For all those born in the month of September, your Birthstone is Sapphire.

Sapphire is a variety of corundum and comes in a variety of colours, (except red which is Ruby) with blue the most common. Sapphire means blue in Greek. The finest blue sapphires are a strong blue, and the ‘star sapphire’ is a very valued stone. Coloured sapphires are referred to as pink sapphires, yellow sapphires, violet sapphires, green sapphires, clear sapphires etc.

According to folklore, the Laws given to Moses were inscribed on Sapphire, making it a most sacred gemstone. The sapphire was one of the twelve stones on the Jewish high priest’s breastplate, located on the second row in the middle.

As Sapphires represent divine favor, they are the gemstone of choice for royalty and high priests. The British Crown Jewels are full of large blue sapphires, the symbol of pure and wise rulers.

Sapphire is called the “Stone of Destiny”. It is also the symbol of heaven and joyful devotion to God. Some believe this is where we got the term: “True Blue.”

Sapphire has long symbolized truth, sincerity and faithfulness, and as such, it is an excellent choice for an engagement ring.

Sapphire contributes to mental clarity and perception. This stone lets go of depression and spiritual confusion and stimulates concentration. It can promote financial rewards, prosperity and bring forth gifts of all kinds.

Sapphire is recognized as a “Wisdom Stone”. It draws protection and prophetic wisdom. It will attract and oversee one’s divine destiny in life, instilling hope, faith and joy during the journey.

It opens the mind to beauty and intuition, and brings with it the hope of fulfilling your dreams and the desires of your heart. Sapphire can focus healing, loving energy upon anyone needing it.

Placed on the throat, Sapphire helps to release frustration and aids self expression.

Sapphire normalizes overactive body systems and regulates the glands. It will cure a sore throat, and heal the eyes. Treats blood disorders and alleviates excessive bleeding, strengthens veins and improves their elasticity.

Peridot.

Peridot is a gem variety from the Olivine mineral group, – the bottle green color is usually called Peridot – the yellowish green colour is usually called Chrysolite – the olive green is usually called Olivine. In common usage all names are applied across the group.

Peridot is mentioned in many ancient texts as Chrysolite, and was believed to keep away evil spirits. Considered sacred by early Christians, today Catholic Bishops still wear a ring of Peridot and Amethyst as a symbol of purity and morality.

Peridot was believed to be a stone of springtime by ancients who considered it a gift from Mother Nature, it was also known as a stone of lightness and beauty.

Peridot has been used as a Power Stone for centuries.  It promotes emotional balance, and helps us heal from past emotional wounds. It clears a pathway to the heart and heals damaged egos, relieving burdens, guilt and obsessions. It alleviates anger, jealousy, bitterness, and reduces stress. Allows you to confidently assert yourself and also teaches you how to forgive yourself and move forward, taking responsibility for your own life.

Peridot helps you move past the hurt and understand your relationships.  It adds intelligence to your romantic situations, giving you a bit of common sense in affairs of the heart, and protecting you from unnecessary heartache. Its influence can greatly improve all relationships, especially difficult ones.

Peridot is particularly helpful to healers.  A Visionary stone, it brings understanding of your destiny and spiritual purpose. Releases negative vibrations, and promotes clarity and well being.

This stone is a powerful cleanser, releasing and neutralizing toxins on all levels. It has a tonic effect. Strengthens the metabolism, heals and regenerates tissue and organs, stimulating healthy new growth. Facilitate the birth process, by stimulating contractions and opening the birth canal. Its energy balances Bipolar disorders and overcomes hypochondria.

Peridot is also a Money Stone; wear it to draw money and opportunity your way.  Put a Peridot in your cash box to draw money to you, along with a Citrine to help keep it once you get it!

For all those born in the month of July, your Birthstone is Ruby.

Ruby is a deep red transparent gemstone; it is a variety of Corundum and belongs to the Trigonal or Rhombohedral crystal system. Ruby is also seen in transparent to opaque gemstones with an orangey red through to a purplish red color.

Known as a stone of nobility, its energy is intense and vivid. This crystal encourages you to follow your bliss. It brings integrity, devotion and happiness, and also enhances generosity and brings prosperity. Ruby brings and increases romantic love, as well as confidence, loyalty, and courage.

Ruby is known to be very protective stone of your home, worldly possessions, children, and also to provide psychic protection. It is a stone of high energy and power that promotes healing on all levels. Ruby is associated with the root chakra and brings powerful energies of vitality and survival.

Ruby instills stamina, vitality and strength, it re-energizes you after exhaustion. As it is very stimulating, Ruby can be used to promote energy throughout the entire energetic system. It also helps to reduce negative thought patterns and encourages self-nurturing in those with a poor self-image.

Good for removing blocked energies in the reproductive system. Also aids in balancing your blood sugar levels. It also acts as a “plug” for holes in your energy field. A wonderful stone for the 1st chakra, as it stimulates your basic survival instinct. It strengthens both the physical and emotional heart.

For all those born in the month of June, your Birthstone is Moonstone.

Moonstone is Feldspar, which is common in the earth’s crust. Moonstone is an opalescent variety of orthoclase and albite, with a blue or white sheen known as adularescence.

Known as a soul stone, it is considered to be excellent for expressing and attracting love and kindness. It is also said to bring happiness into its environment.

It was once called the ‘traveler’s stone’ providing protection against the perils of travel. Moonstone is also a talisman of good fortune and is beneficial to those involved in agriculture.

Moonstone is a stone of new beginnings and as its name suggests it is strongly connected to the moon and also to intuition. It reminds us that everything is part of the cycle of change, just as the moon waxes and wanes and encourages us to pay attention to the cycles of our lives.

Moonstone helps to cool and soothe the emotions and calm over-reactions to emotional and personal situations. It encourages intuitiveness and perception. Moonstone enhances the feminine nature and balances male-female energies. It also soothes instability and stress.

Has a powerful effect on the female reproductive cycle and alleviates menstrual tension. Linked to the pineal gland it balances the hormonal system and stabilizes fluid imbalances. Handy in cases of shock and can be used to calm hyperactive children.

Moonstone assists the digestive, elimination and reproductive systems; it enhances the assimilation of nutrients and assists in the elimination of toxins and fluid retention. It alleviates degenerative conditions of skin, hair, eyes and fleshy organs like the liver and pancreas. It is excellent for PMS, conception, pregnancy and childbirth. Useful in the treatment of circulatory disorders, water related imbalances like swelling and insect stings and bites.

Carnelian

It is said to be one of the stones used in the breastplate of the high priest and in biblical times was used in soldiers breastplates to protect and fortify them against fear. In ancient times it was used to protect the dead on their journey to the afterlife. Carnelian conveys an understanding and acceptance of the cycle of life and overcomes the fear of death.

Carnelian is a stabilising and grounding stone and anchors you to current reality. It enhances analytical abilities, perceptiveness and awakens hidden talents and gifts. Inspirers creativity in all forms of art particularly drama and theatre. It awakens curiosity and bolsters courage, especially for shy people. Wearing Carnelian is said to provide courage and eloquence to public speakers.

Carnelian promotes positive life choices, helps overcome fear and doubt, it dispels apathy, indolence and passivity and motivates for success. It allows you to take control of your life and choose the most advantageous direction, while assisting you to embrace change and transformation.

This stone is a protector against envy, fear, rage and resentment and helps to expel sorrow and emotional negativity, by replacing it with a love of life.

It helps meditators to feel settled and secure and it clears the mind of extraneous thoughts. It also sharpens concentration and dispels mental lethargy.

Carnelian lends vitality and energy to the physical body. It helps to purify the body and prepares it as a temple of the soul. It is an excellent support for detoxifying and breaking negative or hurtful negative habits and generally improving overall health.

It stimulates the metabolism and improves the absorption of vitamins and minerals and ensures a good supply of blood to the organs and tissues. Carnelian regulates bodily fluids and the kidneys. It also accelerates healing in the bones and ligaments and staunches blood flow. It is especially helpful in balancing and healing the sexual organs and it is also believed to enhance and stimulate sexual activity.

For all those born in the month of May, your Birthstone is Emerald.

