Amazonite

Called the Stone of Courage and the Stone of Truth, Amazonite empowers one to search the self and discover one’s own truths and integrity, and to move beyond fear of judgment or confrontation with others to live in alignment with those beliefs and values. It provides the freedom to express one’s thoughts and feelings, and to set strong and clear boundaries, both internally as self-discipline, and externally on what one is willing to experience or in defining personal space.

Amazonite has been used in jewelry and cut into beads since the time of the early Mesopotamian cultures. Well-known in India, Egypt, Sudan and Mesopotamia, it was a popular amulet stone and was once used as decorative material for building facades. It was carved and cut into tablets for the Egyptian funerary text, Book of the Dead, and an Amazonite scarab ring was found among Tutankhamen’s treasures. It was believed to be the third stone in the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest.

Amazonite, also called Amazon Jade or Amazon Stone, is a variety of Feldspar mineral that forms in short prismatic or tabular crystals or in masses. It ranges in hue from bright verdigris green to paler shades of turquoise, sometimes with white, yellow or grey portions, and can be translucent to opaque. It has a vitreous luster, and when polished resembles finely cracked or spider-webbed marble and displays a Schiller effect of pearly iridescence throughout the stone. It is a soft stone and care should be taken when wearing, or in storing with other minerals.

Amber

Amber holds a strong connection to the sun and earth, as well as the once living insects, organisms and plant matter that are forever suspended within its golden structure. Amber is believed to create a comfortable sense of warmth, health & well-being. It’s warm and nurturing energies are said to put us in touch with our own essential strength and security.

Scientists have discovered more than 1000 extinct insect species preserved in amber. Amber has been found in ancient Egyptian tombs dating back to 3200 BCE. The Greeks thought that amber was pieces of the sun that had broken off as the sun fell into the sea each night. The Greeks called amber “elektron” because it becomes electrically charged when rubbed with a cloth and can attract small particles.

Amber is an organic material made up of fossilized natural botanical resins and frequently contains bits of plant material or fossil insects, some dating as far back as 120 million years ago. It is found naturally in shades of creamy white, honey yellow, orange, red, brown & green.
Baltic amber contains small amounts of succinic acid, a substance which is found to strengthen the body and improve the immune system.

Amethyst

Amethyst is a remarkable stone of spirituality and contentment, known for its abilities to still the mind and inspire an enhanced meditative state. Amethyst’s ability to expand the higher mind also enhances one’s creativity and passion. It strengthens the imagination and intuition, and refines the thinking processes. It helps in the assimilation of new ideas, putting thought into action, and brings projects to fruition. It is a talisman of focus and success.

Up until the 18th century when more deposits were found, amethyst was considered among the most valued gemstones on earth.
The name Amethyst is derived from the Greek word ametusthos, meaning “not intoxicated”, and comes from an ancient legend involving the wine god Bacchus.
Amethyst is associated with February, the month the Romans dedicated to Neptune. It is also the stone of St. Valentine and faithful love.

Amethyst is a type of quartz and can form as terminated crystals in large geodes. It is the presence of iron & other trace minerals in clear quartz produces the purple shades of amethyst. Amethyst ranges in hue from light violet to deep purple and may be transparent or opaque, solid color or banded with white. While it is found all over the world, the largest deposits are found in Brazil.

Black Onyx

Black Onyx is said to calm nervousness, quell anxiety and fear, sooth tempers and restore rational thinking and self-control. It emanates the energy of self-mastery, imparting self-confidence, focus, ease in one’s surrounding, and the gift of wise decision making. Onyx grounds and stabilizes the emotional body, bringing strength in difficult or confusing circumstances and during times of tremendous mental or physical stress.

Onyx has been known and utilized by even the earliest civilizations for its powerful energy and somber beauty. This deep black stone ribboned with white was highly prized for use in ceremonies and burials, scrying and magical work, and as amulets on swords, shields and armor to protect and strengthen warriors in battle. Many cultures, including the Greeks and Romans, utilized Onyx to carve figures of the gods and heroes, to make stamps and seals, stone inlays and tiles, and as handles and bases.

Onyx is in the chalcedony family. Like agate, it is a banded form of chalcedony, only agates have concentric or curved bands and onyxes straight or nearly parallel bands. You will often find onyx cut to only show the black portions, and it can be hard to identify this way, but it is easily distinguished from other black stones when the parallel banded layers of white, grey & brown are visible. When you see all black onyx it also may be dyed.

Carnelian

Carnelian brings in an influx of life force, creative energies and an assertive will. It is a powerful aid to those who wish to build confidence, courage, passion and power within themselves. Wearing carnelian can increase ones willingness to take action and lends courage to dedicate oneself to a new path. Carnelian can assist those who procrastinate or are unable to decide on a course of action.

Ancient Warriors wore Carnelian around their neck for courage and physical power to conquer their enemies. The ancient Egyptians called Carnelian “the setting sun.” In its orange hues, they identified it with the receptive or passive female energies. Carnelian honors Isis, the Egyptian Goddess of Life, the most important goddess of Egyptian mythology. She is widely honored as a Goddess that brings the power of the divine feminine.

Carnelian is in the quartz family and is the orange variety of Chalcedony.
The color hue of Carnelian can vary from orange to deep red and can sometimes have banding. When banding occurs, Carnelian can be categorized as agate as well.
Sard clear red to brownish red and when layered with Carnelian creating banded agate known as sardonyx or banded onyx.

Citrine

Citrine is a stone of manifestation, imagination, and personal will. Carrying the power of the sun, it is warm and comforting, energizing and life giving. It stimulates the chakras like the sunlight of spring, clearing the mind and stirring the soul to action. Its frequency awakens creativity and imagination, and sustains the process of transforming dreams and wishes into tangible form. With its pure yellow energy, Citrine encourages fullness of life, fresh beginnings and new pursuits.

Citrine honors Sekhmet, the Egyptian Goddess of War. She is the most powerful goddess of Lower Egypt, and is usually depicted with the head of a lion and the body of a beautiful woman.

The name comes from the French word citron, meaning lemon. It was used as a gem in Greece as far back as 300 B.C.

Citrine is appointed the birthstone of November.

Much of the commercial citrine on the market is heat-treated amethyst that produces an enhanced Citrine color, usually a deeper amber or orange-reddish shade. Most natural citrine is a pale yellow color and can have rainbow or sparkly inclusions. Two other variations of citrine are common: smoky citrine can have wisps of smoke or be a more uniform yellow-brown color and ametrine is part amethyst and part citrine.

Howlite

Howlite stones have a lovely soothing energy that will help to alleviate stress, and aid you to deal with belligerent or aggressive people. One of the best uses for howlite is in your daily meditation as its soothing calming energy will help you to relax, and gently ease into peaceful inner awareness.
It is believed that howlite heightens awareness and patience. Howlite absorbs negative energy and its calming qualities are thought to also help reduce insomnia as it relieves and unburdens an overactive mind.

Howlite is named for its discoverer, Henry How, a geologist from Nova Scotia. Howlite is an easily obtainable stone, found mostly in the United States, (in California) in large quantities, where nodules of up to one hundred pounds have been found. Howlite has been long known amongst Native American tribes as the White Buffalo Stone and is known by many names – Sacred Buffalo, White Turquoise, Lapis Howlite, Kaolinite and also Boro Calcite.

At source, Howlite is usually found in irregular shaped nodules that look a bit like the head of a cauliflower. Howlite in crystal form is very rare.

Howlite has a white marble-like appearance with threaded gray, black or brown veins running through it. Some forms of Howlite are just pure white however. Howlite is a porous stone that can absorb dye well, which is why it’s often used to imitate other gems, like turquoise.

Jade (green)

Green Jade is a stone with a heart for healing, and a stone for healing the heart. Jade is the stone of calm in the midst of storm. It is the ultimate “Dream Stone,” revered in ancient cultures, as well as today, to access the spiritual world and gain insight into ritualistic knowledge. It is cherished as a protective talisman, assuring long life and a peaceful death, and is considered a powerful healing stone. An amulet of good luck and friendship, Jade signifies wisdom gathered in tranquility, dispelling the negative and encouraging one to see oneself as they really are.

Jade honors Kuan-Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, Compassion, and Unconditional Love. She is the most beloved of the Chinese goddesses and is regarded by many as the protector of women and children, and champion of the unfortunate.
Jade has been the most highly esteemed stone in China throughout recorded history, and was valued for its beauty and powers of healing and protection. It is the most popular stone for carvings & statues.

In scientific terms, Jade is the name shared by two distinctly different minerals – Nephrite, a calcium magnesium silicate, and Jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate. The original jade was nephrite, with jadeite only much later being discovered. Though they have different compositions, hardnesses, densities and crystal structures, both are exceptionally tough stones, similar in appearance, and equally valuable in metaphysical properties. Both occur in the beautiful olive shades we’ve come to recognize as jade green, but have some distinctions.

Labradorite

Labradorite is believed to be the most powerful protector of the mineral kingdom, creating a shielding force throughout the aura and strengthening natural energies from within. It protects against the negativity and misfortunes of this world, and provides safe exploration into alternate levels of consciousness and in facilitating visionary experiences from the past or the future. It is rumored that wearing or carrying Labradorite allows one’s innate magical powers to surface.

Legend has it that the Northern Lights were once stuck inside rocks until a brave Inuit warrior freed most of them by hitting the rocks with a spear. The rocks that were not hit, still have those Northern Lights within them. That is why labradorite is said to be a Stone of Magic, a crystal of shamans, diviners, healers, and all who travel and embrace the universe seeking knowledge and guidance.

Labradorite is in the feldspar family of minerals, has a hardness of 6 to 6.5 and grows in triclinic crystal structure. It derives its name from the original location it was found, the Labrador Peninsula in Canada. The beautiful iridescence that it exhibits is called labradorescence, which can be many colors but is often blue, green, yellow with red and purple being rarer.

Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli is a powerful crystal for activating the higher mind and enhancing intellectual ability.
A stone of truth, Lapis encourages honesty of the spirit, and in the spoken and written word. Wear it for all forms of deep communication. It is also a stone of friendship and brings harmony in relationships.

Lapis Lazuli honors Nuit, the Egyptian Goddess of Heaven and Sky. She swallows the sun each evening, and gives birth to it again each morning. She is the protector and mother of life on Earth.
Lapis Lazuli also honors Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love (also called Aphrodite). She was one of twelve Olympians who governed all aspects of human life, and is known for her beauty and passion.

In ancient times Lapis Lazuli was most highly regarded because of its beautiful color and the valuable ultramarine dye derived from it. Its name comes from the Latin lapis, “stone,” and the Persian lazhuward, “blue.” It is rock formed by multiple minerals, mostly lazurite, sodalite, calcite and flecks of pyrite.
In ancient Persia, Lapis Lazuli was a symbol of the starry night, and a favorite stone of for protection from the evil eye.

Quartz Crystal

Clear Quartz is excellent for amplifying the energies of other stones or to enhance groups of stones. Quartz increases awareness and clarity in thinking, and provides enhanced energy, perseverance and patience, teaching one to live, laugh and love with all of humanity.
Clear Quartz enhances communication with plants, animals and minerals. Its natural tendency is for harmony and brings a sense of purpose to those who resonate with it.

Quartz crystal is valued for its piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties, by which it can transform mechanical pressure or heat into electromagnetic energy, and vice versa. Its ability to focus, amplify, store and transform energy is used throughout the technology world in ultrasound devices, watches, microphones, radio transmitters and receivers, memory chips in computers and other electronic circuitry.

The ancient Greeks called quartz krustallos, meaning ice, because they believed that quartz crystal was ice that never melted because it was formed by the gods.

Throughout history, Clear Quartz has been valued by nearly every civilization as far back as Atlantis and Lemuria, where the sun’s power was believed to be harnessed through a crystal as a source of solar energy refraction.

Red Jasper

Red Jasper is known as the Stone of Endurance, a gentle, but vital, stimulator of chi, or Life Force, bringing physical strength and energy, stamina, focus and determination.
Red Jasper also stimulates passion in one’s creative work, manifesting new ideas and freshness, and the energy to continue a project even after the initial excitement has dwindled. Its energy brings focus and self-mastery.

According to Viking and Germanic legend, the hilt of the magical sword of Siegfried, the dragon slayer, was inlaid with Red Jasper to bring him courage.
The ancient Egyptians linked Red Jasper with the fertilizing blood of Mother Isis, and often carved it into protective amulets to be placed upon the neck of the deceased, engraved with the 156th chapter of the Book of the Dead.

