9-11's Tragic Trail

'Embracing Hope'   (Photo by Observer31)

Today is not only the 16^th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, it is also the 225^th anniversary of the Blue Diamond’s theft from Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

The Blue Diamond (aka “Tavernier Diamond,” “French Blue,” then “Hope Diamond”) was thought to be more precious than life itself.  It was certainly thought to be more precious than the lives of Indian miners who discovered it in the 1700s, and more precious than the lives of French peasants under Louis XVI’s reign.

Legend has it that the Blue Diamond was originally stolen “from the eye of a statue of the Hindu goddess Sita,” and therefore has a curse upon it.  Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were executed during the French Revolution.  Lord Francis Hope ended up gambling “away his entire family fortune.”  He then sold the Hope Diamond “to a New York firm, Joseph Frankel’s & Sons,” which soon became “financially unstable.”

Although this Blue Diamond history is tinged with legend, some of its themes reflect eternal truths.  Possessions can be replaced, but lives cannot.  When possessions are valued more than lives, tragedy tends to occur.

Resources

http://www.inticweb.com/science/tavernier-blue-legend-behind-the-hope-diamond-264-2017/ 

Copyright September 11, 2017 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved