A Curious Detail of Natural Magic
Dec. 8th, 2018 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
These days people in most Western countries assume as a matter of course that engagement and wedding rings have to have diamonds on them. That didn't become the universal custom until after the Second World War, though; it was in 1947 that the DeBeers diamond syndicate launched the first of a series of massive ad campaigns under the slogan "Diamonds Are Forever." Well, maybe they are, but...In the lore of natural magic, every kind of gemstone has a different effect on consciousness; these are normally categorized by the old scheme of the seven planets. Diamonds correspond to the planet Mars. Their magical virtue is that they give strength and victory in battle, but they are also traditionally unlucky, and make their wearers unhappy.
Maybe it's just pure coincidence, but I find myself noticing that it was right after a stone of war and unhappiness became standard wear for married women that the divorce rate began to soar, and many branches of the feminist movement took on a distinctly angry and bitter tone.
If you want a better-omened stone for an engagement or a wedding ring, the magical lore suggests going for an emerald. Emeralds correspond to Venus, and are fortunate for love; they were held to strengthen the eyes and the memory; and they make the wearer truthful and difficult to fool by trickery, all of which would be helpful in marriage. I'm sure the diamond merchants won't approve, but it might be worth trying to reverse the trend...
(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-09 06:27 pm (UTC)When we got married, my husband and I made the old-fashioned choice to have matching, relatively plain white gold bands. A diamond solitaire came to me when my husband's mother died during the first year we were married. The ring has been part of three happy marriages so far: it was originally a fiftieth anniversary gift from my husband's grandfather to his grandmother, and my husband's parents were happily married for over forty years. I hope that kind of history, and the fact that the ring makes me smile every day when I think of my late mother-in-law, who was my best friend long before she was ever a relative by marriage, will outweigh any bad associations of the gem itself.
Of course, the idea of "conflict" could mean different things to different people. My husband and I hope to have many decades ahead of us in which to hand each other snappy comebacks. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-09 08:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-12-09 11:12 pm (UTC)I don't notice any change in how we get along since the ring showed up. I do notice that we get along better since we got married, which was unexpected. There is something to making a vow that says "I choose you even when you get on my nerves" that makes the other person less irritating. :)