A naturally magnetic stone of magnetite (oxide of iron) showing polarity when suspended.
The Lodestone was once believed to possess magical properties of various kinds.
Lodestones were believed to attract and draw good fortune, money, success, and love. They were also believed to be powerful amulets. Alexander the Great distributed lodestones to his troops to protect them from djinn. According to Lewis Spence (An Encyclopedia of Occultism, 1920), the possessor of the Lodestone was supposed to be able to walk through reptiles in safety even when they were accompanied by black death'.
The Chinese prized Lodestones as wedding rings, they believed them to ensure the happy survival of a marriage. The Romans carved their statues of Venus and Mars out of Lodestone, so as to be magnetically attracted; they were perceived by the ancients to have gender. Female Lodestones were usually rounded, male Lodestones were phallic-looking, announcing their manhood. Hence, Loadstones may be used individually or in matched pairs.
Christian legend has it that the stone upon which Christ's body rested for three days following his crucifixion was a Lodestone. Its miraculous properties were revealed to Godfrey of Bouillon when he led the first Crusade to Jerusalem. While praying in Christ's Sepulcher, a voice thought to be coming from the Loadstone whispered to Godfrey. It said that his victory would be assured if he would only carry away a bit of the Lodestone. Godfrey followed the Lodestone advice, which proved true. However, according to this legend, the kings who succeeded him paid no attention to the stone and therefore the Holy Land was lost to them.
The Lodestone was also used in divination, specifically Lithomancy. Orpheus stated that "with this stone you can hear the voices of the gods and learn many wonderful things," that it had the property of unfolding the future, and if held close to the eyes, it would inspire with a divine spirit.
Joannes Tzetzes's 12th century Greek hexameter poem declares that Helenus foretold Troy's downfall using a Lodestone, or magnet, washed with spring water and passed through an elaborate ritual. At the end of the rites, Helenus interrogated the Lodestone, which responded with the voice of a child announcing Troy's destine. In this poem the Lodestone is very well described as "rough, hard, black, and heavy, graven everywhere with veins like wrinkles." Surprisingly, this stone is also depicted as "the true and vocal sideritis or siderite (blue quartz, or chalybite), which others call the animated ophites." Quite different from a Lodestone, which is a magnetic iron-bearing rock.
Lodestones were used as well for medicinal diagnoses and in healing rituals. They were believed to draw pain from the body in the same manner that they drew love, success and money to their wearers. If one was ill, the Lodestone should be held in the hands and shaken well. It was said to cure wounds, snakebites, weak eyes, headaches, and defective hearing.
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Sources: (1) Spence, Lewis, An Encyclopedia of Occultism, Carol Publishing Group; (2) Dictionary of the Occult, Caxton Publishing; (3) Bonner, Campbell, Studies in Magical Amulets, University of Michigan Press; (4) Budge, E. A. Wallis, Amulets and Talismans, Carol Publishing Corporation; (5) Walker, Barbara G., The Book of Sacred Stones: Fact and Fallacy in the Crystal World, Harper & Row.
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