Green Birthstones
Green is a popular color of choice for birthstones. It is also a symbol of life and abundant nature. In Christianity green was the color of festivals and Sundays that signified ‘hope and joy and the bright promises of youth’. The eye rests when looking at green color, and perhaps that is why the ancients used green stones to relieve eye diseases. Arguably, the earliest mentioning of therapeutic use of emeralds to cure eyes was done in the 3rd century BC and belongs to the successor of Aristotle called Theophrastus.
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There are several old legends concerning green stones, and perhaps the most famous of them is the story of pharaoh Sneferu who lived 5 thousand years ago and designed the red pyramid. He was enjoying a relaxing boat trip with about 20 ladies from his harem when the oar accidentally touched a helmswoman hair and a green gemstone fell from her hair into the water. She raised her oar from the water and so did other ladies. The boat stopped and Sneferu asked “Why cease? Let us continue.”. The lady replied, “O Majesty, my beautiful green jewel has sunk beneath the waters.” The pharaoh offered the lady with another green birthstone but she insisted that nothing could replace her green jewel. Suddenly Sneferu’s assistant whispered some strange words and the waters open up and the helmswoman picked up her green gem from the bottom of the lake.
There was a number of famous rings that were set with a green gemstone and a number of legendary but unidentified green crystals. Examples would be the ring of Reynard the Fox made the wearer invincible and Sakhrat gem that was thought to give the wearer the knowledge of the universe.
What birthstone is green? Emerald is arguably the first green birthstone that comes to mind, however sapphire, jade, serpentine, agate, jasper, bloodstone, chrysoprase, cats eye, malachite, garnet, diamond, peridot and tourmaline are all green birthstones too. Below is the information about those green birthstones, please click on links to find out even more about each of them.
The crystal of emerald - arguable the most famous green birthstone
Emerald – the queen of green stones, a noble and popular birthstone. Most birthstones by month lists are based on Aarons breastplate gem arrangement, and many researchers agree that the 4th stone was a green emerald.
When thinking about birthstone sapphire, most people would probably imagine it as a blue birthstone, however it occurs in almost all imaginable colors including green.
Jade, on the other hand, is first and foremost imagined as a green birthstone, however it also exists in other different colors. Jade is Pisces birthstone.
Serpentine is a deep green rock from the alternative birthstones that polishes really well. In ancient Egypt it was used as a material for sacred scarabs.
Agate occurs in a rainbow of colors and hence can be considered a green birthstone. Same can be said about birthstone jasper, and its vary famous variety called Bloodstone.
A light green variety of quartz is called chrysoprase. Quartz is abundant on Earth meaning it is affordable, and is also a very hard and durable gem making chrysoprase a very desirable September birthstone. A chalcedonic variety of quartz called Cats Eye is also one of the green birthstones.
Malachite earrings. Malachite is an green birthstone found mostly in Russia
Malachite is a birthstone that occurs only in green and is called so because it resembles soft green leaves of the plant called marsh mellow.
Garnet uvarovite and tsavorite varieties are green birth crystals too even though the first color that would come to mind when thinking about garnet is red.
Girl’s best friend diamond, when not colorless, is called fancy diamond and is considered rare. Green diamond is extremely rare and expensive.
Peridot is a light green birthstone – a gem quality olivine. This gem is also often called chrysolite.
The last green birthstone known as verdelite is a green tourmaline. This gem has peculiar electrical properties that caused it to have a high reputation amount healing crystals and birthstones.
With so many amazing gems mentioned above, what about green birthstone month? For example, emerald is a May birthstone, and it is also March special apostle birth gem, June guardian angel birthstone, and an astral gem for those born under the sign of Sagittarius. More details about green birthstones months and zodiac signs can be found here or on the infographics at the beginning of this article. Happy reading and exploring!
