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Joy in the Present
      

10 April 2002

Patterning Archetypal Templates of Emergent Order

implications of diamond faceting for enlightening dialogue

- / -

Introduction
Metaphoric examples of sustainable, dynamic coherence
Gemstones as an accessible metaphoric exemplar of the dynamics of coherence
Summary of gemstone faceting and crystals
Current metaphoric applications of gemstones [annex]
Enlightening dialogue dynamics
Behind brilliant lies
Personal relationships: reframing escapism
"Otherwising"
Isomorphism and experience

References

A. Introduction

The intention here is to explore radical new ways of reframing dichotomous relationships -- as epitomized by that between the perceiver of the world and what is perceived. Such an exploration may be considered relevant in response to calls for "new thinking" and "new paradigms" -- notably to understand some of the more divisive processes in society, as exemplified by the Middle East and other territorial disputes, whether geographical or otherwise.

But "radical" here will also include revisiting some well-known archetypes and experiences -- for insights that they may openly conceal.

Two basic approaches are taken:

  • explore idealized understandings of the dynamics of psycho-social perfection as a self-contained, sustainable experience.
  • explore a variety of understandings of relationships between one thing and another as a way of reflecting on alternatives to more simplistic and limited understandings of that relationship

There are many much-cited examples of psycho-social coherence. Usually they are idealized as symbols of a Golden Age, or of an ideal future -- when all live in fruitful peace and harmony. Unfortunately little effort has been made to work out exactly what are the dynamics of such a psycho-social condition. Phrases such as "living happily ever after", or references to life in Heaven or in Eden -- or metaphorically at the End of the Rainbow -- offer few clues as to how people would survive the kind of boredom that sets in after a few weeks on an ideal holiday -- or the rejection by young people of life in an idyllic rural community. And yet these issues are central to the sustainability of any psycho-social community -- notably in the kinds of space colonies that are envisaged.

The many exhortations to humanity to live "in peace" also offer few clues as to how this is to be done in practice. The recommendations made are unsatisfactory to many. The intentional communities that endeavour to put such utopian ideals into practice are only attractive to a small minority -- and generally have problems surviving several generations due to rejection by the younger generation (cf communes, kibbutzim, etc). Much is made of the identification of "best practice" and "approaches that work" but these, often innovative and courageous enterprises, tend also to be significant because of their marginalization and highly specialized focus.

Efforts to explore more sustainable dynamics in fiction, drama or movies have also not proven to be amazingly insightful and attractive. Tragically their main "interest" to any audience comes from the psycho-dynamics of their tensions, dysfunctionalities and breakdown. The same problem is reflected in the design of games. Few games exemplifying the dynamics of peace have been successfully designed or attracted dedicated, skilled players.

B. Metaphoric examples of sustainable, dynamic coherence

All the above cases illustrate the fundamental lack of operating examplars of alternatives to the reality which has proven so problematic and painful to many. Hence the merit of returning to those archetypes -- the function as powerful attractors -- by which people continue to be influenced to some degree.

Glass Bead Game

Many have been inspired by the game so elusively described in Nobel Laureate Hermann Hesse's Glass Bead Game (1943). Many have been tempted to give form to the game on the web (search "Glass Bead Game resources") [more]. Charles Cameron, in considering this possibility, notes: "Rosaries are meditative devices which use beads to represent a series of prayers on a sequence of ...mysteries....By analogy, the Glass Bead Game is an abacus of prayer... More specifically, it is a stringing together of ideas drawn from the whole range of human culture, within a formal meditative structure, to engender in its players, Hesse tells us, a state 'virtually equivalent to worship', a 'direct route into the interior of the cosmic mystery'" (http://home.earthlink.net/~hipbone/Consider.html).

Inspired by the glass bead game metaphor, a study of organizational learning by Peter Delisi concludes: "To return to our earlier metaphor, we can say that the glass bead game symbolizes each of us as individuals coming together to exchange and build upon the knowledge that each of has. But our ability to do this for the overall good of the organization depends vitally on our having developed some ability to transcend our functional barriers. In the glass bead game, a common language and grammar performed this role. In the organization of the future, interdependence will play the same role, as it truly unites people in a common cause. As we enter an era in which the value of information and knowledge will exceed that from our traditional products, can we ask for anything less?" Delisi discusses how the game might be applied in practice. (http://www.org-synergies.com/GlassBeadGame.htm). Aspects have been articulated in M A Foster's The Game Players of Zan (1979)

What remains to be explored are the ways of embodying a dynamic of this kind, with such a powerfully coherent aesthetic, as the architecture of one's own world. Namely how could such design allusions be given operational reality in one's apprehension and organization of reality -- whether as an individual or collectively as a community?

