What Does Your Birthstone Mean?

As I researched birthstone lore, I found out that one or more characteristics or meanings are attached to the different stones. I because fascinated by not only finding this out, but also finding out that in addition to Europe (mainly England) having birthstones, Tibet and India also used certain stones to signify each month.

So, first a quick refresher on birthstones. Tiffany & Co. was the first jeweler to market the concepts of birthstones in 1870. The idea of birthstones was already in place by then as referenced by an old English poem. In this poem, birthstones were not only noted, but there were characteristics attached to each gemstone. The belief was that if you wore a particular stone you would be endowed with the same strengths. The months and their stones have pretty much stayed the same until today, with the addition of an alternative birthstone as the cost of the original stones has increased.

When I started looking into the history of birthstones, I found that there are gems associated with each of the signs of the zodiac as well as gemstones for each day of the week. Now that information was a surprise to me. I knew that astrology attached characteristics to each zodiac sign, but I never thought that in addition to this there were gemstones too.

Here, then, is the list of the signs of the Zodiac and their corresponding birthstones:

Capricorn	12/22 – 1/20	Ruby
Aquarius	1/21 – 2/19	Garnet
Pisces	2/20 – 3/20	Amethyst
Aries	3/21 – 4/20	Bloodstone
Taurus	4/21 – 5/20	Sapphire
Gemini	5/21 – 6/21	Agate
Cancer	6/22 – 7/22	Emerald
Leo	7/23 – 8/23	Onyx
Virgo	8/24 – 9/23	Carnelian
Libra	9/24 – 10/23	Peridot
Scorpio	10/24 – 11/22	Beryl
Sagittarius	11/23 – 12/21	Topaz

The next time you are searching for a gift, do something unexpected. Give some jewelry based on the zodiac.  If you need any help in finding the perfect gift, just ask me.

For more information about Birthstones, see my Ezine article.