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Most metaphysical books on the subject of rocks and minerals are
hopeless. They make little to no use of the scientific information
about their subject, and rely almost entirely upon traditional
folklore and personal gnosis. Generally with little differentiation
between which information comes from which source. Quite often they
also make reference to particular metaphysical names that have been
given to certain stones without explaining the standard scientific
names for the rocks and/or the minerals which compose them, making it
difficult at best to locate them outside of new-age dealers. And
certainly difficult to collect them oneself.
I finally found a book that is an exception to this state of affairs.
The
Book of Stones: Who They Are & What They Teach by Robert Simmons &
Naisha Ahsian with contributions by Hazel Raven. Here's a small quote
from the book:
It goes on in this vein and gets into the traditions surrounding it
and the metaphysical qualities ascribed to it, from the perspective of
two different authors, treated separately. It also seems to do a very
nice job at differentiating between what is shared traditional lore
and what is derived from personal gnosis and experience, as well as
identifying the sources of the lore. My only major complaint is that
I would prefer the book to include a complete index so I could find
the page any stone is listed on quickly, whether it is listed by
scientific name or common name in the alphabetical ordering of
entries. In the same vein I would prefer that all quartz variants be
treated together in a manner similar to other stones with natural
variants, but I suppose that could get overwhelming given how many
varieties of quartz are referred to in the text.
hopeless. They make little to no use of the scientific information
about their subject, and rely almost entirely upon traditional
folklore and personal gnosis. Generally with little differentiation
between which information comes from which source. Quite often they
also make reference to particular metaphysical names that have been
given to certain stones without explaining the standard scientific
names for the rocks and/or the minerals which compose them, making it
difficult at best to locate them outside of new-age dealers. And
certainly difficult to collect them oneself.
I finally found a book that is an exception to this state of affairs.
The
Book of Stones: Who They Are & What They Teach by Robert Simmons &
Naisha Ahsian with contributions by Hazel Raven. Here's a small quote
from the book:
Shiva Lingams are egg shaped stones of crypto-crystalline
Quartz (with impurities), a silicon dioxide mineral with a hardness of
7. Shiva Lingams originate at the Narmada River in Onkar Mandhata, in
western India, one of India's seven holy sites. Villagers gather the
rough stones from shallow river beds and hand polish them to the
classic elliptical proportions. Among the key features of Shiva
Lingams are the reddish spots and stripes found on the otherwise gray
or tannish stones. Various meanings are ascribed to the placement and
number of these reddish spots.
It goes on in this vein and gets into the traditions surrounding it
and the metaphysical qualities ascribed to it, from the perspective of
two different authors, treated separately. It also seems to do a very
nice job at differentiating between what is shared traditional lore
and what is derived from personal gnosis and experience, as well as
identifying the sources of the lore. My only major complaint is that
I would prefer the book to include a complete index so I could find
the page any stone is listed on quickly, whether it is listed by
scientific name or common name in the alphabetical ordering of
entries. In the same vein I would prefer that all quartz variants be
treated together in a manner similar to other stones with natural
variants, but I suppose that could get overwhelming given how many
varieties of quartz are referred to in the text.