![]() In my current focus on the writing in the 12th and 13th centuries, I find something even more interesting. For example, it was used to described the purity of the Virgin Mary. For the religious, the stone symbolized purity, faith and perfection. In Western Christianity, crystal was often mentioned in writings and used to decorate important religious objects, as it was thought that crystal manifested transcendence and the light of the heavens. The word “crystal” comes from the Greek krystallos, literally meaning “coldness drawn together,” or a kind of ice. The most ancient writings that mention crystal include the accounts of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who described different precious stones, their origins and physical qualities. What is the biggest takeaway from what you’ve found so far? But that wasn’t the only way people viewed crystals. We already know from other scholarship that crystal symbolized spiritual purity and perfection and was often used in religious contexts, especially in Christian churches where it was used to decorate Gospel books and other important religious items. ![]() What other legends about crystals are out there? ![]() They were inspired by medieval stories about crystal and fantasized about transparent crystal skyscrapers and utopian cities made of glass. She asked me if I knew anything about the history of crystals because she noticed that many 20th-century architects and writers, such as Paul Scheerbart, Bruno Taut and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, were fascinated with crystals. I was talking to a friend who is now an architect in New York. What inspired you to start this research? Stanford News Service interviewed Galvez about her research. Aside from being commonly viewed as an embodiment of purity and perfection, crystals were also used by some medieval poets as a way to examine desire and the uncertainty of love, Galvez said. Galvez found that some poets and authors during the Middle Ages used imagery of crystals in their writing in an unexpected manner. “Its ability to refract light and its transparent but dark appearance are partially the reason why so many different cultures and societies ascribed magical powers to this stone.” “The physical qualities of crystal make it stand out among other stones,” Galvez said. Galvez, an associate professor of French and Italian, is working on a comprehensive history of the relationship between people and crystals through the centuries. (Image credit: Studio SeventyTwo)īut people’s fascination with crystals and other gemstones dates back thousands of years, and Stanford scholar Marisa Galvez is digging into how and why that obsession started. Marisa Galvez, associate professor of French and Italian, is working on a comprehensive history of the relationship between people and crystals through the centuries.
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