_Birthstones and the Magic of Gems_
_The Seasons_
Precious stones have from earliest times been associated with special
powers. Not only were they guardians against demons, but each by its
particular virtue warded off certain diseases or other misfortunes. In
their astrological aspects, they could help to arrange, if not wholly to
secure, a happy future. From this connection with things to come, the
gems came to be linked with various times: each season, each month, even
each day of the week, had its special stone.
The season of spring, with the first flowering of the reborn year, is
considered especially appropriate for the amethyst, the green diamond,
the chrysoberyl, the spinel, the pink topaz, the olivine, and the
emerald. The bright sun of summer, that bells the fruit and spreads
the foliage, is best for zircon, garnet, ruby, and fire opal. Spinel,
chrysoberyl, and pink topaz still hold their charm. As the languors of
summer tang toward the crispness of autumn, it grows time for sapphire,
hyacinth, oriental chrysolite, tourmaline, jacinth, and topaz. Then
with the challenge of winter come turquoise, white sapphire, rock
crystal, quartz, moonstone, pearl, and the gleaming diamond. Of course,
the brilliant solitaire, the diamond of the engagement ring, is an
appropriate stone in any season.
_The Days of the Week_
The days of the week are more intricately bound in gemmed symbol. If you
know the day on which you were born, you can garner all the good fortune
that comes with the proper stone. Each day of the week, along with the
stone, bears other significances and powers.
_Sunday_
The golden-yellow day of King Sol, the sun, is marked with the yellow
jacinth. If one wears this, we are told, one has the power of a lion on
that day—especially when Leo, the lion in the heavens, takes the summer
season with the sun.
But also this is a token of secrecy in the man—it ensures discretion,
always advisable, often essential, in a lover—while in the woman it
betokens generosity, always desired but not always appreciated by a lover.
_Monday_
The serene day of the moon is the day for pearls. Pearls should be
bestowed on a Monday. The color white is bound with them and with the
day, for the snow-white blanket of peacefulness. A man might wear a
pearl in a tie clasp, bar, or in a tie pin, which is coming back into
favor. The pearl is a token, in a man, of friendship, of integrity, of a
religious feeling; and in a woman of contemplation, purity, affability.
_Tuesday_
Tuesday is a more active day. Tiw is the Nordic god of war, and his name
is used to translate the Latin for Mars’ day. Hence its stone is the
blood-red ruby. This is a fitting day to hold in memory those who have
died valiantly in battle. But it is likewise a day to be on one’s guard,
for while the star ruby marks nobility and power of command in the man,
it may also spill over in excess to bloody vengeance. And in the woman,
while the ruby of this day adorns a proper pride, it may descend to a
pettier obstinacy. At its best, the ruby is resplendent on a Tuesday.
_Wednesday_
Although Woden was king of the Nordic gods, his name is used to translate
the Latin for the day of the fickle and thievish Mercury, who was
placated on this day. The emerald is its precious stone. The color green
may mark jealousy when it flickers in a woman’s eyes, but in a gem it is
a token of change. In a man it betokens joyousness, quick-soaring but
transitory. In the woman, with the Wednesday emerald comes a spontaneous,
childlike delight in passing things, a love of variety. This is a good
day to hold in memory those who have died in the flower of youth.
_Thursday_
Thor’s day, said the Anglo-Saxons. Again they transmuted the powers, for
Thor is the god of war, while to the Romans this is the day of Jupiter,
king of the gods. It is a violet day, the day of the violet sapphire.
This is a precious stone indeed, and a potent day. In the man it marks
sober judgment, gravity, industry. In the woman the Thursday sapphire
denotes high thoughts, and a love that lifts beyond the body with the
spirit. Fortunate are they between whom a violet sapphire passes on a
Thursday.
_Friday_
Here the Anglo-Saxons made no mistake, for Friya is their god of love,
and Friday is Venus’ day. Friday still feels the force of the sapphire,
but the sapphire must be blue. In the man, the blue sapphire marks
magnanimous thoughts and wisdom.
In the woman, the blue sapphire of Friday, especially the star sapphire,
marks courtesy and keen powers of observation. The girl Friday sees
more than she tells. But there is need for caution; without the stone,
these feminine powers may shift to a colder watchfulness, accompanied by
jealousy and suspicion. Beware a flaw in the precious stone, the precious
one. Friday is an auspicious day for love, if love is bedecked with a
blue sapphire.
_Saturday_
Saturday is the seventh day, the day of rest. Thus the Anglo-Saxons did
not labor to translate it from the Latin; it is the day of Saturn, the
Roman god of time and growth. Saturn was the father and first king of
the gods; his stone is the king of gems, the diamond. Saturday crowns
the days of the week, as the diamond crowns the family of the gems. In
a man the diamond marks gravity, fortitude, constancy. In a maiden, it
may betoken a certain giddiness, a flighty fancy that has not yet found
its destination; but in a woman it marks perseverance and constancy. The
woman of the Saturday diamond knows what she wants, and works unfaltering
to attain it.
