Precious Gemstones

[MargaretAnne]

Topaz is one of my favorite gemstones.



www.mineralminers.com/html/topgems.stm

Topaz: Gem of the Setting Sun

The Egyptians said that topaz was colored with the golden glow of the mighty sun god Ra. This made topaz a very powerful amulet that protected the faithful against harm. The Romans associated topaz with Jupiter, who also is the god of the sun. Topaz sometimes has the amber gold of fine cognac or the blush of a peach and all the beautiful warm browns and oranges inbetween. Some rare and exceptional topaz are pale pink to a sherry red.

Wear topaz only if you wish to be clear-sighted: legend has it that it dispels all enchantment and helps to improve eyesight as well! The ancient Greeks believed that it had the power to increase strength and make its wearer invisible in times of emergency. Topaz was also said to change color in the presence of poisoned food or drink. Its mystical curative powers waxed and waned with the phases of the moon: it was said to cure insomnia, asthma, and hemorrhages.

www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/topaz.html

Birthstones Brim With Luck and Lore

Most gem scholars agree that the tradition of birthstones began with the Breastplate of Aaron: a ceremonial religious garment set with 12 gemstones that represented the 12 tribes of Israel and also corresponded with the 12 signs of the zodiac and the 12 months of the year.

Throughout the ages, many cultures developed traditions of honoring different stones for the months of the year, the signs of the zodiac, and for various other reasons, such as healing and protection. The list of birthstones commonly used today was adopted way back in 1912 by the American National Association of Jewelers, which later evolved into Jewelers of America. With a few exceptions, the list has remained unchanged.


January/Garnet

Garnet is found in every color except blue, including the dark red Bohemian garnet, green tsavorite garnet, raspberry pink rhodolite garnet, and orange malaya garnet. Legend holds that Noah hung a large garnet in the ark for illumination.


February/Amethyst

Amethyst is a variety of quartz and ideally is a deep medium purple with rose-colored flashes. Amethyst symbolizes peace, protection and tranquility.


March/Aquamarine

The ideal color of aquamarine is a pastel sea blue. In ancient times, the stone was said to aid seafarers, and is an excellent gift for sailors or one who takes frequent cruises. It is a universal symbol of youth, hope and health.


April/Diamond

The name "diamond" comes from the Greek word "adamas," meaning unconquerable - suggesting the eternity of love. Discovered about 2,500 years ago in India, the ancients believed they were splinters from the stars.


May/Emerald

The most prized color of emerald is pure grass green. Emeralds are often characterized by a garden of inclusions trapped within, known as the "jardin," because under magnification you will see all sorts of lovely patterns resembling foliage in a garden. A flawless, clear emerald is very rare and is usually found in only small sizes.


June/Pearl or Moonstone

Cultured pearls, which come in a wide range of colors, are judged by their luster, or "orient," and their size. Pearls have been recognized as the emblem of modesty, chastity and purity. Moonstone is sometimes used as an alternative birthstone for June, since it physically resembles some pearls.


July/Ruby

Ruby, like sapphire, is a variety of corundum and only exists as a true red in color. The finest color is a vivid, almost pure spectral red. Many believed rubies possessed an inner flame that burned eternally.


August/Peridot

Peridot should be a lively lime green, without a brownish or olive cast. The child of volcanic action, tiny peridot crystals are sometimes combed from the black sands of Hawaii. The most important source of peridot in the world is the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation near Globe, Ariz., where it is mined by native Americans.


September/Sapphire

A variety of corundum, sapphire comes in all colors except red (the red variety being known as ruby), but is especially popular in deep blue. Ancient priests and sorcerers honored sapphire above all gems. Ancients believed the Ten Commandments were written on a sapphire tablet.


October/Opal or Tourmaline.

White opal has a white or light body color with flashes of many colors. Black opal has a black, dark blue, dark green or gray body color with vivid flashes of color such as red, pink and bright green. Opal has symbolized hope, innocence and purity through the ages. Sometimes tourmaline, which spans the spectrum from red to violet, is used as a birthstone for October.


