Editing Emerald (section)

== Historical and cultural references ==
*Emerald is regarded as the traditional [[birthstone]] for May as well as the traditional gemstone for the [[astrological sign]] of [[Taurus (astrology)|Taurus]].<ref>{{cite book|last1= Morgan|first1= Diane|title= From Satan's crown to the holy grail : emeralds in myth, magic, and history|date=2007|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn= 978-0-275-99123-4|page= 171|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wb3ySfyMArUC&q=birthstone%20emerald&pg=PA171|access-date=30 March 2017|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170330180723/https://books.google.com.au/books?id=wb3ySfyMArUC&lpg=PA171&dq=birthstone%20emerald&pg=PA171#v=onepage&q=birthstone%20emerald&f=false|archive-date= 30 March 2017|df= mdy-all}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=June 2022}}
*Traditional [[alchemy|alchemical lore]] ascribes several uses and characteristics to emeralds:
<blockquote>
The virtue of the Emerald is to counteract poison. They say that if a venomous animal should look at it, it will become blinded. The gem also acts as a preservative against epilepsy; it cures leprosy, strengthens sight and memory, checks copulation, during which act it will break, if worn at the time on the finger.<ref>{{cite book
 |last1             = Ruland
 |first1            = Martin
 |author-link1      = Martin Ruland the Younger
 |translator-last1  = Waite
 |translator-first1 = Arthur Edward
 |translator-link1  = Arthur Edward Waite
 |orig-date         = 1612
 |chapter           = Smaragdus
 |trans-title       = Lexicon alchemia
 |title             = A Lexicon of Alchemy
 |date              = May 26, 2014
 |url               = https://books.google.com/books?id=vWmjAwAAQBAJ
 |location          = Altenmünster, Bavaria
 |publisher         = Jazzybee Verlag
 |publication-date  = 2014
 |page              = 
 |isbn              = 978-3-8496-4439-0
 |access-date       = 25 June 2022
 |quote             = The virtue of the Emerald is to counteract poison. They say that if a venomous animal should look at it, it will become blinded. The gem also acts as a preservative against epilepsy; it cures leprosy, strengthens sight and memory, checks copulation, during which act it will break, it worn at the time on the finger.
 |archive-date      = June 25, 2022
 |archive-url       = https://web.archive.org/web/20220625041552/https://books.google.com/books?id=vWmjAwAAQBAJ
 |url-status        = live
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
*According to French writer [[Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme|Brantôme]] ({{circa}} 1540–1614) [[Hernán Cortés]] had one of the emeralds which he had looted from Mexico [[engraved gem|text engraved]], ''Inter Natos Mulierum non surrexit major'' ("Among those born of woman there hath not arisen a greater," [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 11:11), in reference to [[John the Baptist]]. Brantôme considered engraving such a beautiful and simple product of nature sacrilegious and considered this act the cause for Cortez's loss in 1541 of an extremely precious pearl,<ref group = note>To which he dedicated the work, ''A beautiful and incomparable pearl''{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}</ref> and even for the death of King [[Charles IX of France]], who died (1574) soon afterward.<ref>Compare:
{{cite book
 |last1            = de Bourdeill
 |first1           = Pierre
 |author-link1     = Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme
 |editor-last1     = Lalanne
 |editor-first1    = Ludovic
 |editor-link1     = Ludovic Lalanne
 |volume           = 1: Grand Capitaines Estrangers
 |title            = Oeuvres complètes de Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantome publièes d'après les manuscrits avec variantes et fragments inédits pour la Société de l'histoire de France
 |year             = 1864
 |url              = https://books.google.com/books?id=hh3RcvRZbLoC
 |language         = fr
 |location         = Paris
 |publisher        = Jules Renouard
 |publication-date = 1864
 |page             = 52
 |access-date      = 25 June 2022
|quote            = [...] la belle et incomparable perle de cet Hernand Cortez, qu'il rapporta des Indes, sur laquelle il fit graver ces mots: ''Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major'', [...] laquelle il perdit depuis [[Algiers expedition (1541)|devant Alger]] [...]. [...] Brantôme s'est trompé ici: le joyau dont il parle n'était point une perle, mais une émaraude.
 |archive-date     = 25 June 2022
|archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20220625041412/https://books.google.com/books?id=hh3RcvRZbLoC
 |url-status       = live
}}</ref><ref name=Kunz1>{{cite book|last = Kunz|first = George Frederick|title = Magic of Jewels and Charms|url = http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/kunz-magic-jewels/page_350|isbn = 0-7661-4322-8|publisher = Lippincott Company|place = Philadelphia|year = 1915|pages = 305–306|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121017225741/http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/kunz-magic-jewels/page_350|archive-date = 17 October 2012|df = mdy-all}}</ref>
*In American author [[L. Frank Baum's Juvenile Speaker|L. Frank Baum]]'s 1900 children's novel ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', and the [[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|1939 MGM film adaptation]], the protagonist must travel to an [[Emerald City]] to meet the eponymous character, the [[Wizard of Oz (character)|Wizard]].
*The chief deity of one of India's most famous temples, the [[Meenakshi Amman Temple]] in [[Madurai]], is the goddess [[Minakshi|Meenakshi]], whose idol is traditionally thought to be made of emerald.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Meenakshi Temple – Meenakshi Temple of Madurai, Meenakshi Amman Temple Madurai India|url = http://www.madurai.org.uk/religious-places/meenakshi-temple.html|website = www.madurai.org.uk|access-date = 18 January 2016|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160317015941/http://www.madurai.org.uk/religious-places/meenakshi-temple.html|archive-date = 17 March 2016|df = mdy-all}}</ref>