_The Months_
Thus, from the jacinth and the pearl to the sapphire and the diamond,
runs the gemmed story of the days. More fixed in popular imagination are
the special stones of the months, for these have become the birthstones
that mark the natal days. In early times there was considerable variety;
today there is general agreement as to these stones. They may have come,
as many believe, from the twelve stones in the breastplate of the Jewish
high priest. Or they may be transferred from the twelve foundation stones
proclaimed in _Revelations_ for the New Jerusalem. The ages have fixed
them as memorials of birth, and one should have at least one lucky jewel
adorned with one’s birthstone.
TABLE OF BIRTHSTONES
_Month_ _Birthstone_
January Garnet
February Amethyst
March Aquamarine
April Diamond
May Emerald
June Pearl
July Ruby
August Sardonyx or Peridot
September Sapphire
October Opal
November Topaz
December Turquoise
Each of the birthstones is caught into more than one jingle. Its powers
have been trusted so long that folklore has wrapped them in song, and
truth hangs upon them like the beard of a patriarch. And the stones
themselves endow the wearer with the special grace of the natal day.
_January: Garnet_
By her who in this month is born
Gaily the garnet should be worn;
’Twill guarantee love’s constancy
And warm her in felicity.
The January stone, at its best, is a deep red, or a red shading to
violet. With its burgundy sparkle, it has a dark brilliance found in no
other gem.
The color of the garnet drew it naturally to association with blood. It
has been considered a sovereign remedy against all kinds of inflammation
and bleeding and disorders of the blood. Since the face flushes with
anger, the garnet was held as a charm against anger; it was felt to
have a calming influence and to be potent against mental disorders.
Psychoanalysts take long years to accomplish what one may gain just by
the wearing of a garnet.
Pile on the coal.
And if there’s a hole
In underclothes, go darn it.
This is the time
For winter’s rime,
And for the ruddy garnet.
_February: Amethyst_
The February born will find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion or from care,
If they the amethyst will wear.
The February stone has a wider range of color, and may be chosen in any
shade from light lilac to a deep royal purple. It is a symbol of beauty
and of power. It has been traditionally associated with the Princes of
the Church, and down the ages has been the chosen royal gem.
Out of the ancient Hebrew comes the thought that the amethyst has the
power to prevent nightmares and unpleasant dreams.
With its buried meanings of beauty and power, of power-claiming beauty,
the amethyst was one of the earliest stones to be cut in the shape of a
heart.
Here is a story of the best known and most heralded of the powers of the
amethyst, its potency as a guard against intoxication, against the evil
effects of overindulgence.
The god of revelry and wine, Bacchus, we are told, fell in love with
a nymph, who sought to avoid his tipsy embrace. (One needs not the
gods to picture such a pickle!) This nymph, however, prayed to Diana,
goddess vowed to chastity. Diana changed her to an amethyst, with power
to withstand the effects of drink. The frustrated Bacchus gave the
stone the color of wine. Hence the amethyst was known to the Greeks as
“the sobering gem.” It should surely be the token stone of Alcoholics
Anonymous, for its very name, _a-methyst_, comes from the Greek, meaning
“against strong drink.”
February, we are told, is the cruellest month; its chill seems to call
for the warm coursing of an invigorating drink. It is most fortunate that
the stone for this month of biting cold is the amethyst.
Red the cheek glows,
Still redder the nose;
Jack Frost the lips has kissed.
Spice the hot drink;
Let glasses clink—
And wear the amethyst!
_March: Aquamarine_
Who in this world of ours their eyes
In March first open, shall be wise,
In days of peril firm and bold,
If they an aquamarine will hold.
March is the month when spring rains begin. It is also the month when
of old, after the winter’s frost, men ventured forth again. In the
Mediterranean to the south, and from the fjords and headlands of the
north, our ancestors pushed their boats out from the shore, in quest of
food and far adventure. Thus the gem of March is the aquamarine, whose
name means “water of the sea.” And the stone is truly cousin to the
waters. At its best it is clear as mid-ocean, and of a brilliant greenish
blue. It has been said that whoever wears an aquamarine can do no dirty
deed, will all his life be clean of body and spirit. For this reason, the
aquamarine is a favorite gift to a newborn baby.
Sea voyagers today, as the Vikings long ago, for protection from the
dangers of the deep may wear an aquamarine.
Hark how the rain
Beats on the pane!
It flushes the world with green.
Brooks are all high,
Roads never dry—
Everything’s aquamarine!
