Indian Iron Tantric Lingam

A smooth stone, with a single band of red across its face.

This tantric lingam comes from India. It is quartz crystal with iron oxide inclusions, and its age is indeterminate. In Hindu tradition the lingam is an abstract form of the god Shiva, and devotees offer prayer and water to egg-shaped stones like this at home and in temples. The surface is polished to a high gloss. Its grey-green body darkens toward the base. A broad red streak curves around a paler area near the top, then breaks into a thin second line. Thirteen inches high and 8.25 in diameter.

Its stillness is its whole argument.