202 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
liance upon his zaztun, or
"clear stone." This may be a quartz crystal, or else some other
translucent stone; but in order to serve for divining purposes it must
be sanctified according to special rites, gum-copal being burned before
it, and certain magic formulas recited, which have been transmitted
from generation to generation in an archaic dialect. When thus
rendered fit for use, the diviner claims to be able to see in the
depths of the crystal the whereabouts of lost articles, and also what
absent persons are doing at the time he makes his observation. Not
only this, but the future is also laid bare before his eyes. As these
stones are supposed to possess such miraculous powers we need not be
surprised that one of them should be found in almost every village in
Yucatan.30
The
Apache medicine-men are also fully persuaded that crystals possess the
virtue of inducing visions, and they have used them for the purpose of
finding lost property. To aid in the recovery of stolen ponies is one
of the most important tasks of the Apache medicine-man, and to this end
his crystal offers great assistance. Capt. John G. Burke relates that
he made a great friend of a medicine-man named Na-a-che by giving him a
large crystal of denticulated spar, much superior to the crystal he had
been in the habit of using for his visions. That this was thoroughly
satisfactory to the medicine-man at least, is shown by his statement to
Capt. Burke that by looking into his crystal he could see everything he
wanted to see. Of the way this came about he did not attempt any
explanation.37
**
Brinton, " Essays of an Americanist," Philadelphia, 1890, p. 165. "
Burke, " The Medicine-men of the Apache," Ninth Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-1888, "Washington, 1892, p. 461.
