A good stone is that one on which thou shalt find graven or figured a serpent with a raven on its tail. Whoever wears this stone will enjoy high station and be much honored; it also protects from the ill-effects of the heat.[192]
The original meaning of the swastika emblem has been variously explained as a symbol of fire, of the four cardinal points, of water, of the lightning, etc. Still another explanation is given by Hoernes, who inclines to the belief that it is simply a conventionalized representation of the human form, the lower shaft being the two legs joined together, the two horizontal shafts the outstretched arms, and the upper shaft the trunk of the body; the four projections would stand for the feet, the two hands and the head.[193]
The Egyptian crux ansata, the hieroglyphic symbol for “life,” and the Phœnician Tau symbol, the “mark” that was to be stamped upon the foreheads of the faithful in Jerusalem (Ezek. ix, 4), and which in Early Christian art was frequently substituted for the usual cross, are both explained by Hoernes in a similar way, and he notes the fact that the swastika symbol does not appear in Egyptian or Phœnician art, drawing the inference that all three symbols originated in the same form or figure.[194] To all these symbols were attributed talismanic virtues and they were frequently engraved on precious stones.
[Illustration: MONOGRAM OF THE NAME OF CHRIST ENGRAVED ON AN ONYX GEM.
From the “Cabinet de Pierres Antiques Gravées,” of Gorlaeus, Paris, 1778, Pl. XCV.]
The so-called “Monogrammatic Cross” was very freely used in work of the fifth century. This is simply a modification of the monogram formed of the first two letters of the name Christ as written in Greek, a device which first appeared after the time of Constantine the Great (d. 337 A.D.). This monogram usually assumed the following form: ☧, and the “Monogrammatic Cross” was made by changing the position of the Greek X (chi), and making one of its arms serve as the straight stroke of the P (r), thus giving the following form: ⳨.
A curious amulet to avert the spell of the Evil Eye is an engraved sard showing an eye in the centre, around which are grouped the attributes of the divinities presiding over the days of the week. Sunday, the dies Solis, is represented by a lion; Monday, the dies Lunæ, by a stag; Tuesday, the dies Martis, by a scorpion; Wednesday, the dies Mercurii, by a dog; Thursday, the dies Jovis, by a thunderbolt; Friday, the dies Veneris, by a snake; and Saturday, the dies Saturni, by an owl.[195] In this way the wearer was protected at all times from the evil influence.