Anachitis

In divination, an anachitis, or anancitis,cite book |title=A Lexicon of Alchemy or Alchemical Dictionary |last=Rulandus |first=Martin the Elder |year=1612 |location=Frankfurt |url=http://www.stuffoflegend.com/Legends/xiiDevelopment/Magic-Dev/alchemy/ ] , meaning "stone of necessity" [cite book |title=Three Books of Occult Philosophy |last=Agrippa |first=Heinrich Cornelius |editor=Tyson, Donald (ed.) |others=Freake, James (tr.) |origyear=1531 |year=1993 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=0875428320 |pages=p, 42 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5YjXnoAaYowC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=anancitis+-wikipedia&source=web&ots=YIeGvrtg4w&sig=RjcsxZuv8Zwd1IngfzCmgVM9WG0&hl=en ] is a stone used to call up spirits from water. [cite book |title=Encyclopædia metropolitana; or, System of universal knowledge |last=Smedley |first=Edward |coauthors=Taylor, W. Cooke; Thompson, Henry; Rich, Elihu |year=1855 |publisher=Richard Griffin |location=London and Glasgow |pages=p. 350 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=afsIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA350&dq=Anachitis ] It was described as a type of diamond by Martin Rulandus the Elder.

The stone was used in antiquity by the Magi, being described by Pliny the Elder as one of their "dreadful lies". [cite book |title=Ancient Natural History: Histories of Nature |last=French |first=Roger |year=1994 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415088801 |pages=p. 227 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=I6ztfXbCaacC&pg=PT253&lpg=PT253&dq=anancitis+-wikipedia&source=web&ots=nkHA1l4qxR&sig=uXZueEkD8nvAIEVgt4TKiOtisks&hl=en#PPT253,M1 ] Its use had fallen out of favour by the middle ages. [cite book |title=Magical Jewels of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Particularly in England |last=Evans |first=Joan |year=2004 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=076618224X |pages=p. 31 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=okwTgGEIorMC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=anancitis+-wikipedia&source=web&ots=55Ji59NtA-&sig=H7swK6lzbqU8pgA6kTIJ88KOmZw&hl=en ]

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