[Sca-cooks] Precious stones to ward off evils

[Stefan li Rous]

Suey replied to someone:
<<<
> Be that as it may there are some stones that are relatively region
> specific, jade is specific case in point.
>
I disagree, I think? We are dealing with nobility. Logic as I see it is
that the more valuable the stone the more powerful it would be against
evils.>>>

You seem to be saying that the more valuable the stone the more  
powerful it would be against evils, when it may well be that a stone  
was considered more valuable *because* it was perceived to be more  
powerful against evils. Rarity is only one thing which helps set the  
value that is placed on an item. And value and scarcity can vary  
tremendously over time.

A favorite example of this is the fact that the Washington monument  
in Washington D.C. is capped with a piece of aluminum. Not gold. Not  
silver. Aluminum. One of the cheaper metals today. So cheap it is  
used for, and thrown away in huge quantities, for beverage cans.  
However, in the middle of the 19th century it was many times more  
expensive than gold.

<<< So jade would be important for the lower nobility of a specific
region but not for the upper class nobles who could afford diamonds. >>>

Jade appears to have been unknown in Europe and would have had to  
have been imported in period. So it might well be the opposite of  
what you detail. From the A-Lapidary-art file I mentioned earlier:

"jade  and turquoise  do not appear in the lapidaries."

Of course this is based on only four lapidaries and there could be  
other problems as highlighted by Agnes deLanvallei:
The contents are freely “translated” by me, combining the 4  
lapidaries, possibly adding errors of interpretation.  This is  
consistent with the work of the Medieval translators (especially  
Manucript B above), whose translation of French or Latin works into  
English was in places very badly done.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****