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��ON A CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC
TALISMAN.
By C. W. KING, M.A.
Few relics of antiquity combine in one so manyand so widely
differing points of interest, with respect to the material, the
strangely dissimilar uses to which the same object has been
applied in two opposite phases of the history of Man, and,
above all, the curious superstitions engendered by its peculiar
form, as does the stone brought under the notice of the
Institute by General Lefroy at the meeting of February
7th of the present year. The kindness of that gentleman
having afforded me full opportunity for the careful examina
tion of this interesting monument, I shall proceed, at the
request of some members of our Society, to embody in as
succinct a form as their multifarious nature will permit, the
observations suggested to me by that examination.
The subject, therefore, of this memoir is a small stone celt
of the common pattern, but of very uncommon material (in
the antique class), being made, not of flint, but of dark-green
jade or nephrite, 2 in. by 1-| in. in length and greatest width ;
and brought, there is reason to believe, from Egypt many
years ago, by Colonel Milner, aide-de-camp to Lord J.
Bathurst, during the English occupation of Sicily in 1812.
Each of its two faces is occupied by a Gnostic formula,
engraved with much neatness, considering the excessive
hardness of the material, in the somewhat debased Greek
character that was current at Alexandria during the third
and fourth centuries of our era.
The most important of these two formulae has been inge
niously forced to take the outline of a wreath composed of
broad leaves, in number fourteen (or the sacred seven dupli
cated), and doubtless intended for those of the “ Five Trees”
that figure so conspicuously in Gnostic symbolism; the ends
being tied together with four broad ribbons. This is a
design of which no other example has ever come to my
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CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
knowledge amongst the innumerable and wondrously varied
devices excogitated by the prolific fancy of this religion of
mysteries. Upon the four ties are engraved in very minute
letters different combinations of the seven Greek vowels,
whilst each of the leaves is emblazoned with some “ Holy
Name,” of which many can be easily recognised as constantly
recurring in charms of this class ; others are disguised by a
novel orthography ; whilst a few, from the uncertain forms
of the lettering, defy all attempts at interpretation.
To the first series belong AB PACA, “ Abraxas,” properly
an epithet of the sun, but designating here the Supreme
Deity; IAWOYIE, “ Iao, Jehovah
ABAANA, “ Thou art
our Father!” TAM BP! HA, a curious mode of spelling
“ Gabriel,” that testifies to the difficulty ever felt by the
Greeks of expressing the sound of our B ; AKTNONBU),
which contains the Coptic form of Anubis; AAMNAMEN EYC, the sun’s name in the famous “ Ephesian Spell; ”
and, most interesting of all, HCANTAPEOC, who can be
no other than the IS'ANTA of the Pistis-Sophia? one of
the great TptSiW/xecs, a Power from whom is enthroned in
the planet Mars. To the uncertain belong COYMA, pro
bably for COYMA PT A, a name occurring elsewhere, and
perhaps cognate to the Hindoo Sumitri, XWNONIXAP
which may be intended for XAP-XNOYMIC, a common
epithet of the Agathodeemon Serpent; AEIWEHAANHC ;
NEIXAPOIIAHC ; the two last, spells unexplained but very
common ; MONAPXOC ; whilst AXAPCJC and the rest
appear here for the first time, if correctly so read.
The other face is covered with an inscription, cut in much
larger letters, and in eight lines. This number was certainly
not the result of chance, but of deep design, for if was
mystic in the highest degree, representing—so taught the
profoundest doctor of the Gnosis, Marcus—the divine Ogdoad,
which was the daughter of the Pythagorean Tetrad, the
mother of all creation.1 The lines 2, 4, 5, consist of Greek
2
1 Cap. 361. A work ascribed to Valen
tinus, and the only one of the numerous
Gnostic Gospels that has been preserved.
It professes to be the esoteric teaching of
Christ delivered during the eleven years
he abode on earth after his resurrection;
and written down by Philip : its system,
however, is pure Majianism veiled under
scriptural names. But, for that very
reason, it throws more light on the actual
Gnostic remains as to their types and
terminology, than do all the notices of
the religion to be found in other authori
ties collectively. The work was dis
covered in a Coptic MS. of the British
Museum, by Schwartze, and published
from his transcript, with a Latin version,
by Petermann, in 1853.
3 St. Hippolytus, Refut. Cm. Heeres.
vi. 50.