Holy Grail

This well-known archetype has fascinated many over the centuries. It has been anchored in physical quests, in mystical quests, in operas, and in action movies. It has been used as a powerful symbol, notably by secret societies.

But, again, what may well remain to be explored is the way in which individual awareness can be structured as the embodiment of the Holy Grail -- as well as the nature of the collective embodiment of this reality implied by some of the allusions of the Arthurian Roundtable archetype. Rather than something "out there" to be found and possessed, to what extent is it actually and fundamentally present in the moment -- although only very faintly recognized, if at all? Does the fundamental error lie in the projection of it "elsewhere" rather than understanding of the form that it effectively provides to the sustainable dynamic of individual -- and collective -- life?

Are there ways that one's understanding of the world can be formed into a grail-like cup from which one can repeatedly drink? Why have the efforts of the Christian religion to use aspects of this in the ritual of mass lost their credibility?

That said however, what clues does it offer to the nature of that dynamic as offering an "elixir"? Missing from the Roundtable legend is any useful account of the dynamics of the archetypal figures assembled around it. As with modern stories, the focus is only on the ways it became unsustainable -- not on the dynamics that ensured its sustainability and coherence. How can features of the world be understood as simply as the legend so strongly suggests -- without evoking the need to possess it?

Archetypal cities (Camelot, etc)

There are a number of examples of cities, legendary and not so legendary, in which the dynamic supported "high learning" and creativity -- fruitfully blending the arts and the sciences. Speculation on communities of the distant past (e.g. Pythagoras at Croton, the Essenes, Khwajagan, Ikwen al-safa, Din-e Ilahi) continue to inspire, in part because of the lack of details. The same is true of the Eleusinian "mystery schools", the community surrounding the temple complex at Delphi, or the original "museum" in Alexandria. Some classical Greek academies are also of interest, particularly as a model for their Renaissance equivalents. Of special significance are the examples of "enlightened courts", whether primarily legendary (e.g. Arthur's Camelot) or reasonably well documented (e.g. Jacobean Heidelberg, Sagres of Henry the Navigator, Prague of Emperor Rudolf II, Fatehpur Sikri of Akbar the Great, Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificant, Samarkand of Ulus Beg).

Also of relevance, because of the mystique surrounding their original success, are some religious orders with a strong secular orientation (e.g. the Knights Templar and their network of "commanderies"), the cathedral builders, as well as some religious communities (e.g. Cathars). Such experiments of the past continue to nourish the imagination through fictional explorations of these possibilities (e.g. in Bacon's New Atlantis, in Hesse's Glass Bead Game, Foster's Game Players of Zan and the literature on utopias), or through participation in the rituals and mythology of some secret societies (e.g. Rosicrucians, Sufi orders, Golden Dawn, theosophy, freemasons) whatever their defects.

But in reviewing these examples the nature of the psycho-social dynamic that sustained this "enhanced mode" is elusive. However, again the suggestion is that an individual may choose to order their own perception of the world as such a city -- or to share that perception as a communal reframing of a shared worldview. Such a city may thus be as much "within" as an ordering of what is perceived "without". What are the constraints on enhancing one's own world in this way? How could such a city be ordered in the light of the many learnings about inappropriate responses to the challenge? To what extent is it necessary to "rule" it rather than to allow it to be in some artful way -- inspired by the guiding principle of non-action advocated for Chinese Emperors?

Garden of Eden

What was the dynamic in the Garden of Eden -- before the mistakes were made? Why is it that there is no understanding of the pre-mistake dynamic? Why no reflection on it -- notably in religious circles? Why is understanding -- and interest -- again limited to awareness of the emergence of dysfunctionalities and the Fall?

