212 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
212 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
"Liber 777" on the Cheap.
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Copyright (c) 1979
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Since we have a class on "Liber 777" this month, I thought I would
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resurrect an article I wrote for the old "O.T.O. Newsletter" about
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eleven years ago. This first appeared in the May 1978 e.v. double issue
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# 7-8. The issue is long out of print, but some considerations are
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afoot to put the "Newsletter" into computer format and possibly make it
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available again in photocopy. The "O.T.O. Newsletter" was the precursor
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of the "Magical Link"; and it was in publication until the last issue in
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1980 e.v., # 10-11. The poor beasty died of obesity, with the last
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issue going to 120 pages, including four-color cover. Much as I liked
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doing it, that was a bit much for the press in the room behind my
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kitchen. Hope you like it.
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Notes on: "Liber 777"
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Column XL on a small budget:
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semi-precious stones
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by Fr. AMTh
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Many of us have wished to set gems into talismans and other devices
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in correspondence to the Sephiroth. This is workable in most of the
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correspondences listed in "777", Col. XL, but diamonds and a few other
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stones are beyond the means of most of us. One can use chips, of
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course; but size counts for much in workings of one kind or another. It
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is better to have a stone that matches the working, is large enough to
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be seen and is not a plastic or glass fake. With these ideas in mind,
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the following table of semi- precious gems and minerals is offered.
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Notes follow to clarify the selections and to provide instruction on the
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principle of magical signatures.
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Key Number: Semi-precious stone or mineral:
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1 Keter Milky Quartz (noncrystaline)
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(or Quartz with gold inclusions).
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2 Chokmah Mother of Pearl.
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3 Binah Apache Tear (or other darkly transparent stone).
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4 Chesed Blue Azurite.
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5 Geburah Desert Rose (variation of hematite).
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6 Tipheret Citrine.
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7 Netzach Green Malachite.
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8 Hod Cinnabar.
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9 Yesod Moon stone.
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10 Malkut Lava rock or basalt or granite.
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11 Aleph Native Sulfur.
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12 Bet Feather Agate or Tree Agate.
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13 Gimmel Satin Spar.
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14 Dalet Emerald Beryl.
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15 Hay Red Serpentine.
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16 Vau Brown Obsidian.
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17 Zain Alexandrite (only the artificial variation of
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carborundum).
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18 Chet Amber.
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19 Tet Cat's Eye.
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20 Yod Peridot.
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21 Koph Turquoise.
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22 Lamed Lace Agate.
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23 Mem Moss Agate.
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24 Nun Aquamarine.
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25 Samekh Flint.
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26 Ayin Fluorescent Minerals.
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27 Peh Blood Stone.
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28 Tzaddi Rutilated Quartz.
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29 Qof Fossils.
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30 Resh Native Gold.
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31 Shin Fire Opal.
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32 Taw Granite or Basalt.
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Notes:
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#1. Milky Quartz is featureless white, a match to the white Brilliance of
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Keter. Quartz with gold inclusions is white flecked Gold, also a color
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symbol of Keter.
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#2. Mother of Pearl is the color match of Chokmah.
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#3. An Apache Tear is usually a small round stone of black hue. It transmits
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a little light and gives a feeling of endless depth. This stone was
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sacred to South-Western American Indians. The reference to Binah is by
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color and mystical properties.
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#4. Blue Azurite matches the blue of Chesed. This is a copper ore, and can
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be used to link Netzach with Chesed --- definitely a right-pillar stone
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for the Tree of Life.
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#5. Desert Rose is a flower-like crystal of granular Hematite. it is dull
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light russet in color and an iron ore. Thus, rose = 5; reddish = color
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of Geburah, iron = metal of Geburah.
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#6. Citrine is a yellow golden gem like a drop of honey, thus Tipheret, gold
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and Sun.. In darker hues this is sometimes called honey topaz, and a
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large stone of this type was used by Crowley for scrying in his "Liber
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418" working. It is inexpensive, not like the rare true topaz. I picked
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up a 90 karat cut stone for about $100 some years ago. Little ones go
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for under $10 --- as do most entries in this list.
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#7. Green Malachite is green in color and a Copper ore, thus Netzach.
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#8. Cinnabar is reddish orange in color and an ore of Mercury, thus Hod.
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#9. A Moon Stone is at first glance more for #13 and Gimmel than for #9 and
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Yesod. This follows from the transcendent appearance of this gem. One
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must not fall into the trap of thinking that one affinity determines
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place forever. The Moon and Yesod match a stone with the appearance of
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the Full phase of the Moon. While lesser gems might match the lower
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place of Yesod, there are certain sexual mysteries of O.T.O. which
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elevate this place. The Moon Stone in its white form is like a drop of
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semen leavened with the White Eagle. Only through subsequent skilled
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working can the gem be raised to #13. This is an affinity quite close to
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that of Binah and Malkut as Mother and fallen Bride in ancient Qabalah.
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In a real way, these "budget" versions of Column XL can be thought of as
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Green Lion to the Precious Stones' Red Lion. Those who aim directly for
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the top without treading the way up often squander magical force.
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#10. Lava, basalt and granite are the bones of the Earth. These stones are
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the prima matter of the physical world.
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#11. Native Sulfur, not alchemical Sulfur, has an affinity to air and
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therefore Aleph. Native Sulfur in crystalline form is yellow (Aleph) and
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sublimates (turns into gas from the solid state).
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#12. Feather Agate (also called Tree Agate), contains brilliant plumes of
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color in a clear and colorless stone. These are like the forces
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manipulated within the Magician by the art hidden within the letter Bet.
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#13. Satin Spar is a stone that looks like a fall of crystalline rain. It is
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a perfect depiction of the descending influence of the Moon.
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#14. Emerald Beryl can be bought from a lapidary as an opaque crystal for $8
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to $20. It is the green gem of Venus.
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#15. Red serpentine has a muted red, for Hay, and is chemically like asbestos
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to protect against fire.
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#16. Brown Obsidian is often ribboned in black. If all the surface of the
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earth were melted, this stuff would result. Vau is union.
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#17. Alexandrite (artificial variation of carborundum, not natural
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Alexandrite; the natural stone is fully on a par with the finest diamonds
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in cost): For Zain, Gemini, this artificial stone is an easy
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correspondence. The natural stone has some optical properties not to be
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found in the artificial, but both natural and artificial produce a
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reddish color in artificial light and a green one in daylight. This dual
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coloring is the Gemini matching. The property is more extreme in the
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artificial stone. In addition, the idea of art bettering nature has some
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affinity to the path of Zain on the Tree of Life.
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#18. Chet is color matched to Amber in the symbolic King Scale. This
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substance is also used in the regular table XL. Amber may contain and
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preserve objects within itself --- Cancer's facility of containment.
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#19. The Cat's Eye simulates the eye of the serpent, Tet, and the eye of the
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Lion, the Tet Beast of Tarot.
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#20. Peridot is yellowish Green; a Virgo = Yod color in the King Scale.
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#21. Turquoise has the color of Jupiter, and myth grants it the status of a
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fallen part of the sky. This stone is sometimes used to protect or
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measure the health of a person wearing it. Turquoise of a white-veiled
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type changes its color at times, like the passage of a cloud upon the
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mystical sky of its wearer. A strong case of #13 could also be made
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here, for Turquoise or Lapis dust was the pigment used by the Egyptians
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on the Stele of Revealing for the Body of Nuit. This was once blue, but
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now is green. Turquoise and Lapis Lazuli gradually change to a variation
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of malachite with exposure to air. Thus mystically, Nuit Virgin becomes
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Nuit Mother. There is a strong feminine side to the God Jupiter, which
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is often overlooked. Jupiter is the Sire of Dionysus, but also the
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birthing Mother. Athena was born from the head of Zeus.
