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Old January 24th 04, 07:42 PM
will e
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Sounds like tektite (or tectite), glass produced by hypervelocity
meteorite
impacts on terrestrial rocks. Will E.
"Bill Woodruff" wrote in message
...
I hope this not off topic, but I feel there's more chance of someone in
this
group knowing what this is than elsewhere. By way of
obeisance/defense may I say that I have recently done a website for a
real
jeweler and gemologist and it was a pleasure

I am a serious collector and student of the visual arts of S.E. Asia,
and
for
several years have been trying to identify a black
substance used in making Buddhist amulets (usually small, usually Buddha
images,
sometimes Sangkajai [fat, Buddha's disciple],
sometimes amulets of Cambodian secondary Buddhist/animist themes
[oophakhoot]).
A very frequent use of this material is for amulets
called "Phra Pid-Da" in Thai (literally : "amulet of the closed eyes")
which
is
a very ancient icon of a person with hands covering
the eyes that many people believe pre-dates Buddhism.

When I ask my Thai friends about this they usually repeat the story that
it
is a
"secret" material made only by Monks, and the
method of manufacture is passed from one Monk to another. Monks do make
amulets
in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition from substances
including clay, terra-cotta, mixtures of plant material and clays, etc.,
as
well
as bronze, silver, brass, sometimes gold. So far no
luck in tracking down a Monk who makes mekhapat, and I am reluctant to
travel in
Cambodia for safety reasons.

The substance, which I at first believed was a kind of black agate or
glassine
rock, is black, glossy, smooth to the touch. Slightly
reflective rather than dull. I remember in my childhood in Florida
finding
black
agate ... or was it volcanic glass ... that could
be flaked into razor-sharp shards.

I believed this to be some kind of molten material until one day I came
across a
large Buddha amulet that was not only clearly
Mekhapat, but also highly magnetic.

I appreciate any ideas you have about what this substance may be.

thanks, Bill Woodruff
dotScience
Chiang Mai, Thailand


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