Middle Age Studies and Lore

The use of amber as a healing agent continued into the Middle Ages. Scholars studied ancient texts and expanded upon the virtues of this petrified resin. It was seen as a cure for the plague, heart disease, impotence, vertigo, goiters and as a relief for stomach pains. Application of the stone to a wound was said to staunch the flow of blood. This may account for its use by Rabbis as the handles of their circumcision instruments. The gem was also thought to have an affinity for yellow skin and, as such, was a cure for jaundice. The amber would draw the yellow color out of the patient as well as the sickness itself. Camillus Leonardus states in his Speculum Lapidum of 1502 that, "If used as a perfume, it is said to provoke the menses in women, to cure epilepsy, to drive away serpents, and to heal their bite if mixed with the marrow of a stag, and fastens loose teeth."

 The pre-established origins of amber were questioned by Amber Bartholomt~us Glanvilla in his Dc P roprietutibus Rerum. Glanvilla regarded amber as a kind of jet and says it is useful in driving away adders, and is contrary to friends.
Many gems have been thought to foretell coming events or to bring revelations. In medieval times amber was said to disclose the presence of poisons. Goblets made of block amber were used to reveal anything toxic in liquids they contained. A change of color in the stone was thought to predict a loss of affection on the part of the giver. Richard Tofte published the following account in 1615 of an unfaithful love revealed:
 

Thy tokens which to me thou sent
In time may make thee to repent;
Thy gifts do groan (bestowed on me)
For grief that they thee guilty see.
The amber bracelet thou me gave
(For fear thou shouldst shortly wave)
From yellow turned is to pale,
A sign thou shortly will be stale.
 

The author failed to note that all amber changes in time with exposure to air, sun, or the human body Leonardus proposed another use for the gem which he believed made many a husband feel more secure.
If laid on the left breast of a wife when she is asleep, it makes her confess all her evil deeds. If we would discover whether a woman has been corrupted, let it be laid in water for three days, and then shown to her, and if she is guilty it will immediately force her to make water.
 

Aroma Therapy

The aromatic properties of amber have been the source of interest since the ancient Romans. Burning, heating, mixing it with a salve or dissolving it in a solvent are all methods used to release its stored fragrance. In Germany amber is called bernstein, the "stone that burns," because of the ease with which it is ignited. As a fumigant it has been prescribed as a treatment for numerous ailments as well as a cure for tonsillitis, inflammation of mucus membranes and sinus blockage. "The smoke of it drives away devils and dissolves spells and enchantments" states Leonardus. The smell was said to aide women in labor by reducing their discomfort and taking their mind to a calmer place. In the Orient this fumigation is done by throwing powdered amber onto a hot brick. A mixture known as oil-of-amber is referred to in many pieces of literature. This is most often finely powdered amber dissolved in alcohol or mineral spirits. In 1548, Johann Meckenbach Diderot's Encyclopedia took credit for discovering the process of making states this sign meant oil-of-amber to this tonic.
 

Modern Day Holistic Medicine

This concoction has maintained its reputation as a cure for gout, rheumatism, whooping-cough, hysteria, bronchitis, infantile convulsions and as an anti-spasmodic for asthma. An official report of the United States Mining Bureau published in 1935 reported oil-of-amber as a viable ingredient in pharmaceutical products. In China a mixture described as liquid acid-of-amber and opium is used as a sedative, anodyne and antispasmodic. The Family Dictionary by Dr. W. Salmon, published in 1696, lists the following use for the gem:
For falling sickness, take half a drachm of choice amber, powder it very fine, and take it once a day in a quarter of a pint of white wine, for seven or eight days successively. [Continued treatment would be to] take bits of amber, and in a colsestool put them upon a chafing dish of live charcoal, over which let the patient sit, and receive the fumes.
In his The Natural History of Gems of 1870, King makes the following claim, "That the wearing of an amber-necklace will keep off the attacks of erysipelas (a strep infection of the skin) in a person subject to them, has been proved by repeated experiment beyond all possibility of doubt."
Modern believers in the medicinal power of gems still prescribe amber for a variety of purposes. It serves as a symbol of renewal in marriage and continued fidelity. The gem enhances one's ability to express feminine energies for both men and women. It stands as a major agent for purification and may be used to cleanse the environment in birthing and "re-birthing" rooms. When worn, carried, or ingested as a elixir, it purifies the mind, body, and spirit. It also enhances the ability to recall specific instances in past lives. Holistic practitioners recommend amber powder or alcohol based oil-of-amber as a treatment for kidney and bladder ailments, goiter and diseases of the throat. "Amber allows the body to heal by absorbing and transmuting negative energy into positive energy."

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