AMETHYST: physical, chemical and metaphysical properties

Description & lore:

This is a transparent stone, mostly purple/violet in color. Its crystals are pointed, and they can be found as cluster, as geodes or as single points in various sizes. They are found in a few different colors like various shades of Purple and Violet. Some are pink in color, and then there are green ones too. The name Amethyst means "not drunken" in Greek :-). It used to be thought of as an antidote for drunkenness.

There are many variations of the mythical story of Amethyst. Here is one. The story goes that the Greek God Dionysus was really upset with a mortal. So he got very revengeful (as Gods in stories are supposed to get often! lol!), and swore that the next mortal he sees has had it! That poor mortal would be eaten up by his tigers. I wonder though, why he didn't go after the guy who made him angry in the first place. Anyway, back to the story. The next mortal who came in his path happened to be a lovely damsel called "Amethyst". She was on her way to pay her respects to the Greek Goddess Diana. Now Diana, being the smart woman she was (or is?), knew the damsel Amethyst was going to be in much distress if she didn't help. So she turned Amethyst
into pure crystalline quartz. When Dionysus saw this absolutely gorgeous crystalline statue of a very lovely damsel, he cried...and he cried tears of...WINE! Cool, isn't it? ;-) So this wine he wept was purple in color, and all his tears flowed all over Amethyst's statue...turning Amethyst completely purple. And that's how my friends we have Amethyst to make jewelry with ;-).

I wonder...did Diana ever change the poor damsel back into human?

Physical & Chemical properties:

Amethyst is the most valuable variety of Quartz, and it occurs in crystal form. The color purple of Amethyst is due to the presence of Manganese and the variation in the coloration is due the Iron content. It has a specific gravity of 2.65, and its hardness is 7 at Mohs' scale. The chemical formula is SiO2 (Silicon Dioxide), the crystal system is Tetrahedral. If you heat Amethyst, it turns colorless or yellow. Most commercial Citrine is made by heating Amethyst to yellow color.

Metaphysical properties:

It is the birthstone of people born in February. Amethyst is said to raise consciousness and intuitive abilities. It is a powerful stone to use in healing and protection. It opens, clears, balances and stimulates the throat & the heart chakras. It clears auras. It is protective and transmutes all lower energies like anger, fear etc. Amethyst inspires creativity. It gives rise to divine, selfless love, love for God, and promotes loyalty in relationships.

It helps relieve one of physical and emotional pain. And it is said to balance the production of hormones. If you have trouble sleeping, keeping an Amethyst crystal under your pillow is said to aid in having a good restful sleep. Keeping Amethyst around when you sleep also helps in having out of body experiences. You might also get intuitive dreams.

If you are injured, it is said to help reduce bruising. It heals hearing disorders, digestive problems, and headaches.

Amethyst opens a conscious channel between your earthly self and your spiritual self. It calms you down and makes you more at peace. It makes you compassionate and heals troubles from this life as well as the past lives.

It aids in contacting your spirit guides and angels, and helps in channeling divine messages.

This stone also helpful for people who are about to cross over to the other side. Amethyst is said to help with mental disorders, but it should not be used in cases of schizophrenia and paranoia.

Amethyst is a great stone for using in jewelry because of its strong healing powers and high vibration. It is especially helpful as a pendant that hangs over the throat chakra or the heart chakra.

Sources of Amethyst:

Brazil, Canada, East Africa, USA, UK, India, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Siberia, Uruguay.

Credits:

Over the years I have read many books, internet articles on gemstones because I just LOVE gemstones. And I have collected points that I found interesting, in my notebook. I don't remember all of these sources because there are so many. But some of my favorite books on crystals and gemstones are "Love is in the Earth", "Gems and Astrology", "The Crystal Bible".