Psychologically the Garden of Eden is normally set back in some inaccessible place and time. What are the consequences of discovering it in the present moment and within? Though overgrown, polluted and otherwise everything that a gardener would deplore, does it not still hold the patterns that would enable an enhanced form of order to emerge -- perhaps elusively and only momentarily, but sufficiently to encourage work to enable it to flourish? This challenge is of course true for a community and the planet as a whole.

But again the challenge is augmented because of the apparent lack of clues as to how such a garden might function sustainably -- in a world so strongly conditioned to the necessity of fertilizers, pesticides, and the like. But how might the principles of permaculture apply to such a psychic garden?

Realms of the Gods

In contrast to the cases above, the myths and legends concerning the realms of the gods in different traditions do offer insights into the dynamics within such ecosystems. The western cultures have been most influenced by the gods of Olympus. and the Roman pantheon. Hindu culture remains strongly influenced by the dynamics of the relations between the gods of its pantheon. Other pantheons include those of Mayan, Celtic, and Egyptian cultures. [more] But it is an intriguing phenomenon of contemporary culture that it is game-playing (Dungeons and Dragons) that has given rise to widespread popular -- and even systemic -- interest in the relationships between such symbolic entities within their various pantheons [more; more].

Such symbolism has been a focus of attention by archetypal psychology initiated by C G Jung and notably a focus of the work of James Hillman. Archetypal psychology relies upon a model of soul that is variegated, with multiple connections both psychically and physically. The soul is seen as diverse or heterogeneous as opposed to being singular, separated, and homogenized. Hillman considers polytheism the most accurate model of humanity's innately diverse psychology: a model based in polytheism provides much more space for the expression of the marginal or the aspects of a person that are not of the ego. Archetypal psychology is also the heir to polytheistic attitudes derived from Greek, Renaissance, and Romantic thought: all styles of thought that considered the human situation as one that reflects the diversity and the imaginative potentialities of the world. Hillman claims that "Greece provides a polycentric pattern of the most richly elaborated polytheisms of all cultures, and so is able to hold the chaos of the secondary personalities and autonomous impulses of a field, a time, or an individual." It is through Greece that the West's images are derived, he claims, and that it is through Greece that we may find the means of imagining self that are not so far removed from our own experiences as to leave us floundering in a sea of half-understood metaphors and musings. [more]

But between the two extremes of game-playing and psychotherapy, and however they may be considered to be related, there remains the question of the degree to which individuals are able, or encouraged, to recognize the extent to which they are each the vehicle of a pantheon -- the biblical "Know ye not that ye are gods" (Psalms, 82:6; John, 10:34)? The shifts between monotheism, polytheism and pantheism may be played out within each of us.

Sacred sites

Such sites have long been a focus of pilgrimage whether for purely religious reasons or because of the natural beauty often associated with them. In both cases they tend to catalyze a process of re-creation. Simon Schama's much-cited study of Landscape and Memory (1995) explores the resonances between landscape and organization of knowledge. There is a long tradition of geomancy associated with the sense of place, now a focus of widespread popular attention through the art of feng shui.

The question is to what degree these different dimensions can be fruitfully reflected in any framing of one's own location at a given time as being a sacred site. This relates in part to an attitude of re-enchanting the world as explored by Morris Berman in The Reenchantment of the World (1984). What is it that makes the experience of a site sacred and how does one contribute to that experience?

"Nature"

Whether as a lived experience or as a form of nostalgia for such experience, nature is often the exemplar of coherence. This can be celebrated through the activity of gardeners, farmers, painters or deep ecologists. In different ways the web of relationships linking different species under different conditions sustains a rich and complex pattern of understanding. But curiously the dramatic loss of species, notably the songbirds of western Europe, in no way signals the kind of concern that was the case with the death of a canary used to detect dangerous conditions in a mineshaft.

It is indigenous peoples that have best articulated understandings of how the environment is intimately associated with psycho-cultural identity -- as presented by Darrell Posey in Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity (2000). From them there is an understanding how the loss of a bird effectively removes a psychic carrier sustaining an aspect of being and comprehension. Industrialization is effectively destroying the psychic equivalent of the songbirds in peoples lives.

