 10
’

Philosophers and Magic, 15 2, oi Strength, 130

188, 180 Rider Haggard s, 14
’

Solomon s, 5
’

Pisces, The Sign, 128 F

To prevent alling Sickness,
y
Planetar Hierarchies, 187 8
Planets and their ems, 128G q
Ri pon, Mar uis oi , 5 4
Potato Charm, 82 Roman Beliei s, 113
Potet, Baron du, 178 Rosicrucians, 15 0
Precious Stones, 4, 22, 00, 112, Rothschild, h opold de, 31
115 , 188 and Luc , 40 k
Psalms as Charms or Spells,
87-0 Rub y ,10, 20, 109, 115 , 116,
y
Psychic D namo, 171 124, 127, 131, 187, 189
Russia, 11, 21, 22, 66, 67
Rabbit as a Mascot, 5 1
y
Rama ana, Epic Poem oi , 110 Sagittarius, Sign oi , 128
Reichenbach, 181, 104, 181 Salisbur y , Lord, 87
Religious Relics as Charms, 171 Sapphire, 18, 03, 100, 114-0,
Renow n, Mascot oi , 5 1 124, 120, 127, 181, 187, 180
Revelstokc, Lord, 37 Sardius, 120
Ri dgewa , Proi , on ew
y . J
ellery, y
Sardon x, 110, 125 , 120, 128,
3 134 , 188
Ring Apollonius oi Tyana s, 5
’
Scarab, 07
 19 6 I ND E X
Schneider, Statement oi , 7 Spells, 4 , 84 -0
Scorpio, Sign oi , 128 Spirits oi Solomon, 5
Scorpion Charm, 80 St Benoit , 14
.

Scotch Pebble, 110 St Beuno, 70

.

Scott, Sir W alter, in ails T St Columbus, 88

.

man, 22 St Dunstan, 75
.

Scalield, Earl oi , 80 St Edw

. ard, 32
Seal, Charmed, 15 J
St ohn, 60
.

Planet s, 134
’
St Peter, 82
.

Solomon s, 134 St Philomena, 72

’
.

Secret Doctrine, 180 St. W

inei ride, 00
k
Secret oi Luc , 184 Star Stone, 110
Selenltc, 110, 130 Stars and Stripes Charm,
Servi a, 14 04
Seven, Number, 88 Stone, Coronati on, 32, 00
Seventh Son, 82 03
Siderite, 110 Green Heart 18 ,

Sistrum, 77 oi Bemora, 84
k
S ull, Burton Agnes Hall, 4 1 oi Caaba, 07
Golden, 15 , 01 oi I ona, 34
Knaresborough Manor, 44 oi Memphis, 110
Screaming, 48 oi k
Mu den, 34, 03
Tunstead Farm, 43 Toad , oi Germany , 7
W y ardle Hall, 44 White
, in Revelati ons, 01
Snake Sto e
n , 110, 125 Stonehenge, 33
Snuii Box, 5 7 Streeter, Mr , oi Bond Street,
.

Socerer and Cardinal olseW y , 15

0
Solomon s Ring, 5
’

Seal, 30, 134 Table oi Apostolic Virtues, .

Spain, 8, 10, 24, 82, 81 120

Spanish Ameri can War, 7 oi Birt month
h- Mascots,
Opal, Cursed, 7 143
1 98 I ND E X
White Heather , 5 0, 100 Wolsey , Cardinal, Accused oi

0, 40, 02
FM “
, 111

!odiac, 127 , 185

Witchcrait , 105 !ulu Chlei , 20
Wolf , 79