A few further notes from Kunz’s Curious Lore of Precious Stones.
Diamond
The virtues ascribed to this stone are almost all directly traceable either to its unconquerable hardness or to its transparency and purity. It was therefore thought to bring victory to the wearer, by endowing him with superior strength, fortitude, and courage. Marbodus tells us it was a magic stone of great power and served to drive away nocturnal spectres; for this purpose it should be set in gold and worn on the left arm. For St. Hildegard the sovereign virtue of the diamond was recognized by the devil, who was a great enemy of this stone because it resisted his power by day and by night. Rueus calls it “a gem of reconciliation,” as it enhanced the love of a husband for his wife.
Cardano takes a more pessimistic view of the qualities of the diamond. He says: It is believed to make the wearer unhappy; its effects therefore are the same upon the mind as that of the sun upon the eye, for the latter rather dims than strengthens the sight. It indeed renders fearless, but there is nothing that contributes more to our safety than prudence and fear; therefore it is better to fear.
The diamond was often associated with the lightning and was sometimes believed to owe its origin to the thunderbolt,
In the Talmud we read of a gem, supposed to have been the diamond, which was worn by the high priest. This stone served to show the guilt or innocence of one accused of any crime; if the accused were guilty, the stone would grow dim, but if he were innocent, it would shine more brilliantly than ever. This quality is also alluded to by Sir John Mandeville, who wrote: It happens often that the good diamond loses its virtue by sin and for incontinence of him who bears it.
The Arabians and Persians, as well as the modern Egyptians, agree in attributing to the diamond a wonderful power to bring good fortune, and Rabbi Benoni, a mystic of the fourteenth century, treating of its magic virtues, asserts that it produces somnambulism, and, as a talisman, so powerfully attracts the planetary influences that it renders the wearer invincible; it was also said to provoke a state of spiritual ecstasy. An alchemist of the same century, Pierre de Boniface, asserted that the diamond made the wearer invisible.
A curious fancy, prevalent in regard to many stones, attributed sex to the diamond, and it is therefore not surprising that these stones were also supposed to possess reproductive powers. In this connection Sir John Mandeville wrote: They grow together, male and female, and are nourished by the dew of heaven; and they engender commonly, and bring forth small children that multiply and grow all the year. I have oftentimes tried the experiment that if a man keep them with a little of the rock, and water them with May dew often, they shall grow every year and the small will grow great.
According to a wide-spread superstition, the talismanic power of a diamond was lost if the stone were acquired by purchase; only when received as a gift could its virtues be depended on. The same belief is noted regarding the turquoise. The spirit dwelling in the stone was thought to take offence at the idea of being bought and sold, and was supposed to depart from the stone, leaving it nothing more than a bit of senseless matter. If, however, the diamond (or turquoise) were offered as a pledge of love or friendship, the spirit was quite willing to transfer its good offices from one owner to another.
“Aristotle says that no one except Alexander ever reached the place where the diamond is produced. This is a valley, connected with the land Hind. The glance cannot penetrate to its greatest depths and serpents are found there, the like of which no man hath seen, and upon which no man can gaze without dying. However, this power endures only as long as the serpents live, for when they die the power leaves them. In this place summer reigns for six months and winter for the same length of time. Now, Alexander ordered that an iron mirror should be brought and placed at the spot where the serpents dwelt. When the serpents approached, their glance fell upon their own image in the mirror, and this caused their death. Hereupon, Alexander wished to bring out the diamonds from the valley, but no one was willing to undertake the descent. Alexander therefore sought counsel of the wise men, and they told him to throw down a piece of flesh into the valley. This he did, the diamonds became attached to the flesh, and the birds of the air seized the flesh and bore it up out of the valley. Then Alexander ordered his people to pursue the birds and to pick up what fell from the flesh.”
Of the many medicinal virtues attributed to the diamond, one of the most noteworthy is that of an antidote for poisons. Strangely enough, the belief in its efficacy in this respect was coupled with the idea that the stone in itself was a deadly poison. The origin of this latter fancy must be sought in the tradition that the place wherein the diamonds were generated—“in the land where it is six months day and six months night”—was guarded by venomous creatures who, in passing over the stones, were wounded by the sharp points of the crystals, and thus embued the stones with some of their venom. The attribution of curative properties in case of poisoning arose from association of ideas.
The diamond was also believed to afford protection from plague or pestilence, and a proof of its powers in this direction was found in the fact that the plague first attacked the poorer classes, sparing the rich, who could afford to adorn themselves with diamonds. Naturally, in common with other precious stones, this brilliant gem was supposed to cure many diseases. Marbodus tells us that it was even a cure for insanity.
Is this a demonic or faerie Ward?
An Austrian nobleman, who for a long time had not been able to sleep without having terrible dreams, was immediately cured by wearing a small diamond set in gold on his arm, so that the stone came in contact with his skin.
The fact that in this case, as in many others, the stone was required to touch the skin, proves that the effect supposed to be produced was not altogether magical, but in the nature of a physical emanation from the stone to the body of the wearer.
We are told that when Pope Clement VII was seized by his last illness, in 1534, his physicians resorted to powders composed of various precious stones. In the space of fourteen days they are asserted to have given the pope forty thousand ducats’ worth of these stones, a single dose costing as much as three thousand ducats. The most costly remedy of all was a diamond administered to him at Marseilles. Unfortunately, this lavish expenditure was of no avail; indeed, according to our modern science, the remedies might have sufficed to end the pope’s life, without the help of his disease.