Missing seems to be any understanding of how nature as a whole can be reframed as the template of coherence for one's own psyche. The many species are indeed natural carriers to hold understandings of interweaving complexity in a psychic environment in which each has a stewardship role. As analogues, the psychic elements (water, wind, etc) and their relationship to the land call for a level of care for one's own psyche through which the importance of a heightened level of care for their reified material variants whose urgency only then becomes apparent. It is through such understanding that the contrasting views of nature exemplified by the extremes of Native American mythology and fox-hunting -- as romanticized and criticized by advocates and opponents.

Great works of art

Such works evoke a pattern of associations that transcends the parts. This is the case in certain paintings, folk performances such as the Mahabarata, opera as exemplified by Wagner's Ring Cycle, or works of symphonic music.

Macro-history

Macrohistory should provide an overarching sense of the contrasting ways in which the quality of humanity is articulated and developed and passed from one kind of initiative to another. Johan Galtung and Sohail Inayatulluh (editors) (1997) in Macrohistory and Macrohistorians Perspectives on Individual, Social, and Civilizational Change review the work of twenty macrohistorians: Ssu-Ma Ch'ien, Augustine, Ibn Khaldun, Giambattista Vico, Adam Smith, George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Vilfredo Pareto, Max Weber, Rudolf Steiner, Oswald Spengler, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Pitirim Sorokin, Arnold Toynbee, Antonio Gramsci, Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar, Riane Eisler, and James Lovelock. In his own contribution Inayatullah considers ten themes across the twenty macrohistorians and their systems: their episteme and context; their views on historiography (how they situate their own writings); the chosen units of analysis, the proposed causes and mechanisms of change, the role of metaphysics and the transcendent, the metaphors of time used, and the resulting stages and patterns of history; the role of a "vanguard" (minority leadership in transitions from one stage to another); exits from the theories (whether they claim to be the final truth or have openings to other theories); and the application of the theories to our own future. Galtung's combines the different macrohistorians, suggesting synergies between some of the possible pairings of ten out of the twenty covered.

To what extent does such a grand sweep exemplify the kinds of assumptions and struggles of an individual throughout a life? Can social history be used as a template for insights into personal history -- with its many triumphs and defeats?

Leadership

A leader has traditionally provided a vital form of coherence for a group of people -- or an individual -- through the pattern of interactions amongst them that s/he engenders. The leader provides a framework and a focus -- and cultivates a dynamic relationship with those lead. This is most significant in the case of the mentorship role of a guru of some kind. Recent decades have seen intense interest in leadership and its evocation as a key to collective response to social challenges. Leadership training has been professionalized -- although the acquisition of the skills of a "natural" leader capable of motivating large groups remains elusive.

Of greater relevance to the argument of this paper however is the ability of an individual to internalize and embody the attributes of leadership in relation to the phenomena of the world.

Groupings of people

Coherence from this perspective may usefully be discussed under a variety of headings:

  • Community: Much has been made of various forms of community as an ideal -- and currently in the international promotion of sustainable community. The major religions, in their different traditions, have long developed the model whether in the monasteries of Christianity, Buddhist sanghas (monasteries), Hindu ashrams, or Muslim communities. Utopian communities, and the more recent alternative lifestyle communities, have sought to implement less conventional variants of this ideal. In various ways any such intentional community seeks to sustain the psycho-social life of the individual within the whole -- notably through the dynamics of interaction with the diversity of those living within such a framework. Some non-intentional Christian communities in the looser sense (as in the case of the Mormons) focus very heavily on cultivating a pattern of interaction and support within their communities.

    Any community of this kind can be seen as a reflection of the psychic life of the individual and a carrier for its dynamics. Each member can effectively carry a "sub-personality" of any other member. In this sense even a non-intentional community can be perceived by any member as having a higher degree of coherence than others might choose to acknowledge. Part of the success of TV soap operas derives from their ability to provide community and engagement on a continuing basis to individual viewers.

    The challenge is to understand how significance gets engendered, moved and held within any such community -- perhaps in the light of Eastern understandings of ch'i and notably Japanese understandings of community harmony.

  • Group: A modern variant on the ideal notion of community is associated with the term "group". At its simplest and most fulfilling level coherence may be supplied by intimate networks of friends ("mates", "copins", etc). These may well take the form of gangs. Aside from the many "invisible professional networks", there are some striking examples that have acquired renown, overlapping with the sense of community above: the Bauhaus Group, the Monte Verita community (Ascona), the Bloomsbury Group, or secret societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

    The extensive exploration over recent decades of sensitivity groups, and various forms of group dynamics, taking such extremes as meditation groups and dialogue groups, offer other variants on the sense of coherence possible. As with "community", but possibly more closely defined, the set of members may provide an array of psychic mirrors for each other as carriers of each others sub-personalities and their dynamics.

