Gem Lore

Catholic Gemstone Traditions: Papal & Liturgical

Catholic Gemstone Traditions: Papal & Liturgical

Catholic Christianity — with its two-thousand-year tradition of papal authority, Marian devotion, and elaborate liturgical practice — has developed the richest and most systematically developed gemstone tradition in Western Christianity,...

Catholic Gemstone Traditions: Papal & Liturgical

Catholic Christianity — with its two-thousand-year tradition of papal authority, Marian devotion, and elaborate liturgical practice — has developed the richest and most systematically developed gemstone tradition in Western Christianity,...

Protestant Gemstone Views: Reformation & Simplicity

Protestant Gemstone Views: Reformation & Simpli...

The Protestant Reformation — which stripped medieval churches of their gem-set reliquaries, jeweled altars, and elaborate liturgical objects — developed a distinctive theology of simplicity that transformed Western Christianity's relationship...

Protestant Gemstone Views: Reformation & Simpli...

The Protestant Reformation — which stripped medieval churches of their gem-set reliquaries, jeweled altars, and elaborate liturgical objects — developed a distinctive theology of simplicity that transformed Western Christianity's relationship...

Christian Gemstone Literature: Marbodus & Lapidaries

Christian Gemstone Literature: Marbodus & Lapid...

Christian gemstone literature — from Marbodus of Rennes's verse lapidary to Albertus Magnus's scientific gem treatise to Hildegard von Bingen's healing prescriptions — represents the most systematic attempt in Western...

Christian Gemstone Literature: Marbodus & Lapid...

Christian gemstone literature — from Marbodus of Rennes's verse lapidary to Albertus Magnus's scientific gem treatise to Hildegard von Bingen's healing prescriptions — represents the most systematic attempt in Western...

Christian Gemstone Legacy: Modern Spiritual Use

Christian Gemstone Legacy: Modern Spiritual Use

The Christian gemstone legacy — two millennia of biblical gem symbolism, medieval lapidary wisdom, and liturgical gem use — continues to shape modern spiritual practice, offering crystal healing practitioners a...

Christian Gemstone Legacy: Modern Spiritual Use

The Christian gemstone legacy — two millennia of biblical gem symbolism, medieval lapidary wisdom, and liturgical gem use — continues to shape modern spiritual practice, offering crystal healing practitioners a...

Biblical Gemstone Identification: Ancient vs Modern

Biblical Gemstone Identification: Ancient vs Mo...

Many biblical gemstone names refer to different stones than their modern equivalents — the biblical sapphire is lapis lazuli, the biblical topaz is peridot, the biblical diamond may be moonstone...

Biblical Gemstone Identification: Ancient vs Mo...

Many biblical gemstone names refer to different stones than their modern equivalents — the biblical sapphire is lapis lazuli, the biblical topaz is peridot, the biblical diamond may be moonstone...

Medieval Christian Gemstone Symbolism: Lapidaries

Medieval Christian Gemstone Symbolism: Lapidaries

Medieval Christian lapidaries — the encyclopedic texts that catalogued the spiritual, medicinal, and magical properties of precious stones — represent the most systematic attempt in Western history to understand gemstone...

Medieval Christian Gemstone Symbolism: Lapidaries

Medieval Christian lapidaries — the encyclopedic texts that catalogued the spiritual, medicinal, and magical properties of precious stones — represent the most systematic attempt in Western history to understand gemstone...