Mizpah FAQ

Mizpah is a name from the Bible. It is also sometimes called Mizpeh. It is mostly used to refer to a place near Gilead (Jud 11.29).

Its first usage (Gen 31.49-50) refers to it as a pillar of stones set up by Jacob and Laban. The pillar of stones acted as a witness to the bond between the two men. As Laban said, "The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other. ... remember, God is witness between you and me". It is for this reason that Mizpah has often been interpreted as signifying an emotional bond between people who are separated, either physically by distance or by death.

We at Mizpah believe strongly in the bond between all people. Hence, our desire to cater to the individual and unique well-being of body, mind and spirit of all our clients.

The image is a representation of Pegasus. Pegasus is the mythological winged horse that carries the thunderbolt of Zeus. Born of the dying Medusa, Pegasus was caught and tamed whilst drinking at the fountain of Pirene by the hero Bellerophontes. Pegasus is said to have created many famous water sources in the earth by stamping his hoof, most notably the soul-inspiring waters of Hippocrene on Mount Helicon. He appears on the early coins of Corinth and, in Roman times, he became a symbol of immortality.

Hence, Pegasus is a source of revitalising water and long life, both of which things spas are traditionally famous for.

Mizpah was founded by Jonathan Ridler. Friends of the Ridler family, Colin and Edith Mary Coles, came from India. They lived there at the turn of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. Colin was born in India of British parents and served in the Indian Army. He became a captain and was appointed as a magistrate in Bihar and Orissa, a former province of British India. Edith was born on a ship, off the coast of Mauritius. The word Mizpah, with its strong emphasis on the emotional bond between people, became a motif for them during their lives. Capt Coles also chose the image of Pegasus as his personal seal for sealing formal documents.

They moved to Australia after World War II and met Jonathan's parents there. A very close friendship developed. When they died in the 1950s, they left some jewellery and effects to the Ridler family. Included in these were some Mizpah jewellery and the seals of Capt Coles. Mizpah jewellery was popular for a period of time in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

The word Mizpah and the image of Pegasus were chosen to represent the corporate identity of Mizpah because of their remarkable appropriateness for the business, as well as a deep affection for the Coles.

Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) version 7 and earlier versions, or IE version 8 and later versions running in IE 7 compatibility mode, cannot correctly display all pages on the Mizpah website.

These issues only occur with IE. This is because IE 7 and earlier versions of IE are not standards compliant. The Mizpah website is written in code that is standards compliant. All other web browsers we have tried, including Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome and Opera are standards compliant and do not have these display issues.

If you have any difficulties with IE, we recommend you upgrade to IE 8 or later and not run in IE 7 compatibility mode.

Alternatively, we recommend Mozilla Firefox as an excellent browser instead of IE. It is open source, public domain freeware.