  • Team: A team may be a prime social referent, especially in the case of: particular team sports; crews of complex vehicles; production teams; design teams; military units (especially in combat); management teams; or as the cast for an dramatic performance. Extensive studies have been made of the psycho-dynamics of team participation in an effort to enhanace team performance.

    The concern here is the extent to which a team and its dynamics can be seen by an individual as consciously embodying a pattern of psycho-social dynamics in such a ways as to provide a framework and carrier for a higher order of coherence. As war veterans have asserted, military units are often appreciated for the heightened sense of reality and belonging that they offer. Other team experiences may be diffuse in comparison.

  • Family (extended): The family is a prime focus of coherence -- although to different degrees in different cultures, with strong family bonds in Asian and southern European cultures, and weaker bonds in Anglo-American cultures. Much social dysfunctionality is attributed to loss of such coherence as a result of modernization. On the other hand, the absolute loyalties within extended Mafia "families" have been seen as highly problematic.

    Whether in western depth psychology or Taoist philosophy, the family has been used as a structural template for dimensions of individual psychic experience. This is perhaps most extensively articulated in the I Ching codification.

World Wide Web

Internet enthusiasts reject any reservations about its positive implications, as voiced by Talbott (1995), and Roszack (1994). For some, it is the exemplification of global consciousness. Ken Wilber responds to this view as follows:

"The Net is simply the exterior social structure...But what goes through the Net -- well, that involves interior consciousness and morals and values, and none of that is even vaguely addressed by those who simply maintain the Net is global consciousness....What computer technology (and the Information Age) means is that the techno-base can support a worldcentric perspectivism, a global consciousness, but does not in any way guarantee it. As we have seen, cognitive advances are necessary but not sufficient for moral advances, and the cognitive means usually run way ahead of the willingness to climb that ladder of expanding awareness...You focus on the exterior grid and ignore the interiors that are running through that grid. The flatland idea is that the Internet is global, so the consciousness using it must be global. Not even close. And so once again, the flatland paradigm can't even spot the problem, let alone cure it....Neither a global holistic map, nor a global Internet, will in itself foster interior transformation, and often just the opposite, contributing to arrest or even regression. When worldcentric means are presented to less-than-worldcentric individuals, those means are simply used (and abused) to further the agenda of the less-than-worldcentric individual. The Nazis would have loved the Net." (Wilber, 1996, pp 309-310)

In separate papers, it is argued that -- to the extent that it is patterned -- the web can be understood as articulating the "songlines of the noosphere" as patterned coherence (Judge: 1996, 1996), whose hyperlink geometry could lend itself to sacralization (Judge, 1997). Recent moves towards a "semantic web" and the possibility of a "global brain" offer other ways of exploring this metaphor of coherence (Judge, 2001)

**Cell: Living cell / Conception / Ontogenesis

C. Gemstones as an accessible metaphoric exemplar of the dynamics of coherence

Cut gemstones, in the form of jewels, provide a symbolic focus for a number of dimensions highlighted in the disparate examples above. Here they are explored as a somewhat comprehensible way of holding understanding of the nature of the dynamics of coherence. Where appropriate, in italics, comments are offered on what the properties of jewels may suggest as metaphors of psych-social coherence.

Focus of attention

Gems have always been a powerful focus of attention, but for quite different though related reasons:

  • Common value
    • for their monetary value, due in part to the rarity of the most striking
    • for their beauty (often contrasting most markedly with the ugliness of the suffering and criminality associated with their acquisition [more])
    • for their symbolic value in relation to bonds (legal, marriage of couples, or "betrothal" to some social or higher order)
    • for the status conferred by the above, especially in ritual and customary ceremonies marking such a distinction (eg kissing a ring)
  • Imputed value
    • for their therapeutic value according to some traditions
    • as mementos of lost integrative consciousness, or unactualized (notably in the crowns and tiaras of nobility)
    • as templates for focussing consciousness

These all interweave in various ways, with some much more prominent than others in particular circumstances. Whilst the first four are well-recognized, the other three are only meaningful within certain frameworks. The various archetypes noted earlier tend to be associated with a therapeutic dimension -- a process of making whole and healing. The more mythical and allusive suggest a pattern of "golden age" awareness that has now been lost -- but just might be recovered. Some traditions (as noted below) with a form of practice or discipline use gemstones, especially diamond, to suggest qualities and patterns of focusing insight.

As the essence of material value -- possibly even the ultimate material attractor -- they are a form of currency used to back international loans, pay debts, pay bribes, and buy arms. In many cases they are better than money. Building on the long traditional association of diamonds with love and emotion has become central to their marketing -- prompting American, European, Japanese, and, increasingly, Chinese women to expect the “traditional” gift of a diamond engagement ring as a matter of right. In Indian mythology gems are considered to have a cosmic power in and of themselvesit is not surprising that jewels have deep religious significance in India where they have deep religious significance. Astrologers advise clients on which gems to wear in order to alter their destinies, and diamonds. It is believed that they have powerful effects on love, procreation, and, by extension, immortality. Both with respect to their imputed valuer and their common value, much associated with gemstones is illusory -- as exemplified by the monopolisitic marketing practices of diamonds to sustain their value. Given their central role has carriers of common value, they therefore provide an appropriate metaphor through which to explore carriers of the coherence of imputed, non-mundane values.

Collection and refraction of light

Light entering a gem will always bend toward the normal. Light exiting a gem will always bend away from the normal. For a given angle of incidence, a gem with a higher refractive index will bend light more strongly than a gem with a lower refractive index.

  • brilliance in gemstones results primarily from how light exits the gem. Light leaving a gemstone either escapes and is refracted away from the normal or is completely reflected back into the stone. The most brilliant gemstones are those whose pavilion facets (at the bottom of the stone) act like mirrors, reflecting light back up through the table and crown (top of stone) to the eye. Those gemstones whose pavilion facets behave as windows, passing light out the bottom of the stone, therefore look dull and less brilliant. Whether light leaving a gemstone is internally reflected or passed through a facet is determined by the angle at which it strikes the facet and the refractive index of the gemstone. As a metaphor "light" is widely associated with awareness -- epitomized by enlightenment, whether individual or collective; how might light as insight be understood to be "bent" by an integrative context, and reflected around within it to emerge in a focused and more coherent form?

  • cones of acceptance: all light rays in the gem striking the facet at angles within a cone will therefore escape out the facet, and all light rays striking the facet outside the cone will be reflected off the facet and stay within the gemstone. Those gemstones with a higher refractive index have smaller cones of acceptance, and thus can internally reflect greater amounts of light than gems with lower refractive indices (larger cones of acceptance). This is the reason why gemstones of higher refractive index are more brilliant than those with lower, all other factors being equal. Because gemstones gather light from all angles, there will always be lots of light that will pass through the stone without being internally reflected. ??????

Optical properties of gems

These include:

  • luminescence or fluorescence: Luminescence is the effect in some substances of giving out visible light when they are rubbed or scratched (triboluminescence) or when they are irradiated with invisible electro-magnetic radiations (fluorescence, phosphorescence and thermoluminescence). Also known as photoluminescence, the property some gemstones (especially some diamonds) have that makes them glow a certain color (usually blue) when exposed to specific ultraviolet wavelengths, cathode rays, X-rays or radium emanations. It is an unusual quality that can enhance the appearance of a diamond in certain lighting conditions. But when the effect is very strong, however, the diamond may have an oily appearance that detracts from its beauty and value. If the effect is continued after the removal of the exciting radiation it is then termed phosphorescence.

  • brilliance: This is the amount of light from the diamond that reaches the eye as a result of total internal reflections from the interior of the diamond and from reflections from the external surfaces of the table and all the other facets back to the viewer. The amount of light reflecting from the stone's surface, with the smoothest surfaces resulting in the highest brilliance, also associated with high light refractivity as in gems of the highest refractive indices: diamond, zircon, and rutile; one of the properties associated with the ability of a diamond to "sparkle" in response to the introduction of light. The purpose of faceting is to bring out the brilliance of a gem.

