In the ever quickening internet age it is all too easy to forget that there was a time when books on mysticism were difficult to find outside of either the dusty libraries of academia or the sleazy bedrooms of a handful of supposedly enlightened magi. Despite this stigma The Curious Lore of Precious Stones by George Frederick Kunz dared to walk that finest of lines when it first saw publication in 1913. Yet the author was no Crowleyan wolf in turn of the 20th Century sheep’s clothing, just a humble gemmologist working to give depth to his private passion for the history of the minerals mankind obsesses over.

The result was around four hundred pages of commentary on not only gemstones but also the people who cherished them as keys to powers outside of the human norm. Roughly divided into eleven broad chapters the book opens with an intriguing dissection of the conceptual roots of superstition among the ancients and ends with the now familiar treatment of the therapeutic uses of various minerals up to the early days of the age of reason. The section on crystal gazing actually covers technique as well as folklore, and the one on birth stones has formed the backbone of many derivative works in the years since.

The chapter which discusses the Pagan, Hebrew and Christian religious uses of precious stones may initially cause confusion among a modern audience, as that former group is in fact anyone outside of the Abrahamic narrative and not necessarily those of an earth based belief system such as Wicca or witchcraft. It is still intriguing to see the levels of superstition on display in the earlier versions of the now canonically conservative Protestant and Catholic communities, ones that freely scream demonic at even the slightest thought of magick. The essay on accepted planetary and astral influences is useful too.

The book is not without its issues, however. The narrative is obtuse in places, though The Curious Lore rewards those willing to persevere through the prim and proper language with a wealth of well researched and highly illuminating information. Less forgivable is the prevailing Biblical bias on display at certain points, another sign of the times it was published. While this can grate on the nerves it must be remembered that the book was never originally intended for Neopagan use, standing as a potted history of the folklore and mythology of the minerals that the new age movement would one day adopt as their own.

The occult is not an easy topic for any branch of academia to approach. It is sadly rare that an outsider treats the fictions and facts which permeate the world of the weird with the respect they deserve. Snark and derision always seem to sneak in, turning the folklore that some once lived by into evidence of their lack of learning. That said Kunz’s work seems to avoid this all too bottomless pitfall, and the narrative voice remains one of excited enquiry. As a result this ever so slightly flawed diamond in the rough should most definitely be treated as a core text for students of both the occult and general mythology alike.

Title: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones
Author: George Frederick Kunz
Genre: Mythology/Folklore
Tradition: Various
Difficulty: Intermediate
Published: 1913 (1971 for the Dover Edition)
ISBN: 9780486222271
Score: 7/10