_April: Diamond_
She who from April dates her years
Diamonds should wear, lest bitter tears
In vain repentance flow; this stone
Emblem of innocence is known.
With the magic of spring, in myriad raindrops lit by the sudden sun, in
the glint of young leaves and the brightness of early flowers, April
shares the sparkle of the diamond. For springtime and for its precious
stone, superlatives are the order of the season. The diamond has the
greatest brilliance and most power of reflection of all gems. Its
clearness and its cleanness are unsurpassed. It is colorless, yet it can
show the entire spectrum of colors.
The god of mines, we are told, created the diamond by pulverizing
all other precious stones—ruby, sapphire, emerald, and the gathered
host—blending and pressing them into one supreme stone, a crystal that,
itself without color, imprisons and releases all the fused colors in its
core.
More sentimentally, legend records that in one of his unguarded tender
moments, Jupiter, king of the gods, asked the young man who had rocked
him in his cradle to name his own reward. The young man asked that he
might endure unchanged forever. Jupiter turned him into a diamond.
Increasingly through the centuries has the diamond been valued. Popes
have proclaimed its virtues. Musical comedies have sung its praises. Only
the flawless diamond, the Hindus pointed out, has the power to heal.
Pope Clement VII stated that the greatest curative potency dwelt in the
powdered diamond. In the eighteenth century, the French maintained—to
the smiling acquiescence of the feminine kind—that the diamond possesses
talismanic virtue only when given as a gift; a purchased diamond held no
luck for the purchaser.
This symbolism blent with the meaning of the ring to make the diamond
the first formal gift to the loved woman upon betrothal. As the seal
of an engagement, a solitaire is more effective than the old “writ” or
quill-penned bond; it symbolizes at once a bond and an indestructible
union of power and beauty.
There is in this gem, though it is not always the most costly of precious
stones, the strongest appeal to a woman, and she is fortunate indeed
whose claim to the diamond is a birthright.
A diamond in a jewel adorning another beauty sets unrest in a woman’s
heart, until she too is asparkle. The diamond is a sign of love; it
confers loveliness, or at least it imposes pride. It is the ambition of
every woman—and it should be the fortune of everyone Aprilborn—to possess
a flawless diamond.
After the shower
Brightens the hour,
Flowers lift on the stem.
Raindrop sparkles
Till evening darkles:
Diamond is the gem.
_May: Emerald_
Who first beholds the light of day
In Spring’s sweet flowery month of May
And wears an emerald all her life,
Will be a loved and happy wife.
May is the month when meadows and woods put on their richest garb of
green. May is the month of the emerald. The ancients said that the gem
was the captured glow of the firefly.
Deep green and translucent, this stone at its best is very rare. It was
prized before and beyond all other stones and, for large flawless gems,
outvies the diamond. Among church stones it ranks very high; Andreas,
Bishop of Caesarea, wrote of the emerald: “Its transparency and beauty
may not change; we conceive the stone to signify John the Evangel.”
The potency of the emerald has been extolled in various fields. It was
especially prized as a panacea for poisons. In this field, it was an
admirable alexipharmic; it protected against poison from fangèd bite,
and from the gangrene of wounds. It warded off the dangers of poison
artfully secreted in food; also, of poison from eating the wrong food,
as toadstools for mushrooms, spoiled food, or just too much food. And it
preserved one from that most pestilent of all poisons, the poisoning of
the mind.
Still more widespread was the use of the emerald as a talisman and a
cure-all for the eye. The calming influence of its dark green hue has
been recognized from early times to the modern eye shade. The Roman
Emperor Nero, who suffered from an eye ailment, used to hold a specially
ground emerald before his eye to relieve the strain, and to enjoy the
relaxation that came with its gentle soothing. In the early Renaissance
the watchmakers and the goldsmiths, their eyes bleary from long strain
at their fine operations, would pause in their work and gaze upon an
emerald. The emerald is the only stone that delights the eye without ever
bringing fatigue.
Less worthy use was made of the emerald by those ambitious in love. In
the Orient, the emerald was the token of love and was often used to
adorn the statues of the god or the goddess of love. But later it became
associated (as were the gods themselves) with the more passionate aspects
of love. Then the emerald was employed—often, of course, as a bribe to
the pandar or a gift to the girl, but also as a talisman—by those who
sought success in their amours.
It is in its more peaceful aspects, of the green and eye-enchanting
colors of May, that one cherishes the emerald.
Spring in its glory
Tells the bright story
Of the young year at play.
It tries on the sheen
Of gold and of green:
Emerald’s the precious for May.
_June: Pearl_
Who comes with summer to this earth
And owes to June her day of birth,
With ring of pearl upon her hand
Can health, wealth, happiness command.
And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days,
Then heaven tries earth, if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays.
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, and see it glisten.
