# Bezoar Stones, a craze almost but not quite comparable to that of the Chia Pet **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 30, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337 "2004-11-30T15:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darklighter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Darklighter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darklighter)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337/1 "2004-11-30T15:55:09Z")
I was reading Cecil’s clasics and came across this: [Were hairballs ever lauded for their aesthetic beauty?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_104.html) Fact is I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge, or maybe I just wanted to see how a compacted hairball could ever be considered pretty. Anyway, I did an internet search, hoping for photos and came across a site devoted ENTIRELY to Bezoars and, get this, their “magickal” properties. Among other things the site claims they get their stones from animals and trees, do trees have digestive processes? Perhaps their confusing amber (petrified sap) with a bezoar? At any rate, among many comical properties they ascribe to these tones, are the following: > [@](#): > > How to Determine the Real from the Fake > > There are various ways for determining whether a Bezoar is real or a fake. Some of the various points to be considered are the following : > > The Energy Present > When a stone is held between the thumb and forefinger, as the breath is held, energy would be felt as issuing forth from it. The longer it is held the stronger will the energy be palpable. The energy would run through one’s arm and finally reach the heart or to one of the other chakras within the body depending upon its quality. Fakes do not give such sensations. > > The Presence of an Elemental Spirit > Each and every one of the Bezoar Stones have an indwelling elemental spirit–fakes do not have them. The presence of the spirit may be felt and communciated with by a psychic. > > The Medicinal Properties. > Without exception, all Bezoars have vibrational healing virtues which may be tapped into. Again, fakes do not possess such power. Additionally the site claims that they found these stones in Indonesia, but also, that some psycics or shamans or something had to travel to the ‘etheric plane’ to retrieve them. Right. Anyway, I thought the Teeming Masses might get a kick out of this, I sure did. And I wonder what Cecil would think of it. [What Are Bezoars? By far the most comical area of the site.](http://www.bezoarstones.com/what_are_bezoars.htm) Annndd…the main site, also equally comical…please…read it! It’s hilarious: [http://www.bezoarstones.com/index.htm](http://www.bezoarstones.com/index.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Darklighter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Darklighter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darklighter)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337/2 "2004-11-30T15:58:32Z")
Being unable to edit my post I thought I’d also add that the site claims to be selling ‘jinns’ as well. In other words ‘Genies’… Oh man. I’m getting a kick out of this. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337/3 "2004-12-03T21:16:39Z")
Whoa! Wacky! And in keeping with the theme, Welcome! Some of your first posts are about what the cat barfed up? Sounds like a good fit. I wonder what I can get for my gallstones. ---
**Author:** ![oh\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b38774/32.png) [@oh\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oh_s)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337/4 "2004-12-16T13:09:02Z")
> [@Darklighter](#): > > Being unable to edit my post I thought I’d also add that the site claims to be selling ‘jinns’ as well. In other words ‘Genies’… > > Oh man. > I’m getting a kick out of this. ``` A Jinn, (pardon spelling). Is a aboriginal virgin. it can be spelt many ways, but is is the sound of the word that will get you speared. Oh I know my speeling sucks, but colour has been spelt with a 'u' since the 17th century. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337/5 "2004-12-16T18:27:28Z")
Oddly, the main page of the Bezoar site starts off with factually correct information, wholly at odds with the mysticism of the interior page. It’s actually one of the best sources of info I’ve seen. I get the feeling that the page is pandering to the idiots who want to buy in, literally and figuratively, when it goes off the rails into nonsense. > [@oh&s](#): > > A Jinn, (pardon spelling). Is a aboriginal virgin. I doubt it very much. Jinn is the plural of a word variously transliterated as jinni, djinni, djinny, or jinnee. It refers to a type of Arabic spirit or demon often referred to in the Arabian Nights works. Jinni is pronounced the same as genie and is obviously the same word differently transliterated. So genies, plural, and jinn, plural, are the same things. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bezoar-stones-a-craze-almost-but-not-quite-comparable-to-that-of-the-chia-pet/277337/6 "2004-12-18T06:22:37Z")
This is a test to see if the system will update. your humble TubaDiva Administrator