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Garnet |
The term garnet describes a family of fifteen distinct minerals, five of which are used as gems. The term garnet comes from the Latin granatum, which means grains or seed-like, because the small red garnet crystals resemble pomegranate seeds. Garnets also used to be called carbuncles--from the Latin carbunculus, which means “little spark”--a term that was applied to all red jewels. Garnets are classically thought of as dark red stones, but they can also be orange, green, brown, purple, black and almost any color except blue. Their colors vary depending on the actual chemicals in the stone. Garnets are fairly tough stones. Most range from 7 to 7 ½ on Mohs’ scale, and industrial garnets are even used on sandpaper.
The main varieties of garnet are:
pyrope (rhodolite), a deep to pink-red
almandine, brown-red to red-violet, also black
spessartine, usually hot orange, also dark red
grossular (includes tsvarorite and hessonite), copper gold, brown, emerald-green
andradite (demantoid) yellow-green, bright green, grey, brownish
All garnets have an identical crystal structure--that is, they have the same basic arrangement of atoms—but different chemical compositions. They all share these properties:
Color of streak: White
Cleavage: Imperfect
Fracture: Conchoidal, splintery, brittle
Crystal system: Isometric; rhombic, dodecahedron, icositetrahedron
Double refraction: Only rhodolite
Pleochroism: None
Fluorescence: None
Transparency: Transparent, translucent
Astrology: January birthstone, also connected with Aquarius, Capricorn, and Sagittarius
Chakras: mostly 1st (base) but cleanses and re-energizes all chakras.
Garnets were used in jewelry and as seals in both ancient Greece and Rome and were often believed to be a type of ruby. Many of the beliefs about garnet, like those about ruby, stem from its red color. Garnets were connected with blood and Mars, the god of war. It was believed that if you wore garnets into battle, you would be invulnerable to wounds. Interestingly, in 1892 the Hanzas tribe on the Kashmir Border reversed that belief: They fired garnet bullets into the British troops, believing that garnets would inflict fatal wounds.
During medieval times, garnets were prescribed to cure insomnia. They were also believed to be able to absorb the heat of fever, inflammations, and even great passion. People also thought of garnets as a stone of cheer and wore them as a protection against melancholy.
In sympathetic magic, garnet was considered a protection against lightning because it was believed that each garnet contained a bit of lightning.
Garnets were said to be magnets for prosperity and glory, and to dream of them was said to symbolize the gaining of wealth. Garnets were also came to be an emblem of truth and fidelity. Perhaps as a symbol of faith even beyond death, Italian widows favored garnets and the stone became known as pietra della vedovanza, the stone of widowhood. Metaphysically, garnet is a stone of regeneration, a stone that pours energy into all the chakras and then balances those energies. Garnet is said to spark past-life recall and psychic awareness. It's also believed to inspire both love and devotion. Garnet is considered a particularly powerful ally in times of crisis, enhancing the survival instinct.
Below is information about specific types of garnet:
Almandine (Garnet): dark red (usually darker than pyrope); iron aluminum silicate; Mohs' hardness 7 ½; often opaque or subtranslucent; vitreous luster; cubic crystal system. Almandine is found worldwide in metamorphic rocks and granitic pegmatites.
This dark red garnet was worn by the Crusaders as a protection against wounds and poison. A famous almandine was given to Emperor Otto by his son and set in the German monarch's crown.
Metaphysically, almandine is strongly connected with regeneration and is a stone said to both draw deep love and support a connection to one's higher self, opening the way to both compassion and charity. It's also known to open the channel between the crown and base chakras. This dark red garnet is tremendously versatile in jewelry. Its strong color can easily balance both transparent and opaque stones. If you want to work with transparent gems, string it with any of the green garnets, green or pink tourmaline, and for contrast citrine or amber. It also goes well jade, grey and white pearls, black onyx, and ruby fuschite. Pyrope (Garnet): pinkish red, blood red, slightly brownish red; magnesium aluminum silicate; Mohs' hardness 7-7 ½ ; virtreous luster; cubic crystal system
The name pyrope comes from the Greek pyropos, which means fiery or fire-like. Pyrope's legendary red color comes from trace amounts of iron and chromium. This garnet is usually found in alluvial deposits and volcanic rock in sites around the globe such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Burma, Scotland, Switzerland, Tanzania and the United States.