Emerald is a type of Beryl which assists the development and appreciation of spiritual gifts. Bliss is a keyword for Emerald. It is a stone of inspiration and infinite patience and it also calms the mind and the emotions.

Known as the ‘stone of successful love’ it enhances domestic bliss, bringing unconditional love and loyalty, along with unity, partnership and promotes friendship and peace.

Emerald gives you the strength of character to overcome life’s misfortunes. It is a stone of regeneration and recovery and can heal or calm negative emotions, also lifting depression and providing peace.

Use it to enhance memory and to stimulate greater mental capacity and to inspire inner knowingness and broaden vision. Useful for recovery after infectious illness and in treatment of disorders of spine, lungs, heart, muscles, sinuses and is soothing for the eyes. It is also said to improve vision.

For all those born in the month of April, your Birthstone is Diamond.

Diamond is the hardest natural substance and no naturally occurring material can cut or even scratch it. The Diamond has remarkable optical characteristics and mechanical properties, and these combined with well-organized marketing, have made the diamond such a popular gemstone. Diamond has an isometric crystallography. It is most common and popular in its clear variety, but also occurs in many other colours, called fancies, which are rarer and more expensive.

Diamond was used during ancient times as a talisman against cowardice and was recognized as a “stone to enhance invulnerability”. It rallies strength with age and maintains the energy to stimulate unity and love of oneself and others.

This gem is said to be one of the stones used on the breastplate of the high priest.

Intensity is a key word for diamond; it emanates more energy for its size than any other crystal. As an energy amplifier, it works well with any other stone, enhancing its power for healing. It is one of the few stones that never needs recharging. This mineral is known as the “King of Crystals,” it reflects all colours of the rainbow and chakra system. It is a stone of clarity, commitment and communication that enhances prosperity, love and spirituality.

Unsurpassed as a symbol of wealth for thousands of years, the Diamond is a stone of manifestation, attracting abundance. It is also a symbol of purity and is said to bond relationships, bringing love, constancy and clarity into a partnership. It is seen as a symbol of commitment and fidelity, and is the stone traditionally chosen for engagement rings.

It enhances creativity by stimulating inventiveness and imagination. It will bring clarity of mind and aid enlightenment. It reminds you of your soul’s aspirations and assists its’ spiritual evolution.

Diamond may be used to clarify and stimulate sight, to benefit the brain, as a metabolic balancing agent and has been used traditionally to counteract the effects of poisoning.

Smokey Quartz is a protective stone. In Alpine countries, crucifixes are still being made from it. Soldiers have worn it as a protective amulet, in the belief they would return unharmed from war. In Scotland this crystal is known as Cairngorm and there is a rather large point in their National sceptre.

Known as ‘The Stone of Co-Operation’, Smoky Quartz is a gently grounding and protective stone that also cleanses and clears negative energy. As a grounding stone it transmutes negative energies and facilitates your ability to get things done. It will help you to be present, right here, in the moment. It enhances organizational skills and is good to have around in the workplace, office or home.

Smokey Quartz will instil balance and harmony; it enhances quiet reflection, especially during meditation. It has a relaxing effect and can help to bring you peace of mind. In the long term it will help make you more resistant to stress factors around you. Smokey Quartz leads you to leave behind those things that no longer serve you.

This crystal has the ability to transform negative energy, and is particularly effective in dealing with anger and resentment, and will help you to set aside willful and headstrong behavior.  It clears up communication difficulties, and helps to dissolve mental and emotional blockages that can get in the way of perception or learning.

Smokey Quartz is a practical choice for protection from pollution, radiation and electromagnetic smog. It creates a barrier against and neutralizes negative energy. Apart from gently neutralizing negative vibrations it also brings in a positive energy to fill the area.  This crystal alleviates nightmares and brings dreams to reality.

Smokey Quartz is nature’s stone of endurance. If you need an extra boost to keep going, carry a Smokey Quartz with you.

This stone will help you to accept your physical nature and to care for your body and your sexual nature, enhancing virility while cleansing your systems so that passion may flow naturally.

