closely
connected with the early ideas regarding the formation of precious
stones. In an old work on the occult properties of gems we read :
The
nature of the magnet is in the iron, and the nature of the iron is in
the magnet, and the nature of both polar stars is in both iron and
magnet, and henee the nature of the iron and the magnet is also in both
polar stars, and since they are Martian, that is to say, their region
belongs to Mars, so do both iron and magnet belong to Mars.
The
author then proceeds to describe an analogous relation between a man
and any natural object or product to which his imagination draws him,
and shows that, if this object be one that stands in a sympathetic
relation with the star beneath which the man was born, the man, the
star, and the object will constitute a triplicity of great utility. As
an explanation of the peculiarly inti-'-mate relation between stars and
precious stones we read, on page 12 :
Metals
and precious stones usually lie with their first seeds deep down in the
earth and require continuous moisture and a mild heat. This they obtain
through a reflection of the sun and the other stars in the manifold
movement of the heavens. . . . Therefore, also, the metals and precious
stones are nearest related to the planets 338
