Las piedras del Zodiaco en el Lapidario de Alfonso X el Sabio. Una selección para “ver con los ojos cerrados”

Abstract

En este trabajo se describe una colección de piedras del Zodiaco, que fueron citadas en el lapidario de Alfonso X el Sabio (s. XIII) y que han sido seleccionadas por tener unas propiedades especialmente adecuadas para ser reconocidas por el canal háptico. Conociendo estas propiedades se podrá reconocer la piedra representativa de cada signo mediante esta vía de percepción. Partiendo de esta idea se ha desarrollado una actividad de carácter lúdico-científico que podría ampliar los recursos de personas con ceguera o discapacidad visual ya que supone una nueva vía de experimentación háptica, contribuye a mejorar el conocimiento del mundo mineral y es una aproximación a temas tan sugerentes como la astrología y la magia que encierran las piedras del Zodiaco.

This paper describes a collection of Zodiac stones mentioned in the Lapidary of Alfonso X “El Sabio” (XIII Century). They have been selected because their attributes make them specially suitable to be recognised through the haptic channel. The knowledge of this attibutes enables the haptic recognition of the Zodiac sign’s representative stone. On this basis, an activity that unites leisure and science has been developed, hoping it will help to expand the resources for blind or visually impaired people, as it explores a new level of haptic experience while it contributes to enhancing the knowledge of the mineral world and serves as an approach to highly suggestive themes such as Astrology and the magic of the Zodiac stones. Descriptions are based on the scientific comments by Professor José Luis Amorós to the first Lapidary of Alfonso X “El Sabio” (Alfonso X, 1982 Vol. II), kept in the Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The tactile scrutiny needed to identify the depicted properties is focused on the recognition of shape, feel, hardness, density and some others such as magnetism, static electricity, etc. (Chicote et al., 2015). Finally, the different legends, myths and beliefs mentioned have been included in their most spread versión. They have been drawn from the Lapidary itself or similar sources. Though most of them lack a scientific basis, it is important to keep in mind that they are part of the astrological knowledge of the momento.