The Prophecy of the True Horn
A unicorn's horn, or Alicorn, was very valuable during medieval times. The horn was believed to be able to cure many illnesses and neutralize poison. Unicorn's horn was sold in druggist's shops in powdered form, and whole horns were kept in the vaults of royalty. Ancient physicians used their Alicorn remedies against illnesses by making drinking mugs from the horn and letting their patients drink from them.

The power of the Alicorn (unicorn's horn) makes it extremely valuable. The word Alicorn is the traditional word used (although this same word has sometimes been used in more contemporary terms to refer to a winged unicorn). The unicorn's horn was worth 10-12 times its weight in gold (or more). sometimes it was sold as a powder, where usually it was ground up substances of all sorts, but most likely not a true unicorn horn. There were many ways to detect whether something was really a unicorn horn or if it was false. In Medieval times there was much concern over true Alicorns. Many people could not afford real Alicorns and rumors circulated that many horns were actually fakes. Since people were so concerned over the authenticity of their Alicorns, many scientist came up with test to tell whether the Alicorn was a real horn or a counterfeit. These are some of the tests:
  • The true horn, when thrown into water, sends up little bubbles. The water seems to boil, though cold, and one can hear the boiling.
  • The true horn gives out a sweet odor when burned.
  • Poisonous plants and animals, when brought near the true horn, burst and die.
  • The true horn sweats in the presence of poison.
  • The true horn is always striated, is extremely hard, very heavy, the color of boxwood, and able to save the life of a pigeon poisoned with arsenic.
  • Enclose a spider in a circle drawn on the floor with an Alicorn. If the horn is true the spider will not be able to cross outside of the circle and will starve to death inside it.
  • Place the horn in a vessel and with it three or four live and large scorpions, keeping the vessel covered. If four hours later the scorpions are dead, or almost lifeless, the Alicorn is a true one.
  • If you set a part of silk over burning coal then lay the horn on top, the silk would not burn.

A unicorn has magical powers, rooted in the horn. Their horns, which are spiraled (tightly or loosely), can be white, gold, black, or even rainbow colored, depending on the age of the unicorn. It is even theorized that the horns are whitish on the outside but black on the inside. Both males and females grow horns, but predictably, the female horns are smaller. Males horns continue to grow throughout their lives. The youth have white horns. they are believed to have medicinal uses and made of an unusually strong substance. It is believed to be an anti-toxin, and able to purify entire rivers with a single touch of the horn in the water. 

 

Into darkness will I fade,
Into a night that Man has made,
But through that gloom shall gleam the Sun
When I am lost, and again am won.

Release! Release! I call to thee
In the New Lands across the sea;
Let another, on narrow pathways, come to me.

Furthest and Highest,
Yet not beyond reach.
Choose thou well a path that will teach
How the sunken is raised
And emptiness filled
And a wandering heart
Can finally be stilled.

Seek the Great Stone! Mark it well, with a sign,
That the one who shall follow
Shall see it is mine,
And, seeing, shall ponder and certainly, know
As the Ancients have written:
 "As Above, so Below."

And I shall guard the Source of Greatness;
Waiting by a teardrop
From neither joy nor sorrow born,
In silver bound, beneath the ground,
I am the Spiral Horn.

 

 

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