Strange and unusual people, places, and events throughout history. History is stranger than fiction. Discover the most bizarre things history has to offer, all in one place, here!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Curious History: Healing Demon Ghost Crystal
John Dee (1527-1609) was an English mathematician and astrologer
interested in divination using crystals and mirrors. This purple
crystal was used for curing disease
and predicting the future by looking for symbols or the ‘ghosts’ of
people in the stone. Dee claimed that this crystal was given to him by
the angel Uriel in November 1582, and that Uriel had instructed Dee and
his assistant Edward Kelley (1555-1597/8) on how to make the
Philosopher’s Stone – one of the goals of alchemy. The crystal was
entrusted to Dee’s son, Arthur (1597-1651) who passed it on to Nicholas
Culpeper (1616-1654) as a reward for curing his liver complaints. Culpeper was a physician and alchemist who used the crystal to try and cure illness, until 1651, when he believed a demonic ghost burst out from it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment