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DM the earliest times in man's history gems and precious stones have been held in great esteem.
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They
have been found in the monuments of prehistoric peoples, and not alone
the civilization of the Pharaohs, of the Incas, or of the Montezumas
invested these brilliant things from Nature's jewel casket with a
significance beyond the mere suggestion of their intrinsic properties.
The
magi, the wise men, the seers, the astrologers of the ages gone by
found much in the matter of gems that we have nearly come to
forgetting. With them each gem possessed certain planetary attractions
peculiar to itself, certain affinities with the various virtues, and a
zodiacal concordance with the seasons of the year. Moreover, these
early sages were firm believers in the influence of gems in one's
nativity,—that the evil in the world could be kept from contaminating a
child properly protected by wearing the appropriate talismanic, natal,
and zodiacal gems. Indeed, folklorists are wont to wonder whether the
custom of wearing gems in jewelry did not originate in the talismanic
idea instead of in the idea of mere additional adornment.
The
influence exerted by precious stones was assumed in medieval times
without question, but when the spirit of investigation was aroused in
the Renaissance period, an effort was made to find a reason of some
sort for the
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