Amethyst

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used as an ornamental stone in jewelry. Amethyst occurs in primary hues from a light pinkish violet to a deep purple. Amethyst is the most highly valued stone in the quartz group.  The highest grade amethyst called "Deep Russian" is exceptionally rare and therefore its value is dependent on the demand of collectors when one is found. 

Amethyst is found worldwide.  It is even found in petrified wood specimens in the United States. What makes it valuable is the color. At one time it was very rare and considered the stone of royalty. In Europe it’s found in almost every crown jewels of any country. In the late 1800's miners from Germany migrated to Brazil where they became farmers. They found amethyst just lying on the ground. Here they had been sweating away in hard rock mines getting very little material, and now all they had to do was gather it at the surface. They sent it back to places like Edar-Oberstein, Germany where it was cut and sold to the wholesale market. This made it  affordable to the common person.

Today Amethyst is produced in abundance in Brazil where it occurs in large geodes or “amethyst-grotto” within volcanic rocks. It is also found and mined in South Korea. The largest opencast amethyst vein in the world is in Maissau, Lower Austria. Many of the hollow agates of Brazil and Uruguay contain a crop of amethyst crystals in the interior. Much fine amethyst comes from Russia, especially from near Mursinka in the Ekaterinburg district, where it occurs in drusy cavities in granitic rocks. Many localities in India yield amethyst. One of the largest global amethyst producers is Zambia.  Amethyst occurs at many localities in the United States, but these specimens are rarely fine enough for use in jewelry.

Amethyst was used as a gemstone by the ancient Egyptians and was largely employed in antiquity for intaglios. The Greeks believed amethyst gems could prevent intoxication. In fact the name “amethyst” comes from the Ancient Greek, a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. The ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. Medieval European soldiers wore amethyst amulets as protection in battle. Beads of amethyst were found in Anglo-Saxon graves in England.

Amethyst is the birthstone associated with February.  It is a stone of spirituality and contentment.  It facilitates transmutation of lower energies into the higher frequencies of both the spiritual and ethereal levels.  It is representative of the principles of complete metamorphosis.  It is also a stone of meditation, being excellent in conducting the energy of calm and peacefulness to help one to both enter and maintain the state.