November/Topaz or Citrine

Most people think of topaz as a transparent golden yellow gemstone. However, this gemstone occurs colorless as well as orange-yellow, red, honey-brown (dark sherry), light green, blue and pink. Orange-red imperial topaz and pink colors are rare and most valuable. Citrine is often used an alternative to topaz because it appears in many of the same colors as topaz.


December/Tanzanite, Turquoise or Blue Zircon

The vibrant violet-blue gem, tanzanite was recently awarded the honor of being added to the traditional list of birthstones, joining turquoise and zircon as the commemorative gems for December. Tanzanite was discovered near Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in the mid-1960s. This African country is still the only place on earth where this gem is found. Tanzanite has earned a large fan base due to its rarity and breathtaking color.

www.worldjewelrymall.com/Articles/Article.aspx?id=48&ArticleCatID=11

And who can forget "Holly Golightly" having "Breakfast at Tiffany's?"



Movie Quotes from Breakfast at Tiffany's:

www.carriespritzer.com/audreyhepburn/moviequotes_breakfast.html

www.audrey1.com/quotes/index.html

[MargaretAnne]

Lately I've had an interest in inanimate objects. I've been fascinated with commemorative coins most recently but I came across an article with references to the Winthrop Gem & Mineral Shop here in Maine.

I visited the shop on a number of occasions in the 70's and into the late 80's when it was located on Route 202. However, when they moved it to their home, I only visited the shop once. I've always like gems and minerals and I just found an old article from the Lewiston Journal. At the time this article was written, crystals seemed to be all the rage. Perhaps they're not as popular as they were during the period that this was written over twenty years ago. My next door neighbor hangs many, many crystals in some of the windows of her house and I can see them reflecting the light when the sun is shining.

I've worn a gold pendant with a pearl in the center just about every day for decades. I also have a white gold pearl ring. I noticed that pearls are supposed to help fight infections. I'm not sure if that's the reason why I rarely get colds but I'll give the New Agers the benefit of the doubt if it makes them happy.

Sellers See New Interest in Crystals

Lewiston Journal, October 31, 1987
by Marilyn Hackett, Journal reporter

Lauren Hamilton keeps a crystal on a cloth beside her bed. Underneath the hood of her car is another crystal. Around her neck is a crystal necklace.

Since she began using crystals, she says, her dreams have been in technicolor, her car has not broken down, and she is better at channeling energy. Taking the necklace from around her throat, she explains, "if you put the crystal in your left hand, it receives energy; in the right, it gives energy out."

This week she is on vacation and looking for a Herkimer crystal, a particularly powerful, popular and expensive clear quartz crystal mined at Herkimer, N.Y. She browses through the collection of short, fat Herkimers at the Winthrop Gem & Mineral Shop.

According to Priscilla Bryant Chavarie, owner of the shop with her husband Sonny, Hamilton is among a growing number of customers coming into the shop in the last two or three years looking for crystals and gems with special powers.

"They believe in crystals," she says. If they buy a new car, they've got to have a crystal. If they get sick, they've got to have a different crystal. If they're depressed, they need a crystal for energy.

"If anyone believes in it, it probably works," she says amiably. She carries a piece of petrified wood in her pocketbook because it is supposed to help a bad back. "A positive attitude works," she explains.

Jane Perham, gemologist and owner of Perham's of West Paris, remains open but a bit skeptical.

"They talk a lot about the healing power of crystals," she says of her new breed of customers. "They're never very specific. If they have all these healing powers, why do I have these health problems?" she queries.

"Everybody needs a god," she shrugs. "If you believe that firmly, it might work. No one has proved it, no one has disproved it."

There is no doubt about the fact some people do believe, and no doubt sales of stones and numbers of new books about gemology have increased.

Perham's husband, Carl Howard, comments, "Other people would call it witchcraft. I think it's the power of positive thinking. It's a fad brought on by people like Shirley MacLaine." The fad, he notes, has driven prices up 300 percent in three years. At least 25 new books, some of which the shop carries, are out.

In Texas, Hamilton says, she also took a workshop on crystals and healing stones. Perham says classes on crystals are occasionally offered in this area, as well.

Crystals are usually six-sided rocks which narrow to a point at one end.

Man-made crystals, rocks carved into the crystal shape, are available in shops, but are usually considered less desirable by those who intend using them to channel various powers, Chavarie notes. Crystal-conscious people are usually looking for a natural crystal, she says.

Attributed to crystals are the ability to help "elevate thoughts, release bad habits, combat negativity and promote good habits," according to a chart up at the Winthrop Gem & Mineral Shop. A pink quartz crystal "increases feelings of self-worth" and is frequently offered as a "love gift," and yellow quartz crystal "expands mental clarity."

Customers stand at the counter for hours feeling crystals until one seems right, says Chavarie, running her thumb along the face of one. "Different crystals will feel right to different people."

Getting what William Finley in his book, "Healing the Human Aura" calls a piece of "live quartz' is important. "Never use dead quartz crystals because they block the etheric aura," he advises.

The etheric aura is the one that surrounds the surface body, according to the author, as opposed to astral and causal, second and third levels of auras reflecting emotions and thoughts, respectively. Gems placed correctly aid the aura, according to the book.

Finley recommends a psychic healer or a testing machine if there is any question about the liveness or genuineness of the gem.

Amethyst crystals are second in popularity for healing states of mind, according to Sonny Chavarie. The chart reports it, "stimulates intuitive awareness." The shop owner says more and more doctors have been suggesting a piece of amethyst in the pocket as an antidote to drinking alcohol.

Moonstone, a greenish white feldspar which reputedly regulates pituitary gland function; tourmaline, to prevent lymphatic diseases and battle anemia; and garnet, which is supposed to balance thyroid disorders have also become enormously popular in Maine in the last few years, the Chavaries note.

Hamilton says she learned that to aid auras, stones should be laid on the body in shades moving from red at the pelvis to purple at the head. Crystals may also be held at the abdomen and pointed upwards to make a headache go out the top of the head, she notes, and a bloodstone held over the heart is supposed to help a heart condition.

Besides stones and gems which help attitudes and heal bodies, there are a number which may work as "performance aids."

According to Domel Artbooks, which credits Rev. Michelle Sycalik of the American Metaphysical Society, particular stones and gems may be used to protect travelers from bodily harm, for safety in the operation of machinery, efficiency of household management, productivity, career and professional advancement, social and competitive interaction, good humor, or to aid relaxation.

"The Crystal Book," a well-known source by Dael, according to Perham, suggests using crystals for meditation and relaxation. Light a candle behind a crystal and watch it as you become aware of your breathing and your thoughts, it recommends.

Jewelry-using specific stones based on your date of birth and shaped and placed in specific locations is one of the primary uses of gemology.

According to "A Practical Guide for Astrological Colors, Gemstones and Metals," there are two to five gemstones for each astrological sign. There are one to three colors of gems, and anywhere from one to all metals which may be appropriate for an individual to set his or her gems in. There are many individual variations, as well, it notes.

In an article in "New Woman," Dorothee L. Mella details placement of gems.

Jewels should never be worn on your thumbs, she says, because your thumbs relate to your free will. Gems around your neck have an effect on your desires; jeweled belts or buckles on your vitality; earrings, your discernment; on the right hand, your ability to give; on the left, your ability to receive.

The index finger has the highest influence in giving and receiving energy, she reports. Gems carried in a pocketbook or briefcase will have an influence if you are within three feet.

The belief in the power of crystals has expanded to crystal balls, pyramids and houses in the shapes of crystals. The balls have always been popular for their alleged psychic powers, Sonny Chavarie says, and have become more so. The pyramid craze appears to be connected with Egyptian philosophy, he says. A good one will create a prism of colors, he adds.

And just for anyone who is interested, he keeps on hand a book called, "Natural Architecture and the Earth Transformations." In it a description of how to build a DNA house using the shape of the DNA molecules, "the crystal which composes all life forms," it states.

Most books out on gemology emphasize the fad for so-called "new age rocks" is really a return to a long tradition.

"Preferred Gems of the Ancients" lists the stones and gems believed by the early Egyptians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Jews, Romans, Incans and Mayans to hold special powers.

"The Crystal Book" by Dael reports the mention of gemstones 1,700 times in the Christian Bible. "Gemstones and the Bible" identifies amethyst as a symbol of spiritual power in the Roman and Eastern Orthodox churches.

Healing with stones is also an ancient art. In "Healing the Human Aura" it states that in medieval Europe and ancient India, gems were crushed, put in water and drunk to cure certain diseases. Crushed diamonds were supposed to add clarity to your ailing system, Priscilla adds, and soldiers in the Middle Ages had to have certain stones to carry into battle.

In Maine, the history of modern gemology appears to go back to the publication of "Gemology" by George Kunz in 1911. Both the Charvaries and Perham keep copies of the large black tome, the first in this century known to attribute particular significances to certain gems, in their shops.

news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1899&dat=19871031&id=ZhAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OWYFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3424,4296949

[MargaretAnne]

A related article about the power of gems was in the same newspaper.

Following is a list of gems and stones and the powers attributed to them as attitude-balancing aids. The list was provided by the Winthrop Gem and Mineral Shop:

Agates, relate to the physical and emotional attitudes: Banded, attracts strength and courage; blue lace, offers emotional tranquility; carnelian, provides and increases protection and endurance; eye, counteracts negative thinking; India, offsets physical and emotional weakness; lace, stimulates happiness, moss-green, balances discordant emotional energies; moss-red, increases physical stamina; plume, decreases fear in job hunting or direction finding; speckled, traveler's stone; tree, helps to relieve tensions.

Alexandrite, stimulates sexual gratification and love of life.

Amazonite, encourages faith and hope.

Amber, lifts the spirits.

Amethyst, stimulates intuitive awareness.

Aquamarine, aids in marine travel and calms nervous tension.

Aventurine, stimulates opportunity and motivation.

Bloodstone, removes emotional blockages and limitations.

Cat's eye and tiger's eye, stimulate clear thinking and discernment, offer psychic protection.

Copper stones and gems:
Azurite, stimulates mental powers; chrysocolla, calms emotion stress; malachite, stimulates mind power; turquoise, aids mental relaxation and calms emotions.

Coral, promotes a sense of well-being.

Crystals, elevate thought, release bad habits, combat negativity and promote good habits; Pink quartz, increases feelings of self-worth; yellow quartz or citrine, expands mental clarity.

Diamond, reflects light and thought, both positive and negative.

Emerald, stimulates truth and perception, promotes creativity.

Garnet, decreases willfulness.

Green jade, stimulates practicality and wisdom.

Red jade, combats female disorders, particularly the ovarian and uterine functions.

Ivory, protects the physical body from injury

Jaspers, promote healing of gastric system and balance endocrine functioning: Brown jasper, aids female hormonal functions; green jasper, aids intestinal spasma, combats ulcers; red jasper, balances gastric and pancreatic disorders.

Lapis lazuli, strengthens the physical body during spiritual awakening.

Moonstone, regulates the pituitary gland function.

Obsidian, boosts immunity.

Onyx and sardonyx, assist physical coordination.

Opal, increases the assimilation of protein.

Pearl, promotes antibodies and fights infection.

Peridot, aids adrenal function.

Petrified wood, restores physical energy, helps hip and back problems.

Rhodochrosite, prevents mental breakdowns, balances physical and emotional traumas, a rescue stone.

Rhyolite, rejuvenates physical beauty.

Ruby, prevents schizophrenia.

Sapphire, helps counteract mental depression.

Shells, increases levels of potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Sodalite, promotes a balance in thyroid metabolism.

Topaz, fights kidney and bladder ailments.

Tourmaline, prevents lymphatic diseases, battles anemia.

Zircon, all-around healer.