29 November 2021
Amber is the fossilized resin of prehistoric trees; when rubbed, it becomes charged with static electricity. It can attract small bits of matter, such as fluff, and emit shocks, and these properties made it seem magical. Amber pendants have been found dating back to 12,000 B.C., and Jorgensen writes that such jewelry would have been valued for much more than its beauty. In the era of recorded history, accounts of amber’s use abound. The ancient Greeks massaged the ailing with it, believing, Jorgensen writes, that its “attractive forces would pull the pain out of their bodies,” and it is the Greek word for amber —elektron— that gives us an entire vocabulary for electrical properties. In first-century Rome, Pliny the Elder wrote that wearing amber around the neck could prevent throat diseases and even mental illness.
Of course a ’normal’ person who is not themselves a doctor and who cannot afford to pay a cardiologist who happens to be an expert in arrhythmias for a complex operation would have just died but that’s by the by.
fun with typos
yesterday in a txt i referred to 'twin peaks' by david lunch.
very interesting article (in vk so in dutch) about correspondences between psychosis and mystical experiences.
weblink or pdf file