February Birthstone Story

A birthstone is a gemstone that represents a person's month of birth. Birthstones are often worn as jewelry or as a pendant. Brithstone wearing is commonly thought to bring good luck or health. Supernatural powers have long been attributed by astrologers to certain gemstones. Giving a jewel with birthstone that belongs to the birth month of the receiver has symbolic value and is a protective gesture.

Amethyst

Amethyst, the birthstone representing February, has a long and interesting history. Thought to symbolize royalty with it's purple hue, this quartz stone does have many other colors and can be sourced in many areas of the world.

For amethyst, is said to strengthen relationships and give its wearer courage. At one time, only royalty could wear the gem. Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglio engraved gems. Ancient Greeks thought that the amethyst guarded against intoxication. In fact, “amethyst” comes from amethystos, a Greek word meaning “sober.” Because of their grape-like color, the Greeks associated these gems with the wine god, Bacchus.

Amethyst is a stone of spiritual protection and purification, cleansing one's energy field of negative influences and attachments, and creating a resonant shield of spiritual Light around the body. It acts as a barrier against lower energies, psychic attack, geopathic stress and unhealthy environments. Amethyst is a natural tranquiliser, it relieves stress and strain, soothes irritability, balances mood swings, dispels anger, rage, fear and anxiety. Alleviates sadness and grief, and dissolves negativity. Amethyst activates spiritual awareness, opens intuition and enhances psychic abilities.

Amethyst is a purple variety of quartz and owes its violet color to irradiation, impurities of iron and in some cases other transition metals, and the presence of other trace elements, which result in complex crystal lattice substitutions. The hardness of the mineral is the same as quartz, thus making it suitable for use in jewelry. Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet color to a deep purple color. Amethyst may exhibit one or both secondary hues, red and blue. High quality amethyst can be found in Siberia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Uruguay, and the far East. The ideal grade is called "Deep Siberian" and has a primary purple hue of around 75–80%, with 15–20% blue and (depending on the light source) red secondary hues. ‘Rose de France’ is defined by its markedly light shade of the purple, reminiscent of a lavender/lilac shade. These pale colors, were once considered undesirable but have recently become popular due to intensive marketing.