Rocks

We spent a little while this afternoon at the annual Gem and Mineral Show.  There were many pretty rocks and crystals and beads and such.  But was a bit disconcerting to see how much of the merchandise was being marketed for the paranormal/occult crowd. After a while, I started wishing that the little cards in the boxes of stones said something like: "This is just a rock.  It is a pretty rock, and if having pretty things makes you happy, you should buy it.  But it will neither prevent nor cure illness or injury; it will not affect your "energy"; it will not protect you from harm unless it should happen to get in the way of something that was going to hit you.  It won't increase your wisdom (though reading this card may help) and it won't improve your sex life except possibly if you use it as an appropriate gift.  It won't bring you money except by your selling it."

ETA: I don't think I'd ever seen the mineral 'orpiment' before.  Its pretty golden colour explains something about its popularity in alchemical work, and its composition (As₂O₃, arsenic (III) sulfide) explains something about the lives of the alchemists.