Erica Elizabeth - Birthstones Information

Birthstones • Colored Gemstones for Wedding Parties • Traditional Gemstone Properties

Mineralogy, Myths & Folk Lore • Gregorian Birthstone Poems

Modern Birthstones

A birthstone is a gift of a precious material (jewelry, mainly gemstones; themselves traditionally associated with various qualities) that symbolizes the month of birth in the Gregorian calendar.

The list below is from the of modern list of Birthstones but I think the old Gregorian traditions are charming. Scroll below to read about Myths and Lore, Properties & Mineralogy of the Gregorian Calendar…

In 1912, in an effort to standardize them, the American national association of jewelers, Jewelers of America, officially adopted a list of Modern birthstones. It is currently the most widely used list in the United States and many other locations.

The birthstone for April is Diamond but the color is clear so I show White Topaz as it shines like a Diamond!

Colored Gemstones for Wedding Parties

Your jewelry can be the spotlight for a gorgeous finishing touch, inspiring styles, and color inspiration -- from gold to lavender -- that will help you imagine the perfect wedding fashion.

The hues of colored gems can inspire your wedding ensemble in many ways.

A woman born in June may wear a gown sewn with luminous pearls & simple Freshwater pearl earrings; a green-eyed bride may wear Peridot earrings; or a simple aquamarine pendant may help to ensure matrimonial harmony.

Thank your bridesmaids with objects as thoughtful and beautiful as they are. They stood by your side as you tried on hundreds of gowns. They threw you a bachelorette party you won't forget. They adored you before he did. Even if your bridesmaid gifts share a common theme, it's important that each present show you've taken into account the different personalities of your attendants. For example, your headband-wearing maid of honor may want classic white pearls, while your head banging sister may covet the more unconventional black ones. Visit the Gemstone Pendant & Earring collection for more ideas on perfect simple & elegant maid’s gifts.

You will find it all in my website of Gemstones, Bridal & Special occasion...
From treasures inspired by vintage collections to simple elegant gemstone pendants....

Traditional Gemstone Properties

The power of gems to take you in can actually be explained. It is simply a matter of how jewels play with the electromagnetic vibrations we call light. The come hither properties of precious stones -- color, fire, luster, and luminescence -- are optical. Seeing is succumbing.

Agates: Balancing physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energies; perceptiveness, strength, inspiration, awakening talents.
Amazonite: Success, joy, self-expression, awakening heart, soothing, harmony, balancing.
Amber: Soothing, calming, cleansing.
Amethyst: Contentment, spirituality, dreams, healing, peace, happiness, love, intuition.
Ametrine: Intellectual stimulation, attunement, releasing, dispelling tension, connecting.
Apatite: Intellect, achieving results, healing, insight, humanitarianism, meditation, balance, creativity.
Aquamarine: Courage, purification, peace, intuition, self-expression, balance, preparedness.
Aventurine: Healing, money, mental agility, visual acuity, peace, opening heart, motivation, leadership.
Azurite: Intuitive energy, dreams, healing, insight, stilling the mind, concentration, self transformation.
Bloodstone: Courage, intense healing, renewal, strength, victory, intuitive decision making.
Calcite: Purification, peace, calming, memory, awareness, appreciation of nature.
Carnelian: Precision, analytical capabilities, physical energy, verbal skill, peace, spirituality.
Celestite: Verbal skill, healing, compassion, calming, growth, intuition, hope.
Chrysocolla: Easing heartache, stamina, wisdom, peace, love, communication, vitality, inner strength.
Chrysoprase: Balancing male-female energy, love, grace, compassion, clemency, personal growth.
Citrine: Intuition, comfort, protection, creativity, physical energy, wealth, mental awakening.
Coral: Diplomacy, quieting emotions, visualization.
Crystal Quartz: Intensifying energy, spiritual development, healing, raising consciousness.
Diamond: Courage, strength, healing, protection, spirituality, mental abilities.
Dumortierite: Self-reliance, stamina, patience, recognition of potential, understanding, communication of ideas.
Emerald: Love, domestic bliss, sensitivity, loyalty, memory, mental capacity, harmony, focus, eliminating negativity.
Fluorite: Stability, impartial reasoning, responsibility, concentration, health.
Fossil Stone: Accomplishments, improvement of one’s environment, communication, innovation.
Garnet: Health, removing negativity, awareness, commitment, regeneration, order, insight.
Hematite: Mental attunement, memory, calming, balance, focusing energy and emotions, peace, inner happiness, transforming negativity.
Howlite: Awareness, calm, emotional expression, observation, patience, eliminating negativity.
Iolite: Intuition, spiritual growth, healing, balance, releasing discord, awakening to inner knowledge.
Jade: Fidelity, dreams, realization of potential, peace, accord, resourcefulness, accomplishment.
Jaspers: Protection, nurturing, joy, awareness; balancing of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energies.
Labradorite: Alignment, spiritual connection, transformation, clarity, peace, progression, discernment.
Lapis Lazuli: Wisdom, intuition, awareness, objectivity, clarity, creativity, expanded consciousness, dreams, purity, courage, serenity.
Lepidolite: Hope, stress reduction, birth, peace, spirituality, physical strength, luck, protection, emotional balance.
Malachite: Transformation, insight, clarifying emotions, fidelity, loyalty, practicality.
Marble: Charitable actions, original thinking, alleviation of sorrow.
Moonstone: Introspection, reflection, beginnings, insight, tenderness, harmony, peace, travel.
Mother of Pearl: Mental clarity, intuition, sensitivity, imagination, adaptability, cooperation.
Obsidians: Clarity, deflecting negativity, protection, healing.
Onyx: Self-control, decision making, intuition, recognition of personal strengths.
Opal: Creativity, spontaneity, relationships, memory, happy dreams and changes.
Pearl: Purity, faith, charity, innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, fertility.
Peridot: Warmth, friendliness, understanding, openness in love and relationships, regulation of cycles.
Pyrite: Defense, prevention, protection from negativity, physical wholeness, memory.
Rhodocrosite: Love, emotional balance, cleansing, renewal, relaxation, expansion of consciousness.
Rhodonite: Peace, generosity, attention to details.
Rhyolite: Change, variety, progress, creativity, transcending barriers.
Rose Quartz: Love, peace, happiness, gentleness, healing emotional wounds.
Ruby: Nurturing, spiritual wisdom, attainment of values, economic stability, protection from distress.
Sapphire: Joy, peace, beauty, intuition, prosperity, fulfillment of dreams.
Serpentine: (see Jade)
Smoky Quartz: Dissolving emotional blockage, clearing the mind, cooperation, personal pride, joy in living, attentiveness to the moment, protection.
Sodalite: Wisdom, logic, calmness, healing, stress reduction, companionship, self-esteem.
Sunstone: Alleviating fears, energizing, cleansing.
Tanzanite: Communication, intuition, protection, symmetry, decision-making, spirituality.
Tiger Eye: Practicality, peacefulness, clarity, intelligence, intuition, new experiences, financial stability, calmness, releasing inhibitions.
Tiger Iron: Artistic endeavors, beauty, vitality.
Topaz: True love, success in endeavors, understanding of interrelationships, expression of ideas, trust, health, personal expansion and growth.
Tourmaline: Energizing, soul-searching, releasing.
Turquoise: Spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, romantic spontaneity.
Unakite: Balance, re-birth, foresight, emotional balance.Zoisite: Dispelling laziness, facilitating advancement.

Mineralogy, Myths & Folk Lore…

January
Garnet
Minerology
Name comes from the Latin word for pomegranate -- its crystals resemble the fruit's color and seeds -- but garnets come in many colors (and can even be colorless). Commonly found as small pebbles in streams.
Myths and Lore
Protects sleepers from nightmares, travelers from dangers; Noah purportedly hung a garnet lantern on the bow of the Ark for navigation. Some tribesmen in America and India used blood-colored garnet bullets, believing them deadlier than lead.

February
Amethyst
Minerology
A gem of quartz, the second-most abundant mineral. Color ranges from wine-purple to pale lilac; the deep shades are most valuable. Lightens with long exposure to sun. Found in alluvial deposits or geodes.
Myths and Lore
Diana, goddess of the hunt, turned the maiden Amethyst to quartz, saving her from Dionysus, god of wine. His tears stained her purple. Gem stood for sobriety; amethyst cups prevented intoxication. St. Valentine's amethyst ring was engraved with Cupid.

March
Aquamarine, Bloodstone
Minerology
Aquamarine crystals can grow as large as 200 pounds. Gem's blue is from iron. Brazil has the best deposits. Bloodstone, aka heliotrope or blood jasper, is opaque quartz flecked red from iron. India is the major source.
Myths and Lore
Myth says aquamarine washes ashore from jewel boxes of sirens. Protects ocean voyages; guards against sea monsters. Also soothes marital discord. Bloodstone signifies martyrdom, as in Christ's crucifixion. Still a medicine and aphrodisiac in India.

April
Diamond
Minerology
Hardest natural substance on Earth; can be polished only by another diamond. Colored clear to sooty black, most are yellowish; rarest are red, green, purple, blue. First cut to improve optical effects in sixteenth century.
Myths and Lore
Ancients believed the gems were crystal lightning, splinters of stars, tears of the gods. Largest ever found: Cullinan diamond, 3,106 carats. Famous Koh-i-noor diamond, belonging to Britain's Queen Mother, is thought to be 5,000 years old.

May
Emerald
Minerology
Can be fragile, due to fissures and fractures. Transparent gems extremely rare, often costlier than diamonds. French refer to gem inclusions as "jardin"; they resemble foliage. Good sources: Colombia, Zambia.
Myths and Lore
Symbol of rebirth, romance; color embodies spring. Soothes soul, sharpens wits, changes color upon infidelity. Cleopatra passionate for them; Egyptian mines date from 1650 B.C. Incas' Crown of Andes said to have 453 emeralds weighing 1,523 carats.

June
Pearl, Moonstone, Alexandrite
Minerology
A pearl is organic: Mollusk coats foreign irritant with calcium carbonate. Varies widely in color and shape. Moonstones vary from semitransparent to opaque. Alexandrite (rare) is known for chameleonlike color changes.
Myths and Lore
Pearl is the Chinese symbol of wealth, power, longevity. Indians used pear-adorned swords to honor tears of sorrow wrought by battle.To Hindus, moonstones were bits of moonbeams. Alexandrite was discovered in Russia (1839) on the birthday of Czar Alexander II.

July
Ruby
Minerology
Large, high-quality rubies are extremely rare; can command higher prices than diamonds. Second only to diamond in hardness. Most are from Southeast Asia; finest are from Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Myths and Lore
Blood-red fire explains why ruby is said to harbor the spark of life and possess power to light up darkness. Symbol of health, wealth, wisdom, passion, triumph in love. Brings good luck to gamblers. Linked to Tuesday, summer, and St. Matthew.

August
Peridot, Onyx
Minerology
Peridot has an oily luster. Greener under artificial light, so also called "evening emerald." Important source: San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona. Onyx, an opaque quartz, is often used for cameos, intaglios.
Myths and Lore
Peridot, among oldest gemstones, was used for beads in Egypt as early as 1580 B.C. Once mined at night; said to be not easily seen by day. Symbol of sun, amulet against night terrors. Onyx carved with Mars, god of war, gave Roman soldiers courage.

September
Sapphire
Minerology
Gem of corundum; colors include all but red (red corundum is ruby). Fine blue-gem sources are Sri Lanka,Thailand, Cambodia, Kashmir. Star sapphires' needlelike inclusions are best seen in cabochon cut.
Myths and Lore
Longtime symbol and guardian of purity, worn by clergy to avoid temptations. Thought to cure eye disease by touch, to protect against snakes. In thirteenth-century France, gem had power to transform stupidity to wisdom, peevishness to good humor.

October
Opal, Tourmaline
Minerology
Silica and water, opal is fragile. Play of color comes from structure described as "layers of Ping-Pong balls." Tourmaline has many colors, can even be multicolored, as is pink-green "watermelon" tourmaline.
Myths and Lore
Opals symbolize magic, love, hope. Superstition that wearing them is unlucky for those not born in October is from Sir Walter Scott's novel Anne of Geierstein. Tourmaline lacks rich lore of older gems but is said to protect wearer against bad decisions

November
Topaz, Citrine
Minerology
Colorless pure topaz can be mistaken for diamond. Trace minerals create gems in colors from blue and green to pink, sherry, even black. Affordable citrine, from Latin for citrus, is top-selling yellow-orange gem.
Myths and Lore
Topaz, the sun jewel, reminded the Egyptians of Ra and the Romans of Jupiter. Worn as an amulet against harm; invested with power to break spells; thought to improve eyesight. Citrine guarded against snake venom and evil thoughts

December
Turquoise
Minerology
Turquoise, one of the first mined gems, lies in arid and semiarid lands. Color ranges from blue to green; rarest sky blue from Iran. Fiery zircon is unfairly tagged "imitation" diamond; colors are wide-ranging.
Myths and Lore
In third century, turquoise was said to protect owner from falling off a horse.To Native Americans, embodies blue of Heaven, green of Earth. From ancient times zircon believed to heal disease; worn during plague, fourteenth-century Europe. Said to bring sound sleep.

Gregorian Birthstone Poems

Often combined with modern birthstone lists, traditional birthstones are older society-based birthstones. The Gregorian calendar has poems matching each month with its birthstone.

By her who in January was born
No gem save garnets shall be worn
They will ensure her constancy
True friendship and fidelity.

The February born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they, the amethyst will wear.

By her who in March was born
No gem save bloodstone shall be worn
They will ensure her constancy
True friendship and fidelity.

She who from April dates her years,
diamonds shall wear,
lest bitter tears
For vain repentance flow.

Who first beholds the light of day
In spring's sweet, flower month of May
And wears an emerald all her life
Shall be a loved and a loving wife.

By her who in June was born
No gem save pearls shall be worn
They will ensure her constancy
True friendship and fidelity.

The gleaming ruby should adorn,
All those who in July are born,
For thus they'll be exempt and free,
From lover's doubts and anxiety.

Wear a peridot or for thee,
No conjugal fidelity,
The August born without this stone,
`Tis said, must live unloved; alone.

A maiden born when autumn leaves
Are rustling in September's breeze,
A sapphire on her brow should bind;
To bring her joy and peace of mind.

October's child is born for woe,
And life's vicissitudes must know,
But lay an opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.

Who first comes to this world below
In dreary November's fog and snow,
Should prize the topaz amber hue,
Emblem of friends and lovers true.

If cold December gave you birth
The month of snow and ice and mirth
Place on your hand a turquoise blue;
Success will bless whate'er you do.
—Gregorian Birthstone Poems