1. The Astrological Association of Certain Stones with Celestial Bodies
But there is more to
this ancient astrological lore, according to Budge, than this, and
here is where it begins to get very interesting. Most modern people
only encounter astrology, if they encounter it at all, in the
“horoscope” page of the local newspaper, or in little booklets of
sun signs in the grocery store aisle. Because of this type of
exposure, most people think of astrology as having only to do with
the subtle influences of the stars and planets on human life. But
there is most decidedly more to the ancient view, as Budge
observes:
The old astrologers believed that precious and semi-precious stones were bearers of the influences of the Seven Astrological Stars or Planets. Thus they associated with the-SUN, yellowish or gold-coloured stones, e.g. amber, hyacinth, topaz, chrysolite.With the MOON, whitish stones, e.g. the diamond, crystal, opal, beryl, mother-of-pearl.With MARS, red stones, e.g. ruby, haematite, jasper, blood-stone.With MERCURY, stones of neutral tints, e.g. agate, carnelian, chalcedony, sardonyx.With JUPITER, blue stones, e.g. amethyst, turquoise, sapphire, jasper, blue diamond.With VENUS, green stones, e.g. the emerald and some kinds of sapphires.With SATURN, black stones, e.g. jet, onyx, obsidian, diamond, and black coral.448
But what is this,
this new association of crystalline stones with the stars
(the Sun) and with planets? And more
importantly, where did it come from? Why is it
there? Almost no one seems to know, but the implication of
Budge’s remarks are clear: this too is a
component of that astrological lore that dates back into that
tradition of “hundreds of thousands of years” of
observation.
It is, in other
words, part of the “sciences of the ‘gods.’” Recall the association
of similar stones with the war between Ninurta and Zu, his careful
inventory of Zu’s “stones” after his victory, his relegation of
some of them to destruction, others to other uses, and some - a
very few - which could not be destroyed nor adapted, were simply
secreted away in temples to be used in rites, and presumably never
heard from again. Recall too the association of the “stone of
exile,” the “jewel” in Lucifer’s crown, which he lost when he fell.
And of course, recall the most obvious thing: the whole cosmic war
in both its phases, the struggle between Tiamat and Marduk, the
later struggle between Ninurta and Zu, was a war for the possession
and control of stones, of the “Tablets of Destinies.”
We now observe
another obvious thing: Ninurta’s “Inventory of the Stones” as
recorded in the Lugal-E occurs when he
has defeated Anzu, and since the whole war was caused by the
latter’s theft of the “Tablets of Destinies”, we conclude that
Ninurta’s inventory was an inventory of the
“stones” or components that constituted
the Tablets of Destinies. We now have another clue to
answering what exactly these Tablets of Destinies were, and why
they conferred such tremendous powers to their possessors, power
that, if one recalls our examination of the texts in the two
previous chapters, was an almost “universal” power, i.e., conferred
the power of the universe - of the stars and planets, and indeed
the galaxy (recalling the “galactic context” of De Santillana and
Von Dechind) - on their possessors. In this respect, De Santillana
and Von Dechind record a very peculiar fact about Marduk’s war with
Tiamat: two of the stars of the constellation Scorpio were some of
his weapons.449
If one now recalls
the association of particular types of “stones” with certain
celestial bodies that is a signal part of this ancient astrological
lore, then one might draw the conclusion that “stones” could be
“weapons” when connected with such celestial bodies as Marduk’s
“star weapons”. This conclusion seems warranted by the very fact of
Ninurta’s “Inventory of the Stones,” which, as we have learned, was
an inventory of the recovered components of the Tablets of
Destinies, which conferred “the power of the
universe.”