Jet

Jet is a stone but is organic—petrified wood found all over the world in deposits dating back to the Stone Age. It is a tough form of lignite coal that is polished to a glossy sheen, unlike ordinary coal. Jet is black and extremely hard. It has been with us since prehistory and was found to have been used for both tools and jewels in the caves ancient Egyptians lived in.

Native Americans also wore jet in powerful amulets. Jet is an energy absorber and has been used as such for centuries; it has been used for many disparate cures, from insanity to the common cold. The absorbency, however, makes it truly great for dispelling fear, and though it obviously can’t cure mental illness, it can help stabilize mood swings and stave off debilitating depression. Jet is used to treat headaches, edema, and epilepsy. Anyone who suffers from migraines should carry a jet amulet to ease both the pain and the fear around those difficult episodes. Jet is also a potent treatment for enhancing virility. The stone is best served by a silver mounting into jewelry. Jet is a useful dream stone and can send forewarning of sorrowful events. Despite that, jet is a stone of the positive, creating optimism and improved money energy.

Topaz—Saint Hildegard’s Cure

Sailors once used this golden gem to shed light of the water during moonless nights. Topaz was also used as an aphrodisiac and to prevent the excesses of love, functions that certainly don’t seem to go together. Ground into a dust and mixed with rose water, topaz was used to treat excessive bleeding. Similarly, powdered topaz mixed with wine was a treatment for insanity once upon a time. The ancients used topaz to guard against magicians by setting it in a gold bracelet and wearing it on the left arm. Saint Hildegard of Bingen, who suggested topaz was an aid to poor vision, placed the stone in wine for three straight days and then gently rubbed it on the eye. The wine could then be drunk—after removing the stone, of course. This is one of the first written records of a gem elixir. Medieval physicians also used topaz to treat the plague and its accompanying stores, and several miracles were attributed to a particular stone that had been in the possession of Pope Clement VI and Pope Gregory II.

Sapphire—Eye of Horus

The ancient Persians believed that Earth rested on a giant sapphire and the blue sky was a reflection of its color. The Greeks identified white sapphire with the god Apollo. They deemed this stone very important indeed: The oracles at Delphi used it to make their prophecies. The Egyptians designated sapphire as the eye of Horus. Star sapphire is especially prized, as the lines crossing the blue of the stone were believed to represent faith, hope, and charity.

Sapphire has been used as an eye cure for millennia. Medieval scientist Sir Albert the Great recorded incidents in which he had seen sapphire used with success as a healer, stating that it was necessary for the stone to be dipped in cold water prior to surgery and afterward, as well. A contemporary of Albert the Great’s by the name of von Helmont advocated using sapphire as a remedy for plague boils by rubbing this gem on the afflicted spots. He did offer the disclaimer that the condition could not be too advanced and explained the science behind his cure with the early theory of magnetism, in which a force in the sapphire pulled “the pestilential virulence and contagious poison from the infected part.”

Part of the myth and magic of sapphires is that they offer a great deal of myth and magic. Magicians and seers love this stone because it adds to their sensitivities and enables them to augur better. Historically, it was regarded as a gem of nobility, and any regal personage wearing this noble gem would be protected from harm, particularly the threat of poison. Another dubious legend is that Moses wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of sapphire, but it is more likely that they would have been carved into the soft and more readily available lapis lazuli. Even with God on his side, where would Moses have gotten sapphires of such massive size and flatness? Sapphire remained popular with the religious; one notable instance was when the twelfth-century bishop of Rennes commended this gem as an ecclesiastical ring due to its obvious connection to the heavens above. The holy— and legal—minded also favored this stone as it was believed to help counteract deception. Once, sapphires were believed to have gender. Dark sapphires were “male,” and light stones were “female.”

Opal—Cupid’s Stone

In the classical era, humans believed that opals were pieces of rainbows that had fallen to the ground. They also dubbed this exquisite iridescent gem Cupid’s stone because they felt it looked like the love god’s skin. The Arabs believed opals fell from heaven in bright flashes of lightning, thus gaining their amazing fire and color play. The Romans saw opals as symbols of purity and optimism. They believed this stone could protect people from diseases. The Roman name for opal is so beautiful and evocative—cupid paedros, meaning “a child as beautiful as love.”

Saint Albert the Great was one of the most learned men of the thirteenth century, a student of the natural sciences as well as theology, literature, and languages. He fancied mineralogy and waxed on about opal: “The porphanus is a stone which is in the crown of the Roman Emperor, and none like it has ever been seen; for this very reason it is called porphanus. It is of a subtle vinous tinge, and its hue is as though pure white snow flashed and sparkled with the color of bright, ruddy wine and was overcome by this radiance. It is translucent stone, and there is a tradition that, formerly, it shone in the nighttime, but now, in our age, it does not sparkle in the dark, it is said to guard the regal honor.”  

Opals had many superstitions attached to them. There was the belief that an opal wrapped in a bay-laurel leaf could cure any eye disease and combat weak hearts and infection. In the Middle Ages, opal was called ophthalmios, or “eye stone.” The great Scandinavian epic the Edda contained verses about a stone forged by the smithy of the gods to form the eye of children, doubtless a reference to opal. In olden days, it was thought that an opal would change color according to the mood and health of the owner, going dull and colorless when the owner died. Blond women favored opals because they believed they could keep their hair light in color. (I trust they were not using black or dark blue opals!)

It was ever believed that an opal could render the wearer invisible, making this the patron stone of thieves. Black opal has always had top ranking among opals, being the rarest and most dramatic type. One legend told that if a love relationship was consummated with only one party wearing black opal, the gem would soak up the passion and store it in its glow.

Jasper—Building Block of Heaven

According to the Bible, the top of the holy walls of New Jerusalem, or heaven, contain 4,780 bricks encrusted with 1,327 hand-cut, polished red jasper stones. Jasper is mentioned throughout the Bible, particularly as a protective stone in the breastplates of the priests of Aaron. Evidently, the ancients considered it to be an extremely powerful stone. Even God is referred to metaphorically as a red jasper stone in one interpretation of Revelation chapter 4, verse 3, which states, “And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like and emerald.” (NKJV, www.Biblelight.org)

The ancients also favored jasper for curing snakebites, repelling evil spirits, and controlling the weather by bringing rain. “Lithica,” a fourth-century epic poem, praises this stone: “The gods propitious hearken to his prayers, who’ever the polished glass-green Jasper wears: His parsed glebe they’ll saturate with rain, and send for shower to soak the thirsty plain.”

Jade—The Concentrated Essence of Love

Jade has been called the concentrated essence of love. The French literary legend Voltaire, author of Candide, was involved in a kidney-stone scandal caused by the innocent generosity of a Mademoiselle Paulet, who gave Voltaire a lovely jade bracelet. She wanted him to be cured in the same way she had, but French society thought it was a token of love, and his reputation was irrevocably damaged.

I always thought jade was a word of Asian origin until I learned better. It comes from the Spanish word piedra de hijada, translating to “stone of the flank,” a name prompted by the Indian use of jade as a cure for kidney disease. Jade also served as an aid to ancient midwives and birth mothers, and on the opposite end of the spectrum of life, the Egyptians, Chinese, and Mayans placed a small piece of jade into the mouths of the dead.

The erudite world-exploring nobleman Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this about jade: “These Amazones have likewise great stores of these plates of gold, which they recover in exchange, chiefly for a kind of greene stone, which the Spaniards call Piedra Hijada, and we use for spleene stones and for the disease of the stone we also esteem them. Of these I saw divers in Guiana, and commonly every King or Casique had one, which theire wife for the most part weare, and the esteeme them as great jewels.”

An Integrative Approach

I believe one of the primary reasons crystals populate our planet is for healing. I was a bit oblivious to this wonderful gift from the universe until I faced a serious health crisis of my own. Now, I am keenly interested in the healing power of crystals, and I am quite amazed at the extensive array of curatives crystals offer. However, do not ever replace traditional medicine with a crystal-only approach. If this sounds like a disclaimer, it most certainly is. I believe in a combination of Easter and Western medicine, inclusive of gem and crystal healing, is the best way to cover all of your bases for health and wellness. I believe that gem-healing magic can be the difference between feeling okay and feeling GREAT. And, who doesn’t want to feel wonderful.

Stress-Reducing Stones

Alexandrite will bring lots of zest. Feeling depressed, worried, and blue? Citrine or jet can banish dark days. Stressed out? Rhyolite races to the rescue as well.

Certain green stones, such as chrysocolla and malachite, calm the mind, and green-flecked bloodstone is a stress buffer.

If you want to be uplifted, try jade. To become wiser, pick sapphire. To stay safe while traveling, pick dendritic agate.

To remain calm and overcome stress, choose blue lace agate. For more mental clarity, choose malachite. For a self-esteem boost, try rhodonite.

Herkimer diamonds are powerful and bring great vitality and exuberance into your life. They can redirect stress away from you with their absorptive abilities. Placing these rocks in your bedroom will cause the stress to melt away and help you relax and feel safe.

Dioptase is a gorgeous gemstone that nearly matches the color of green emeralds but lacks a similar hardness, which lowers its marketplace value. It can be found in Peru, Chile, Russia, Iran, and some sites in Africa. The true value of dioptase lies in its ability to help anyone experiencing mental stress. It lends balance to male and female energies and acts as a stabilizer. As an energy stone, dioptase can activate and awaken every chakra, invigorating the mind, body, and spirit. If you want to be really different, wear dioptase, and you will fascinate admirers with this beautiful stone and find peace of mind in the process.

Crystal Cures for Every Day of the Week

Gemstones and crystals have healing powers based on ancient belief systems passed down from the Chaldeans and metaphysicians of the old world. Among the treasure trove of knowledge they passed down are these crystal cures:

Sapphire has violet energy; worn first on Saturday on the middle finger of the right hand two hours before sunset, the stone is said to be curative for kidneys, epilepsy, tumors and sciatica.

Diamonds, containing rays of indigo light, are for eyes, nose, asthma, laziness and drunkenness, especially if worn on the right pinkie on Friday with the waxing moon. Worn on Sundays, diamonds enhance spiritual understanding when worn on the left ring finger.

Emerald has green light rays and can help with the heart, ulcers, cancer, asthma, and influenza, when worn on the right side pinkie on Wednesday two hours after dawn. On Tuesdays, wear it on the other hand for calm, sound sleep and to repel bad dreams and nightmares.

Pearls radiate orange rays and operate as a curative for work on Monday mornings. They help with insanity, diabetes, colic and fever.

Topaz has blue rays and helps with laryngitis, paralysis, hysteria, scarlet fever and assorted glandular disorders if worn on the right ring finger on Thursday mornings.