Sun Sign Correspondences

Birth Date: March 21 to April 19
Sun Sign: Aries
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Diamond, amethyst, topaz, garnet, iron, steel
Color: Red

Birth Date: April 19 to May 20
Sun Sign: Taurus
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Coral, sapphire, emerald, turquoise, agate, zircon, copper
Color: Azure

Birth Date: May 20 to June 21
Sun Sign: Gemini
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Aquamarine, agate, amber, emerald, topaz, aluminum
Color: Electric blue

Birth Date: June 21 to July 22
Sun Sign: Cancer
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Opal, pearl, emerald, moonstone, silver
Color: Pearl, rose

Birth Date: July 22 to August 22
Sun Sign: Leo
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Diamond, ruby, gold, sardonyx, chrysoberyl
Color: Orange

Birth Date: August 22 to September 23
Sun Sign: Virgo
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Jade, rhodonite, sapphire, carnelian, aluminum
Color: Gray blue

Birth Date: September 23 to October 23
Sun Sign: Libra
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Opal, sapphire, jade, quartz, turquoise, copper
Color: Pale orange

Birth Date: October 23 to November 22
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Bloodstone, topaz, aquamarine, jasper, silver
Color: Dark red

Birth Date: November 22 to December 21
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Lapis lazuli, topaz, turquoise, coral, tin
Color: Purple

Birth Date: December 21 to January 20
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Onyx, jet, ruby, lead, malachite
Color: Brown

Birth Date: January 20 to February 19
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Aquamarine, jade, fluorite, sapphire, zircon, aluminum
Color: Green

Birth Date: February 19 to March 21
Sun Sign: Pisces
Lucky and Protective Stones and Minerals: Amethyst, alexandrite, bloodstone, stitchite, silver
Color: Ocean blue 

Jade

I can’t help but marvel that I’m writing about jade on Chinese New Year. Jade is held in the highest regard by the Chinese and has been for thousands of years, thought to bring good luck and prosperity. Jade is a harbinger of purity and tranquility. The Chinese so adore this tone that they carry little talismanic pieces with them everywhere they go. Other cultures—the Maori of New Zealand and the Japanese—also hold jade blessed. Jade is a soft stone, perfect for carving. Both the Chinese and Japanese decorated royal personages with exquisite jade jewelry. Jade comes from Myanmar, Russia, Italy, China, and North and Central America. It is so affordable, I urge you to explore all the magical colors—yellow, orange, blue, red, purple, white, brown, and classic jade green—and powers of positivity.

Jade brings with it the power of love and protection. It is also a dream stone, promoting prophetic and deeply meaningful dreams.

• Purple jade heals the broken heart, allowing understanding and acceptance in and pain and anger out. If you are going through a breakup, purple jade will help you with the heartache.
• Green jade is the counselor stone and can help relationships that aren’t working become functional instead of dysfunctions; this shade is also a boon for the brain. Green jade helps with getting along.
• Red jade promotes the proper release of anger and also generates sexual passion. Serve your lover a passion potion in a cup of carved red jade while wearing only red jade. Sparks will fly!
• Blue jade is a rock for patience and composure and for conveying a sense of control. Wear blue jade pendants for serenity.
• Yellow jade is for energy, simple joy, and maintaining a sense of being a part of a greater whole. A yellow jade bracelet or ring will help you feel that all is well in your world.

Jadeite and nephrite are two varieties of jade, with the far more translucent and rarer jadeite being the more popular. Their healing properties are very much the same, however, and the different colors manifest different curatives. All jade brings positive energy. In 2001, a 2,000 ton boulder of jade was discovered in Ptiakant in Myanmar—now that’s a whole lot of love!

Hematite

Hematite takes its otherworldly metallic sheen from the iron oxide of which it is made. Even way back in the “Stone Age,” when I had my rock tumbler, I could quite easily come up with a silvery pebble after tumbling and polishing hematite. Occasionally, hematite has a reddish color or red speckles on the surface. This may be why hematite is named thusly: the root of the word, haima, is the Greek word for blood. Hematite has long been associated with blood, blood rituals, and medicine for treating nosebleeds, menstruation, heart disease, anemia, kidney disease, hemophilia, birth, surgery, insomnia, lung problems, and fever. Native Americans use hematite in dentistry and to treat wounds and substance abuse. Ancient Egyptians ground hematite up and put it in medicines and unguents. Egyptians loved this glistening rock, and every person could have one (which wasn’t the case with emeralds). They frequently wore hematite as an amulet, believing it could render the wearer invincible.

Hematite is most frequently found in North America, Sweden, Britain, Switzerland, Italy, and Brazil. Hematite is almost like the “Magic Metals” previously discussed (see chapter two) because it contains high levels of iron, driving its blood-cleaning capabilities. It is also a protective rock and fortifies tissue regeneration. Hematite shores up self-image and self-belief. It also transforms negative energy into positive. Hematite is considered to be yang, a more male energy. My preferred aspect of this shiny wonder is that it assists with both legal problems and astral projection. Hematite is a creativity crystal and a marvelous mental enhancer, increasing the ability to think with logic, to focus, to concentrate, and to remember more clearly and completely. Hematite draws anxiety out of the body and creates calm. In addition to all of these aspects that project outward, hematite contributes to inner work: self- knowledge, deeper consciousness, and wisdom. Like the iron in the earth from which it is formed, hematite grounds. If you feel spacey or disconnected, you should wear hematite.

You now know that hematite can be found fairly commonly in North America and parts of South America, but you may not be aware that it can be found in plenitude on Mars! Yes, Mars has a bad case of “rust” dust due to the gray hematite in a massive patch on the surface near the Martian equator, proving that Mars had water or at least water vapor at some point. This has led to tantalizing theories from scientists about possible hot springs that were once active on our red neighbor planet. I discovered this while cruising the NASA Web site. How do they know it was hematite? Through an infrared-imaging system known as THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) I also discovered a quote by Victoria Hamilton, a planetary geologist at Arizona State University, explaining that “all materials vibrate at the atomic scale...each mineral has a unique infrared spectrum that identifies it as surely as the fingerprints of a human being.” Fascinating!