Paintings by Frans Francken the Younger
Frans Francken the Younger (1581 –1642) was a Flemish painter and the best-known and most prolific member of the large Francken family of artists.&n
Decline of thunderstone mythology
Even as late as the 17th century, a French ambassador brought a stone hatchet, which still exists in the museum at Nancy, as a present to the Prince-Bishop of Verdun, and claimed
Fossils as thunderstones
In many parts of southern England until the middle of the nineteenth century, another name commonly used for fossil Echinoids was ‘thunderstone’, though other fossils
Thunderstones in North American and Native American Folklore
In North Carolina and Alabama there is a belief that flint stones placed in the fire will keep hawks from molesting the chickens, a belief which probably stems from the Europea
Thunderstones (and Touchstones) in Asian Tradition
In Burma they are used as a cure and preventative for appendicitis. In Japan they cure boils and ulcers. In Malaysia and Sumatra they are used to sharpen the kris, are considered
Thunderstones in European Folklore
In Scandinavia thunderstones were frequently worshiped as family gods who kept off spells and witchcraft. Beer was poured over them as an offering, and they were sometimes an
A 12th century Bishop of Rennes asserted the value of thunderstones as a divinely appointed means of securing success in battle, safety on the sea, security against thunder, and immunity from unpleasant dreams
During the Middle Ages many of these well-wrought thunderstones were venerated as weapons, which during the “war in heaven” had been used in driving forth Satan and
Greeks and Romans, at least from the Hellenistic period onward, used Neolithic stone axeheads for apotropaic protection of buildings including villas, military structures such as barracks, temples, and kilns
The Greeks and Romans, at least from the Hellenistic period onward, used Neolithic stone axeheads for the apotropaic protection of buildings. A 1985 survey of the use of pre
Humans have been interested in echinoid fossils (the fossilised remains of sea urchins) for millennia, considering them lucky and imbuing them with magical powers linked to their deities
A folk tradition in Denmark and southern England imagined sea urchin fossils to be thunderbolts, able to ward off harm by lightning or by witchcraft, as an apotropaic symbol. A