�Celt, or Ceraunia, of dark green jade, inscribed with Gnostic formulae,
with an enlarged representation of one of the inscribed faces.
��CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
3
letters used as numerals, intermixed with sigl&, which, from
their constant occurrence upon monuments of a like nature,
are supposed, with good reason, to be symbols of the planets.
The numerals, on their part, probably denote various deities,
for the Alexandrian Gnosis was the true daughter of Magianism ; and in the old theology of Chaldea every god and
astral genius had a number of his own, and which often
stands instead of his proper name in dedicatory inscriptions.34
Thus, the number of Hoa (Neptune) was 40 ; of Ana (Pluto),
60 ; of Bel (Jupiter), 50 ; of the Sun, 20 ; of the Moon,
30 ; of the Air, 10 ; of Nergal (Mars), 12 ; &c.
A fragment of the Pistis-Sophia* supplied the “ spiritual
man” with a key to the right interpretation of similar steno
graphy in his own creed. “ These be the Names which I
will give unto thee, even from the Infinite One down
wards. Write the same with a sign (cypher), so that the
sons of God may manifest (understand V) them out of this
place. This is the name of the Immortal One, AAA (a)00CjO.5
And this is the name of the Voice whereby the Perfect Man
is moved, TH. These likewise be the interpretations of the
names of the Mysteries. The first is AAA, and the interpreta
tion thereof is
The second, which is MMM, or which is
WWW, the interpretation thereof is AAA.
The third is
S'4'S', the interpretation thereof is OOO.
The fourth is
the interpretation thereof is NNN. The fifth is AAA,
the interpretation thereof is AAA, the which is above the
throne of AAA. This is the interpretation of the second
AAAA, namely, AAAAAAAA ; the same is the interpreta
tion of the whole Name.”
Lines 7, 8, are made up of vowels, variously combined,
and shrouding from profane eyes the Ineffable Name I Ail ;
which, as we are informed by many authorities (the most
ancient and trustworthy being Diodorus Siculus),6 was the
name of the God of the Jews; meaning thereby their mode
of writing “ Jehovah” in Greek characters.
Line 3 consists of the seven vowels placed in their natural
order. This was the most potent of all the spells in the
Gnostic repertory; and its importance may justify the ex3 On this curious subject see Rawlinson’s Ancient Monarchies, iii. p. 466.
4 Cap. 125.
5 That is 1000 and 800 tripled. The
next numbers are 10000 tripled, and
so on.
6 Bibliotheca Historica, i 94.
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CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN,
tensiveness of the following extract from the grand text
book of this theosophy, which sets forth its hidden sense and
wondrous efficacy. The primary idea, however, was far
from abstruse, if we accept the statement of the writer “ On
Interpretations” that the Egyptians expressed the name of
the Supreme God by the seven vowels thus arranged—
IEHÍ1OYA.7 But this single mystery was soon refined upon,
and made the basis of other and infinitely deeper mysteries.
In an inscription found at Miletus (published by Montfaucon), the Holy lEOYAHHAEIOYil is besought “to pro
tect the city of Miletus and all the inhabitants of the same
a plain proof that this interminable combination only ex
pressed the name of some one divine being. Again, the
Pistis-Sophia perpetually brings in IEOY invariably accom
panied with the epithet of “ the Primal Man,” i. e., He after
whose image or type man was first created. But in the ful
ness of time the semi-Pythagorean, Marcus, had it revealed
unto him that the seven heavens in their revelation sounded
each one vowel, which, all combined together, formed a
single doxology, “ the sound whereof being carried down
to earth becomes the creator and parent of all things that
be on earth.”8
The Greek language has but one word for vowel and
voice; when, therefore, “ the seven thunders uttered their
voices,” the seven vowels, it is meant, echoed through the
vault of heaven, and composed that mystic utterance which
the sainted seer was forbidden to reveal unto mortals.
“Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered,
and write them not.”9 With the best reason, then, is the
formula inscribed on a talisman of the first class, for hear
what Valentinus himself delivers touching its potency.1
“After these things his disciples said again unto him,
Rabbi, reveal unto us the mysteries of the Light of thy
Father, forasmuch as we have heard thee saying that there
is another baptism of smoke, and another baptism of the
Spirit of Holy Light, and moreover an unction of the Spirit,
all which shall bring our souls into the treasurehouse of
Light. Declare therefore unto us the mysteries of these
” This is in fact a very correct repre
sentation, if we give each vowel its true
Greek sound, of the Hebrew pronuncia
tion of the word Jehovah.
