PLANETARY AND ASTRAL INFLUENCES 357
of
children for those already married. If a woman was both wife and mother
when she saw sparkling jewels in her dream, then the vision portended
the acquisition of great wealth. Artemidorus here sagely remarks that
women are by nature devoted to riches and passionately fond of
ornaments. For men, on the other hand, to dream of jewels was an ill
omen; probably because it foreshadowed the necessity of buying them for
a good friend or a faithful wife.22
Another of these dream-books, probably composed in the eighth century a.D., appears
under the name of Acha-metis and is of Arabic origin. Many of the
interpretations in this book are referred to a Hindu source, and among
these are visions of crowns that appear to kings. Such a dream, in
itself, usually portended increased power and success for the
sovereign, but this depended upon the color and character of the jewels
which adorned the crown. For example, we read that if the gems were red
and of the kind known as lychnites (carbuncles or rubies), the dream
indicated that the king would have great joy and good fortune and would
be more feared by his enemies than before; but if he saw blue gems in
the crown, it was a bad omen, foreshadowing the loss of part of his
kingdom. If the stones were of a light green hue (the color of the
leek), the king would gain a great name in the world, both by his good
faith and by the -greatness of his kingdom; for, the writer adds, "this
color in precious stones is universally accepted as signifying
good-faith and religious devotion to God. " 23
^Artemidori Daldiani et Aehametis Sereimi Oneirocritica. ed. Kegaltius, Lutetiae, 1603, pp. 86, 87.
23 Ibid., p. 228.
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