Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-7657843-20150502170604/@comment-107.185.125.175-20150503224818

But even while the Space Stone was encased in the Tesseract only someone worthy could wield it. The moment the Red Skull held it directly in his hands with no other instrument between them he pretty much turned to dust. Heck it pretty much burned its way out of the ship Captain America was piloting.

A few other examples: The Collector's assistant went crazy after touching the Power Stone at the center of the Orb. The Aether was destroying Jane Foster before Malekith took it from her. Wielding the Sceptre is only slightly different. It was not lethal to touch the Orb just as it was not a death wish to touch the Sceptre. It was just a weapon that channeled the Mind Stone.

In other words the Stones can only truly be wielded by special individuals, "worthy" even.