What is the litolatry: the meaning of the mysterious link between man and stone

There litlary is the cult of stonesconsidered both as real divinities and as inanimate forms taken by a God. This distinction leads to two different meanings of the term: in the first case, the litolatry approaches the animist cultwhich attributes a divine essence to natural elements such as the sun, wind and earth; in the second, it implies the will of the divinity to manifest itself in concrete form so that men can worship something recognizable in his name. Since prehistorythe stones played a fundamental role in man’s life, first as a refuge and material to build homes and tools, then as veneration objects connected to a sacred and transcendent dimension. There are numerous references that bind the stones to the sacred, including the Megalitismwith examples such as the famous site of Stonehenge with Dolmen and Menhir dating back to the Neolithic; The Baytlos Greco, the boulder swallowed by Crono in place of little Zeus, who then killed him; the Betilestones deemed to live in God or his incarnation in Judaism; The Iuppiter lapis of the Romans and the Black stone (Al-Ka῾ba) of Mecca, still the subject of worship.

Psychological and anthropological aspects

The man has always loaded with symbolic meanings Inanimate objects, as well as animals, a phenomenon that connects to animism and fetishism, in agreement with the human need to concretize the sacred. There stone in particular it has often been seen as a concrete sign of eternity And stabilitycharacteristics also attributed to divinity. Latolatry was the subject of psychological investigations that brought Sigmund Freud to hypothesize, in his “Totem and taboo“That adoration of natural objects is a residue of ancient totemic cults; Carl Jung He analyzed his anthropological meaning starting from the sensations that the stones aroused as a child in “Man and his symbols“Highlighting the archetypal power of the stones, which evoke a sense of protection and roots.

Geological and material aspects

Among the stones under veneration are some that have particular origins that have increased its symbolic value: the Black stone of Meccafor example, which according to Islamic tradition is a fragment of paradisecould be a meteorite or a basaltic rock of volcanic origin. THE meteorites In fact, considered “stones fallen from heaven” could be assimilated to Divine messengers. The mineral composition of some stones also played a role in their cult:

• there magnetitewith its magnetic properties, was considered equipped with mystical forces;
• theamberoften used for amulets, was appreciated for its ability to electrify by rubbinga phenomenon that in the ancient world seemed inexplicable and almost magical;
• the lapislazzuliwith their intense blue color, symbol of sky and of the divinitywere used in Mesopotamia and set in the votive statuettes.

Latcolatry in monotheism

There are traces of litlatry also in monotheistic cults, the Jews in fact they venerated i Betilestones deemed to live in God or his incarnation, the name would derive from the Hebrew Beith-El which means “house of God”. Jacob, a biblical character of great importance in the development of the history of the people of Israel, receives in a dream the call of God and the stone on which the head rests is defined as beithel, greased with sacred oil as reserved for the chosen by the Lord. But also in Arabiain the preislamic era, the three goddesses were venerated al-uzza, Al-lat e Manat whose importance was also recognized by Muhammad, who however then denied the divinity. While the first two were associated respectively with the morning star and the growing moon, Manat, goddess of fate, destruction and death, was venerated as Black stone In Quidaid, near Mecca. Nowadays it can be emblematic to speak of Lourdesthe largest Marian sanctuary of Christianity, where the crowd lines up to touch the rock of the cave Where the Madonna appeared, as if to draw a little bit of sacred from that short contact. In this case there is no talk of adoration of a stone but of recognition of miraculous nature of that same stone.

Modern, new age and crystal therapy

Today the veneration of the stones has not disappeared, but has turned. Especially the New Age Movementwhich rediscovered the spiritual and curative properties of the crystals, has attributed to minerals such as quartz, amethyst or obsidian specific energies capable of influencing the psychophysical well -being. There crystal therapy It arises from these particular beliefs and, although devoid of scientific foundations, is practiced by many people who believe in vibrational power of the stones.

Among the stones that continue to be used as Protective amulets they can be listed the black touroften worn as defense against negative energies, while the lapislazzuli It is associated with wisdom and communication. This widespread tendency shows that, thanks to the strength of its psychological matrix, litlatry is not a phenomenon relegated to antiquity, but a practice that continues to evolve, adapting to contemporary beliefs.