About the Historical Popularity of Stone Charms in Asian Culture

In a favorite form of white jade amulet, the stone is cut flat and is then inlaid with rubies in gold settings, so disposed as to indicate a flower-form. Jade amulets of this type are found in China and in various parts of northern Asia, and are believed to guard or free the wearer from palpitation of the heart.

Flowers fashioned from precious stones make most attractive ornaments, and by their variety of coloring can be worn with almost any costume. A celebrated beauty of London society has a number of pansies of different colors, one made of rubies, another of sapphires, still another of emeralds, and so on through the range of colors. In this way she always had a pansy according in color with that of her gown. As bridal gifts these jewel-flowers are most appropriate, more especially when the lady-love bears a "floral name" such as Violet or Rose.

Coral ornaments of all sorts are in great demand in Tibet, and a fine piece of this material will bring about $20 an ounce, and is therefore literally worth its weight in gold. The Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, who visited Tibet in the latter half of the thirteenth century, already noted that coral was in high favor there and that coral necklaces adorned the necks of the women and also those of the idols in their temples. The love of personal adornment is very strong among the Tibetan women, and those in any way well-to-do load themselves with a mass of jewelled ornaments, great pieces of amber, coral and turquoise constituting the principal gem-material. The favor extended to coral, apart from the religious significance of red as symbolical of one of the incarnations of Buddha, may perhaps have an esthetic basis as well, for red or pink affords a pleasant contrast to the dark complexions and hair of the Tibetans.

Much more prized, however, than coral is the beautiful blue turquoise, which not only serves for purely ornamental use but is freely employed in the decoration of religious objects, such as the curious "prayer wheels" so indispensable a part of Tibetan ritual.

The talismanic quality of this stone is an important element in its popularity, as it is supposed to bring good fortune and physical well-being to the wearer and to afford protection against contagion. The Tibetans share in the quite general belief that the turquoise will grow pale in sympathy with the present or prospective fortune and health of the person wearing it, and as a loss of color is considered portentous of coming evil, such stones are gotten rid of as soon as possible to be replaced by those of a brighter hue. The dealers who buy up for a trifling sum these discolored turquoises often treat them with a dose of blue dyestuff which superficially restores the color, and it is stated that many of the soldiers of the British expeditionary force to Tibet in 1904 were at first deceived into buying these vamped-up stones, but they soon discovered the deception and were more careful later on. Turquoises are also believed to guard against the Evil Eye, and a quasi-sacred character is lent to some especially fine specimens by setting them in the foreheads of statues of the Buddha or other religious images.

The women of Tibet are said to prize most highly as amulets pieces of cloth adorned with turquoise or coral, which they have acquired from the Lamas, who by the imposition of their priestly blessing have endowed these objects with a peculiar sanctity in the eyes of the Tibetan devotees. Another amulet favored in this far-off land is a small metal box of gold, silver, or copper, and encrusted with turquoise. Within are enclosed little scrolls inscribed with mystic characters to conjure evil spirits and thwart their malevolent schemes for the tribulation of mankind.

An ingenious, if rather far-fetched explanation of the supposed power of coral to avert lightning and hail is given by Fortunio Liceti. In his opinion, coral, being of a warm quality, overcomes the coldness of the atmosphere, which produces lightning by the attraction of contraries, and hail by its own quality. This is a specimen of the attempts to find a plausible physiological reason for the powers of gems, the writers never for a moment hesitating to accept the popular beliefs in this respect.

Among the Bhots of Landakh in the western part of Tibet, a large piece of amber or agate is often worn by the men suspended from the neck as an amulet. Here as in so many other parts of the world, the amulet is believed to acquire especial efficacy when worn in this way, as it comes in immediate contact with the person of the wearer.

A very singular manner of using precious stones as talismans is noted in Burma. There are certain talismans called hkoung-beht-set, which are inserted in the flesh beneath the skin. They are usually of gold, silver, or lead, or else of tortoise shell, horn, etc., but sometimes they are rolled pebbles and occasionally precious stones. We are told that when a prisoner is found to have such talismans on, or rather in his person, the jailer cuts them out lest they should be used to bribe the guards. The talismans owe much of their supposed power to inscriptions in mystic characters, and they are so highly favored that some of the natives wear one or more rows of them across the chest.

For the Japanese, rock-crystal is the "perfect jewel," tama; it is at once a symbol of purity and of the infinity of space, and also of patience and perseverance. This latter significance probably originated from an observation of the patience and skill required for the production of the splendid crystal balls made by the accurate and painstaking Japanese cutters and polishers.

The belief of Mohammedans in the Evil Eye claims the authority of the Prophet to the effect that "the ain (eye) is a reality." The Arabs also designate the Evil Eye as nuzra, "the look," and nafs, "breath or spirit." It is not commonly regarded as the result of a definite malevolent intention, but rather as an effect engendered by envy at the sight of anything especially beautiful or attractive. Indeed, sometimes the bare expression of great admiration is supposed to produce evil results, as is illustrated by the assertion that when a man, on seeing an exceptionally large and fine stone, exclaimed, "What a large stone!" it immediately broke into three pieces.

In the Sahara, the horns of oxen, and sometimes their skulls with the horns attached, are set over the entrances of dwellings to protect the residents from this dreaded influence; in Tunis and Algiers, boars' tusks are also used in this way. However, the most favored weapons of defence are the outstretched fingers of the hand, sometimes but two fingers, but more often all five. The gesture of holding out the fingers toward the envious person is frequently accompanied by the utterance of the words: Khamsa fi ainek, "five (fingers) in your eye!" The number five has thus acquired such a special significance that Thursday, as the fifth day of the week, is looked upon as the appropriate day for pilgrimages to the shrines of those saints whose protection against the Evil Eye is believed to be most potent.

The Arabs of Arabia Petraea believe that when anyone casts longing and covetous eyes upon any animal belonging to another, part of his soul enters the animal and the latter is doomed to destruction if it remains in the possession of the rightful owner. The same idea prevails in the case of a child whose possession is envied, or who is unduly admired. Where the identity of the one who has cast the spell is known, there is a fair chance of rendering it harmless if a piece of the guilty one's garment can be stolen and the animal or child rubbed with it. The virtue of coral as a protection from such dangers is generally believed, and almost every woman, child, mare and camel, wears or bears a coral amulet of some kind. A special variety of amulets against the Evil Eye, worn by equestrians, are small, smooth flint-stones, gathered at a spot where two valleys unite; and, for horses, protection is believed to be afforded by a ring of blue glass or blue porcelain, suspended from the neck. Another queer superstition among these Arabs regarding the Evil Eye is that if a child yawns, this is supposed to be a sign that he has been smitten by the evil spell, and the mother is advised to place glowing coals on a plate, strew alum over the coals, and bear the plate around the child.