What symbol of glistening life could be more significant than the
lustrous pearl? It is one of the gems that delights in more than the
beholding, for the feel of the soft fine smoothness of the gem is like
the petal of a pansy.
While the pearl does not have the brilliance and fire of a well-cut
precious stone, it has a soft glow unique among gems, and an amazing
variety of glints and shadings around its basic hue, from the purest
white to the darkest black. Most desired of its dark shades is the
“mordoré,” a greenish coppery iridescence over black. This, however, is
so rare that not more than four necklaces of such pearls are known. More
frequent among the valued shades are the cream and the light pink pearl.
A pearl is in its very being a symbol, the triumphant growth of beauty
from disease. It marks the victory over drawbacks and handicaps, the
building of one’s treasure out of one’s disadvantages.
From its gentle color and its smooth shape, the pearl came to be the
symbol of modesty and purity. It was endowed with many powers. It brought
succor in times of distress. It cemented friendships, out of first
likings fashioning firm ties. It strengthened a weak heart and a weak
memory. It gave maids courage to resist, and men stoutheartedness to
overcome, evil.
Especially in the Orient, where it was first widely known, there have
been many uses of the pearl. It was combined in jewels, used alone
in many-stranded chains, woven into garments, woven in or hung upon
tapestries that decked the walls of palaces. It was embroidered not only
on women’s garments, but on priestly and ceremonial robes. There can
hardly be a treasure in which the precious stones are not accompanied by
pearls.
The soft lustre of the pearl, and its natural shape, inevitably linked
it with the teardrop. Indeed, what are pearls but the crystalline tears
of the angels, weeping over man’s indiscretions? The Romantics suggested
that the pearl may sometimes bring tears. The materialists retorted that
the tears were of vexation, shed by those that could not afford the
pearls. But every morning of a clear June day, the teardrops are on every
blade of grass, the glistening dew that is the brief land-pearl.
Hand in hand
All over the land
Lover leads his girl;
Merrily wedded,
Cosily bedded:
June’s for the shimmering pearl.
_July: Ruby_
The glowing ruby should adorn
Those who in warm July are born;
Then they will be exempt and free
From love’s doubt and anxiety.
With July, the heat of the sun begins to burn into bright flame the
colors of approaching autumn. The range of red is in the ruby, from pale
pink to that deep shade known as pigeon-blood. Rarest of all stones,
the flawless ruby was endowed with the mightiest powers. The ancients,
feeling its hidden forces, called it “the stone of life.”
The wearer of the ruby had naught but courage in his heart; he knew
no fear. Well might this be, for in his mind the ruby rendered him
invincible. The Russian Czar, Peter the Great, who scorned jewelry,
always carried loose rubies in his pocket; he held one clenched in his
fist when he gave orders for the exploits that justify his name.
Among the healing virtues ascribed to the ruby is power over ailments of
the skin. Held between the palms of the hands, it is supposed to put an
instant stop to internal hemorrhage. Worn against the skin a necklace of
rubies, strung on silk, similarly made the skin impenetrable to sharpest
blade or deadliest venom. In these days of the venomous pen and the
deadly fall-out, it is interesting to note that the ruby necklace has
again become popular.
To dream of rubies, one may read in the Arabic dream-books (which have
many more years of authority than Freud), is to be destined to great
felicity. Good news, good fortune, good health, all lie ahead.
Of those who possess a fine ruby, Sir John Mandeville says: “The
fortunate owner of a brilliant ruby will live in peace and concord with
all men; neither his land nor his rank can be taken from him.”
One cloud only darkens the ruby’s glow. The ruby itself at times is said
to cloud; and when the gem grows dull, misfortune is on the wing. The
early gemologist, Wolfgang Gabelchower, a seventeenth-century German,
compiled a list of misfortunes that befell individuals after their rubies
had developed a cloud. He capped his tales with the confirmation of his
own sadness: he noticed that his ruby ring was clouded; the next day, of
a sudden, his wife died.
Against this evidence I can only set my own observation and experience,
and the traditions of a family for four generations involved in the
creation of jewels: I know of no instance in which the possession of a
ruby was the cause of a misfortune. Quite the contrary: a fine star ruby
is a fortune in itself. And fortunate is she who knows the natal glow of
a ruby.
Honest is as honest does.
All the country’s in a buzz
From squire down to booby.
Apples ripening on the farm,
Fairies keep us from all harm
Binding us with ruby.
_August: Sardonyx or Peridot_
Wear sardonyx, or for thee
No conjugal felicity.
The August-born, without this stone,
Must live unlovèd and alone.
The reddish brown of the August stone accords with the drying earth, and
the leaves that herald the approaching turn of autumn. The sardonyx was
the fifth stone in the breastplate of the High Priest of the Hebrews;
among Catholics it is given honor as the stone of Saint James.
