Lodestone and Lightning

Lodestones, or loadstones, are magnetites that have been intensely magnetized by the magnetic fields surrounding lightning strikes. They consist of two different minerals: wustite and the familiar hematite. They are the most naturally magnetic mineral on the planet and act as permanent magnets to attract and magnetize iron. (But if you want a piece of lodestone don't assume you can find it at your area's gemstone and mineral show; I learned that lesson. All they could offer me was hematite which is nice but not the same.) Lodestone has had a long, fascinating history of use among ancient pagans as well as modern scientists. Lodestones were an immense help to the ancients as they were used in compasses. They can also be utilized in the study of plate tectonics. Interestingly enough, they were employed in various ancient temple magic tricks.

You see, back in the old days, there were a lot of gods, via priests, vying for the attentions and donations of the public. And one of the methods of attracting worshipers was to have engineers design magnificent creations to be used in the temples. I learned about these amazing feats of gimmickry from The History Channel Ancient Discoveries: Machines of the Gods. From the site:

Alexandria became the centre of this temple trickery. Writers from all over the ancient world flocked to document the strange devices. There are tantalising glimpses from the ancient texts which reveal some of the types of temple machines which were in operation. One of the most famous illusions was to be found at the Temple of Serapis, where an iron chariot hung suspended in mid air. The spectacle appeared to be the work of the gods. In fact, it is believed that a giant lodestone was suspended from the ceiling which would have made the iron chariot appear to be floating by an act of god. The trickery worked, attracting many new visitors to the temple.

The tone of the show is slightly condescending in terms of the gullibility of the worshipers but I'm too fascinated by the ancient inventions to care all that much. There were doors that opened automatically when an individual approached. There were statues of goddesses that seemed to pour out life-giving milk. There were rotating dancers and dragons that moaned as water pressure forced an arrow to shoot them. And the list goes on. If you have the opportunity I highly recommend you check out the show; it's worth it!

Anyway, back to lodestones. Even though I find the ancient uses of lodestone interesting my main concern is their use within hoodoo. Lodestones must be "fed" periodically with magnetic sand to keep them from "starving", magically speaking. They can be used for a variety of different spells depending on their size and their "gender" (more on that in a bit). Single large lodestones are used draw luck or money. Small, gravel-sized stones are carried singly or in pairs in mojo bags to attract love and luck. The very smallest lodestones are submerged in oils to be used for later spellwork.

Paired lodestones, either female/male, male/male or female/female are used in love and fidelity spells. A "male" lodestone is pyramidal or pointed and a "female" lodestone is cubicle or rounded. Generally speaking, paired lodestones should be about the same size and should "fit" together. According to Lucky Mojo:

The matching process consists of sprinkling the lodestones very lightly with magnetic sand to visually reveal their magnetic polarities, and then, by trial and error, finding pairs in which two edges join together well along their planar, convex, or concave surfaces AND also have the proper positive-negative charges that allow them to "draw" or attract along these selected surfaces.

I've always had a thing for hematite as well as any kind of earthbound object produced or affected by lightning, like fulgurite. And, this just occurred to me, I guess this means I have ties to Zeus/Jupiter, specifically Jupiter Fulgurator, as he is the god of lightning. Perhaps I should look at him more closely. I've read that, according to some American Indians and others, it's bad luck to burn lightning struck wood in a fire or stove. But I wonder about using lightning struck wood to, for example, make a ritual tool? It's been touched by a bit of the heavens and, while it obviously wouldn't be magnetized, I figure it would still have some powerful qualities attached to it.

What do you think of lightning in terms of its magical effects?