Diamond (gemstone) - Symbolism and Lore

Symbolism and Lore

Historically, it has been claimed that diamonds possess several supernatural powers:

• A diamond gives victory to he or she who carries it bound on his left arm, no matter the number of enemies.
• Panics, pestilences, enchantments, all fly before it; hence, it is good for sleepwalkers and the insane.
• It deprives lodestone and magnets of their virtue (i.e., ability to attract iron).
• Arabic diamonds are said to attract iron greater than a magnet.
• A diamond's hardiness can only be broken by smearing it with fresh goat's blood.
• In traditional Hinduism one should avoid contact with a diamond whose surface area is damaged by a crack, a crowfoot, a round, dull, speckled area, or which is black-blue, flat, or is cut other than the (ideal) hexagonal shape.

Because of their extraordinary physical properties, diamonds have been used symbolically since near the time of their first discovery. Perhaps the earliest symbolic use of diamonds was as the eyes of Hindu devotional statues. In Hinduism Indra uses Vajrayudham or the thunderbolt as his primary weapon. Vajra is the word for diamond and ayudham means weapon in Sanskrit. Another name for it was Agira which means fire or the sun. In fact there are 14 names counted to be given to a diamond in traditional Hinduism.

The oldest dated printed book in the world is called the Diamond Sutra, a Chinese text dates from AD 868 and was found in the Mogao Caves. Sutras are most used to describe the teachings of Buddha. In this case the title of the Sutra refers not to the diamond itself but to a 'diamond blade that will cut through worldly illusion to illuminate what is real and everlasting'. Jewel imagery forms a central part of Buddhism: the triple-jewel represents 'Buddha', his teachings 'Dharma' and the spiritual community 'Shangha'. The book presently resides in the British Library.

Many cultures use divine intervention to explain the origin and creation of gemstones, and diamonds were no exception to this. In Greek mythology for example it was the youth on the island of Crete that disturbed Zeus and who were then (as a form of punishment) transformed into the adamas.

Philosophers however had a more naturalistic approach to explain the origin of gems: Plato for example believed gemstones were a consequence of fermentation in the stars, where a diamond actually formed the kernel of gold-bearing mass. In fact often diamonds were linked to gold, which may have found its origin in the joint occurrence of diamonds with quartzite, quartz veins and an occasional occurrence of gold in them.

In later times, Robert Boyle actually believed that gems (including a diamond) were formed of clear, transparent water, and that their colors and characteristics were derived from their metallic spirit.

The diamond is the birthstone for people born in the month of April, and is also used as the symbol of a sixty-year anniversary, such as a Diamond Jubilee (see hierarchy of precious substances). In a system of heraldry by gemstone occasionally used in the past for the arms of nobles, diamond was used to represent the color sable, or black.