Bloodstone, Morocco
Transferred from the Wellcome Institute in 1985; 1985.52.1544
This dark green jasper stone flecked with red iron oxide forms the mineral heliotrope, and is commonly known as a ‘bloodstone’. Bloodstones were popular in the Middle Ages. It was thought that they had originated at the crucifixion of Christ, when drops of Christ’s blood fell on a piece of green jasper and became infused in the stone.
Bloodstones were believed to cure nosebleeds and control haemorrhaging. Their power to stop the flow of blood could be invoked by wearing the stone around the neck on a cord, or, for a better effect, by dipping the stone in cold water and then holding it in the right hand.
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