Physically, the sardonyx was used as a charm against warts, boils, and
cramps. Spiritually, it was worn to turn away the evil eye and to prevent
the transfer to the wearer of wicked impulses and thoughts. No witch
could insinuate evil fancies into the mind guarded by this stone. And the
most sardonic remark passed harmlessly by one who wore the sardonyx. On
the contrary, wearing the stone made one witty, popular, and happy.
August more generously than the other months permits an alternate
birthstone. This is the peridot, an olive green stone so radiant that
it sends back flashes even in very dim light. It has therefore been
linked with the sun, whose bright rays it ensnares to hold against future
darkness.
The peridot was a frequent stone in Egyptian jewels. From that time,
it has been used to protect the wearer from the dangers that lurk in
darkness, though in the fifteenth century it was maintained that the
peridot was effective only if set in purest gold; this combination made
it a perfect night talisman.
The stone was a favorite for earrings, as its power over light was
transferred to sound, to make even the lightest sound quite audible. It
also helped lighten the burden of neuralgic pains.
For warding off evil spirits, however, it was worn only beaded and strung.
Worn by a man, the peridot ensured his generosity, according to countless
wives who have bestowed peridot rings upon their husbands.
One of the most beautiful of all peridots is high-set in the Cathedral of
Cologne. Mysteriously it shines forth in the darkness of the dome, giving
a lasting memory and quiet reflections to all who have seen it.
Those born in August may be happy with sardonyx or peridot.
Long the rows of ripened grain
Along the dusty winding lane;
Do not walk alone.
Take the moonlit lovers’ path
Hand in hand; to turn Lob’s wrath
Sardonyx is the stone.
_September: Sapphire_
A maiden born when autumn leaves
Are rustling in September’s breeze
A sapphire on her brow should bind
To keep her keen and quick of mind.
In autumn the eyes turn upward from the bounteous earth, past the reds
and yellows and browns of the restless foliage, to the endless dome
of the skies. September is the month of the sapphire, which, like the
heavens, ranges from a light celestial blue to the deepest velvet-like
dark of indigo. It may have the lucid blue and cool brilliance of a
mountain lake. Its color seems to well from endless depths, with a rich
luminescence.
One of the rarest gems, the fine star sapphire, was held in repute among
Egyptian astrologers, who called it the stone of the stars. Wearing
a sapphire spun the stars into a favorable conjunction. In more than
one section of the world of glamour today, movie “stars” carry on this
tradition; sapphire jewelry, especially with a star sapphire, is their
most potent talisman. In “the profession” a sapphire is an antidote for
stage-fright. It builds confidence, brings success, and at the same time
deflects the shafts of envy.
The sapphire has also held place in religious functioning. The Bishop of
Rennes, in the twelfth century, hailed this stone as the most appropriate
for ecclesiastical use: “The sapphire is like the pure sky, and mighty
nature has endowed it with so great a power that it might be called the
gem of gems.”
Physically, the sapphire was thought to effect various cures. The
scientist von Helmhont praised its power for patients afflicted with
boils. Some thought the sapphire, for ills of the eye, even better than
the emerald. Thus Charles V of France had a sapphire set in gold, to
which he had a handle attached, like a lorgnette, to hold to his inflamed
and painful eyes. Queen Elizabeth I of England attributed more general
magical powers to a sapphire that she wore and with which she never
parted until her death. With it, she foiled countless plots against her
life and in England’s most turbulent times lived out her full allotment
of three score years and ten.
For the September-born, there is the exultation of the rustle of fall and
the sweep of white clouds across a sapphire heaven.
Harvest moon beyond the hill.
Harvest happiness, and still
Watch the hearth’s soft-dying ember.
Deep the night with many stars,
Love’s the locksmith breaks all bars.
Sapphire’s for September.
_October: Opal_
Fresh October brings the pheasant;
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.
But this month’s babe is born for woe
And life’s vicissitudes will know
Unless an opal on her breast
Drives off these woes and keeps her blessed.
October, with its sharp contrasts, is the month of the opal. This gem may
be white, or black, or of that rare and precious kind, the fire opal. In
its dark greyish background are imbedded the most luminous colors of red,
yellow, green, blue, and purple, that seem to shoot forth rays. The opal
does not refract light, being an opaque stone; but its own colors make
fine interplay with light.
The Roman historian Pliny called the opal “the captive rainbow.” The
wearer of the stone, the same authority assures us, not only will be
urbane and courteous but will be free from the spleen of those around. An
opal, like a soft answer, turneth away wrath.
For a while, especially in the early nineteenth century, the opal was
considered a stone of bad luck; it fell from favor like one dismissed by
royalty. Two stories, one from life and one in legend, helped produce
this aberration; human credulity completed the work.