Pyrope was very popular in Europe in both the 18th and 19th centuries, and accounts for most of the dark red garnets in Victorian jewelry. The Victorian pyrope garnets were also known as Bohemian garnets, because they were found in Czechoslovakia (formely Bohemia), and were typically rose cut for the Victorian settings. Metaphysically, pyrope is connected with charisma, vitality, and helping bring in a wonderful quality of life. It's also considered a stabilizing stone that protects the base and crown chakras. Pyrope is very dramatic with black onyx beads, as well as any of the green garnets. It also looks beautiful with white, grey, or black pearls, and with tanzanite. Rhodolite is a lovely pinkish-red pyrope.
This garnet was first found in North Carolina at the end of the 19th century, and its name is taken from the pinkish-red blossoms of the local rhododendron. Now most rhodolite is mined in Tanzania, India, and Sri Lanka. Metaphysically, rhodolite is said to radiate warmth, trust, and sincerity. It's believed to be a good creative stone, sparking intuition, and inspiration. Rhodolite is also considered a stone that protects the base chakra and supports healthy sexuality. Rhodolite looks beautiful when strung with peridot, grossularite, amethyst, blue topaz, and sapphire, and is quite luscious when combined with the darker red garnets or even rubies.
Grossular (Garnet): can be pink or green; calcium aluminum silicate; Mohs' hardness 7; vitreous luster; cubic crystal system. Grossular or Grossularite's name comes from Ribes grossularia, the botanical name for gooseberry, because the first grossular crystals found were a pale green that resembled gooseberry. Of all the garnet minerals, grossularite has the widest range of colors. Metaphysically, grossularite is a stone that helps one to "go with the flow." It's said to be particularly useful during times of challenge and confrontation, helping to maintain a feeling of relaxation even in the midst of stressful conflict. Green grossularite works well with amethyst, rhodolite, iolite, hessonite, blue topaz, blue tourmaline, spessartine, and smoky quartz. For a striking contrast, pair this green garnet with the bright orange fire opal or turquoise-or both. Hessonite, also called cinnamon stone, is a yellow to reddish-orange grossular, found mostly in Sri Lanka and Brazil. Metaphysically, hessonite is a stone of self-respect that counters feelings of inferiority or guilt and encourages new journeys and challenges. It's also said to be useful in opening to intuition and psychic awareness. String it with green garnets, peridot, citrine, amethyst, or blue topaz; or for a gentler piece, try it with lemon quartz, iolite, and white pearls. For rich autumnal tones, pair it with smoky quartz. Tsavorite is the most valuable grossular, a radiant green gem that was first identified in 1968 by Campbell R. Bridges, a British gemologist, who found the stones in Kenya's Tsavo National Park. Tsavorites, in fact, can be so brilliant that they've been called the "poor man's emerald." Their green color usually comes from trace elements of chromium and vanadium. Metaphysically, Tsavorite supports self-knowledge and self-love. It's also said to be useful in connecting with both the higher planes and the spiritual world, and can be useful in psychic communication. This dark green stone is a class act when strung with white pearls, but it's also a gorgeous stone to contrast with the darker, equally glittering gems like sapphire, ruby, and tanzanite. For an equally dramatic but different sort of contrast, try Tsavorite with black opals that show green or blue fire.
Spessartine (Garnet): often orange; manganese aluminum silicate; Mohs' hardness 7; vitreous luster; cubic crystal system Spessartine gets its color from manganese and is found in alluvial deposits in Brazil, Madagascar, Mexico, Nigeria, Tanzania, and the United States. A particularly intense and radiant orange spessartine found in Namibia is known as mandarin garnet. Metaphysically, spessartine is a stone for a generous and strong heart, opening the way to acting with compassion and charity. It's also said to strengthens one's rational and analytic abilities. Spessartine's rich color is set off beautifully by other stones with deep colors: amethyst, sapphire, the green garnets, boulder opal, and depending on the shade of spessartine, amber. It also works well with jade, turquoise, and the brown agates. |
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Clear Quartz |
The word crystal comes from krystallos, the Greek word for “ice,” because it was believed that quartz crystal was ice that had permanently frozen. According to another variant, the Greeks believed that quartz was an ice formed by the gods, and that kyrstallos was the name given to the earthly palace of the gods that was built of ice that even the sun couldn’t destroy.
Color: Colorless
Chemical composition: SiO2 silicon dioxide
Mohs’ Hardness: 7
Transparency: Transparent
Luster: Vitreous
Fracture: Conchoidal, very brittle
Crystal system: Hexagonal (trigonal) with hexagonal prisms
Cleavage: None
Specific gravity: 2.65
Streak: White
Refractive index: 1.544-1.553
Dispersion: 0.013
Pleochroism: None
Fluorescence: None
Occurrence: Worldwide
Astrology: Connected with Capricorn and Leo
Chakra: All
Quartz is one of the most abundant minerals in the Earth’s crust, and of all the different types of quartz, rock crystal is the most widely distributed. Clear quartz crystals range from completely transparent to “occupied” – that is quartz that contains phantoms or inclusions of other minerals (such as rutile) or even bubbles of liquid or gas. Although there are many varieties of quartz, including citrine, amethyst, aventurine, and rose quartz, rock crystal is the purest. Quartz veins usually occur when the hot silica-rich fluids reach beds of host rock such as sandstone, shale, and pegmatites. The finest quartz crystals are found in rock cavities or open veins, where the crystals had enough space to fully form. Clear quartz has been valued by almost every civilization and nearly always connected with magic and the occult. A Babylonian seal, dating to 2,000 B.C., bears an inscription stating that the crystal would bring good fortune and increase wealth. Quartz has been found in Egyptian temples dedicated to the goddess Hathor, and in Greek temple dedicated to the Hellenic mysteries. Oceanic and Australian shamans valued it as a “stone of light,” a piece of the celestial throne. In Rome, during hot weather, women carried polished quartz spheres to cool their hands. Polished crystal balls have long been used to gaze into the future and even to see into other realms. Shaman’s crystals have also been used to contain spirits and to bring fire and rain. In Nepal, clear quartz crystals were used to guide shamans through spirit journeys. Tibetan Buddhists considered clear quartz a symbol of a clear mind. In ancient Japan it was believed that quartz crystals formed from the breath of a white dragon.
Native peoples in the American Southwest valued quartz crystals for a variety of uses that included finding lost objects, predicting the future, finding the trail of an enemy or the cause of illness, and invoking the moon.
Throughout Central America quartz crystals were considered gateways to other realms. The descendents of the Maya used them to connect with their ancestral spirits.
As quartz crystals can be quite large—giant crystals weighing as much as 4,410 pounds have been mined in Brazil--the mineral has lent itself to some extraordinary carvings. In 14th and 15th -century Europe beautiful ceremonial crystal cups and reliquaries were set with bases and lids of gold. Later, in the 1500 and 1600s candlesticks, vases, bottles, pitchers, and platters were carved from rock crystal, often depicting elaborate scenes from Greek mythology. In the late 1800s and early 1900s the French jewelry makers, led by Boucheron, rediscovered rock crystal and made some of the most extraordinary objects ever to be carved from stone: exquisite little crystal bottles for smelling salts that were set with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires; crystal vases set in bases of gold; crystal cigarette boxes with diamond and emerald clasps; crystal clocks set with rubies and diamonds; even graceful crystal figurines depicting the characters in Italy’s Commedia dell’Arte.
Metaphysically, clear quartz is known to be one of the master healers, a stone that amplifies almost any energy. It’s said to be able to clear all chakras, strengthen clarity and psychic abilities, including the ability to communicate with minerals, plants, and animals. It’s considered a stone that connects this realm to others and connects one’s spirit to the stars. Quartz crystals are also believed to store information, much like computers. Record-keeper crystals, which show tiny pyramids engraved on their facets, are said to hold the memories of our ancestors. Clear quartz is often placed on the crown chakra in simple healing layouts.
Although quartz is a fairly hard stone, and can safely be cleaned in ultrasonic cleaners, the beads can chip or crack if struck against another hard surface. So if you use them in bracelets, be gentle when you wear them.
Clear quartz beads have a kind of purity when strung on their own, but also they combine beautifully with other transparent stones, adding lightness to any piece. Try them with lemon quartz and aquamarine for a summer pastel necklace, or set them off against the fiery green sparkle of chrysoprase. For the winter holidays, create a triad of clear quartz, and red and green garnets. Clear quartz will go well with just about every type of quartz, including amethyst, rose quartz, and pale blue chalcedony. For a black and white outfit, combine them with black onyx for dramatic effect, or follow the lead of the 19th century jewelers, who considered quartz the a perfect, elegant background for emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. An inexpensive cousin of clear quartz, these glass beads substitute perfectly for the gem and put less strain on your purse. Clear quartz glass beads not only go with everything, but they lighten any piece. For crystalline evening sophistication, bead clear quartz glass beads with black onyx and white pearls. If you’re in a “quartz” mood, string a necklace that uses amethyst, citrine, ametrine, carnelian, aventurine, chrysoprase, and lemon, cherry, rose, smoky, and cognac quartz —all the forms of quartz!—and use these beautiful, sparkling beads as accents. Or, for moonlit nights, try stringing a bracelet that uses clear quartz glass to highlight the mysterious, opalescent gems like moonstone, labradorite, and opal. One more simple and perfect combo: clear quartz glass beads alternating with tourmalated and rutilated quartz. |
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Unakite Beads |
Color: mix of pink, green, and white/grey
Mineral compostion: Epidote, potassium feldspar, and quartz
Mohs’ hardness: 6-7
Transparency: Opaque
Luster: Pearly to subvitreous
Fracture: Irregular
Crystal system: Epidote: Massive ( finely crystalline)
Orthoclase: Monoclinic
Quartz: Triogonal
Specific Gravity: 2.55-2.85
Occurrence: South Africa, Eastern United States
Astrology: Connected with Scorpio
Chakras: 4th (heart)Unakite, a beautiful opaque stone that combines soft swirling shades of pink, green, grey, is a rock, meaning it’s composed of several minerals. (As opposed to stones like emerald or ruby, which are distinct minerals, emerald being beryl, and ruby being corundum.) Unakite is most commonly defined as granite that’s composed of white/grey quartz, pink/red feldspar, and green epidote.
It was first identified in 1874 by Bradley, who dubbed it “Unakyte, an epidotic rock.” He named it for the place where it was found, the Unaka range, a part of the Appalachian Mountain Chain that runs along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina. Unakite is also found in Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior, and in South Africa.
Unakite, considered a semi-precious stone, is relatively new to the gem market but is quickly becoming popular. For gem use, it’s always tumbled. It’s a fairly hard stone and can used for any type of jewelry.
Metaphysically, unakite is known to have a gentle, calming energy. It’s said to be a stone that balances the emotions with spirit, and strengthens psychic vision. It’s also considered a good stone for visualization and meditation and may be useful in dissolving emotional blocks.
Unakite goes beautifully with the red and green garnets, red jasper and green jade, and pink and green tourmaline, and grey pearls. If you have a reddish unakite, pair it with bloodstone; if you have unakite that is more pink, try it with rhodochrosite and/or pink coral. For a piece with interesting contrasts, bead unakite with labradorite and rutilated quartz. |
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Rhodonite Beads |
Color: Red with black veins
Chemical composition: MnSiO3 magnesium metasilicate
Mohs’ hardness: 5 ½-6 ½
Transparency: Opaque-transparent
Luster: Vitreous
Fracture: Uneven, conchoidal
Crystal system: Triclinic; rarely in plates or long crystals, usually compact grainy aggregates
Cleavage: Perfect
Specific gravity: 3.40-3.70
Refractive index: 1.733-1.744
Dispersion: none
Pleochroism: Definite; yellow-red, rose-red, red-yellow
Fluorescence: None
Occurrence: Australia, Canada (Vancouver), India, Malagasy Republic, Mexico, Russia (the Urals), South Africa, Sweden, United States (Franklin, New Jersey)
Astrology:
Chakra: 4th (heart) chakra
Like rhodochrosite, rhodonite’s name comes from the Greek rhodos, which means rose. The two rose-red minerals have often been confused, but rhodochrosite shows white streaks of calcium and reacts to acids. Rhodonite, which does not react to acids, can usually be distinguished by its black dendritic inclusions, which are manganese oxide. (Occasionally, rhodonite will be solid rose-red, showing none of the black.) Transparent or translucent rhodonite crystals are extremely rare and fragile. Most rhodonite is cut in cabochons or beads. It’s also been carved for ornamental objects and was a favorite material of the Russian court during the 18th century.
Considered a minor gem, there isn’t much historical lore about rhodonite, but it’s been widely embraced by the metaphysical gem healers, who connect the stone with the heart. Rhodonite is said to clear and activate the heart chakra, help balance the emotions, and aid one in becoming more heart-centered. It’s also used to strength meditation that is based on the use of mantras. As a healing stone, rhodonite is said to be particularly effective when dealing with grief or emotional shock or panic. It’s considered a stone that can help heal old psychic and emotional wounds, because its energy is attuned to the energy of forgiveness. In magical traditions, rhodonite has also been worn to counter confusion and to shut down the psychic centers when one is feeling vulnerable.
Rhodonite beads are perfect when strung with either black onyx or black, white, or grey pearls. Rhodonite also goes well with its sister gem, rhodochrosite. To add sparkle to rhodonite beads, string them with pink tourmaline, cherry quartz, red garnets, and/or ruby. For other opaque stones that echo and will complement the black patterns in rhodonite, combine rhodonite beads with any of the black agates or hypersthene. |
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