A name given to a stone by Pliny. Callais… a stone known to the
early Egyptians. Callais… desired color to which most virtues were
ascribed: Blue and greenish-blue. Virtues of the Callais dating back
to the thirteenth century: It protects the wearer from injury from
falling… especially by horseback. However… as time passed …
this protection was extended to protecting the wearer from injury
caused by falling over a precipice. And later on again… modernists
of the age realized the need for further protection??? due to the
potential dangers created by new structures stretching across the
landscape… and the edicts of protection which fell under the
magical properties of our stone were extended to falling off of a
building. Clearly… one can never give too much credit to
visionaries.
Ah… but there’s more. Yes there is. The fourteenth century
authority of Sir John Mandeville known as the “Lapidaire” states with
precise clarity that our magical stone also protected horses from the
ill effects of drinking cold water when overheated by exertion. The
Turks–it would seem–attached this stone to the bridles of horses as
amulets. In fact… when one analyzed this stone and put it to
greater scrutiny… one quite easily came to the conclusion that this
was and is a “Horse-Amulet”. This unique conclusion derived from the
highest form of sequential logic came to being in the following way:
The horse was regarded as a symbol of the sun making its rapid way
across the blue heavens. The color of our stone was and is the color
of the blue heavens. Blue heavens traveled by the horse. Blue
Callais. Ipso facto… horse amulet. Please please. No adverse
arguments here. Fact and science will clearly always predominate…
as it does here.
The Callais… for those of you agonizing over what its current name
is… is the Turquoise. A turquoise… in order to truly achieve the
depth and beauty of its inherent blue color… needs to be given as a
gift. Buy it or take it… its color will become drab. Give it as a
gift to your lady-love… and its richness of color will increase in
splendor on a daily basis… till its wearer will look regal as she
walks the world… resting her arm in yours… radiating the
happiness caused by your act of generosity… never mind the fact
that she will always be able to ride horses in total safety… and
even fall over a precipice in total safety. A quick disclaimer here
folks… don’t try this last acrobatic feat on your own as–to the
best of my knowledge–the protective qualities heretofore mentioned
have not been sanctioned by the Bureau of Talismanic Stones… aka
BETS.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Current Tidbits… and then click on it in order to view a turquoise
masterpiece… an Asian scene that defines beauty … a carved plaque
in the form of a brooch… signed by Schepps … valued at $9000.00
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark