Creativity and spirituality
Quartz of a purple hue
Intuition and clarity
Balance for all you do

The birthstone for February is amethyst.  This quartz in beautiful purple hues has a Mohs hardness of 7 and the same chemical composition as clear quartz, silicon dioxide.  The purple tones come primarily from traces of iron in the matrix with possible additions of manganese or aluminum depending on the source of information.  Citrine and amethyst are closely related and are often found in the same deposit, the difference being the amount of irradiation that the stone is exposed to.  This relatively common form of quartz is found in many parts of the world, including Brazil, Canada, Bolivia, Mexico, India, Madagascar, and the US.

Amethyst has long been seen as a stone of the clergy and of royalty.  There is evidence of its use in jewelry and ceremonial items dating back at least 25,000 years.  The Greeks and 
Romans believed that it would protect from drunkenness, so they added amethyst to their wine goblets.  In some cases, they carved the wine goblet from amethyst.  The word 'amethyst' comes from the Greek word for not drunken.  This gem is associated with the god of wine, Dionysus for the Greeks and Bacchus for the Romans.

In today's world, amethyst is associated with passion, creativity and spirituality.  It is seen as a gem that can help calm passion into a focused and productive creativity.  This is the type of creativity that is found "in the zone".  This is the passionate pursuit that is associated with wealth, prosperity, and abundance.

Amethyst is seen as a stone of spiritual connection and protection.  It is a stone of peace of mind, calming the mind and the emotions.  This aids with meditation, mental discipline, and increased intuition.  Those seeking spiritual insight and wisdom often use amethyst as an aid.  It may also help you access your psychic gifts.

Amethyst is one of the gems that I love to work with.  I wear it as a part of my jewelry set to encourage creativity.  I also find that it encourages calmness during difficult times.  I have put a piece in the crown position of my chakra set to aid in connecting with universal energy and spiritual wisdom.  It could also be used as a gem for the third eye to encourage intuition and psychic gifts.  When I work with amethyst to create jewelry, I find that I am a little more focused and calm than I ordinarily would be.

No matter why you choose an amethyst, for beauty, for creativity, or for spirituality, this gem calms and balances.  It is a harmonious and gentle stone that most people find beneficial.
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Earth's own Fire
For hope and compassion
Courage and power
Of creative manifestion

fiery garnet is the perfect balance for icy January.  This birthstone of January is actually a class of stones with a Mohs hardness of about 7 to 7.5.  Garnets are, in general, aluminum silicate plus crystals.  The plus being other elements in the molecule.  According to Robert Simmons in The Book of Stones, there are six types of garnet of note.  Some of them are very common.  Garnets of some sort can be found in many places around the world, even in the "flint" mines of Ohio, USA.

Garnets have been used for jewelry and metaphysical purposes for thousands of years.  There is ancient evidence of garnet jewelry in Egypt, Sumeria, and Europe.  They were used for signet rings and to mark the wearer as clergy or nobility in Europe.  In the Americas, garnet has long been used for accessories and ritual.

Garnet is believed to be a grounding stone that both grounds spiritual energy and draws energy from earth's own fire, to bring solid energy into your life.  It is a stone of strength and courage, compassion and hope.  It helps you tap into your creativity, love, and personal power.  Many use garnets to help manifest dreams and goals, and to remove the blocks to that manifestation.  It is a stone of passion, inspiration, and self-confidence.  It is both spiritually expanding and grounding in feelings of safety and abundance.

Each of the types of garnet caries it's own special energy.

GROSSULAR - is a garnet in the shades of green.  It is a grounding stone of manifestation, abundance, and wealth.  It promotes creativity and love.
SPESSARTINE - is the golden to brownish garnet of the sun.  It attracts love, enhances charisma, and encourages creativity and truth.  It is the garnet of the mind.
ALMANDINE - is the purple/red garnet that is most common.  It is earthy and grounding, giving strength and stamina.  It tends to ground spiritual energy and help with past life exploration.
​RHODOLITE - is a clear beautiful red garnet that acts on the heart and base chakras.  It connects to inner guides and guardians and helps create alignment, promotes intuition, and inspiration.
ANDRALITE - or Black Andralite - is a dynamic garnet that both grounds and finds magic and mystery.  It connects to the collective unconscious and your personal power and life force.
Uvarovite - is is a green garnet of heart and healing.  This is a stone of spirit and relationships, abundance and prosperity.  This garnet is calm and peaceful.

​I love garnet.  I love working with it.  When I create jewelry with both Almandine and Rhodalite, I find myself more focused, calm, and energized.
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A new discovery
On Mount Kilimanjaro
For transformation
Event from the cosmos

Tanzanite is a newly discovered form of zoisite.  This birthstone of December is a blue calcium aluminum silicate with a Mohs hardness of 6 to 7.  At this time, natural tanzanite is only found in one place, the volcanic basin of Mount Kilimanjaro.  It was discovered by a Masai herder in 1967 after an intense lightning storm caused a brush fire in the basin of Merlani.  The heat from the lightning and fire had transformed the normal brown zoisite in the area into a brilliant blue to blue-violet gem stone.  Currently, most of the tanzanite on the market is cultured.

Because of the way that it was originally formed, tanzanite carries the energy of transformation and spiritual connection and awakening.  The transformation of the stone helps you to break old patterns and transmute them into habits of greater harmony and higher good.  It encourages divine healing, inner calm, and an open mind.  It is believed to help activate psychic ability, and a higher consciousness,  It is a stone of truth and authenticity.  Tanzanite is believed to contain the teachings from other dimensions.

According to tinyrituals.com, tanzanite connect to the third eye to the throat chakra.  According to Robert Simmons, The Book of Stones, it connects the heart chakra and the third eye.  Either way, tanzanite encourages wisdom, authenticity, and living in integrity.

Sacred stone
Of ancient use
Give the courage
To speak your truth
The Dine' say
Tis to protect from harm
And used in prayer
Bring rain to the farm

One of the birth stones for December is calming and beautiful turquoise.  This favorite stone for Native American jewelry is a copper aluminum phosphate mineral with a Mohs hardness of 5 to 6.  True turquoise ranges from a greenish-blue to a bright robin egg blue to light sky blue.  The blue tones in turquoise come from the copper in the mineral.  If the turquoise has greenish shades, it has traces of iron.  What is known as White Buffalo has no copper or iron.

The word turquoise is derived from the old French term, pierre turquoise, Turkish stone.  While these gems were not actually mined in Turkey, they were purchased for the European market from the Turkish bazaars.

This gem has one of the longest histories of use.  There is evidence of jewelry in Egypt that dates to 5500 BC.  There is evidence of mining in the US dating back 2000 years.  In modern times, turquoise has been mined in Iran, Afghanistan, Australia, Tibet, Egypt, China, Mexico, and the US.  Do to the popularity of this gem, many of the historic mines are exhausted.

This stone has been considered sacred by several cultures.  The Egyptians buried their dead with turquoise.  The Aztecs used it in ceremonial masks and other sacred icons.  In Tibet, it was used in prayer beads, wheels, and bells.  In North America, the Dine', Apache, and Zuni used turquoise to aid in prayer.  The Dine' used it in prayer for rain, the Zuni for protection, and the Apache to increase the accuracy of their weapons.  In many Native American traditions, a gift of turquoise brings abundance.

Turquoise is a stone of gentle and calming energy that is believed to bring balance and connection to the throat and the third eye.  It is also believed to bring balance and connection between the spiritual and the physical.  It helps bring serenity and peace, in part, by quieting the inner critic.  This calmness of the mind helps open up the mind, and aids in spiritual transformation.  Some find that turquoise is a calming aid to meditation and encourages intuition, wisdom, and creativity.  As turquoise balances the throat chakra, it encourages courageous expression of our highest truth.  It helps you find the strength to live that truth, and communicate it with integrity and compassion on all levels.

The Tibetans believed that turquoise is sentient and becomes an extension of the person that handles it.  Many cultures believe that turquoise brings good fortune and peace.  It has been used by kings, warriors, and shamans for protection.  It is used by some to aid in past life exploration.

​It just might be, as some believe, the "Divine gift that fell from the heaven."
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Yellow quartz mimics topaz
With the fire of the sun
Change of habits encourage joy
​And confidence all all in one

As we go into the dark time of the year in the northern hemisphere, we look towards the sunny stones to brighten our days.  One of the birthstones for November is citrine.  This is a yellow variety of quartz, silicon dioxide, with traces of iron.  Like most of the quartz family, citrine has a Mohs hardness of 7.  

Natural citrine is usually a pale yellow, like the one in the necklace above, but can range into the orange or brownish orange.  Citrine is often confused with topaz or yellow sapphire.  Natural citrine is found in Scotland, Spain, Madagascar, Russia, Brazil, and the US.  That said, most of the citrine on the market is heat treated amethyst and will usually have a brighter color than natural citrine, like the one below.
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The word citrine comes from citron, the French word for lemon.  Like lemon, it brings the energy of the sun into the dark time of the year.  It is believed to encourage optimism and enhance moods and creativity.  It can help relieve depression and dispel destructive habits, bringing joy and energy into your life.  Some use citrine to increase clarity of thought, self esteem, and self confidence.

Citrine may be a good stone to help raise your vibration to a higher level.  It helps transmute negative energy into a more positive and useful form.  It enhances personal power and encourages healthy use of that power.  It can be used to promote balance on all levels.  Citrine is often used to open and balance the sacral chakra or the third eye chakra.  I use it as an aid for manifestation.

Citrine is a less expensive alternative to topaz for many purposes.  This beautiful stone is frequently set in silver or copper.  These and more gems can be found in
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To seek the truth
With a golden gem
And shed a light
With fire of wisdom

Beautiful and heady, topaz is one of the birthstones for November.  Topaz is an aluminum silicate flouride hydroxide crystal with a Mohs hardness of 8.  That is  long and drawn out name of a complex mineral.  I think that I will stick with topaz.  I like rocks in general, but to me, topaz is special.  It is one of the gems that I strongly react to.  But more of that later.  Historically, the term, topaz, was used to refer to any yellowish gem.  The word is believed to be derived from either the Greek "topazos" meaning to seek, or from the Sanskrit "tapaz" meaning fire.

Even though the word topaz was originally used to refer to all yellow gems, topaz actually has many colors.  This includes orange, pink, red, purple, blue, clear, brown, green, and of course, yellow.  Today, topaz is found in Brazil, Pakistan, US, Sri Lanka, Australia, India, Madagascar, Mexico, and other places as well.

As I have already stated, I have a strong reaction to topaz, or maybe topaz has a strong reaction to me.  Either way, working with topaz is a heady and energizing experience for me.  It almost always puts me in a semi-meditative state when I am creating jewelry with it.  The gem in the photo is from my chakra set.   It is my sacral gem that I use to encourage change and movement in my life.  I also use topaz as an aid for manifestation and to move the fire energy through my life.  I find that topaz has a primary effect on my sacral chackra but it also touches the crown.

According to the references that I use for research, topaz is a stone of fire, light, and truth.  It promotes trust in the universe and the abundance that exists all around us.  It aids in manifestation of your true desires.  It is believed to be a stone of focus, clear thought, and wisdom.  It is a stone of the empath, joy, and love.  The Greeks believed that this stone of the sun gave the person that wears it strength.  In India it is believed to bring long life, beauty, and intelligence.  Some say that it enhances self confidence and the ability to visualize your future.

You can fine tune these energies by choosing the color of your topaz.  Here is what I found for the colors:
GOLDEN - is used for spiritual recharge, to strengthen faith and optimism, manifestation, and alignment with the universe.
BLUE - is used for communication, meditation, truth, wisdom, knowledge, and magnifying psychic abilities and intuition.
PINK - is for hope, dissolving old patterns, forgiveness, faith, and love.
CLEAR - cleanses and purifies, helps clarify intention and focus, and encourages cosmic or spiritual awareness and alignment.

Whether bringing a bit of sunshine into your life, manifesting your true desires, or beauty, topaz has it all.  I don't normally keep wrapped topaz in my inventory, but I do keep the gems on hand for custom work.

Emerald green mimic toramalli
Born out of a rainbow
The balanced shield of protection
Transform the negative flow

Tourmaline is one of the birthstones for October.  It also happens to be one of my favorite stones.  My first experience with tourmaline was many years ago when I was looking for some stones for feng shui.  One of the stones that I took home was a tourmalated quartz.  The one in the photograph has lived in my pocket for several years now.  To me, tourmaline is that black crystal that provides a shield of protection that feels like a security blanket.  To most people, tourmaline is the beautiful green stone that is often set in  Sterling jewelry.  In reality, tourmaline is much more than either one of these.

Tourmaline is an aluminum borosilicate, silicon aluminum and boron, with a Mohs hardness of 7 to 7.5 and a hexagonal crystal structure.  It can also contain sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, chromium, and other minerals.  It is actually a fairly wide ranging class of stones found mostly in igneous deposits that comes in an array of colors.  Tourmaline can appear somewhat fibrous when viewed with a magnifying glass.  Historically, this gem was mis-identified as other gems, hence the name which is derived from the Sinhalese, tormalli, meaning mixed gem.  Deposits of this gem are found in Brazil, Madagascar, Afghanistan, and the US.

Is tourmaline the energy of the rainbow that you can hold in your hand?  Maybe.  It is thought to spark imagination, play, joy, and prosperity.  Many people carry or wear tourmaline as a shield of protection.  It is believed to cleanse, purify, and transform negative energy.  It can be helpful in balancing polarities and assisting the flow of energy through the chakras.  Some believe that tourmaline helps clear the mind, promotes healing, and encourages unconditional love.

Like most gems that have multiple colors, the color of the tourmaline fine tunes the significance of the stone.

BLACK - protects against negative energy and helps transmute and purify difficult energy.
GREEN - helps move energy and heal the heart chakra.
PINK - helps dispel destructive emotions and attract love.
PURPLE - activates the third eye and encourages creativity and intuition.
​YELLOW - promotes personal power and the courage to overcome obsticals and abuse.

Delicate gem of hope and peace
Bring intuition to the transformation
Creativity with luck we may bring
Our best selves into amplification

One of the birthstones for October is opal.  This delicate gem is what is called a hydrated amorphous silica.  It is basically SiO2 with a lot of H2O.  The tiny silica globules are bonded together with water, up to 20%, for a stone with a Mohs hardness of 5.5 to 6.5.  If the water is allowed to dry out of the stone, it can crack and crumble.  The name opal may have been derived from the Sanskrit word for jewel, upala, or the Greek word opallios (change in color).  In general, opal comes in two classes.  Precious opal has the iridescence or color change.  Common opal has none.  Most people think of opal as white, but it actually comes in a variety of other colors as well, including black, blue, green, pink, red, and clear.  Among the places where this stone can be found is Australia, Ethiopia, Mexico, and Peru.

To the Romans, opal was the most precious and powerful of all stones because it contains the colors of all gems.  the Bedouins believed that it contains lightening and fell from the sky during thunderstorms.  In Asia, opal is a symbol of good luck, peace, love, and passion.

Opal is seen as a stone of transformation and amplification.  It is thought to amplify thought, emotions, and personal traits, and bring them to light so they can be transformed or used.  It helps promote intuition, creativity, and imagination.  It was once believed to be a useful aid in becoming invisible ad as protection for shamanic work.

In addition to the general information for opal, each color fine tunes the energy available.  Just a bit of a disclaimer here.  The attributes of the colors varies widely by source.  This is what resonates with me.  For more information, check thespruce.com, The Book of Stones, and The Crystal Bible.
BLACK - is a stone of magic and mystery. It magnifies intention, invites vision, and aids with inner work and shadow work.
WHITE - is a stone of spiritual energy and mental clarity.
BLUE - is used to aid communication and creativity.
PINK - is calming for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
FIRE - is about personal power, change, passion, and hope.

So, now you know.  Treasure your opal and treat it kindly so it will be with you for a lifetime.

Knowledge of the universe
In a starry night
Painted in a stone
Where truth shines bright

Lapis Lazuli is one of the birthstones for September, and one of my favorite stones.  (And, no, this is not a picture of lapis.  It is a starry night.)  This is a complex metamorphic rock with a Mohs hardness of 5 or 6, and one of the few that I hand polish.  This complex gem always contains Lazurite, but may also contain calcite, pyrite, and sodalite.  This beautiful stone has a rich history of use for carving and jewelry that stretches back for more than 6000 years.  There are deposits of lapis lazuli in Chile, Canada, Russia, Burma, and the US.  Some of the best deposits are found in the caves of the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan.

The name, Lapis Lazuli, comes from the latin for stone, lapis, and the Persian word lazaward.  I have seen this translated as sky, heavens, or blue.  This deep blue stone that is flecked with "gold" has long been a favorite for carving ceremonial and ornamental pieces, game boards, bowls, dagger handles, and sculpture.  Now as in ancient times, it is worked and shaped for jewelry of all types.  In Egypt, lapis lazuli was ground to a powder and used as makeup.  In Europe, the same powder was used to color the paint that Michelengelo used to paint the Sistine Chapel.

In China, lapis lazuli was considered a stone of royalty.  In Persia, it was believed that this stone was the starry sky shrunk down to a precious gem.  In Islam, it is protection against the evil eye and in Buddhism it is used for healing and inner peace.

This beautiful gem has long been seen as a stone of spiritual energy and enlightenment.  It is a stone of deep inner truths, wisdom, and self awareness.  It is believed to connect to the spirit realm and aid in the development of psychic abilities.  It can enhance intuition, focus, clarity, and creativity.  There are some who believe that lapis lazuli is the energetic building block of knowledge.  It may help with past life exploration and help you find the magic that resides within you.

Whew, that's a lot from a pretty little stone.

Pink purple, black, and blue
Spiritual truth and clarity
Courage to express yourself
With wisdom and integrity

Beautiful sapphire, a birthstone of September, is closely related to ruby.  Both are varieties of corundum, aluminum oxide with a Mohs hardness of 9.  Ruby is the red variety of the gem.  All other colors are sapphire, and can be found in colorless, yellow,orange, brown, pink, purple, grey, black, multicolored, and of course, blue.  Blue, the color most associated with sapphire, is caused by traces of iron and titanium in the crystal.  Some of the most valuable deposits are found in India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Madagascar, Afghanistan, and Australia.

Sapphire symbolizes royalty and abundance.  It is a stone of wisdom, integrity, and focus.  Like the month of September in the northern hemisphere, it symbolizes the abundant harvest that comes from hard work, study, and wisdom.  The calming hews of the stone represent the calm, focused mind and spiritual truth that comes when you put in the work, and take the time to develop skills and knowledge.

The beautiful energy of the sapphire matches the beauty of the stone.  It attracts abundance, blessings, and gifts.  It is believed to protect against negativity.  Being associated with the moon, it can help strengthen intuition and spiritual clarity.  It is believed to support the calmness of mind that supports the development of knowledge, skills, and integrity.  It lends strength and courage to self expression.  Sapphire encourages balance and alignment of the physical, mental, and spiritual.

If you like sapphire, the colors can be used to fine tune your connection with the stones.

BLUE - is the color most associated with sapphire. It carries the energy of spirituality, truth, wisdom, psychic ability, focus, and clarity.
GREEN - is the stone of inner vision, integrity, compassion, and heart.
PINK - is the stone of emotions and emotional wisdom, and evolution.
PURPLE - is for meditation and spiritual growth and wisdom.  It is a good one to help activate psychic ability.
CLEAR or WHITE - is a stone of pure energy and spiritual awareness.
YELLOW - attracts wealth and abundance, helps stimulate the intellect and creativity, and helps manifest your vision.
ORANGE - brings wisdom to overcome obstacles.  It is the stone of fire and life force, and sensuality.
BLACK - protects and centers you in your own intuition.
STAR SAPPHIRE - is usually opaque with a star pattern in the stone.  It draws you into its depths and the depth of your intuition.  It connects to a deeper knowledge and truth.