The Jasper was a stone sacred to the Virgin Mary in Christian mysticism, and to the Son of the Virgin; and symbolically the Virgin of the Skies is ever immaculate, ever sublime and pure. The association of the sixth sign of the Zodiac with all virginity is further exemplified in the cult of the Virgins of Vesta. Corresponding with the sixth sign of the Zodiac these virgins were six in number, and the age of girls selected for the service could not be less than six years. The poets tell the story of the beautiful Astræa, the holy Virgin, who in pity remained with men after the gods, provoked by man’s wickedness, had departed in anger; remained with them until she was forbidden to gaze on a world defiled with crime and misery, and with bandaged eyes was led away to Heaven where her symbolic form stands eternally, scales in one hand, sword in the other. One gift she left with man—the gift of Hope which has as its emblem the unpretentious Jasper stone. The Virgin Astræa is familiar as the goddess of Justice, and her connection with Mercury—astrologically known as Lord of the Virgin—is apparent. Her special degree of the Zodiac is given as the twenty-third (“Zodiacal Symbology,” page 96), which is a degree of sympathy, and for the correct administration of justice, deep and generous sympathy is surely necessary.

According to Swedenborg and other mystical writers the Virgin symbolizes all chaste love, “affection for good, charity towards others, lovers of truth, spirituality and sympathy, and the kindness of men to one another, as opposed to the cruel malice of war and destruction which is likened to false reasonings, lies and opposed to Divine Providence.”

The Zebulon is the Haven into which they “who are weary and heavy laden” may enter, and it is significant that the Son of the Virgin dwelt in Capernaum which is upon the sea coast in the borders of Zebulon and Nephthalim (Matt. 4. 13).

Leah thanks God for “a good dowry,” and saying that now her husband will dwell with her because of her six sons, called his name Zebulun. In several ways a good dowry is associated with the sign Virgo, which is related to learning and commerce, will, patience, persistence and the reward of honest work. About the constellation of Virgo is the Argo or Ship of the Heavens, which star-lighted is ever gliding on the blue waters of the Celestial Harbour. A story of the loss of the Jasper from the Breastplate is told in the Talmud, and after a long search for another to replace it one was found in the possession of Dama, son of Nethinah, and purchased from him for about £60 in our money.

It is quite conceivable that stones were lost from the breastplate, and it was no doubt the replacing of them that caused so much confusion. Jasper as the sixth stone of the Breastplate is easily identified and the tribe of Issachar was inscribed upon it.

=The Seventh Stone of the Breastplate=

The seventh stone of the Breastplate is given as Lesham, variously rendered as Ligure, Agate, Jacinth, Hyacinth, Amber, Sapphire, Turquoise, Opal. The gem needed must, according to Dr. E. G. Hirsch, be “brilliant and of intense lustre.” The Midrash says that the stone was “white like the colour of antimony.” The colour in the Midrash Bemidbah is given as sapphire blue, and by astrological authorities generally as dark crimson or tawny. The sign is the airy home of the planet Venus: and its colour can be more correctly gauged from the colours identified with the planet itself, which are given as follows: yellow, lemon yellow and pale blue, art tints in general, white and purple, white and shining, white in the morning, reddish in the evening, changeable, etc., Gesenius translates LESHAM as Opal, and Dr. M. H. Breslau accepts his reading as correct. The Opal is given for the seventh stone in translations from the Hebrew Bible, and this is most probably the correct one. This beautiful gem was in great repute in ancient times, and Pliny in lauding its charms tells us that it was found in India, Egypt, Cyprus, Thasos and other places. It is found recorded on Antique Clay Tablets whereon is impressed catalogues of treasures taken from conquered cities. Its softness and delicacy rendered it easy to cut and carve, and specimens of opal intagli have been found. Mr. King mentions one in the Praun collection, of mediocre antique Roman work which was engraved with the heads of Jupiter, Apollo and Diana surrounded by nine stars. The same author mentions a big opal set in a quabalistically inscribed ring of gold with astrological symbols. The midrashic “white like the colour of antimony” may fairly describe a common variety of opal. Antimony is a brittle flaky metal of bluish-white colour and crystalline texture. No gem can exhibit “the brilliant and intense lustres” more than the precious opal which is not only brilliant and lusterful but beautiful, tender and comprehensive of all the colours of the rainbow. What gem can answer so to the Talmudic identification of the qualities of Venus, viz., Splendour? The Venus of Libra is more ethereal than the Venus of Taurus and is well presented in the charming statue of the Venus of Medici, that of Taurus being expressed in the figure known as the Venus of Milo. This ethereal Venus is the immaculate glorious woman whose absolute beauty the greatest poets, writers, painters, sculptors and musicians have striven to express in words, in form, in colour and in sound. Thus is Venus the noble cogency of divine pure love which has been striving through all the ages to make the world a paradise and to bring man back again to the Eden he has lost. No blood sacrifices stained the altars of this lovely goddess, and the ancients delighted in bringing to her temples sweet blossoms and fragrant spices for incense. So great was the charm and wonder of this Heavenly One that Momus, the god of Sarcasm, who spared neither god nor man, died of vexation because he could find in her nothing to ridicule, nothing to blame, nothing to jeer at, for before such pure beauty criticism and ridicule must be mute. As Venus Urania she arises amidst the foam of the sea (the occult import serving but to intensify the beauty of the legend) with a blue sky above her head and peaceful sunlit waters at her feet, a symbol of that eternal love which unites the elements and spreads the lustre of true harmony wherever are to be found those wise enough to know it. Socrates wrote that he was uncertain whether there was one Aphrodite or two, and doubtless the philosopher recognized the various phases of the goddess when blended with, or corrupted by, anything less than the conception of pure idealism in all its expressions. The ancients called the opal “Cupid”—a worthy tribute to the sublime beauty of his glorious mother. One might compare the opal to the union of Thaumas (Wonder), the Son of the Earth, with Electra (Brightness), a daughter of Oceanus, and with their child Iris (Rainbow).

Issachar is the tribe of the Balance, “an ass bending between two burdens.” The ass in the East today as it was in the days of the Bible is regarded as an emblem of constancy, patience, endurance and stolidity, and frequent allusion is made to it in sacred writings: “Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way.” (Judges 5. 10.) Josephus replies with vigour to the assertion of Apion that the Jews worshipped an ass’s head. In the mythology of the Egyptians the good and evil essences are symbolised by two wild asses, and mention is made in “The Book of the Dead” of the duel between the ass and its “eater,” the night serpent. The ass also as a symbolic animal of Jupiter represented Justice in the ancient world, hence its association with the Balance becomes clear. The tribe Issachar, this “servant of tribute,” is symbolic of absolute truth for “a false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.” (Prov. 11. 1.), and “He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.” (Prov. 12. 17.) The entry of the Son of the Virgin into Jerusalem—the city of Virgo—riding on an ass, as told in that chapter of parables, Matthew 21, is not devoid of symbolic meaning. Hermes or Thoth is the recorder of the scales in the Egyptian Hall of Judgment and he may also be said to ride upon the scales for the sign Libra follows the sign of the Virgin. Libra has been described as the most sensitive sign of the Zodiac, the opal is its ideal gem and the opal is the gem for the seventh division of the Breastplate and on it was engraved the tribe of Dan.

=The Eighth Stone of the Breastplate=

The eighth stone of the Breastplate is Shebo, rendered as Agate by the Authorised Version, the Vulgate, Marbodus and others.

Gesenius gives the derivation of Shebo from a root which means “to take prisoner,” and his illustrious pupil, Julius Fürst, connects it with a root meaning “to glitter.” Dr. Deane derives it from another meaning “to obscure, to dull,” and expresses the opinion that the problem “cannot be solved by etymology alone.” He believes SHEBO to be some variety of crystallised quartz. Dr. Breslau in translating SHEBO as Agate has good supporters. The variety known as Banded agreeably fits in with the demands of the planet Mars through the sign of its expression Scorpio, termed the sign of the Serpent. Its wavy lines typify the undulations of the serpent, the lines of a fortress or the restless waves of the sea. The opinion has been expressed that SHEBO may have some connection with the Indian Serpent of the Underworld—Sesha or Shesha, and the connection may be further extended to the huge serpent which slays and is slain by Thor as told in the Song of Vala.