The
Mystic Sapphire
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In the west, Sapphire rings became very popular
in the ‘Middle Ages’. Clergy favored Blue Sapphire rings because the color represented heaven.
Magicians felt Sapphire rings helped them command
spirits, many others felt a Sapphire ring helped
ward off evil and sickness, including the plague.
The merits of Sapphire are named at length
by Bartolomaeus Anglicus, translated as Bartholomew
of England, who was a 13th Century academic
philosopher and instructor of theology at the
renowned University of Paris. According to his
predecessors, such as Damigeron, the Sapphire was the ‘Gem of Gems’ and a worthy adornment
on the fingers of kings. Anglicus enlarged on
the brilliant gemstone extolling the Sapphire’s
superb healing powers and their alleged calming
and cooling influence. Among the curative affects
he alleged
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that
the Sapphire could calm fevers, dispel extreme
perspiration, cease the flow of excessive bleeding
and even control and calm an agitated heart.
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At
Anglicus’ time it was also believed that the Sapphire held antidotal powers that could purge poisons
if placed next to the body. This he said, he proved
with an experiment where a spider was placed in
a box with a Sapphire. After some time the poor
spider was said to curl up and die, expired by
the supreme virtue and purity of the celestial gem: “His vertue is contrary to
venym, and quencheth it every deale. And yf you
put an attercoppe (Old English for spider.) in
a boxe and hold a very saphyre of Inde at the mouth of the boxe ony whyle, by vertue there ofthe attercoppe is overcome & dyeth as it were sodenly, as Dyasc. sayth [pseudo Dioscorides]" |
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In ancient times the Sapphire,
although what ancients called Sapphire is now
lapis lazuli, was reputed for it’s purity and
has a number of references made to it in the
Bible. For example the sacred character of the
Sapphire was attested to in the story of the
10 commandments, which were said to be engraved
on tablets of Sapphire. The Sapphire’s chaste
symbolism, also arising from associations of
natural innocence made between the gem and the
color of the heavens, caused it to be selected
as especially appropriate for the ecclesiastical
rings of cardinals and high-church dignitaries
in the 12th Century.
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At
the same time, the Sapphire was also a favorite
among the necromancers, who honored it more than
any other gem for its powers, which enabled them
to hear and to understand the weirdest of oracles.
Anglicus wrote: " Also wytches love well this stone, for they wene that they may werke certen
wondres by vertue of this stone"
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At one point there was a superb
Sapphire in the South Kensington Museum, in
London, reputed for its abnormal coloration.
The Sapphire was called ‘Le Saphire Merveilleux.’ translated as ‘The Miraculous Sapphire’, so
named for it’s ability to radiate an intense
Blue in daylight and a deep amethyst violet
under artificial light. Today, this is the demystified
color-change Sapphire, but to the people of
the 18th Century and before this was a little
known gem phenomenon that sparked the imagination.
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This
gem was originally in the collection of Count
de Walicki, a Polish nobleman, and Mme. de Genlis.
While in their family, the color-change Sapphire had become the centerpiece to a legend. The precious
gem was said to prove female virtue, and that
if it changed color it indicated the wearer’s
unfaithfulness. If the owner of the Sapphire wished
to prove that the subject of the test was innocent,
she was made to wear the gem during three hours
of daylight; but in the opposite case the test
was so timed that it began in daylight and ended
when the candles or lamps had been lighted. This Sapphire, still known as the " Saphire Merveilleux,"
was for a time in the collection of the Duke of
Orleans, who bore the name of Philippe Egalite
during the French Revolution. |
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Aside from the color-change
effect, another phenomenon in the Sapphire family
reputed to possess special powers was the ‘Star
Sapphire’. Regarded as a guiding gem, warding
off ill omen and the evil-eye, the ‘Star Sapphire’
was sometimes called the ‘Stone of Destiny’
with each of the star’s three rays being believed
to represent the virtues of Faith, Hope, and
Destiny. One of the most unique of talismanic
gemstones, it is said to be so potent that it continues
to exercise its good influence over the first
wearer even when it has passed into other hands.
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The
great Oriental traveler, Sir Richard Francis Burton,
had a large Star Sapphire or asteria, as it was
called. He referred to it as his talisman, for
it always brought him good horses and prompt attention
wherever he went. In fact, it was only in those
places where he received proper attention that
he would show the gem to the natives: a favor they
greatly appreciated because the sight of the gemstone was believed to bring good luck. |
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