8 Hippolytus, vi. 48.
9 Rev. x. 4.
1 Pistis-Sophia, cap. 378.
�CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
5
things, so that we also may inherit the kingdom of thy
Father. Jesus said unto them, Do ye seek after these
mysteries ? No mystery is more excellent than they ; which
shall bring your souls unto the Light of Lights, unto the
place of Truth and Goodness, unto the place of the Holy
of holies, unto the place where is neither male nor female,
neither form in that place but Light, everlasting, not
to be uttered. Nothing therefore is more excellent than
the mysteries which ye seek after, saving only the mys
tery of the Seven Vowels and their forty and nine Powers,
and the numbers thereof. And no name is more excellent
than all these (Vowels),2 a Name wherein be contained all
Names and all Lights and all Powers. Knowing therefore
this Name, if a man shall have departed out of this body of
Matter, no smoke (of the bottomless pit), neither any dark
ness, nor Ruler of the Sphere of Fate,3 nor Angel, nor
Power, shall be able to hold back the soul that knoweth that
Name. But and if, after he shall have departed out of
this world, he shall utter that Name unto the fire, it shall
be quenched, and the darkness shall flee away. And if he
shall utter that Name unto the devils of the Outer Dark
ness, and to the Powers thereof, they shall all faint away,
and their flame shall blaze up, so that they shall cry aloud
‘ Thou art holy, thou art holy, 0 Holy One of all holies ! ’
And if he shall utter that Name unto the Takers-away for
condemnation, and their Authorities, and all their Powers,
nay, even unto Barbelo,4 and the Invisible God, and the
three Triple-powered Gods, so soon as he shall have uttered
that Name in those places, they shall all be shaken and
thrown one upon the other, so that they shall be ready to
melt away and perish, and shall cry aloud, ‘ 0 Light of all
lights that art in the Boundless Light 1 remember us also,
and purify us ! ’ ” After such a revelation as this, we need
seek no further for the reason of the frequent occurrence of
this formula upon talismans intended, when they had done
their duty in this world, to accompany their owner into the
tomb, continuing to exert there a protective influence of a
yet higher order than in life.
2 Evidently alluding to the collocation
of the vowels on our talisman.
3 The twelve JEons of the Zodiac, the
creators of the human soul, which they
eagerly seek to catch when released from
the body in which they have imprisoned
it.
4 The divine mother of the Saviour,
and one of the three “ Invisible Gods.”
Cap. 359.
�6
CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
For the student of the mineralogy of the ancients this
celt has very great interest in point of material, as being the
only specimen of true jade, bearing indisputable marks of
either Greek or Roman workmanship, that, so far as my
knowledge extends, has ever yet been brought to light. This
ancient neglect of the material is truly difficult to explain,
if the statement of a very good authority, Corsi, be indeed
correct, that the sort showing the deepest green is found in
Egypt. The known predilection of the Romans for gems
of that colour, would, one should naturally expect, have led
them in that case to employ the stone largely in ornamen
tation, after the constant fashion of the Chinese, and to value
it as a harder species of the Smargadus. The circumstances
under which this relic was brought to England render it
more than probable that Egypt was the place where it was
found ; a supposition corroborated by the fine quality of the
stone exactly agreeing with what Corsi remarks of the Egyp
tian kind. That Alexandria was the place where the in
scription was added upon its surface can admit of little ques
tion ; the lettering being precisely that seen upon innume
rable other monuments which can with certainty be assigned
to the same grand focus of Gnosticism. In addition to this,
it is very doubtful whether in the third or fourth centuries a
lapidary could have been found elsewhere throughout the
whole Roman Empire capable of engraving with such skill
as the minute characters within the wreath evince, upon a
material of this, almost insuperable, obduracy. From the
times of the Ptolemies down to the Arab conquest, and even
later, Alexandria was the seat of the manufacture of vases
in rock crystal. This trade served to keep alive the expir
ing Glyptic art for the only purpose for which its productions
continued to be demanded—the manufacture of talismans,
consignments of which must have been regularly shipped
together with the crystal-ware,5 to Rome, and equally to the
other important cities of the empire.
The primitive Egyptians, like the early Chaldeans, used
stone in the place of metal for their cutting instruments,
and continued its use for making particular articles down
into historic times. Herodotus mentions the regular em
ployment of the “ Ethiopian stone ” sharpened, for a dissect0 Bum tibi Niliacus portat crystalla cataplus.”
