November Birthstones

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1. Introduction to November birthstones

2. Topaz - November birthstone

3. Citrine - birthstone for November

4. Amethyst - special apostle and guardian angel November birth gem

5. Garnet - birth rock of Scorpio zodiacal sign

6. Emerald - Sagittarius celestial birth gemstone

7. {BONUS} - Malachite - high priest November birthstone

8. {BONUS} - Cat’s Eye - birthstone for November as per Hindu list

With such a choice given, which birthstone is the one for you? Well, it may be the gem that reflects your personality, it may be the birthstone that you feel most connected to, it may be the birth gem that you like the most or that suits you better, or it may be all of them. In other words, it’s totally up to you!

Humans were always always intrigued about possessing a gemstone that is more than just a gem. A rock with spiritual and mental connection, something close to our heart and soul - a birthstone.

Most birthstone lists are based on biblical mentionings of Aaron's breastplate gemstones or the gems from the foundation of New Jerusalem. I have used 4 lists of birthstones: by birth month, guardian angel birthstones, by zodiac sign, and special apostle birthstones list.

So if you want to love me

Then darlin' don't refrain

Or I'll just end up walkin'

In the cold November rain

sang Guns’N’Roses in their famous song. It’s a month of Movember, Military Family Month and National Family Caregivers month. Thanksgiving, Black Friday and National Men Make Dinner Day happen in November. The first earth animal made the flight into space in this month. This was a dog named Laika. Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd, the Church of England voted to allow women to become priests, and Caresse Crosby patented the first backless bra. You guessed right, all these events occurred in November. Toni Collette, Emma Stone, Adam DeVine, Scarlett Johansson, and Miley Cyrus are all November babies.

November guardian angel is Adnachiel who is thought to bring purpose of life, wisdom and pure truth. The archangel is also believed to assist in obtaining power and independence.

Special apostle for the month is Matthias (מַתִּתְיָהוּ in Hebrew), who was chosen by other apostles to replace Judas following the betrayal of Jesus. He is considered the patron and protector of carpenters, tailor, and, well, alcoholics. St Mathias is said to bring hope and perseverance, and protect from infections diseases like smallpox.

Citrine is another late addition to the birthstone by month list. Citrine is a lemon-yellow variety of quartz, and some of these gems are facet quality and look stunning.

An old story about the citrine tells that once upon a time, Cellini, a renowned Roman goldsmith of the 16th century was sent to prison. He suspected his enemies wanted to poison him, and Cellini was very suspicious of the food and checked it all the time. One day when he finished his meal his eye caught some bright particles in his plate. After examining it, he decided it was a diamond splinter and thought someone added diamond dust to his food to poison him.

Cellini survived the incident and soon was released from prison. After his release he learned that his enemies hired a gem cutter to grind a diamond into Cellini’s meal. The gem cutter was very poor and swapped diamond with citrine as citrine was way cheaper.

Amethyst is a lavender variety of quartz and is often called ‘the queen of quartz’.

It was once considered one of the most expensive gemstones, but since the discovery of large deposits in Brazil this birthstone has become very affordable.

According to Aristotle, a beautiful nymph was turned into a gem by Diana to protect her from Bacchus – the god of wine. As a remembrance of his love, Bacchus poured wine onto the stone and gave it this beautiful color. The meaning of the name amethyst translates ‘without intoxication’ and because of that this birthstone was believed to protect the wearer from extensive drinking and hangover effect.

More about amethyst birthstone

It is accepted by several astrologists the zodiac signs overlap at their ascendancy and descent therefore sharing features. That means Sagittarius born on November 22, 23, and 24 can also use garnet as their astral birthstone.

Garnets were long believed to possess mystical powers to assure the birthstone wearer of good health and friendship.Ancient legends attributed to garnet calming influence over hot tempered individuals.

Psychoanalysts used garnets in their sessions. This birthstone was a symbol and has a meaning of faith, constancy, and cheerfulness.

Lions were often engraved on garnets to protect the wearer and preserve their health and honor, guarding them from dangers of travel.

Andradite is the most common garnet. It was not considered very attractive and was not popular until the discovery of Demantoid – facet quality variety of Andradite. Demantoid garnet comes in green hues and is arguably the most popular of garnets.

More about garnet birthstone virtues and beliefs

Many astrologists believe that zodiac signs dates slightly overlap when they replace one another, and share common virtues, and that means that Scorpios born on November 19, 20 and 21 can also use Emerald as their birthstone.  

The name emerald comes from the Sanskrit word meaning green. In other linguistic sources it is also called esmeralda, emeraude, smaragdus, smaragd, izumrud etc 

Malachite is mentioned in one of the earliest interpretations of gems from the breastplate of biblical high priest Aaron. It is part of the alternative birthstone lists.

Malachite has been known to humans for thousands of years with some early mentioning of this birthstone being mined in Egypt around 4000 B.C. The gem was valued almost as highly as jade. The name malachite is derived from the Greek word ‘malache’ meaning ‘marsh mellow’ due to the fact that the gem resembles the leaves of that plant.

In Germany Malachite was used to protect the wearer from the danger of falling. The gemstone was also believed to have the powers to warn the owner about approaching disaster by breaking into several pieces.

For Rusicrucians, the 17th century brotherhood claiming to possess a secret wisdom handed down from ancient generations, this birthstone was symbolic of the arising of the spiritual man and spring equinox. Malachite was often called ‘the sleep stone’ because it had the reputation of helping its wearer to fall asleep.

It was believed that the birthstone virtues of malachite assure wearer’s good health, prosperity, success in love as well as good spirits.

Best specimen of malachite come from Russia’s Ural Mountains, and there it has long been regarded as a safeguard against colic and rheumatism. Other occurrences of this gem are located in Congo, Israel, Australia, Afghanistan, Arizona in the United States, Gabon, Mexico and a few other places.

Cat’s Eye is another gem from alternative birthstones.

Cat’s Eye is a cabochon cut gemstone that displays a narrow band of concentrated light in the middle of it. The birthstone resembles a real eye of a cat hence the name. Normally cat’s eye is chrysoberyl of brown, yellow, green, grey or black color ranges.

In India perfect cat’s eye birthstone was in demand, imperfect gems were not valued too high. In Assyria the gemstone was called ‘The Eye of Belus’ and had a divine meaning. It was considered to be a talisman that made the wearer invincible to enemies. In Ceylon cat’s eye was used as a protection against evil spirits.