Amethyst crystals are semi-precious ones belonging to the quartz family in the world of gemstones. The word amethyst is derived from the Greek word amethustos, which means not drunk. People often wear these stones, as it is highly effective in protection, healing, and purification. Carrying these stones results in the elevation of spiritual wisdom. It is used in the making of different kinds of jewelry.
Fact about amethyst:
- Amethyst is the official gemstone of the Canadian province of Ontario.
- It is the state gemstone of South Carolina in the United States.
- The hardness of amethyst is 7. It comes under the category of hard stones.
- Amethyst is the birthstone of the month of February.
- Ancient Greeks used this stone as decoration for wine goblets to avoid drunkenness.
What does amethyst historically mean?
In overall history, amethyst was linked with numerous legends, and myths. It is widely used by people around 2000 B.C. Ancient Romans and Greeks had an opinion that it resists the intoxication of Bacchus ( Greek wine God), and helps the wearer to maintain clarity of mind, and hyper-intelligence. Ancient Egyptians believed that these stones protect them from fear and guilt. Kings of Egypt used them in carvings of their tombs and as a tool to repulse witchcraft.
Know about the distinguishing features of amethyst?
If you are looking for characteristics of amethyst, to discriminate it from other gemstones here are some to study.
Amethyst comes in a wide range of shapes and colors based on its chemical composition and unique gem cutting. Amethyst exhibits colorlessness in its purest form and shows a variety of colors based on iron composition such as violet to red-violet, purple. It is due to the substitution of iron for silicon in its chemical structure. Amethyst color changes from reddish-violet or bluish-violet to yellow-orange, yellow-brown, or dark brownish. Generally, amethyst stones are available in different shapes and cutting. Most commonly available in round, oval, pear, octagon, square, marquise, trillion, and heart-shaped cutting. This is done by hand or by automatic gem cutter. They are normally cut into faceted stones, cabochons, rose-cut cabochons, and concave facets. Coming to clarity, gemologists refer to amethyst as eye-clean. That means the fewer inclusions better the quality of amethyst.
Obtainability of amethyst:
Different parts of the world are capable of producing amethyst stones. The Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil is famous for the production of amethyst stones in abundance. Apart from Brazil Uruguay, South Korea, Russia, the United States, and South India are known for amethyst to bring out to the public. Zambia is one of the largest amethyst producers all over the world, with 1000 tonnes annually.
Benefits of amethyst in the present age
Importance of amethyst in modern healing:
- Amethyst has greater significance in the Family of medicine (excluding allopathy). People who cure through Ayurveda, who practices reiki, and crystal healers frequently use amethyst in the healing process.
- Amethyst enhances your physical performance to an optimal level by stimulating endocrine glands to release hormones.
- Amethyst has been used in the treatment of arthritis for hundreds of years and recorded its excellent results.
- Amethyst is regarded as the best choice to calm and balance the neural impulses in the brain.
- Amethyst is often utilized as a remedy to cure headaches, migraine, and nervous tensions.
- Folk believes that it can be used in treating immune disorders, insomnia, digestive problems, etc.
Promoting spirituality:
If you are looking to improve your spiritual abilities you are at the right place. Here is the finest way to enhance.
The modern-day environment puts you in the land of challenges resulting in brain fog. You can keep amethyst with you so that it can reduce brain fog and helps to maintain a calm and peaceful mind.
Amethyst meditation induces the activation of agna chakra and crown chakra resulting in the awakening of the third eye, which facilitates strengthing of intuitive abilities, connecting to spirits, and spiritual guides around us.
Meditating with amethyst helps you get rid of enslavement to worldly issues, addiction to something like emotions, objects, etc. It washes off negative thoughts in your mind and fills it with optimistic ideas.
Last but not least:
Amethyst crystals are not only confined to physical, emotional, and spiritual spheres, but also in beauty (skincare). Yes, you can use amethyst to remove dead skin, which results in exposure to brighter skin cells. It is also used to oxygenate the skin and also as a moisturizer.
Pick out the real one:
In the world of the business market, falsehood is a common issue. You will end up confused about choosing real amethyst over a synthetic one. You must make sure that you are purchasing the authentic one. Here are some ways to get an original amethyst stone.
- Check the color zoning and imperfections- Normally real gemstones strongly have an uneven distribution of color, known as color zoning. Real amethyst has imperfections such as scratches, formed during the cut. Amethyst exhibits both color zoning and imperfectness, which are remarkable features to differentiate the original from a fake.
- Testing the specific gravity– Original amethyst specific gravity is 2.65. By testing specific gravity you can easily understand is it real or fake. You can follow the steps to test
- Take a beaker and measure its weight. Fill the beaker partially with water, and measure the weight again.
- Drop the amethyst stone into the water, resulting in a rise in water. Note the rising water level.
- Weigh the beaker along with raised water level. Subtract this with the original beaker weight. The resultant value should be divided by the rise in water level to get specific gravity.
Checking through scratch resistance:
It is a simple route to catch up with the original amethyst stone. As it is a hard stone, Real amethyst exhibits resistance to scratches when you try to scratch it gently with a fingernail, or knife blade your amethyst must not show any scratches, if not it is fake.
Checking through laboratory testing:
Here is a wonderful way to test the originality of amethyst. You can take the stone to a nearby jeweler, and ask him to perform a lab test.
How to clean and store:
You can wash it with warm soapy water. Remember to clean all the dirt gently with the help of special jewelry cleaning cloths. Keeping away amethyst from more hardness stones like diamonds, sapphire, and ruby results in avoiding scratches on amethyst. You must note that amethyst must not be exposed to heat, doing so, and causes permanent detriment to color.
Conclusion:
Whether your required field is medicine or spirituality, the beauty here is the best solution for you on your path. Yes, amethyst helps you to solve your problems and reach higher levels in your life.