The true-life story is that of Alphonso XII of Spain. He gave a ring,
bearing a magnificent opal, to his bride. Shortly after, she succumbed to
a mysterious malady. His sister, who next wore the ring, died a few days
later. His sister-in-law next put the precious opal on her finger; within
the month she died. Hoping to end the series of sudden deaths, Alphonso
took back the ring and gave it to no one. Alphonso died. The chain was
broken when his heirs placed the ring upon a statue of the Virgin.
The legend is a gruesome one recited by Sir Walter Scott in his poem
_Anne of Geierstein_. With mystic shadowings and eerie intimations, it
unfolds the story of the wearer of an opal, who shuns pious references
and avoids all contact with holy water. One night a watchful person
delivers an aspersion of the holy water, and the next day, where the
opal-wearer had slept, there rested only a pile of ashes.
Only the unthinking, however, and the wood-knockers shrink from the
beautiful opal because of such old wives’ tales. The stouthearted Empress
Victoria of England, for example, was extremely fond of opals, and
bestowed upon many of her friends jewels in which opals were set. There
are no records of sudden deaths at her court. In 1925, at the British
Empire Exhibition at Wembley, Queen Mary, passing a booth tended by a
miner’s wife, bought a black opal. It is a stone worthy of queenly favor.
Far from being a sinister omen, the opal is a stone of good fortune. It
is especially sought, indeed, by fortunetellers. Some of them gaze upon
it to induce that trance-like state in which the future spreads before
one like a great mirage; better than a crystal ball are the incessant
interplay of colors and the endless iridescence of the stone. An opal on
a ring increasingly gives the wearer a view of the future. Unlike the man
who considered augurs boring, I confess to a keen interest in what makes
them tick, or click. Usually their powers are linked to a special stone,
which, like as not, is an opal. The famous European telepath, Eric Jan
Hanussen, for example, believed implicitly in the prognostic power of the
stone. “Anyone could do what I do,” he once said to me, “if he had my
opal.”
Certainly the opal is auspicious for the October-born.
Light the fire; roast the crab.
Though she dodge the while you grab,
Kiss the maid still sober.
Hard the day’s work you have done,
Who would grudge an evening’s fun?—
Opal in October.
_November: Topaz_
Who first comes to this world below
With drear November’s fog and snow,
Should prize the topaz’ amber hue,
Emblem of friends and lovers true.
When nights are growing long and tempers short, when one seeks the
consolations of philosophy (or memories of Florida) to store against the
cold, November is the month of the topaz. This beautiful stone is at its
best when honey-blond.
The topaz was a holy stone, signifying Saint Matthew. Two of the popes,
Clement VI and Gregory II, possessed a topaz of great beauty, to which
were attributed great healing powers. This stone gave the faithful a
further impetus to make the pilgrimage to Rome from the far corners of
the world so that their health might return to them with the blessing and
the touch of this hallowed stone.
Even on less sacrosanct hands, the topaz was esteemed for its many
therapeutic virtues. From earliest times, in accordance with the
principles of sympathetic magic, the yellow color of the stone made it
ideal for the cure of those afflicted with jaundice and other ailments
of the liver. As the November stone, it was used in the Middle Ages to
cure the contagions that begin to spread with the onset of cold weather.
Its soothing color added it to the stones that were esteemed good for the
eyes; the topaz was moistened with wine and laid upon aching eyelids. It
also, many felt, cured diseases of the mind and helped the distraught to
regain their mental balance.
The birthday wearer of the topaz is likely to be an upright soul, with
good judgment fortified by wisdom. Faith and a deep spirit of charity are
within its bestowal, gifts important in November’s shortening days and
chilly blasts. It is clear that one of the most gracious of all stones is
the topaz.
The nights are growing dark and long,
Bitter is the wind and strong,
With a wailful moan.
Let your mirth the time beguile,
Meet life with a cheery smile
And a topaz stone.
_December: Turquoise_
If cold December gave you birth,
The month of snow and ice and mirth,
Place on your hand a turquoise blue,
Success will bless whate’er you do.
December, the last month of the dying year, chill with the shivering
threat of its dying, needs a great virtue to preserve it till it is
overtaken by the touch of January and the promise of the new year. This
great virtue the ancients found in the turquoise.
Among the ancient peoples of many lands, it was the common practice to
bury turquoises with the bodies of their monarchs and their chiefs, to
tide them over the pitchy paths of transfer and bear them safely to the
new world and the new life beyond the tomb. In the pyramids of Egypt, in
the Aztec tombs, in the mounds of Mexico, jewels and beads of turquoise
abound.
At the beginning of life in this world, too, the turquoise is welcomed;
there is still no better good-luck gift to a newborn child than a
necklace of turquoise beads. It is significant that December is the birth
month of the Holy Child, for whose nativity the gifts no doubt included
turquoise.
