Amethyst
Hardness: 7
Birthstone: February
Anniversary: 6th |
Amethyst is basically a quartz crystal that has taken on a purple hue
due to the presence of impurities. It used to be numbered amongst
the Precious gems, and indeed you’ll find it set prominently in the
British Crown Jewels, but it lost much of its value due to the discovery
of large deposits in South America and other sites around the world. The shade and quality of the crystals varies from location to location with the best colours coming from the Ural Mountains and bearing the name ‘Deep Siberian’ within the jewellery trade.
The name Amethyst comes from the Greek for ‘not drunken’ and relates to various Greek myths involving horny gods chasing chaste virgins (as you’d expect). Wikipedia has a neat summary if you’re interested but the upshot is that it was believed that amethyst was an antidote to drunkenness and, as such, was used to make drinking vessels. These days I think that this would be seen as missing the point.
Through the ages it has religious significance within Judaism and Christianity. It was one of the twelve gems on the Breastplate of Aaron the first High Priest of Israel (Exodus 39), and was the stone associated with the tribe of Dan. Amethyst has been used within the Christian Church to symbolise Christ himself and also the attributes of piety and chastity. This, perhaps, owes something to its earlier association with sobriety, and control of the appetites.
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