Tag Archives: Venus

Sardonyx

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sardonyx

Onyx is a chalcedony quartz that is mined in Brazil, India, California and Uruguay. Originally, almost all colors of chalcedony from white to dark brown and black were called onyx. Today when we think of onyx we often preface the word with black to distinguish it from other varieties of onyx that come in white, reddish brown, brown and banded. A variety of onyx that is reddish brown with white and lighter reddish bands is known as sardonyx, from the Greek sarx (flesh) because of these flesh tones in the gem.

The name also comes from the Greek word onyx which means nail of a finger or claw. Legend says that one day while Venus was sleeping Eros/Cupid cut her fingernails and left the clippings scattered on the ground. Because no part of a heavenly body can die, the gods turned them into stone which later became known as onyx.

Sardonyx is said to grant intelligence and courage, dispel nightmares and meloncholy, and break curses. Sardnyx is one of the stones in the ‘Breastplate of Judgement’ of Aaron, described in the Bible (Exodus 28:15-30). Sardonyx is also included in the listing of the gems of the King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:13) and is one of the gems the New and Heavenly Jerusalem is said to be built of (the book of Revelation).

One of the earliest writers to associate the symbolism of the gems given in Revelation  with the apostles is Andrew, bishop of Caeserea. He gives says the sardonyx represents James, the (step) brother of Christ, a son of Joseph from his first marriage.

During the Renaissance in Europe it was believed that this stone gave speakers eloquence when talking. In Ancient Greece people used to carve them into the shape of scarab beetles, a mythological creature that was believed to eat people! The gem also has many links with royalty and it is said that Queen Elizabeth I gave the Earl of Essex a large Sardonyx gold ring as a present.

Cherries

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A love spell from Japan involves tying a strand of hair to a cherry tree in blossom.

A love spell from Japan involves tying a strand of hair to a cherry tree in blossom.

Cherries are associated with Venus, water, love, divination, and death. One method to discover how many years of life remain for you is to stand beneath a cherry tree and shake it and count the number of cherries which fall around you, indicating the number of years that remain until your death. Perhaps because of this practice, cherry juice can be used as a substitute for blood in magical recipes.

Drawing of Mary and cherry tree

In the former Czechoslovakia it was customary to cut cherry branches on the Feast of St Barbara on 4 December and bring these into the warmth of the house to have blossom at Christmas. However, the tree of course flowers naturally at or around Easter, especially if Easter is late, and in England, in the Chilterns, some of the abundant blossoms were used to decorate churches at Easter.

A cherry orchard will be certain of having a rich crop if the first ripe cherry is eaten by a woman who has just given birth to her first child. However, another Bohemian tale which brings together the Virgin, cherries, birth and death goes: When a mother loses a child, she eats neither strawberries nor cherries until the day of St. John the Baptist (June 24, the traditional date of Midsummer). It is said that at that time the Virgin goes about heaven giving this fruit to the little children. If a mother has not been self-denying, and has eaten of this fruit, when the Virgin comes to the child of such a one, she says: “Poor child, there isn’t much left for you, your mother ate your share.” So mothers of deceased children abstain from fruit until the Midsummer following the child’s death.

Wild cherry folklore has unusual associations with the cuckoo, whereby the bird has to eat three good meals of cherries before it may stop singing. Another use of cherries in predicting death is a children’s oracular rhyme from Buckinghamshire:

‘Cuckoo, cherry tree,
Good bird tell me,
How many years before I die’,

with the answer being the next number of cuckoo calls the singer heard.

Emerald

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Emerald is regarded as the traditional birthstone for May, as well as the traditional gemstone for the astrological signs of Taurus, Gemini and sometimes Cancer. Astrologers also consider emerald a gem of the planets Mercury, Venus and Jupiter.

Emerald is regarded as the traditional birthstone for May, as well as the traditional gemstone for the astrological signs of Taurus, Gemini and sometimes Cancer. Astrologers also consider emerald a gem of the planets Mercury, Venus and Jupiter.

Emerald is a stone of hope and wisdom. Some consider emerald similar to a “magic mirror”, capable of reflecting experiences of a person’s past lives. Because it can reveal the past, the gem is also considered able to reveal the future.

In 15th–16th century Russia, Emerald was considered as a talisman bringing wisdom and serenity often used by mothers and seafarers because it also protects from infidelity. There is a belief that emerald will shatter or crumble if one of the spouses is unfaithful to another. It is also used to prevent or drive away storms.

Emerald helps to treat fever, inflammations, illness of liver, diabetes. It was believed to be very helpful against epilepsy, skin diseases as well as diseases of urinal-genital system of women. It was also said that just looking at this stone before going to sleep could prevent insomnia.

Emeralds can be used to strengthen health and bring longevity. The gem can also protect against snakebites. According to one legend, seeing an Emerald is fatal for poisonous snakes, as they are blinded by it.

One of the quainter anecdotes on emeralds was by the 16th-century historian Brantôme, who referred to the many impressive emeralds the Spanish under Cortez had brought back to Europe from Latin America. On one of Cortez’s most notable emeralds he had engraved Inter Natos Mulierum non sur-rexit mayor (“Among those born of woman there hath not arisen a greater,” Matthew 11:11) which referred to John the Baptist. Brantôme considered engraving such a beautiful and simple product of nature sacrilegious and considered this act the cause for Cortez’s loss of an extremely precious pearl (to which he dedicated a work, A beautiful and incomparable pearl), and even for the death of King Charles IX of France, who died soon after.

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