From estephen@emf.emf.net Fri Mar  8 14:35:48 PST 1996
Article: 441 of alt.lucky.w
Path: news.emf.net!emf.emf.net!estephen
From: estephen@emf.emf.net (E. Stephen Mack)
Newsgroups: alt.lucky.w,alt.folklore
Subject: Re: Lodestones and Magnetic Sand
Date: 8 Mar 1996 22:35:14 GMT
Organization: Winter Weather, Berkeley, CA
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catherine yronwode <yronwode@sonic.net> wrote:
| LODESTONES and MAGNETIC SAND

[...]

Interesting article, Cat, thanks.  One thing to consider is that "lode"
has many meanings: a storehouse or abundance, as in "motherlode"; but
"lode" also comes from an old English word that means "course" or "way"
-- because lodestones were used to make primitive compasses, and were
sometimes called way-stones,

It is easy to understand how a piece of magnetic mineral -- a shard of
rock -- could gain a reputation as "lucky" once it has helped guide a
few expeditions out of a desert or forest.
______________________________________________________________________
-- Zeigen                                             estephen@emf.net
           Zeigen's Dilemma: http://www.emf.net/~estephen/