Sapphirus, Sapphire
Nilama (Ayurveda)Nilam (Unani)
Ain gra ni la ཨཻན་གྲ་ནི་ལ་ (pronounced ‘Inda nila’) (Tibetan)
Ortus Sanitatis, 1491
Ruby Crystal and Star SapphiresExotic Mineralogy, Sowerby, 1811
Sapphire crystalPhoto by Rob Lavinsky iRocks.com
Mineralogical Name:
Corundum (Al2O3)
Parts used:
Blue Sapphire prepared; Ayurveda also uses Yellow Sapphire
Temperature & Taste:
Neutral (slightly Warm in Unani), dry. Salty and Sweet
Properties:
Hardness: 9;
Specific Gravity: 3.9-4.16.
Of the Trigonal crystal system, in the form of Rhombohedra, columns, twins, plates and bipyramids.
Both Ruby and Sapphire sometimes show yellow luminescence.
Insoluble in acids.
Constituents:
Aluminum oxide (Al2O3)
Color is from traces of titanium and iron
Uses:
1. Clears Heat, Resists Poison (West, Ayurveda, Tibetan):
-‘Resists Poison, Plague, and Fevers (Salmon);
-‘Cools Fevers’ (Marbod von Rennes).
-used ‘for expelling the Hot humors of the body’. (Galen)
-Fevers including Malaria. (Ayurveda)
-Boils, Pustules, Leprosy etc. (Ayurveda, Salmon)
-‘It asswageth Carbuncles by being touched with it’ (Culpeper).
-various Poisons and Venomous Bites, including Scorpion bites.
-applied to various swellings.
2. Calms the Mind and Spirit: (West, Unani, Ayurveda):
-‘it makes the mind Quiet, Godly, and Safe (Culpeper)
-‘Gives a peaceful Mind’ (Albertus).
-Burton in his ‘Anatomy of Melancholy’ (1628) said Sapphire cured Melancholy and released the mind of care.
-‘Good for Envy and Jealousy … Makes you Fearless’ (Marbod von Rennes.)
–Hildegard listed it for Stupidity and Fear.
–Bhasma is used for Mental and Nervous disorders, Hysteria, Epilepsy, Possession, various Behavioral disorders, Idiocy, Mental and Behavioral disorders, and for Vicious or Evil tendency of mind. (Ayurveda)
-produces Happiness, and is used for Insanity and Hallucinations (Unani).
3. Benefits the Mind and Senses:
-Promotes Intelligence (Ayurveda; Unani medicine; Hildegard)
-benefits all the senses, especially the Eyes: used in eye medicines for growths of the Eye and Poor Vision in Europe, Ayurveda and Unani:
4. Benefits the Heart, Calms the Spirit:
-‘Strengthen the Heart, and Revives the Spirits’ (Salmon);
-Paracelsus distilled a water from Sapphire for Trembling, Palpitation of the Heart, and to dispel Synthena.
-‘Stops pain in the Forehead and Tongue’ (Albertus)
5. Benefits the Qi and Blood:
-‘Comforts and Strengthens the body’ (Salmon)
-‘Keeps the Body Healthy and Strong… protects the Wearer from Evil’ (Marbod von Rennes)
-‘Invigorates the Body’ (Albertus)
-‘Causes Strength, and a good Color’ (Culpeper).
-strengthen the body in various morbid diseases (especially those cause by Saturn), and to prevent the same in Ayurveda, Unani etc.
–Bhasma is used similarly in India for Lethargy, chronic Weakness etc.
6. Clears Heat, Stops Bleeding and Leakage:
-Dysentery, Hepatic Fluxes, Hemorrhoids, and other leakages and bleeding (taken in waters of Plantain or Tormentil);
-‘a whole one laid to the forehead, stops Bleeding at the nose’ (Schroder);
-excess Sweating (Marbod von Rennes, Culpeper).
7. Clears Wind and Heat, Eases Pain:
-Bhasma is used for pain including Rheumatism, Neuralgia, Sciatica.
-In Europe it was used for Gout and Joint pain also.
8. Promotes Healing:
-‘Levigated with milk, it heals all wounds’ (Marbod von Rennes).
-all internal Ulcers, including those of the Bowels (Culpeper).
-‘Exulcerations, haws, and pushes of the Eyes’
-‘Clears Pus from the Eyes’ (Marbod von Rennes.)
9. Stops Cough:
-Bhasma is used for Cough and Bronchial Asthma in Ayurveda (Ayurveda).
10. Benefits Digestion:
-Bhasma Increases digestive power (Ayurveda).
11. Reduces Lust:
-‘Cools inner Heat and Lust’ (Albertus, Hildegard);
-‘makes Men Chaste’. (Culpeper)
Substitutes:
1. Blue Spinel is an accepted substitute for Sapphire
Dose:
Ayurveda uses 60–125mg doses of either the Bhasma, or the levigated powder, usually in Butter, Ghee, Honey, Conserve of Rose or Rose petal jam. In Europe the levigated powder was used in doses of 125–250mg, up to 500mg.
Main Combinations:
1. See Ruby, as Sapphire and Ruby are usually combined
Major Formulas:
The Goa Stone
Red Hungarian Powder
Cooling Powder of Gems
Warming Powder of Gems (Mesue)
Electuary of Gems (Mesue)
Confection of Hyacinth (Confectio de Hyacintho)
Letificans Conciliatoris
Medicine to Defend the Base from all Danger
Powder of Gems for Palpitations (Wirtzung)
Powder to Cool the Heart
Powder for Uterine Cancer
Vigorous Cakes
Safoof e Jawahar Mohra (Precious Defender Powder) (Unani)
Cautions:
Standard cautions for using Gem stones.
Main Preparations used:
Levigated Powder, Bhasma/Kushta (Ayurveda, Unani). Many chemical preparations of Sapphire were prepared.