“The Friday morning ‘Books & Coffee’ club in the Library has attracted between four and six eager readers to share and converse over the past few weeks. On one such Friday Ludmilla King offered the library a generous donation: Friedrich Benesch’s remarkable book about Tourmalines which includes beautiful A3 size colour plates of slices and whole crystals of tourmalines from around the world, but mostly focused on the tourmalines of Madagascar. Tourmalines are crystalline boron silicate mineral compounds with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. It is this variety of inclusions which give this gemstone a wide variety of colours. The tourmalines found in Madagascar are termed Liddicoatite – and are a tourmaline connected to that island and the East Coast of Africa. Those who gathered on that Friday enjoyed a fascinating time discovering more of the beauty and significance of this gemstone. The book is being brought into the library as a reference book. Do come in and have a look!”
– Michaël Merle
Tourmalines & Steiner:
“Rudolf Steiner showed a special interest and great admiration for Tourmalines for good reason. He clearly understood how significant and influential this crystal stone was for spirituality and personal transformation.”
– Read more in the article “Nature’s Healing Art: Tourmaline Crystal” on page 2 of the North American Anthroposophic Nurses Association Vol 3. No. 2 here.
About the Book:
This copy of the book is in German and the pictures are extensive, Here is how Amazon describes the book:
“The importance of this book lies in the lavish illustrations and far-reaching cognitive treatment of the tourmaline. At the heart of this monograph are approximately 400 color photographs by some of the best photographers of these gems. The concluding text looks at these unique specimens from a Goethean perspective and provides a historical survey of our encounters with tourmalines throughout the ages, explaining how tourmalines, through their multifaceted, polychromatic guise, came to be invested with such a panoply of meanings, which remained unacknowledged for centuries.
About the Author
Friedrich Benesch (1907-1991) was born in a German-speaking part of Romania and earned doctorates in biology, theology, and anthropology. He was later ordained in The Christian Community and became the leader of its seminary in Stuttgart in 1957. He traveled, lectured, and published extensively.”