Since the turquoise is comparatively soft among stones, it can be readily
engraved; magic inscriptions, charms, and prayers have been cut upon
it, to add their power to its auspicious glow. The turquoise is thus
a protective stone. December being a precipitous month, when snow and
ice are prelude to a fall, with hillsides hazardous and even a level
walk a place where one is prone to slip, the turquoise is an excellent
talisman against falling. In fact, the saddles of horses have been set
with turquoise, to keep the steed surefooted on journey or in battle. St.
George was secure against a fall in his battle with the dragon; paintings
and tapestries of the valiant saint show a turquoise in the hilt of his
great sword.
Opaque though it is, the turquoise, because of its bright coloring,
outshines most other stones. Its protective value may extend even to
material things. It was the Hindu Tagore who arose from his pondering
of less mundane concerns to report that, to ensure enormous wealth, one
should look long at the new moon, then instantly fix one’s eyes on a
turquoise.
[Illustration: 15. QUEEN ELIZABETH II. _Her Majesty is wearing the sash
and star of the Order of the Garter, a necklace given to her by the
Nizam of Hyderabad and a diamond bracelet which was a gift from the Duke
of Edinburgh. Her tiara of diamonds and pearls has been worn by queens
of England since Queen Victoria. (Command portrait by Dorothy Wilding,
courtesy of the British Information Services)_]
[Illustration: 16. PEARL AND BAGUETTE DIAMOND EARCLIPS. _Designed to
minimize large ears. The subdued sparkle of the baguette diamonds makes
them suitable for both daytime and evening. This jewel was honored with
the Diamond U.S.A. Award._]
[Illustration: 17. DEEP SEA ALGAE. _The earclips (only one is shown at
the left) and pin (shown here ⅞ of actual size) of chased 18 karat gold
with ornaments of large diamonds were inspired by deep-sea plants. Their
distinctive character is heightened when seen against a solid color._]
[Illustration: 18, 18A. DOUBLE ROSE CLIP. _Two wild roses with their
foliage form a brilliant corsage of diamonds and platinum. The two
flowers are different in size and detail of design. The pin can be
separated into two individual clips, providing a variety of possibilities
for enhancing adornment. At the left, the smaller of the blossoms—the
flower not yet fully opened, the leaves still curled in—is worn on a
necklace of round and baguette diamonds._]
[Illustration: 19. DIAMOND AND PEARL LEAVES. _A set of brooch and
earclips suitable for almost all occasions. The delicate, pierced design,
signifying the veins of a leaf, has both airiness and depth. When the
earclips, similar in shape to the pin, are worn close to the cheek, the
pearls add lustre to the skin._]
[Illustration: 20. PEARL AND DIAMOND NECKLACE. _Wild roses of diamonds
divide the three strands of pearls in front from the two strands in back.
The clasp is hidden in one of the roses. From the collection of Mrs.
Cummins Catherwood._]
[Illustration: 21. PEARL RING. _The delicate lustre of a pearl is
highlighted by six marquise diamonds._]
[Illustration: 22. QUEEN GERALDINE OF ALBANIA. _The Queen’s coronation
tiara, made of diamonds and platinum, shows the royal crest of the “Ram
of Skanderbeg” held by a bandeau of Albanian wildflowers. Her diamond and
ruby pendant earclips accentuate her violet-blue eyes; her Rivière is of
alternating round and baguette diamonds._]
[Illustration: 23. DIAMOND NECKLACE. _A diamond and platinum necklace in
a youthful, flower design. The center motif is formed by an emerald-cut
diamond. This necklace can, with the aid of a simple device, be worn as a
tiara. From the collection of Mrs. Theodore Newhouse._]
[Illustration: 24. DIAMONDS CAUGHT IN A NET. _This earclip and clip
ensemble in platinum and diamonds received the Diamond U.S.A. Award._]
[Illustration: 25. NECKLACE FOR A BRIDE. _Motifs of marquise, baguette
and round diamonds form a delicate pattern of orange blossoms for this
completely flexible necklace. Recipient of the Diamond U.S.A. Award, the
original of this design is in the collection of Mme. A. Jaglom._]
[Illustration: 26, 27. DIAMOND PINCUSHION ORNAMENT. _A versatile clip,
it is seen at the left gathering a scarf about the hair. It is designed
particularly for evening wear. The same clip, right, is worn on a neck
chain._]
[Illustration: 28. MARIANNE OSTIER. _To compliment her red hair and fair
complexion, the author is wearing a necklace of three strands of emerald
beads with two diamond and platinum motifs; matching diamond and emerald
earclips; and a diamond and emerald dome-shaped ring._]
For less extravagant desires, the gem will exercise its most beneficent
influence if worn upon the index or the little finger. The December-born
may find a new birth of good fortune with the turquoise.