Mart. xii. 72.
�CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
7
ing-knife6 in the process of embalming, and similarly for
pointing the arrows7 carried by the contingent of the same
nation in the army of Xerxes. The Alexandrian citizen,
half-Jew half-Greek, who had the good fortune, to pick up
this primseval implement, doubtless rejoiced in the belief
that he had gotten a “ stone of virtue,” most potent alike
from substance, figure, and nature, and therefore proceeded
to do his prize due honour by making it the medium of his
most accredited spells—nay, more, by inventing a new for
mula of unusual complication and profundity whereby to
animate its inherent powers. As regards its substance, the
stone probably passed then for a smaragdus of exceptional
magnitude, and that gem, as Pliny records,8 was recom
mended by the magi as the proper material for a talisman
of prodigious efficacy, which, duly engraved, should baffle
witchcraft, give success at court, avert hailstorms, and much
more of like nature. The smaragdus of the ancients was
little more than a generic designation for all stones of a
green colour, and the entire Gnostic series strikingly demon
strates that this hue was deemed a primary requisite in a
talismanic gem—the almost exclusive material of the class
being the green jasper and the plasma.
Again, as regards figure, this celt offered in its triangular
outline, that most sacred of all emblems, the mystic Delta,
the form that signified maternity, and was the hieroglyph of
the moon. This belief is mentioned by Plutarch,9 and ex
plains why the triangle so often accompanies the figure of
the sacred baboon, Luna’s special attribute, on monuments,
where also it is sometimes displayed elevated upon a column
with that animal standing before it in the attitude of adora
tion.
Lastly, the supposed nature of this gift of Fortune was
not of Earth, inasmuch as it then passed for a holy thing
that “had fallen down from Jupiter,” being, in fact, nothing
less than one of that god’s own thunderbolts. A notion this
which will doubtless strike the modern mind as so strange,
or rather as so preposterous, that it necessitates my giving
at full length my reasons for making such an assertion.
6 ii. 86.
7 vii. 69.
8 xxxvii. 40.
9 “ De Iside et Osiride,” cap. 75. He
adds that the Pythagoreans called the
equilateral triangle “Athene”—a curious
confirmation of the tradition quoted by
Aristotle, that the Attic goddess was one
and the same with the Moon.
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CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
And in truth the subject is well worth the trouble of investi
gation, seeing that the same superstition will be found to
extend from an early period of antiquity down into the popu
lar belief of our own times throughout a large extent of
Europe.
It is in accordance with this notion that I have designated
this celt a “ceraunia” (thunderbolt-stone), and it therefore
remains for me to adduce my reasons for giving it what must
appear to most people so unaccountable and highly inap
propriate an appellation, Sotacus, who is quoted elsewhere
by Pliny “ as one of the most ancient writers on minera
logy/’ is cited by him1 “ as making two other kinds of the
ceraunia, the black and the red, resembling axe-heads in
shape. Of these, such as be black and round are sacred
things ; towns and fleets can be captured by their instru
mentality. The latter are called Bcetyli, whilst the oblong
sort are the Ceraunice. Some make out another kind, in
mighty request in the practices of the magi, inasmuch as it
is only to be found in places that have been struck by light
ning.” One would have been utterly at a loss to understand
what the old Greek had been speaking about in the chapter
thus confusedly condensed by the later Roman naturalist,
or to discover any resemblance in form between the light
ning-flash and an axe-head, had it not been for the popular
superstition that has prevailed in Germany from time imme
morial to the present day, and of which full particulars are
given by Anselmus Boetius in his invaluable repertory of
mediaeval lore upon all such matters, written at the begin
ning of the 17th century.2
Under the popular names of “ Strahl-hammer,” “ Donnerpfeil,” “ Donner-keil,” “ Strahl-pfeil,” “ Strahl-keil” (lightning
hammer, thunder-arrow or club, lightning-arrow, &c.), and
the Italian “Sagitta,”3 he figures stone celts and hammers
of five different, but all common, types ; remarking that so
firm was the belief in these things being the “ actual arrow
of the lightning” (ipsa fulminis sagitta), that should any
1 xxxvii. 51.
