Birthstones

A birthstone is a gemstone associated with a month. Some believe that a birthstone has special healing powers, especially when worn by a person born during its assigned month. Each birthstone is supposed to represent certain values; for example, my birthstone, ruby, represents love, success, and integrity. A list of birthstones and their meanings can be found at earthsky.org.

Some months are associated with more than one birthstone, and there is no fixed birthstone list. Nineteen birthstones are officially recognized by the American Gem Trade Association. Seventeen are recognized by the American Gem Society.

A chart of the most commonly recognized birthstones: credit to gatorgirlrocks.com

Birthstones have a long history. The first mention of associating a gem with each month is in the Bible. The breastplate of Aaron, Moses's brother, was said in Exodus to be decorated with twelve stones, each stone representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The gemstones were later associated with the zodiac signs and the months of the year.

Different cultures have different birthstone lists. Gems4friends.com provides lists of modern, traditional (dating back to the 15th century,) mystical (ancient Tibetan,) and Ayurvedic (Indian medicinal) birthstones. There is also a list of stones associated with each zodiac sign. Traditional birthstones are often the same color as their modern counterparts. This is due to the fact that people could tell the difference between stones of different color long before they understood the mineral composition and rarity of different stones.

Birthstone jewelry is an excellent birthday present, though some birthstones, particularly rubies, diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires, are more expensive than others due to their rarity. A large selection of birthstone jewelry can be found at jewelrycentral.com.

Birthday shoutouts to Isaac, Leah, and Christine. Sorry it took me so long to do these birthday shoutouts! I was out of town last weekend.