Being naturally irradiated it is excellent for treatment of radiation related illness or the effects of chemotherapy. It is important to use only natural crystals for this purpose. (Some crystals are artificially irradiated and these can usually be identified by being extremely dark and non transparent).

Smokey Quartz is useful for providing pain relief, subduing headaches, and benefits muscle, nerve tissue, the heart and the reproductive system. It is particularly effective for ailments of the abdomen hips and legs. It releases cramps, strengthens the back and fortifies nerves.

Aquamarine is a divine and eternal colour that is in tune with water and its life-giving properties. Being attuned to the ocean it helps us to get in touch with the nature spirits of the sea. It promotes safe travel on water so it would be a good stone to take with you on a cruise.

This is a Stone of Courage and is believed to instill courage and fortitude and to counteract a victim mentality. Its energies are calming and it is thought to act to reduce stress and to quiet the mind, thus clarifying perception, sharpening the intellect and removing confusion. It is a good stone for promoting creative self-expression and for removing blocks to communication. Aquamarine is also believed to give strength to deal with difficult situations and to allow you to stay focused under pressure. It soothes fears and increases sensitivity. It harmonizes its surroundings and protects against pollutants.

A wonderful meditation crystal, Aquamarine sharpens the intuition and opens clairvoyance. This crystal will bring you to higher states of consciousness and spiritual awareness. Aquamarine brings clarity of thinking. It is believed to improve artistic and creative skills. Inspiring love, peace and serenity is one of Aquamarine’s primary qualities.

Aquamarine is claimed to bring serenity and calm the mind and is an excellent crystal to help you overcome anxiety and stress. In addition to calming the nerves Aquamarine reduces fluid retention, it is good for strengthening the kidneys, liver spleen and thyroid. It is useful for sore throats and swollen glands. This stone has a general tonic effect and it is also an outstanding cleansing stone. Use to overcome over reactions of the immune and auto-immune systems, like hay fever. It aids the eyes and is beneficial in overcoming short and long sightedness.

Crystal gazing is extremely rich in its historical context; though we do not know the exact date or place where this practice originated, it is reasonable to say that crystal gazing in some form has been with mankind since antiquity.

Early practitioners were largely medicine men and seers for their communities; Nostradamus, a highly educated healer, physician, astrologer, philosopher, and psychic, was a “secret scryer,” as were many early prophets. Crystals and their many uses were among many of the first forms of divination and healing – man first realized they were able to discern, manipulate, and heal from many reflective surfaces, such as a pool of water, a stone, a slate of glass, and even fire and smoke.

However, the history of crystals is not confined to southern Europe and the Middle East; cultures all over the world have used the properties of crystals as a means of divining the past, present, or future, and for healing. Depending on the culture and practice, crystal gazers of yesterday and today will usually see visions, use the crystals to clear the “etheric energy” around the body, and apply crystals to certain “power points” on the body in order to heal a specific ailment.

Crystal balls, composed of the same elements of “raw” crystals cut from rock and various gems, became popular in 18^th and 19^th century Europe, with the rise of Spiritualism. Many practitioners still use crystal balls to perform healing and divination; it varies largely with each person and his or her individual choice, but in broad terms, the rather roughly cut, yet elegantly mysterious mirage that one can see inside a crystal cut from a natural rock or gemstone is the most popular because, unlike a crystal ball, there is nothing “static” or “fixed” about a crystal – which can come in every size, shape, color, and with any accessory imaginable.

Those new to the practice of crystal healing and its many other properties are best advised to choose the crystals that “call out” to them; it is often said that the shaman, or psychic, in everyone reaches for that which just “feels right” to them. When entering a metaphysical shop or even while perusing pages of a catalog or on the Internet, though you may have certain ideas or preferences regarding the colors, shapes, and even the sizes of the crystals you’d like to use, you may be surprised at what you end up taking home! The unconscious mind is always at work, ruminating just beneath the surface, to lead you exactly to the source – in this case, the crystals – that you need. Just like people, snowflakes, and teardrops, crystals are all unique – and each is meant for only one person. Keep your body and mind in an open, receptive state when looking for your special crystals – they will become your very own “charms” – especially once you have taken them home and truly made them yours.