Stones with Purpose: What to Wear and What it Does

Agate—Ensures you speak the truth when worn on an amulet; attracts favors from powerful people

Black Agate—Ensures success in business and in athletic competition if worn on a short chain or in a ring

Amazonite—Brings luck when worn while gambling

Amber—Brings love into your life; increases sexual pleasure

Amethyst—If worn by a man, will bring a good woman into his life

Bloodstone—Brings court victory in legal matters 

Carnelian—Protects from lightening

Cat’s-Eye—Helps retain beauty and life, depressing when worn as a ring

Coral earrings—Attracts men to your life

Dark Peridot Ring—Raises your spirits; brings you money 

Diamond with a Six-Sided Cut—Protects; ensures victory in conflict if worn in platinum

Diamond Set in Onyx—Incites loyalty in partner; overcomes sexual temptation

Frog-Shaped Jewelry—Protection while traveling, especially travel across water; potent if includes aquamarine gem

Geode Worn as Jewelry—Attracts love; helps women avoid miscarriage

Jade—Attracts love to your life if shaped like a butterfly 

Lapis Lazuli—Offers health, growth, protection if in the form of beads on gold wire

Moss Agate—Healthy harvest if worn while gardening 

Opal Earrings—Awakens psychic powers 

Andalusite

Sometimes referred to as the poor-man’s alexandrite, andalusite is richly colored and changes in various light from a green to a red. It is playing a trick on the eye, however, because both colors are there at all times. This pleochroic quality means that the stone shows different colors when viewed from different directions. Tanzanite and alexandrite exhibit this same trait. Gemologists strive to reduce this feature, as it affects the quality and price of the stone, making it less valuable, but I personally love the different colors in the facets of a pleochroic gem. This stone, very popular in men’s jewelry, was first found in Spain in the province of Andalusia. If you want people to see you in a different light, wear andalusite. This gem is particularly helpful if you’re going for a promotion at work!

Abalone

Abalone is the beautifully iridescent lining of a seashell—a product of our oceans and the end result of a living thing. Abalone is fished in California and in the warm, tropical coastal waters of Japan, China, and South America. Abalone is used to heal the heart and the muscles tissue, and to aid digestion. Use abalone as a dish to hold your sage smudging-stick for clearing energy at home. This gorgeous organic gem is a beautiful and sacred token for your altar or shrine at home. Just looking at abalone gives a sense of inner peace.

Diamonds—Fragments of the Stars

I love the charming legend that Europeans first discovered diamonds from Africa in the pouch of a shaman, who used them for healing magic. Prehistoric peoples believed they were fragments of the stars and teardrops of the gods.

In the most ancient times, diamonds were worn simply as adornment in their unpolished and rough state. As you might easily guess, diamonds are thought to bring luck, but there is another school of thought purported by diamondphobes who believe that these gems bring sure misfortune. The legend of the Hope diamond is a fascinating history wherein every owner of the royal rock was bankrupted until it was nestled in the safe of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Diamonds are associated with lightning and with ensuring victory to warriors wearing them. Diamonds are thought to be powerful enough to fend off madness and even to stave off the devil himself ! The medieval mystic Rabbi Benoni believed that diamonds were conducive to true spiritual joy and had power over the very stars and planets in the heavens.

A curiosity regarding most of the lore about diamonds is that they are supposed to be effective only if received as gifts; the outright purchase of a diamond is said to ruin the magic. I don’t agree on this; if I could afford a diamond for myself, I know it would bring me enormous fortune!

Renaissance astrologer and scholar Gerolamo Cardano was wary of the crown jewel of crown jewels. He proclaimed this about the diamond: “It is believed to make the wearer unhappy; its effects therefore are the same upon the mind as that of the sun upon the eye, for the latter rather dims than strengthens the sight. It indeed engenders fearlessness, but there is nothing that contributes more to our safety than prudence and fear; therefore it is better to fear.” Alchemist Pierre de Boniface was far more confident about this queen of crystals, claiming it could render anyone wearing one invisible! Still, other medieval healers and humbugs claimed diamonds could cure poisoning and were themselves a powerful poison if ground up. Perhaps the most obvious unfounded claim regarding diamonds is that they could overcome and cure the plague.

Mirrors of Mystery

Mirrors have been tools of magic since time immemorial. Shiny, smooth reflective surfaces have lent themselves so well to the imagination and intuition. It is little wonder that these portals to another world promote psychic awareness. Obsidian and other types of shimmering rocks and volcanic glasses presented themselves to primitive peoples as opportunities to communicate with unseen spirits, which is what we modern folk do when we are accessing energy.

When Harry Potter famously looked into his magic mirror, he awakened the masses to this tradition, and I have heard that sales of magic mirrors have skyrocketed. Throughout history, people looking for answers have used mirrors and even bowls filled with ink to peer into another dimension. Gazing balls and pools have also served for dealing with the divine.

You can make your own magic mirror and power it with crystals. First, get a round dime-store mirror, preferably with a plastic or wooden frame for ease of gluing appliqués. Make sure the frame has a lot of surface area on which to affix your gems. From any New Age store or rock shop, purchase fifty to 100 small crystals—various quartzes and semiprecious stones of a similar shape and small size. You can use a rainbow of colors unless you have a particular affinity for any certain stone. For example, amethyst is my birthstone, so I prefer to use an all-amethyst magic mirror. I simply feel more connected to this lovely, purple semiprecious gem.

Clean the frame with a soft, dry cloth and spread clear drying glue onto it. One at a time, place the crystal pebbles into the glue in any pattern you desire. I have seen lovely versions of concentric circles of color following the spectrum, beginning with deepest, darkest red garnet stones inside and circling out to the palest purple pebbles and finally a layer of the clearest quartz. I have seen gorgeous pebble spirals and paisleys, and so many other patterns.

I know some gem magicians who have several magic mirrors for different kinds of questing and querying. A mirror of peridot, the birthstone of Leo, is good for looking at issues of self-image and matters centering around you. A ruby mirror (made of the highly affordable rough rubies) is perfect for matters relating to love, and a jade mirror will aid in money matters. Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces) would do well to make magic mirrors from sea glass and seashells they have gathered during walks on the beach. Anyone who feels drawn to the ocean will also benefit from a seashell magic mirror. Many of us go for walks on the beach or along water when we are searching for answers. A magic mirror of shells can be twice as effective at helping you find your answers!

Amethyst is still tops in my book, and I recommend a mirror adorned with this stone as a very dependable tool of magic. Amethyst is a good balancing stone and is also one of the most intuition-boosting of all gems.

Magic Metals

Just as the first humans sensed that stones contained energy and special properties, so too they found that metals boasted energies that had tremendous influence and power. Metals used to be very commonplace in magic, but their popularity has lessened within the last 500 years, after alchemists began to turn into scientists.

Magical Metallurgy has rebounded a bit and plays a definite role in gem magic. The simplest way to employ magic metals is to place a copper penny in your pocket or carry a pouch containing a horseshoe nail for luck. Mystical metals— from bewitching bronze to supernatural silver—can add a whole dimension to gem magic in your life.

Gem-Magic Get-Together

Forget the Tupperware party and have a gem-magic party with your girlfriends instead. Make popcorn, eat pizza, drink champagne, and, most importantly, make magic together. What could be more fun? All you have to do is pick a night and assign everyone two ingredients to bring—one snack and one batch of crystal beads. You provide the thread, tools, glue, and good vibes.

Think about beginning the night by making brooches. A brooch worn over the heart is a symbol of loyalty and love among friends. You’ll need to get some flat- circle brooch pins at a craft store. Give each person at the party a brooch and ask her to choose a partner. Using glue, each gal will encrust the front of her brooch with as many crystals as possible in a color and an array that best represents the personality of her partner. Then, the partners exchange brooches. Your gaggle of girlfriends will be forever bonded by their love brooches, not to mention the glue!

Here are a few other festive and fun projects you can whip up together: birthstone bracelets, bewitching barrettes, pendulum pendants, true-love tiaras, blessing bracelets, bodacious bobby pins, and nights-of-enchantment necklaces. The possibilities are endless; let your imagination (and your friends) run wild!