  • lustre is the quantity and quality of light reflecting from the surfaces, namely the brilliancy of a stone by reflected light, determined by the amount of incident light reflected from its surface. Forms of lustre are: (1) adamantine, as in diamond and some zircons, having a high refractive index; (2) vitreous, glass-like as in quartz and most gemstones (quartz, ruby, sapphire); (3) resinous, as in amber and certain garnets; (4) waxy, as in turquoise; (5) pearly, as in moonstone; (6) silky, as in tiger's eye quartz and satin-spar; and (7) metallic, as in pyrite and gold. Degrees or intensity of lustre that are distinguished are: splendent, the surface reflects light as in a mirror; shining, objects are reflected indistinctly; glistening or glimmering, denotes a still more feeble lustre; dull, little or no lustre.

  • refraction: reflection within the stone of the greater part of the light ray, which bends as it enters the denser medium of the gem to a degree dependent upon refractive index. Total reflection is the phenomenon occurring when a ray of light travelling through a denser medium to a rarer medium at an angle greater than the critical angle suffers complete reflection back through the denser medium.

  • birefringence or double refraction: splitting of the entering light into two rays traveling through the stone at different speeds and in different directions. The amount being measured by the difference between the maximum and minimum refractive indices in an anisotopic mineral. Notably seen in zircon, rutile, and sphene and in a variety of calcite. Anisotropic a term for crystals which exhibit double refraction

  • dispersion or "fire" (also called refraction): the separation of light into its separate colours with the highest dispersion rates associated with with the highest light refraction (rutile, sphene, diamond, zircon). Dispersion is the amount of rainbow colors (multi-coloured flashes) returned to the eye from within the diamond. White light entering a stone is separated into the many colors of the rainbow just like a prism. Colour dispersion can be enhanced by appropriate cutting. Good fire can only be achieved with very good to excellent proportions. Along with life, scintillation, refraction and dispersion, a word used to describe the ability of a diamond to "sparkle" in response to the introduction of light. Also called "refraction" or most often "dispersion" in the trade. Brilliance should not be confused with fire, which is the multicolored flashes you see coming out of diamonds and some other gems.

  • scintillation or sparkle is the combination of luster, brilliance, and dispersion (fire) when there is movement by the wearer or light source. The amount of light that reflects out of a diamond as it moves.

  • pleochroism: colour changes evident from different angles in gemstones (iolite, alexandrite, andalusite), provided it is cut appropriately to show off the different colours. Ruby has two-colour changes: yellow-red and purplish-red. When light passes through a doubly refractive gemstone, the light is split into two rays which are polarized at right angles to each other and travel at differing velocities through the gemstone. When this occurs, the rays are said to have experienced differential selective absorption", namely variations in the absorption of certain wavelengths dependent on direction.

  • circular polarization: a peculiar property of quartz, among gemstones, of rotating the plane of polarization of a ray of light passing parallel to the optic axis, and showing an interference figure in convergent Polaris light, in which the arms do not meet at the centre, the four arms stopping at the innermost ring.

  • asterism (also diasterism and epiasterism): a reflection from fibres or fibrous cavities in a stone, cut en-cabochon with its base parallel to the basal plane of the crystal, in a similar manner to chatoyant stones but having three sets of fibres crossing at angles of 60 (hence a six-rayed star), or at 90 (a four-rayed star). Asterias stones exhibiting a four, six or twelve-rayed star of light when cut en-cabochon in the correct crystallographic direction. Generally seen in corundums (star rubies and star sapphires with either six or twelve rays) and with rose quartz (generally six rays). Some garnets may also show the effect usually with four rays but if cut in certain directions may show six rays. Star corundums are made synthetically. The "cat's-eye effect" (chatoyancy) is due to the reflection of light from fine fibres or fibrous cavities within the stone. The wavy band of light seen across the stone being at right angles to the direction of the fibres. To show this best stones must be cut en-cabochon.

  • clarity: the degree to which a diamond is free from inclusions (graded on a scale from flawless to heavily imperfect), namely the presence or absence of inclusions within the diamond and blemishes on its surfaces. Most diamonds contain such tiny marks, which make each stone unique. Inclusions do not necessarily weaken the stone and if they do not interfere with the passage of light they do not affect its beauty, however the fewer and smaller the inclusions, the more valuable a diamond will be. Truly flawless diamonds are extremely rare and very valuable.