Short the days, the cold spreads wide;
Be there merry Christmastide!
Blessed things remember.
Old year dying,
New hopes flying:
Turquoise for December.
_Signs of the Stars_
There are some who regard the month of their birth with less concern than
the star, the constellation, under which they were born. They look into
the heavens for the beasts that prowl the sky in the outspread forms of
the stars. The ancients, and all astrologers since, have discerned a
close connection between us in this world and the “animals” in the sky.
For, though a few other forms have slipped in, the circle of stars that
mark the year is called the zodiac, from Greek _zodion_, which means
little animal, from _zoon_, animal. The zodiac is the zoo of the sky,
whose beasts “beset us round.”
_The Zodiac_
The round of the year begins with the springtime. Our starting the
calendar with January is a new-fangled notion, as can still be seen
in the names of the last three months. The names October, November and
December mean, respectively, the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth month.
The year used to begin with March, the opening of spring.
Jewels and talismans have long been wrought with the signs of the zodiac.
It is better, of course, to wear a ring with only the particular sign
under which you were born. But the signs have been divided into cycles,
and for each of the three cycles within a sign there is a special stone.
Wearing this stone, especially with the sign carved upon it, increases
the charm tenfold. In this fashion the special powers of the animal that
rules the period, instead of opposing, will enter into and re-enforce
the virtues of the wearer. Unfortunately, different astrologers have
suggested different stones; but one who has never failed me believes in
the list that I present, for its own values, each under its cycle and
sign.
_Aries, the Ram_
The signs of the year begin with the ruttish male of springtime, the
season of fertility.
March 22 through March 30. Bloodstone.
March 31 through April 9. Amethyst.
April 10 through April 20. Green jasper.
_Taurus, the Bull_
More deliberately, but with tremendous power, the year surges on.
April 21 through April 30. Lapis lazuli.
May 1 through May 9. Moonstone.
May 10 through May 21. Carnelian.
_Gemini, the Twins_
Castor and Pollux take the sky, twin sons of Leda and Jupiter as the swan.
May 22 through May 31. Topaz.
June 1 through June 9. Emerald.
June 10 through June 21. Beryl.
_Cancer, the Crab_
And now the year moves backward toward the dark.
June 22 through July 1. Opal.
July 2 through July 11. Agate.
July 12 through July 23. Crystal.
_Leo, the Lion_
Patience lashes its tail before the harvest.
July 24 through August 2. Ruby.
August 3 through August 13. Sapphire.
August 14 through August 23. Diamond.
_Virgo, the Virgin_
As this sign approaches, poets gather their powers. Shakespeare and his
rollicking fellows sat in the Mermaid Tavern,
Pledging with content smack
The Mermaid in the Zodiac.
The slow ripening draws toward the ever wondrous birth.
August 24 through September 2. Chrysolite.
September 3 through September 12. Beryl.
September 13 through September 23. Marcasite.
_Libra, the Scales_
Balance the harvest of the moving year.
September 24 through October 3. Coral.
October 4 through October 13. Opal.
October 14 through October 23. Pearl.
_Scorpio, the Scorpion_
Armor of the spirit blunts the sting in the tail of the season.
October 24 through November 2. Topaz.
November 3 through November 13. Moonstone.
November 14 through November 22. Lapis lazuli.
_Sagittarius, the Archer_
Aim well through the dark night, for the dawn shall turn.
November 23 through December 2. Turquoise.
December 3 through December 12. Amethyst.
December 13 through December 22. Diamond.
_Capricorn, the Goat_
Leap up, heart, with glad resounding as light is born anew!
December 23 through January 1. Onyx.
January 2 through January 11. Garnet.
January 12 through January 20. Chrysolite.
_Aquarius, the Water Carrier_
Out of me come all things that live beneath the rainbow.
January 21 through January 30. Green jasper.
January 31 through February 9. Emerald.
February 10 through February 19. Crystal.
_Pisces, the Fishes_
Abundance of untold treasure glints from the depths of the seven seas.
February 20 through February 28-29. Pearl.
March 1 through March 9. Pearl.
March 10 through March 21. Pearl.
As the zodiac sets a ring around the heavens, so the zodiacal ring around
one’s finger sets the sign of heaven in one’s fate. If one does not have
a special jewel wrought with one’s astrological sign, it may find fit
place as a charm on a bangle bracelet.
Cassius, in Shakespeare’s _Julius Caesar_, may exclaim:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings—
but every man is born under a lucky star, and borne along with the
virtues of the stars’ configurations, if only he can make it shine upon
his fortune. It should be remembered (as Milton records in _Paradise
Lost_) that God smiled upon the angels when they came to calculate the
stars. If the astrologer has cast one’s nativity, one then may have it
fashioned in a jewel.
PART TWO
_The Art of Feminine Adornment_