2 Gem. et Lapid. Hist. ii. cap. 261.
. 3 “ Saetta ” (a vulgar Italian execra
tion), is now restricted to the lightning
missile, the archer’s shaft being expressed
by the Teutonic “freceia,” in accordance
with the genius of the language which
reserves the old Latin terms for the
things not of this world,—using those
of the lingua militaris for every day pur
poses. The flint arrow-heads found in
the terra mama of the primaeval Umbrian
towns, are believed by the peasantry to
have this celestial origin, and are highly
valued as portable “lightning-conduc
tors.”
�CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
9
one attempt to controvert it, he would be taken for a mad
man. He however confesses with amusing simplicity that
the substance of these thunderbolts is exceedingly like the
common flint used for striking fire with ; nay, more, he
boldly declares he should agree with those few rationalists
who, on the strength of their resemblance in shape to the
tools in common use, pronounced these objects to be merely
ordinary iron implements that had got petrified by long con
tinuance in the earth, had it not been for the testimony
of the most respectable witnesses as to the fact of their
being discovered in places just seen to be struck with
lightning. Besides quoting some fully detailed instances
from Gesner, he adds that several persons had assured him
of having themselves seen these stones dug up in places
where the lightning had fallen. The natural philosophers of
the day accounted for the creation of such substances in the
atmosphere by supposing the existence of a vapour charged
with sulphureous and metallic particles, which rising above
a certain height became condensed through the extreme heat
of the sun, and assumed a wedgelike form in consequence of
the escape of their moisture, and the gravitation of the
heavier particles towards their lower end ! Notwithstanding
this celestial origin, the virtue of the production was not
then esteemed of a proportionally sublime order, extending
no further than to the prevention or the cure of ruptures
in children, if placed upon their cradles ; and also to the
procuring of sleep in the case of adults. In our own times
Justinus Kerner mentions4 the same names for stone celts as
universally popular amongst the German boors ; but they
are now chiefly valued for their efficacy in preserving cattle
from the murrain, and consequently the finders can seldom
be induced to part with them.
It must not, however, be supposed that Sotacus picked
up this strange notion from the Teutones of his own age,
whose very existence was probably unknown to him ; his
informants were unquestionably those magi cited at the con
clusion of Pliny’s extract. The Greek mineralogist had
lived “apud Begem,” that is, at the court of the King of
Persia, very probably in the capacity of royal physician, like
his countrymen Democedes and Ctesias. In that region
4 In his little treatise on Amulets.
�10
CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
he had ample opportunities of seeing stone celts, for Raw
linson observes5 that flint axes and other implements, ex
actly identical with the European in workmanship, are com
mon in all the most ancient mounds of Chaldæa, those
sites of primæval cities. Such elevations above the dead
level of those interminable plains were necessarily the
most liable to be lightning-struck ; and hence probably
arose the idea that these weird-looking stones (all tradition
of whose proper destination had long since died out amongst
the iron-using Persians) were the actual fiery bolts which
had been seen to bury themselves in the clay. And again,
to revert to the German belief, it must be remembered that
Thor, the Northern Jupiter, is pictured as armed with a huge
hammer in the place of the classical thunderbolt. The type
of the god had been conceived in the far-remote ages when
the stone-hammer was as yet the most effective and formid
able of weapons, and was preserved unchanged out of
deference to antiquity, after the true meaning of the
attribute was entirely forgotten. Nevertheless, his worship
pers, accustomed to behold the hammer in the hand of the
god of thunder,—vx¡Hl3pcp.¿Tr]s Zev$,—-very naturally con
cluded that these strange objects, of unknown use, found
from time to time deep buried in the earth, were the actual
missiles that deity had discharged. It is a remarkable proof
of the wide diffusion of the same belief, that the late owner
of the relic under consideration, habitually spoke of it as a
“ thunderstone,”—a name he could only have learnt from
the Arabs from whom it was procured, seeing that no such
notion with respect to celts has ever been current in this
country. But every one whose memory reaches back forty
years or more, may recollect, that wheresoever in England
the fossil Belemnite is to be found, it was implicitly received
by all, except the few pioneers of Geology (a word then
almost synonymous with Atheism), as the veritable thunder
bolt shot from the clouds, and by that appellation was it
universally known. I, for one, can recollect stories, quite as
respectably attested as those Boetius quotes concerning the
Cerauniœ, told respecting the discovery of new fallen belemnites under precisely the same circumstances ; and, in truth,
