Stone

Hellenic religion

• Stone is associated with Delphi.

  Sanctuaries are stone piled on a slope. Delphi’s working body is rock, terrace, and a named omphalos in later description.

  from Pausanias · Description of Greece, c. 150–180 CE

  associated with · partially sourced · documented

• Stone contains Obsidian.

  Obsidian is a volcanic glass among stones. The species is geological before it is ritual.

  contains · interpretive · documented

• Mountain is associated with Stone.

  A mountain is piled rock. Temples and mines take stone from slopes; the mountain is not a generic “high place” of every cult.

  associated with · interpretive · documented

• Jade is associated with Stone.

  Jade is a stone that can be worked. Ritual jobs come after hardness.

  from Berthold Laufer · Jade, 1912; Karl A. Taube · The Symbolism of Jade in Classic Maya Religion, 2005

  associated with · sourced · documented

Egyptian religion · Nile valley

• Pyramid is associated with Stone.

  Pyramids are piled stone. A building fact before it is a silhouette of mystery.

  from Herodotus · Histories, c. 440s BCE

  associated with · sourced · documented

• Giza is associated with Stone.

  The plateau is worked limestone and casing stone. Herodotus’s visitor-account is not a quarry ledger, but the material is stone.

  from Herodotus · Histories, c. 440s BCE

  associated with · sourced · documented

Chinese tradition

• Cinnabar is associated with Stone.

  An ore is a stone before it is an elixir. Ge Hong’s methods start from material.

  from Ge Hong; James R. Ware (translation) · The Nei P’ien of Ko Hung, 1966 (this translation); Ge Hong 4th century CE

  associated with · sourced · documented