Over the centuries, no gemstone has been more admired and feared than the diamond. There are numerous superstitions surrounding the diamond and some may have originated as a way to preserve the precious stone from theft. The lore of diamond mystique varies widely. In some instances, it was considered harmful, in others it was a healing stone. Diamonds are supposed to have both magical and deadly effects, depending on how they are used. One thing is certain, this is a gemstone that was both revered for its beauty and imbued with many magical associations.
The Diamond Bearing Bad Luck
Due to the legendary property of being indestructible, the diamond was thought to be harmful if swallowed. Grinding down diamonds to dust and feeding them to hapless victims was a favorite way to try and poison people during court intrigues. Whether the resulting death was due to the diamonds or the other ingredients added to poison the food is questionable. Today, there is no evidence to suggest that swallowing a diamond or diamond dust is always fatal; however, ground diamond dust can tear holes in the intestinal tract.
Shapes of stones were also imbued with specific characteristics of luck. The stone shape had to be natural, though, and not cut. If the stone was naturally triangular then it might be suspected of causing quarrels. Five-cornered stones were said to be fatal while six-cornered stones were considered good luck. Square diamonds gave one the terrors. For diamonds to be good luck, instead of bad, one also had to take pains to make sure it had no flaws.
The Diamond Bearing Good Luck
Men going into battle often wore diamonds on their breast plates to give them an invincible nature. The diamond itself is said to help strengthen your confidence and purity. While diamonds were implicated in death plots, they also were thought to potentially have healing capabilities. One of the most intriguing superstitions is that a diamond doesn’t have inherent qualities; it just augments whatever energy is near it. Thus, it can be a good luck or a bad luck talisman. It acts like a focus, making the surrounding energies in the atmosphere more cohesive and thus more powerful. Thus, any person wearing it would augment their influence, even if they were negative.
Cursed Diamonds
Understanding some of the associations with diamonds can help to clarify why some people think certain diamonds are cursed. If a diamond was stolen and a magic curse put on it, the reasoning went that the diamond held a memory of negative energy that got passed on to the possessor of the gemstone. Over the years, as negative things happened to the owners (as in the case of the Blue Hope Diamond), the legend and mystique surrounding a particular diamond became more convincing and powerful. These can be attributed to wrongfully appropriating a diamond used for spiritual or religious purposes, or it can be due to the additional tragedies associated with the previous owners of the diamonds.
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October 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
this site helped me do a lot of a progect for my class thank you so much