the same author does in the preceding chapter treat at
length of the Belemnites, and his cuts show that the name
6 Ancient Monarchies, i. p. 120.
�CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
11
meant then what it does at present; but he assigns to the
missile an infernal instead of a celestial source, giving the
vulgar title for it as “ Alp-schoss,” (elfin-shot,) which he
classically renders into “ dart of the Incubus,” stating fur
ther that it was esteemed (on the good old principle, “ similia
similibus curantur ”) of mighty efficacy to guard the sleeper
from the visits of that much dreaded nocturnal demon. The
Prussian, Saxon, and Spanish physicians employed it,
powdered, as equally efficacious with the lapis Judaicus,
in the treatment of the calculus. It was also believed a
specific for the pleurisy in virtue of its pointed figure,
which was analogous to the sharp pains of that disease,
for so taught the universally accepted “ Doctrine of Signa
tures.”
The CeraunicB of Sotacus, however, comprised, besides
these primitive manufactures of man, other substances, it is
hard to say whether meteorites or fossils ; the nature of
which remains to be discussed. Photius,6 after quoting the
paragraph, “ I beheld the B (stylus moving through the air,
and sometimes wrapped up in vestments, sometimes carried
in the hands of the ministers,” proceeds to give a summary
of the wondrous tale told by the discoverer of the prodigy—
one Eusebius of Emesa. He related how that being seized
one night with a sudden and unaccountable desire to visit a
very ancient temple of Minerva, situated upon a mountain at
some distance from the city, he started off, and arriving at
the foot, sat down to rest himself. Suddenly he beheld a
globe of fire fall down from heaven, and a monstrous lion
standing by the same, but who immediately vanished. Run
ning to pick it up as soon as the fire was extinguished, he
found this self-same Badyins. Inquiring of it to what god it
belonged, the thing made answer that it came from the
Noble One (so was called a figure of a lion standing in the
temple at Heliopolis). Eusebius thereupon ran home with
his prize, a distance of 210 stadia (26 miles), without once
stopping, being quite unable to control the impetus of the
stone ! He described it as “ of whitish colour, a perfect
sphere, a span in diameter, but sometimes assuming a purple 7
shade, and also expanding and contracting its dimensions,
and having letters painted on it in cinnabar, of which he
6 Bibliotheca, 1063, R.
7 The Greek purple included every shade from crimson to violet.
�12
CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN,
gave the interpretation.
The stone, likewise, if struck
against the wall, returned answers to consultors in a low
whistling voice.” The grain of truth in this huge heap of
lies is obviously enough the fact that Eusebius having had
the good fortune to witness the descent of a meteorite, and
to get possession of the same, told all these fables about it in
order to increase the credit of the oracular stone (which
doubtless brought him in many fees) amongst his credulous
townsfolk. Damascius8 (whose Life of Isidorus Photius
is here epitomising) adds, that this philosopher was of
opinion that the stone was the abode of a spirit, though not
one of the mischievous or unclean sort, nor yet one of a
perfectly immaterial nature. He furthermore states that
other bcetyli were known, dedicated to Saturn, Jupiter, and
the Sun ; and moreover that Isidorus and himself saw many
of such bcetyli or bcetylia upon Mount Libanus, near Helio
polis in Syria.
As for the derivation of bcetylus, the one proposed by the
Byzantine Hesychius, who makes it come from bcete, the
goatskin mantle, wherein Rhea wrapped up the stone she
gave old Saturn to swallow, instead of the new-born Jove,
cannot be considered much more satisfactory that Bochart’s,
who, like a sound divine, discovers in it a reminiscence of
the stone pillar which Jacob set up at Bethel, and piously
endeavours to force Sanconiathon, who speaks of the “ living”
stones, the baethylia,9 to confirm his interpretation by cor
recting his text into “ anointed.”
But this last bcetylus is beyond all question the same thing
with that described by the Pseudo-Orpheus,1 under the names
of Siderites, and the animated Orites, “ round, black, ponde
rous, and surrounded with deeply-graven furrows.” In the
first of these epithets may easily be recognised the ferruginous
character common to all meteorites [siderites being also
applied to the loadstone), whilst the second seems to indi
cate the locality where they most abounded viz., Mount
Lebanon.
Sotacus’ notice, indeed, of the efficacy of the bcetylus
in procuring success in seafights and sieges, is copiously
illustrated by the succeeding verses of the same mystic poet,
8 A stoic philosopher under Justinian.
9 “ Moreover the god Uranus devised
contriving stones that moved
as having life.”
