A symbol carried on the hand can call the heart back many times a day. The ringstone bears the word Bahá, Light, so that from whichever side it is read it recalls the Light of Truth, and that remembrance is the first gift of the emblem. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá then opens its design. Its three horizontal lines stand for the World of God, the World of Command and the World of Creation: the first the source of the grace of the Almighty, the second the pure mirror in which the Sun of Reality appears, the third the realm that receives effulgences through the Most Great Channel. Seen in this way, the stone becomes a small map of how grace descends and is received. Aaron wore engraved stones upon his shoulders as a memorial before God [1], a different office with a kindred instinct for keeping the sacred in view. The symbol is no charm with power of its own. It points beyond itself, toward the realms of being, the threefold order of existence, and the wider language of symbols.
It is a symbol from (or of) the Real Light. The word "Baha" appears upon the stone four times - that is from whatever direction you read it, and it spells the word "Baha" which means Light - the Light of Truth.
From the symbol on the ring one can remember the meaning of that Light, which means "Baha". It is engraved upon the stone and worn as a ring for the purpose of remembrance.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Arthur Agnew spoken in May 1907 -- ABU2478)
02
Know also that the three horizontal lines represent the World of God, the World of Command, and the World of Creation, for they are the sources of the [divine] influences. The World of God is the source of the grace of the Almighty; the World of Command is the pure and refined mirror in which the Sun of Reality is manifested; and the World of Creation is the source of the acquisition of effulgences which appear through the medium of the Most Great Channel, that is, the recipient of the grace of God and the bestower of grace upon created things.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Sharh-i-Fass-i-Nigin (on the Ringstone Symbol), 1908-Aug-20, to Muhammad Ali Mahallati -- AB00328)
03
Look at this stone in my ring; it is an ordinary stone like other stones of no particular value, and is worth perhaps a Franc. Yet I love and kiss and respect this stone, and value it most highly. Why? Not for itself but because it has a sign of the name of God upon it. If a man asked me to exchange it for a diamond worth thousands of francs I would not do it - why? Because of this sign of God upon it. If a man asked me to let him take it to smash and break it in pieces, and said that if I refused he would knock me down and pound me, I would rather that he treated me so, because it has this Name, this sign of God upon it.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Ethel Rosenberg and Laura Clifford Barney, spoken on 1904-May-23 -- ABU0322)
04
Someone wished to know if it were a good custom to wear a symbol, as, for instance, a cross. He said: "You wear the cross for remembrance, it concentrates your thoughts; it has no magical power. Baha'is often wear a stone with the greatest name engraved on it: there is no magical influence in the stone; it is a reminder, and companion. If you are about to do some selfish or hasty action, and your glance falls on the ring on your hand, you will remember and change your intention."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken in Sep. 1911 in London -- ABU3168)
How could understanding the ringstone’s relationships change what it means to wear or encounter it, and what does comparison with Aaron’s memorial stones suggest about the work a sacred symbol asks of its bearer?
What distinguishes a symbol that recalls a spiritual responsibility from an object to which magical power is attributed?
How might the value assigned to the divine name affect the conduct of someone who wears it?