  • transparency (or diaphaneity): the amount of light transmitted through a substance. Degrees of transparency are classed according to the amount of light which penetrates the substance

**Glossary of Defect Terminology [more]

Cut / Make: How well a diamond is cut determines its brilliance. The skill of the cutter unlocks the natural beauty of a diamond, revealing all of its hidden fire and brilliance. Some 70 percent of the world's gem-quality diamonds are shaped using the full 58 facets [see diagram] of the Round Brilliant Cut. It is important that these are cut to precise angles. In higher quality diamonds the girdle is frequently faceted, but these facets are not counted in the total. A diamond that is cut well will reflect light from one facet to another and then back out through the top of the diamond. Only a well-cut diamond will really sparkle. A diamond cutter's challenge is to balance beauty against retaining the weight from the rough diamond crystal. In the best-case scenario, approximately 50% of the weight is lost from the original crystal in the cutting process. Cutters often sacrifice diamond beauty in order to save weight, and maximize the size of the finished diamond.

The Round Brilliant Cut originated in an early form by Vincent Peruzzi in 17th century Venice. In 1919 Marcel Tolkowsky published a doctoral dissertation presenting a theory about the exact cutting angles which would create the most proportionate balance of brilliance and dispersion in a gem-quality diamond. [more]

A backlash against these standards of the Ideal Cut in the 1950s was based on the argument that the proportions of his Ideal Cut created an inherent over-abundance of dispersion, or "fire," which distracted from the diamond's brilliance. Those who swear by the Tolkowsky or Ideal Cut say the table should be 53% as wide as the overall width of the stone at its widest point. Others favor a table somewhere between 57% and 65%. As proof that the Ideal Cut was not an absolute embodiment of perfection, reference was made to Eastern cultures, which actually considered larger tables more beautiful than the smaller ones which typified an Ideal Cut. It was also recognized to be impractical to cut diamonds to his specific set of parameters so the definition was modified by expanding the acceptable table size from Tolkowsky's original 53% up to nearly 58%. [more]

A long-awaited analysis of diamond cutting by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) confirmed in 1998 the long-held belief that there is no one Ideal cut – at least where brilliance is concerned. The study is claimed to confirm scientifically what good jewelers and diamond cutters had always known: a diamond does not have to be cut to a few rigid parameters to achieve superior brilliance [more]. A very slight departure from precise standards does not enable any loss of brilliance to be detectable even by a specialist. It is therefore normal practice not to apply exclusively one value, but to extend this value upwards and downwards within narrow tolerances. Only when a "brilliant cut" varies beyond these limits of tolerance can it no longer be graded "excellent" but only either very good, good, fair or poor [more]. The GIA has subsequently undertaken further theoretical studies that stress the importance of an analysis in three dimensions [more; more] and computer modelling of virtual diamonds for purpose of ray tracing [more]

The Princess Cut Diamond is a brilliant style shape with sharp, uncut corners. It is typically cut square rather as a rectangle. Brilliant style refers to vertical direction crown and pavilion facets instead of step style horizontal facets. It generally has 76 facets, giving it more brilliance and fire than the round brilliant. The Radiant Cut Diamond is a staight-edged rectangular or square stone with cut corners. It has 62-70 facets.

D. Summary of gemstone faceting and crystals

An Annex (http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/docs/diamondx.php) is used to explore typical gemstone cuts and faceting, as well as providing a tabular presentation of the relationship of many common gemstones to crystal systems and classes. The Annex also shows the common association of gemstones with the chakra system (see below).

E. Current metaphoric applications of gemstones

Major use is made of the diamond, notably in Buddhist traditions, as a metaphor of a particular emergent order of the mind and the understanding of that order as a "vehicle", or "body", for the spirit. This metaphor seems to focus on the individual and not on the ordering of society. The terms "diamond mind" and "diamond body" are therefore widely used and are notably a focus for the Diamond Way school of Buddhism. Curiously, however, this ultimate development of human consciousness is preceded in such traditions by intermediary stages of lesser complexity associated to some degree with the Indian system of chakras shared by Buddhism and Hinduism. The diamond is notably associated with the seventh chakra, and other gemstones are associated with other chakras -- but not explicitly with any associated forms