1 AlSmo,, 355.
�CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
13
who, it must be remembered, can claim a very high antiquity,
there being sufficient grounds for identifying him with Onomacritus, a contemporary of Pisistratus, in the 6*th century
before our era. The diviner Helenus, according to him, had
received this oracular stone from Apollo, and he describes
the rites, with great minuteness, for the guidance of all sub
sequent possessors of such a treasure, by means of which
the Trojan woke up the spirit within the “ vocal sphere.”
This was effected by dint of thrice seven days’ fasting and
continence, by incantations and sacrifices offered to the stone,
and by bathing, clothing, and nursing it like an infant.
Through its aid, when at length rendered instinct with
life, the traitorous seer declared to the Atridae the coming’
downfall of Troy ; the stone uttering its responses in a
voice resembling the feeble wail of an infant desiring the
breast. It is more than probable that Orpheus in describing
the Orites, had in view the Salagrama, or sacred stone of
Vishnu, still employed by the Brahmins in all propitiatory
rites, especially in those performed at the death-bed. Sonnerat describes it as “ a kind of ammonite, round or oval
in shape, black, and very ponderous.” The furrows cover
ing its surface were traced by Vishnu’s own finger; but when
found of a violet colour, it is looked upon with horror, as
representing a vindictive avatar of the god. The pos
sessor keeps it wrapped up in a linen garment like a
child, and often bathes and perfumes it—precisely the rites
prescribed by our poet for the due consultation of the
oracle of the Siderites.
From all this it may safely be deduced that the “ stone
of power,” whether bcetylus or orites, was in most cases
nothing more than a fossil; either a ferruginous nodule,
or an echinus filled with iron pyrites. Their being found
in abundance in one particular locality, precludes the idea
of these at least being meteorites, which latter, besides,
never assume any regular form, but look like mere fragments
of iron-slag. This explanation is strongly supported by the
drawings Boetius gives 2 of what was then called the “ Donner-stein,” or “ Wetter-stein,” (thunder, or storm-stone,) and
which he very plausibly identifies with Pliny’s Brontias
li that got into the head of the tortoise during thunder
storms,” and which is described in another place as the “ eye
2 ii. cap. 264.
�14
CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN,
of the Indian tortoise ” that conferred the gift of prophecy.
His carefully drawn figure of this Donner-stein (which also
passed for the “ gros Kroten-stein,” bigger toadstone),
shows it to be only a fossil echinus of a more oblate form
than the common sort. The regular toadstone, plentifully
to be seen in mediaeval rings, was, on the other hand, the
small hollow hemisphere, the fossil tooth of an extinct
fish, found in the greensand formation. In that age the
Donner-stein was held to possess all the many virtues of
the Toadstone, Belemnite, and Ovum Anguinum, in counter
acting poison, giving success in all enterprises, procuring
sleep, and protection against danger of lightning.
But
the old physician, so much in advance of his times, can
not help winding up the list of its virtues with the hint,
“ Fides saepe veritate major.”
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON CELTS AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS USED
AS TALISMANS OR VICTORY-STONES.
The axe-heads and hammer-heads of stone, known to us
by the general designation of celts, have, until recent ex
plorations, been regarded as comparatively of rare occur
rence amongst ancient relics obtained from Eastern lands
and from some other continental countries. Our information,
however, in regard to objects of this class has become greatly
extended. Mr. James Yates brought before us, in a former
volume of this Journal, examples of stone celts from Java ;
an interesting specimen obtained at Sardis is figured, vol. xv.
p. 178, and some others were found by Mr. Layard at
Nineveh. The occurrence of any ornament or inscription
upon such objects is very rare, but, amongst numerous stone
implements lately obtained in Greece, one is noticed by M.
de Mortillet (Matériaux pour l’Histoire primitive de l’Homme,
Jan. 1868, p. 9), of which he had received from Athens
a drawing and an estampage ; it is described as “ une hache
en pierre serpentineuse, sur une des faces de laquelle on a
gravé trois personnages et une inscription en caractères
Grecs. L’ancien outil a évidemment été, beaucoup plus tard,
quand on a eu complètement oublié son usage primitif, trans
formé en talisman ou pierre cabalistique.”
