This shell, at least in the form as it was used in Europe, is only one of the links in a whole system of magical devices. Its prototype undoubtedly existed in ancient times; however, it is impossible to establish a direct connection between the ancient ways of its application and those that we meet in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages.
This image itself has been known since ancient times - archaeologists have found ancient rock paintings, which depict figures holding sticks, and subsequently many Indo-European peoples depicted their gods with various objects in their hands (often like a stick), symbolizing their power, and had legends about all kinds of magic wands.
The priests of a number of peoples used the similarity of wands to perform various rituals. There are various hypotheses about the origin of this image - a connection with the cult of the phallus or the initial use as a drumstick by shamans.
Apparently, during the entire intermediate period, the magic wand was widespread among the people and the methods of its use underwent various changes. What was her fate at that time, we do not know, since medieval authors are silent about her and we can not tell anything about her history. We only know the following.
Under the Roman emperor Valens (364-379), many noble people were accused of allegedly plotting against him and magically tried to find out the name of his successor. For this they used a ring suspended by a thin thread; one of those present held it over a round metal bowl, on the edges of which letters were engraved at regular intervals. The ring was set in a rotational motion along the edges of the bowl and on some letters it seemed to stumble. According to these instructions, the right word was formed.
Since then, such devices have not been mentioned anywhere until Paracelsus (Swiss alchemist, physician, philosopher, naturalist 1493-1541), who in one of his writings says that German miners use a Y-shaped rod to find hidden ores.
Holding the projectile by the two ends in a horizontal position, the seeker moves slowly across the field; the free end of the stick tilts toward the ground where there is metal.
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Not everyone, however, can do this, and the instructions of the twig are not always reliable, so Paracelsus ranks this technique as a "wrong means." Probably, this custom was not particularly widespread, because otherwise almost omniscient in magic, Agrippa would probably have mentioned it, since this kind of phenomenon was very suitable for this sympathy of things.
Paracelsus, during his wanderings among the lower classes, probably stumbled upon this method by accident and, having described it in his writings, contributed to its widespread dissemination. In any case, all subsequent authors mention the magic wand; by the way, it is mentioned in the alchemical works of Vasily-Valentine (an alchemist monk who lived in the XIV or XV century).
Moses with a stick in his hand. Drawing from the Roman catacombs of St. Callixtus
The views on the magic wand and its applications were very diverse; some authors say that the twig must be taken from a tree with a natural liking for the metal being sought, that is, each metal needs a different kind of wood.
Others argue that the type of wood means nothing, but it is important that the twig is flexible, so it is best to take it from willow, hazel or ash. Some explain everything by natural sympathy, others - especially the clergy - see in him the wiles of the devil, finally, others call it simply superstition.
In 1630, a French nobleman made the valuable discovery that willow and alder twigs can also be used to locate underground water veins. The scientific world, however, until 1692 was not interested in this phenomenon, but this year begins an interesting chapter in the history of the magic wand. On July 5, 1692, at 10 o'clock in the evening, the wine merchant and his wife were found murdered in Lyon.
Since the authorities did not find any traces of the murderer, on the initiative of a private person, a wealthy landowner, the peasant Jacques Aimar, who was famous for his ability to find not only metal and aquifer veins, but also thieves and murderers, was invited with a magic wand. Aimar immediately said that the wand was pulling him in three directions, so there should be three assassins.
He followed the wand's directions for miles on land and water, and finally found a face that he pointed to as the killer.
He denied his participation, but was nevertheless executed, since the court managed to get some dubious confessions from him. This incident caused great excitement; several scholarly books were written, which in different ways tried to explain this action of the wand.
Clergymen saw in this the intrigues of the devil, but the theologian Valdemont expressed quite categorically in his essay "The Secret Power, or a Treatise on the Magic Wand" that this phenomenon is in full agreement with magnetic and electrical actions and that therefore there is no reason to admit the intervention of supernatural forces.
He, like all other scientists, completely forgot about whether the wand really did what was required of it. The whole theory received a heavy blow when it was discovered that the famous physicist Athanasius Kircher had proved almost half a century earlier that a twig does not tilt either to water or to another object, if it is not in the hands of a person, but is attached at two ends so that can rotate freely.
Matters worsened further when Jacques Aimar was summoned to the son of the Duke of Conde and forced to perform various experiments. It turned out that he could not find any water or metal hidden by people, and was not able to find the thieves already known to the police. Then only began to doubt whether the executed was really a murderer.
Finally, the priest Lebrun clarified this issue through many experiments on persons in whose hands the wand came into vigorous movement. First of all, he assumed the influence of the devil, so he fervently urged those with whom he experimented to pray to God that the wand would remain motionless if evil spirits were involved. After that, the stick immediately became motionless.
It is surprising that from such experiments the priest quite unexpectedly made the most correct conclusion, namely, that "the reason for the movement of the wand lies in the desires of a person and is directed by his intentions."
After that, scientists lost interest in the magic wand, but the people retained faith in its power.