Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz that is often used in jewelry and ornamental items. The name comes from the Greek word “amethystos,” which means “not intoxicated”. It was believed that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness.
Amethyst is the birthstone for February and is used to produce faceted stones, cabochons, beads, tumbled stones, and many other items for jewelry and ornamental use. It is crystalline quartz in colors ranging from pale lilac to deep reddish-purple. With a relatively high hardness of 7, it is a fine facetable jewelry gem for all purposes. Lower grades of material can be cabbed, carved, and made into a great variety of beads and other ornamental objects.
Amethyst is also known for its healing properties. It is a stone of spiritual protection and purification that cleanses one’s energy field of negative influences and attachments. It creates a resonant shield of spiritual light around the body and acts as a barrier against lower energies, psychic attacks, geopathic stress, and unhealthy environments.