Pot hook idea: if you know some’s going to feed gemstones to a Pope, your magi can swap out the originals for temporary stones with Creo Terram spells and profit.
The old fancy that the diamond grew dark in the presence of poison is explained by the Italian physician Gonelli as caused by minute and tenuous particles which emanated from the poison, impinged upon the surface of the diamond, and, unable to penetrate its dense mass, accumulated on the surface, thus producing a superficial discoloration.
Suggested Shape and Material Bonuses
- Diamond versus demons +5 (ArM5)
- Resistance to damage +5
- Cure or cause poisoning +5
- Detect poison +5
- Prevent plague +3
- Cure minds +2
Emerald
The emerald was believed to foreshow future events, but we do not learn whether visions were actually seen in the stone, as they were in spheres of rock-crystal or beryl, or whether the emerald endowed the wearer with a supernatural fore-knowledge of what was to come. {Either way, it’s the Visions Flaw] As a revealer of truth, this stone was an enemy of all enchantments and conjurations; hence it was greatly favored by magicians, who found all their arts of no avail if an emerald were in their vicinity when they began to weave their spells.
[Can you smuggle one into the lab of an enemy wizard to cause lab accidents?]
To this supernatural power inherent in the stone, enabling it to quicken the prophetic faculty, may be added many other virtues. If any one wished to strengthen his memory or to become an eloquent speaker, he was sure to attain his end by securing possession of a fine emerald. And not only the ambitious, but also those whose hearts had been smitten by the shafts from Cupid’s bow found in this stone an invaluable auxiliary, for it revealed the truth or falsity of lover’s oaths. Strange to say, however, the emerald, although commonly assigned to Venus, was often regarded as an enemy of sexual passion. So sensitive was the stone believed to be in this respect that Albertus Magnus relates of King Bela of Hungary, who possessed an exceptionally valuable emerald set in a ring, that, when he embraced his wife while wearing this ring on his finger, the stone broke into three parts.
After stating that the emerald sharpens the wits and quickens the intelligence, Cardano declares that it therefore made people more honest, for “dishonesty is nothing but ignorance, stupidity, and ill-nature.”
Emerald sharpened the wits, conferred riches and the power to predict future events. To evolve this latter virtue it must be put under the tongue. It also strengthened the memory. The light-colored stones were esteemed the best and legend told that they were brought from the “nests of griffons.”
A curious quid pro quo appears in a fifteenth century treatise on gems written in French. Here, in a list of engraved gems suitable for use as amulets, we read, “If you find a dromedary engraved on a stone with hair flowing over its shoulders, this stone will bring peace and concord between man and wife.” The original Latin text read, “If you find Andromeda on a stone with hair flowing over her shoulders,” etc.
The emerald, according to Damigeron, was to be engraved with a scarab, beneath which was to be a standing figure of Isis. The gem, when completed, was to be pierced longitudinally and worn in a brooch. The fortunate owner of this talisman was then to adorn himself and the members of his family, and, a consecration having been pronounced, he was assured that he would see “the glory of the stone granted it by God.” Possibly this may have meant that the stone would become luminous.
The emerald was employed as an antidote for poisons and for poisoned wounds, as well as against demoniacal possession. If worn on the neck it was said to cure the “semitertian” fever and epilepsy…Alluding to its powers as an antidote for poisons, Rueus asserts that if the weight of eighty barley-corns of its powder were given to one dying from the effects of poison, the dose would save his life. The Arabs prized emeralds highly for this purpose, and Abenzoar states that, having once taken a poisonous herb, he placed an emerald in his mouth and applied another to his stomach, whereupon he was entirely cured.
It speaks not a little for the beauty of the emerald that so good a judge of precious stones as Pliny should have pronounced this gem to be the only one that delighted the eye without fatiguing it, adding that when the vision was wearied by gazing intently at other objects, it gained renewed strength by viewing an emerald. So general in the early centuries of our era was the persuasion that the pure green hue of emeralds aided the eyesight, that gem engravers are said to have kept some of them on their work-tables, so as to be able to look at the stones from time to time and thus relieve the eye-strain caused by close application to their delicate task.
Psellus says that a cataplasm made of emeralds was of help to those suffering from leprosy; he adds that if pulverized and taken in water they would check hemorrhages. They were especially commended for use as amulets to be hung on the necks of children, as they were believed to ward off and prevent epilepsy. If, however, the violence of the disease was such that it could not be overcome by the stone, the latter would break. Hermes Trismegistus says the emerald cures ophthalmia and hemorrhages. The great Hermes must have had a special preference for this stone, since his treatise on chemistry is said to have been found inscribed on an emerald.
Teifashi (1242 a.d.) believed that the emerald was a382 cure for hæmoptysis and for dysentery if it were worn over the liver of the person affected; to cure gastric troubles, the stone was to be laid upon the stomach. Furthermore, the wearer was protected from the attacks of venomous creatures, and evil spirits were driven from the place where emeralds were kept.
Suggested Shape and Material Bonuses
- calm 2 (ArM5)
- incite love or passion 4 (ArM5)
- snakes and dragon kind 7 (ArM5)
- aiding study +3
- curing the eye +3
- banish demons +3
- prevent spellcasting +7
Games From Folktales 