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#22. Lace Agate shows a balance of chemical forces, thus Libra and Lamed.
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#23. Moss Agate looks like an undersea view, thus Water and Mem.
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#24. Aquamarine represents the mystical waters of re-birth in its color and
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clarity. Scorpio and Nun also stress this.
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#25. Flint is the stone of Arrows and therefore Sagittarius, Samekh. The
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power of this stone to strike fire also applies to this path.
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#26. Fluorescent Minervals, when exposed to the proper wavelengths of ultra-
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violet light or black light, glow with "unnatural" colors. The
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application to Ayin = Eye should be clear, especially when taken with the
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King Scale color and the Devil Trump.
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#27. Blood Stone is a dull black or green flecked with red, like blood
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splattered on ebony. This stone is traditionally the talisman of storms,
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earthquake, disaster, violence of all kinds and destroying sickness ---
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either to cause or cure. The affinity to Peh as the letter of the Tower
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Trump should be obvious.
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#28. Rutilated Quartz is a stone shot through with perfect lines of bright
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metallic crystal. The link to Tzaddi can be made in many ways, but the
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clearest in my view is to Tzaddikim, the Perfect Watchers or Secret
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Chiefs.
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#29. Fossils show the course of evolution and therefore match the Moon Trump
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and the path of Qof. In selecting a fossil, choose one that represents a
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known evolutional line to the present living species. If from a
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vertebrate, part of the back of the skull. Fossil bones and remains from
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extinct Genera, like Saurians, are more correct to represent the Qlipot.
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In that line, I have a nice Stegasaurous bone that I libate with beer or
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wine at intervals. It keeps the beasty happy, and few lesser critters
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care to bother the rest of such a ghost.
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#30. Native Gold is the metal of the Sun.
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#31. Fire Opal gleams with the root of mineral fire.
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#32. Granite and Basalt apply here as they do for #10
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In obtaining stones and minerals, never go to a jeweler. For that
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matter, don't patronize a jeweler's stock anymore than you can avoid.
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The mark-up above a Lapidary's retail price commonly exceeds TEN TIMES!
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In addition, a jeweler's stone has been subjected to more haggling by
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far than a lapidary's. There is less accumulated trash on a virgin,
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unset stone. Setting should be done either at the direction of a
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practitioner of Magick or by the Magician. While we are on the subject,
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there are some things to know about rare metals. Never buy any substance
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described simply as "gold"; under the trade laws, this is not true gold
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but an imitation yellow metal. Require "Gold Metal" and get the alloy
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measure: 24K is nearly pure. 14K is a bit over half gold, but will
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work better in almost all uses. Less than 10K is a bit unwise. Also,
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German Silver hasn't a trace of true Silver, and Sterling Silver is an
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alloy of Silver and other metals. Most finished pieces of true silver
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are plated with a silver-like metal that resists sulfur in the air and
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from human skin. This may or may not be desirable. Test the coating of
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a reputed silver object by rubbing with egg yoke --- tarnish is the
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proper result. Gold can often be tested with lemon juice and salt; most
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of the imitations will either brighten quickly and tarnish after or show
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some sort of reaction. True Gold cannot be harmed by any chemical
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product commonly found in the home. Obtain pure metals and metal chains
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from Gold and Silver Dealers --- they are used to "small" amount sales.
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Lapidaries also can supply these metals in smaller amounts and at a
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slightly higher price, with materials for setting and casting sets.
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Jewelers will charge $20 to $30 for a length of 10K chain that would
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cost $2 to $6 in 14K from a Gold Dealer. If hard up for gold, go to a
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liquor store and buy Goldwasser. Filter out the flakes of 24K gold leaf
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and drink the rest. Alternatively, drink the whole thing; finely
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divided gold is a mild hallucinogenic drug.
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--- TSG
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