Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock of carbonate minerals, most often calcite or dolomite, recrystallised by heat and pressure; it has a crystalline texture and is usually not layered. Pure white marble comes from very clean limestone or dolomite, and the veins and swirls of coloured marbles come from impurities such as clay, sand, iron oxides or chert that were in the original rock. Cunningham describes marble as a carbonate of lime, kin to coral, calcite, limestone, chalk, shells and bone, though each has its own magical uses, and he gives it the folk name nicomar. He assigns it to the Moon and water and calls it receptive. Its chief magical use in his account is protection: an altar made wholly or partly of marble, or topped with a marble slab as some magicians prefer, makes an ideal centre for protective spells, and marble tables and fittings protect a home. A piece may be carried or worn for personal protection, as it was in India. He also uses marble in spells for personal success in a general sense. He names no deity for it.