At the annual meeting of the Antiquaries of the North,
�CERAUNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
15
21 March, 1853, under the presidency of the late King of
Denmark, several recent acquisitions were exhibited, ^ob
tained for his private collection at Frederiksborg. Amongst
these there was an axe-head of stone (length about 9| inches),
perforated with a hole for the handle, and remarkable as
bearing on one of its sides four Runic characters, that appear
to have been cut upon the stone at some period more recent
than the original use of the implement. It has been figured
in the Memoirs of the Society, 1850-1860, p. 28 ; see also
Antiquarisk Tidsskrift, 1852-1854, pp. 258-266. I am in
debted to a friend well skilled in Runes and Scandinavian
archaeology, Dr. Charlton, secretary of the Society of Anti
quaries of Newcastle, for the following observations on this
interesting relic.
“ The first letter is L, and, if we accept the idea that these
were Runes of Victory, it may stand for the initial of Loki;
the second is Th, and may stand for Thor; the third 0, for
Odin ; the fourth, Belgthor, with a T above it, may refer to
Belgthor’s friendship and alliance with Thor, and the T
stands for Tyr. We may imagine the names of the Northern
gods to have been cut on this stone axe to give it victory in
battle, just as the old Germans and Saxons cut mystic Runes
on their swords, a practice noticed by Haigh in his Conquest
of Britain by the Saxons, p. 28, pl. 1, where he has figured
amongst various examples of the Futhorc, or alphabet of
Runic characters, one inlaid on a sword or knife found in the
Thames, and now in the British Museum. At p. 51, ibid,
pl. iii. fig. 20, he has cited also the Runic inscription on the
silver pommel of a sword found at Gilton, Kent, formerly
in the collection of the late Mr. Rolfe of Sandwich, and
subsequently in the possession of Mr. Joseph Mayer. This
lelic is now in the precious museum bestowed by his generous
encouragement of arch geological science on the town of
Liverpool. The interpretation given in the latter instance
is as follows,—I eke victory to great deeds.3
“ There was another explanation given of the characters
on the Danish stone axe. It was read—luthr. o.—Ludr
owns, namely, the weapon thus inscribed?’
Archieologia vol. xxxii., p. 321. A
spear-headmscnbed with Runes is noticed,
Journ. Brit. Arch. Ass., vol. xxm., p. 387.
1 here exist certain massive rings of metal
inscribed with Runes, that may have
been, as some antiquaries suggest, appended to sword-hilts as charms One o£
these rings, lately found at Carlisle, is in
possession of Mr. Robert Ferguson of
Morton, near that city.
�16
CERAITNIA OF JADE CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.
In the ancient Sagas, as remarked in Nilsson’s
Inhabitants of Scandinavia (translation by_ Sir
L
t
Bart n 214), mention occurs of amulets designated uie
stones'^victory-stones, &c„ which warriors carried about ^th
them in battle to secure victory. A curious relation is
from one of the Sagas, that King Nidung, when about; to ei
X irl conflict, perceived that he had neglected to bring a
precious heir-loom, a stone that possessed the virtue of en
suring victory. He offered the hand of his daughter, with a
thirdSpart of his kingdom, to him
Reived
talisman before the fight commenced ; and having receive
it he won the battle. In another narrative, the daughter: or
a Scanian warrior steals during his slumbers the) stone that
was hung on his neck, and gave it to her lover, who thus became the victor. Nilsson observes that stones are found in
museums, for instance, a hammer-stone with a loop, that
‘innear to have been worn thus as talismans m war.
P?tTs perhaps scarcely necessary to advert to certain axehniflq of stone in their general form similar to those with
w^iich we ^re familiar aslundin Europe ; uponi thesesdements are engraved rude designs, such as the human
visaje &c These objects, of which an example preserve
in a ’museum at Douai has been much cited, may be
“ victory-stones ” of an ancient ancl primitive people, but
L--.
¡nised as of Carib origin, and
thcy are now generally recog:
not European.
ALBERT WAY.
�1
�
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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On a ceraunia of jade converted into a gnostic talisman
Creator
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King, Charles William
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 16 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Includes bibliographical references. 'Supplementary notes on Celts and other Implements used as Talismans or Victory-Stones' by Albert Way. Date of publication from KVK. Published in Archaeological Journal, vol. 25, no. 1 : 103-118.
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[s.n.]
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[1868]
Identifier
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G5556
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Archaeology
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (On a ceraunia of jade converted into a gnostic talisman), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
Language
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English
Conway Tracts
Jade
Talismen