RADIANT ROCK

During the late Middle Ages, a great variety of remarkable "radiant rocks" were suddenly and unexpectedly discovered. These discoveries emerged from the mountainous regions of Central Europe in continual waves. It was the country folk who found them. Approaching in a timid, childlike wonder they saw the impossible. A powerful and unusual radiance was found emerging through the very rocks of the mountainsides. Light seemed to be streaming out of the hillsides! The brilliant green and blue mineral light was seen among familiar mountain rocks after sundown. As reported, the light was brilliant, far above the brightest light of the full moon. Most of the first fortunate individuals who made these discoveries were not scholars or craftsmen. Typically, they were shepherds, mountain villagers, pilgrims, and wanderers; the innocents whom angelic hosts historically visit with messages of love. The glowing rocks seemed to be windows on some underground domain. Possibly from unknown cavern worlds beneath! Nights were spent watching the rock radiance in absolute wonderment. The radiance was considered an apparition, a divine event. The light was beautiful, glorious, and unfamiliar. It brought with it the atmosphere of another world. Here was a new revelation, a new kind of light, which did not come from fire. The rocks gave forth a bright light, bright enough to illuminate the faces of those who stared into them in disbelief. Though shining for hours with no other energy source, this cold rock-light would not die! Those who discovered these strange glowing rocks believed themselves to have been favored by miraculous visitation, answers to fervent requests. Stories began emerging from different parts of the world concerning these very same radiant rocks. Some of these were given names. Some were associated with the saints. Others were simply named for those who found them, or the place from which they were dug. A few brave souls were not afraid to attempt sampling the find. Unearthed, pieces were brought indoors. Though separated from their parent rock mass, they continued illuminating cabin interiors with their rare and cold radiance. Undying fire. Cold, pure endless light! Most of the rocks came from familiar regions, yet their radiance was never before seen. Innumerable opportunities existed for the observation of the brilliant and spontaneous radiance. But, why had no one reported such wonders? Had no one ever seen these lights before? The shepherds who frequented those very places had crossed and recrossed their grazing paths for countless centuries. Yet, they had seen nothing unusual. Certainly nothing this noteworthy was ever observed by anyone familiar with the very terrain in which the manifestations had taken place. This equally profound and perplexing mystery now formed additional evidence concerning the radiant rocks, one which surrounded them with an additional and inescapable aura. It was apparent that these were divinely inspired events, utterly new creations. This was the accompanying awareness, which boosted their fame into public consciousness. Clergy and monastics became enthralled...humbled by the notion that science and theology were not, as most had assumed, separate experiences. Archetype, visionary desire, and natural reality had been brought into material fusion. The radiant rocks foretold a coming dawn, an Age of Light perhaps! For the people of this time period, the phenomenon was material evidence of the ancient faith. The glory of these special radiant crystals brought about a curious form of devotion. Taken as miraculous signs, each were displayed before persons of both low and high estate. Cathedrals displayed them for the common folk. The rocks were seen as sacred artifacts, befitting the treatment rendered toward relics. Private viewings, accompanied by all the pageantry of liturgical service, were held before the courts of kings. Here was a new breath of promise, a silent comforting word. In this atmosphere of prayerful silence, the miraculous stones radiated their eerie green or blue light to the wonderment of all who beheld in silent awe. Certain varieties were exceedingly brilliant, some reporting a radiance far above the brilliance of full moonlight. In a few other instances the report of radiant brilliance approaching sunlight was confirmed by credible authorities. Those who worshipfully gazed at these rocks in the silent cathedrals awaited metaphoric answers. It was difficult to imagine that former scholars had separated innervision and external Nature, calling the one "fantasy" and the other "reality". In the clear light of these wonder rocks there was some powerful sense of a lost innocent world and its wonderful radiant vitality. A new and striking atmosphere seemed to capture all the scholars who approached the brilliant rocks. Gazing into their wondrously bright and seemingly endless radiance, one had the sense that the Divine Presence was mystically shining through "corrupt matter". It was light from death, the complete antithesis of the fire paradigm. Here, the production of light did not require the death of living thing. The light did not emerge through the consumption of fuels, the soul of the green forest. This matter was not "corrupt". This was a rare kind of matter, unknown except for the legends and fables, which accurately described them in every detail. With each discovery of a new radiant mineral, more proof was added to the ancient belief that Creative Light had not indeed abandoned the world of tears. Where death seemed the ruling power, it was the light of these rare gems, which heralded sweet proof that Divine Love was yet reaching for humanity. Those who both studied and reported their experiences with these radiant rocks certainly knew the comparative illuminating power of candles and bonfires. When they likened the brilliance of these strange rocks to full moonlight or of sunlight, they were neither being scientifically primitive or emotionally excessive. It is astounding to recount the historical density of such finds during the early Renaissance. Arcane journals and manuscripts contain anecdotes of these discoveries, although found with difficulty in widely scattered fragments. They are the remains of notable past events in the indelible historic record. Scholarly minds reeled under the dream-impact of possible new technologies. The wonders, which could emerge from the proper implementation of these rocks, would take some time to fully develop. Would these rocks respond to the mind? Would they influence actions without contact? Could they be used to move heavy objects? Could they make one invisible or invincible? It is very significant that those who sought the development of radiant technology used the very archetypes of legend to guide their efforts. There were those who now ran to the mountains in search of radiant rock. Many new varieties were found, but few gave the rare radiance produced by the original finds. Large crystals of fluorite and barite were torn from mountain scarps. Having been exposed to intense sunlight, each was then methodically taken into dark chambers for examination. In the clutches of secular scholars who sought purely mechanistic explanations, the comparatively weak glow of these rocks also remained incomprehensible. They did not equal those, which had previously been found. Words and logic failed to explain what Nature had revealed. Late Renaissance science was searching everywhere for more examples of this wondrous rock luminescence. As continual examples of these fluorescent phenomena were found, science could do nothing more than simply collate the evidence. Soon, a large collection of minerals and experiences had been patiently compiled. Yet, none of the forthcoming finds quite equaled those early and spectacular events, which heralded the discovery of the famed radiant rocks of Europe. Never was such a singularly religious treatment of the phenomenon ever seen again; and it is indeed curious that the radiant intensity of later retrieved rocks, mostly barites and fluorites, did not match those reported during the first spectacular wave of discovery. The original stones surfaced in the courts of various nobles throughout the Renaissance, the coveted possessions of rulers. Their appearance and disappearance followed the rise and fall of their power. It has been impossible to trace the whereabouts of these rare gems whose great radiant intensity was "frightening". Discoveries of natural radiance such as these never made their appearance in Europe. In the absence of newer reports, these remain inexplicable. Spontaneous sources of light made their appearance throughout the following centuries, but the truly great radiant light sources seemed to have dimmed once more. In this, the scholar is faced with a mystery. What is the reason for their appearance and disappearance down through the centuries?