Jaspers are a variety of quartz, a silicon dioxide mineral. In jasper, the quartz crystals are laid out in sugar-like grains, rather than the fibrous layers found in Chalcedony, another relative of quartz.
Red jasper is slightly orange/brown. Another red colored jasper is called poppy or brecciated jasper and is more of a pure red with black markings.

Rose Quartz

Rose quartz is the quintessential stone of love, both for oneself and for one’s life partner, children, family, friends, community, and the Earth. One of its gifts is healing the heart of wounds and reawakening its trust. Its soothing vibrations are a balm to the emotions and they calm and release stress and tension, dissolving anger and resentment.
Meditating with rose quartz provides an envelope of love energy around oneself, releasing emotional patterns that are keeping one stuck.

Legend claims Rose Quartz was created when Adonis, lover of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, was attacked by Ares, god of war, in the form of a boar. When Aphrodite rushed to save him she caught herself on a briar bush, and their mingled blood stained the white quartz pink.
The rose quartz was also once known as the Silesian or Bohemian ruby. Larger stones usually have the richest color, and it is relatively uncommon to find a small rose quartz stone that has a strong hue. The gem may have inclusions that create a cat’s eye or a star effect.

Rose Quartz is a member of the quartz family. Rose quartz is often light pink to medium pink and usually has a hazy transparency. If you do happen to have a naturally vivid piece of Rose quartz take care to keep it out of direct intense light as it could fade. Rose quartz is quite abundant, making it very affordable, however not quite abundant as clear quartz, so it does not form many crystal terminations and is found mostly in massive formation.

Tiger Eye

Tiger Eye synthesizes the energies of the Sun and the Earth, bringing brightness and optimism. It stimulates understanding of one’s own needs and the needs of others while enhancing one’s stability to maintain wealth. Tiger Eye as a solar stone of vitality, practicality and physical action as well as a stone for mental clarify and balance, activating the intellect, allowing one to see both sides of disagreements, making it an excellent stone for professional mediators and those going through difficult negotiations.

Tiger Eye is known as an ancient powerful talisman according to the Egyptians. It was chosen for the eyes in their deity statues to express divine vision and was believed to provide the protection of the sun and earth combined.
It is believed that Roman solders carried it to deflect weapons and to be brave in battle. It has mainly been mined in Africa, but it can be found in small amounts in several other areas of the world.

Tiger Eye is formed when Quartz takes over and dissolves the bluish-grey fibrous wavy bands of a mineral called Crocidolite. During the process the color changes from blue-grey to yellow-brown. When you polish it, a silky, beautiful chatoyance effect of brown and yellow lines becomes visible.
A similar stone known as Tiger Iron includes layers of layers of Hematite and Jasper. While Pietersite is a natural stone composed of swirling Tiger Eye and Hawk’s Eye in a Quartz matrix.

Turquoise

Turquoise is known as a talisman of luck, success, ambition and creativity. For thousands of years, Turquoise has spanned all cultures, prized as a symbol of wisdom, nobility and the power of immortality.
Turquoise is a purification stone. It dispels negative energy and can be worn to protect against outside influences.
Turquoise promotes self-realization and assists creative problem solving. It is a symbol of friendship and positive thinking.
Turquoise is the traditional birthstone of December.

Turquoise has been used in jewelry dating back to 4000 B.C. Ancient Egyptians called turquoise mefkat, which also means “joy” and “delight.”
Many if not all of the ancient cultures used Turquoise in some manner, Egyptians were mining it in the Sinai in 3200 B.C and Native Americans and Tibetans have been using it for at least the last 1,000 years as amulets, carvings and in jewelry.
The name Turquoise is derived from the French, pierre turquoise, meaning “Turkish stone,” because they originally came into Europe from Persia through Turkey.

Turquoise is found in only a few places on earth: dry and barren regions where acidic, copper-rich groundwater seeps downward and reacts with minerals that contain phosphorus and aluminum.
Turquoise is often found with matrixes or streaks of the host rock displayed with it that are usually brown/black in nature.
Colors range from shades of blue to blue-green to yellowish green depending on the amount of trace elements.
Many synthetics, simulants & treatments exist in the market for turquoise so it is recommended to only purchase from trusted sources.

Ritual Gemstones