Engraved Zodiacal Stones

The old writers are never tired of insisting upon the idea that, while the image graven upon a stone was in itself dead and inactive, the influence of the stars during whose ascendancy the work had been executed communicated to the inert material talismanic qualities and virtues which it before lacked. In these instances the images could be regarded as outward and visible signs of the planetary or zodiacal influence. Even in the case of the bezoar stone, a generally recognized antidote for all sorts of poisons, it was held that the scorpion's bite could be most effectually healed by a bezoar upon which this creature's figure had been cut during the time when the constellation Scorpio was in the ascendancy. (Gaffarelli, "Curiositates inauditae," Hamburgi, 1706.)

In the production of engraved stones to serve as amulets, the influence of the respective planet was made to enter the stone by casting upon the latter, during the process of engraving, reflections from a mirror which had been exposed to the planet's rays. In addition to this, the work was executed while the planet was in the ascendant, and the design was emblematic of it. With these combined influences the gem was believed to be thoroughly impregnated with the planetary virtue. (Schindler, "Der Aberglaube des Mittelalters," Breslau, 1858.)