Amethyst – Purple Beauty

I love amethyst. I’m a real purple person, attracted to this color in all its many shades and forms, whether I’m looking at gemstones or clothing, wall colors or furniture. (You could certainly have guessed that simply by the colors of this blog.) The color of royalty and nobility, purple just makes me feel good, particularly when I’m wearing it. And there’s something about the translucency of amethyst that doubles its pleasure for me. Personally, I prefer dark amethyst, but I also appreciate its more lavender shades (sometimes called Cape Amethyst).

Interestingly, the name amethyst comes from an ancient Greek word meaning “not drunken,” because amethyst was thought to prevent drunkenness. It also symbolized piety and was thought to encourage celibacy, making it an important stone in the early days of the church. In my personal opinion, I think its rich purple color, denoting royalty, was equally important to church leaders, and it’s possible that they “gave” amethyst its connection to celibacy and piety as opposed to the other way around.

February’s birthstone, amethyst is not only beautiful, it’s a powerful healing gemstone. It is calming and soothing, great for relieving stress and stimulating happiness. A piece of amethyst worn around your neck or carried in your pocket can be useful during meditation sessions, helping in your quest to quiet your brain and focus on your breath.

Amethyst can help transform negative energy into positive, providing tranquility and relieving stress and depression. It can open the channels between the physical and spiritual worlds, promoting telepathy and lucid dreaming.

The most popular form of quartz, amethyst is fortunately abundant, and large stones of decent quality can still be purchased affordably.

Amethyst is strongly connected to the chakras, or energy centers in the body. It is believed to help align and balance especially to the 6th (Third Eye) and 7th (Crown) chakras.

The Third Eye chakra is helped by amethyst’s ability to heighten spiritual and psychic awareness, as well as its calming and stress-relieving properties. Amethyst also aids in introspection and to increase intuition.
The Crown chakra controls our mental energies, and amethyst’s ability to reduce stress helps here, too. This chakra is important in meditation, and, as mentioned earlier, amethyst’s ability to calm the mind helps in that activity.

Some people believe that amethyst can also help with physical healing, treating toothaches, bone and joint ailments, stomach problems, and heart or hearing disorders. It has been used to cure headaches, treat blood diseases, including diabetes and hypoglycemia, and to minimize problems of the central nervous system.

You can buy amethyst jewelry, a talisman, or a purple scarf from my website.