I just received a reply from the dealer that had the crystals. I'd asked him what he had on them. Here's what he sent me:
About Suleiman, the information I put in the description of the item on Ebay is all I have at the moment which is definite. I could not find any information on the Internet or in the gemological and mineralogy books I have. A Muslim friend who cuts some of our Mysore Star Ruby in Karnataka, Majeed, showed me two old books in Urdu which mentioned it, but they did not include anything of interest I didn't know already, just what seemed to me a bunch of superstitions. The gemologist who does the certificates for our precious stones was puzzled by it, but all he could say was that it is definitely silicon dioxide.
Of course, this doesn't really tell us very much, as everything from carnelian to banded agate to Sardonyx to chrome chalcedony is microcrystalline quartz. There is a certain amount of Agate in it and the white parts are crystallizations, but could not be more precise than that. I came in contact with this stone through the personal doctor of the Dalai Lama, when he visited our community with his entourage for the second time, over fifteen years ago. His doctor asked me to find this stone, of which he gave me a Tibetan name very difficult to pronounce and unknown in India. I managed to discover a certain amount of the rough only recently, and I am still studying its properties by using it on some of our patients.
When I will have acquired more information I will adjourn its voice in my book of the energy of stones; I have filed your Email address and will send you a copy. I heard that Muslim shamans use it for white magic, and that there are references to it in some old Farsi and Urdu books some of my Indian friends into stones are trying to find for me but I have not yet managed to get. Actually many years ago when I was in Isphahan in Iran the Mullah of the main mosque had shown me a Suleiman which he wore as a talisman, but at the time I did not yet know anything about the energy of the stones and I am afraid I paid little attention to it. It MIGHT be associated with Suleiman the Magnificent about 15th century, but it is not confirmed.
I managed to get some rough mineral from some friends in Gujarat - I had asked them for it YEARS ago and given up on it when they wrote that they found some.
And yes, another Indian gemologist I brought it to for testing, who confirmed the analysis of the first, was so intrigued by it that he managed to have a friend in a scientific laboratory in Hyderabad do unofficially a carbon testing, which is usually a very expensive process in India are there are very few labs when it can be done in the country, and told me it had not been possible to get very precise results – he tried to explain to me why, but I do non have the scientific basis to understand it – but his friend told him that is was amongst the oldest minerals he had even tested, minimum 300 millions years old.
I have had quite a few experiences with it while I used it on many patients in our informal healing center, which will become part of a second books on the healing energy of gemstone and minerals in some undetermined future when, hopefully, I will with have the time to write it all down…
Recently I received this Email about Suleiman from a friend:
Dear Vijay,
I have been meaning to write to you to let you know that I've solvedthe Suleiman issue. It was in fact staring me in the face all the time,but none of us put the pieces together.
The Himalayan countries have a tradition of the Medicine Buddha, alsoknown as Bhaisajyaguru or Sangye Menla in Tibetan. You can read allabout the tradition here :
http://www.medicinebuddha.org/medicine_buddha.htm
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/medicinebuddha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaisajyaguru
The important thing for our purposes is that beads of black and whiteof a particular kind are known as Medicine Buddha beads. I ownhundreds of them, and the link with Suleiman was proved conclusively tome when I had bought the beads as Medicine Buddha beads, showed them toa number of Islamic dealers I know to ask them if they have anythingsimilar, and they all identified them a Suleiman beads.
eBayer Monsoon carry some of these beads, and their write-up isexcellent :
"Bhaisajya dZi beads are also known as spherical Striped Beads. Thebeads are mostly round with a white line / band at the center.Bhaisajya dZi belong to the family of dZi Beads. The linear patternappearing on Bhaisajya dZi beads are all natural configurations.
The name “Bhaisajya dZi†originates from the belief that by holding andwarming the Bhaisajya Dzi in the small enclosed area of the palm, itwill exude an herbal scent. The name Bhaisajya dZi, means “herb masterâ€in Tibet. According to legend a Bhaisajya dzi has the ability to cureillnesses and ward off evil.
Bhaisajya dZi beads originate from Tibet and date back to 2000 - 4000BC. These beads are mostly discovered in Tibet. Archaeologists believethat Bhaisajya dZi beads are of Pakistani origin. Perhaps due to theflourishing trade with other countries, large numbers of Bhaisajya dZiare also found in other countries around the Himalayas.
Traditionally, a Bhaisajya dZi is an auspicious bead used to wardingoff evil. Its spherical shape makes it very suitable to be used aschanting beads. Buddhist devotees who use Bhaisajya dZi to practice theBuddha Bhaisajya way can achieve the unity of soul and spirit, receivegood fortune and blessings, and be granted wishes."