Garnet

Love  •  Protection  •  Courage  •  Hope

The traditional and modern birthstone for January.

Garnet is on our personal TOP 10 crystal list.  Garnet is a warrior crystal, it's a crystal that ancient warriors wore on their breastplates going into battle to feel armed with love, courage and protection, also believing their Garnet would speed up their healing process.  This is a perfect crystal for everyday use or to bring out when you're in a difficult situation giving us that courage and loving protection, helping us be assertive and stand up for ourselves without being aggressive.    It's a crystal at the top of our list for anyone going through a life challenge, whether that be a relationship break up, exams, difficult medical or financial situations, loosing a job, or even the day to day challenges, like public speaking, difficult conversations etc.  

As well as the properties this gem is known for, we love the contrast between dark and the bright red flashes when the sun is shining on it in just the right way.

Scroll to the bottom for more information and to view our range of Garnet crystals and jewellery  ♡


HISTORY

Garnet is the name of a group of minerals that form in a rainbow of colours, from the deep red of the Pyrope Garnet to the vibrant Green of Tsavorites. Some rare Garnets are even blue, colourless, and rarest of all, Garnets that change colours in different lights.  The most common Garnet colour is a beautiful range of reds, from rust coloured to deep violet-red.

The word Garnet comes from the Latin word granatus "seed or grain",  a reference to the seeds of the pomegranate fruit. 

Garnet is so durable, Garnet jewellery has been found dating as far back as the Bronze Age. Other references go back to 3100 BC when the Egyptians wore Garnet jewellery and used it in their carvings. The Egyptians even referred to Garnets as the symbol of life.

In Middle Ages, people believed dragons eye's were made of Garnets.  Europe Clergy wore Garnets as a symbol of Jesus's blood and sacrifice.

Garnets were one of the most popular gemstones of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, as revealed in the stunning jewelry and sword fittings in the Staffordshire Hoard, because they believed the blood-red stone improved their fighting prowess.

In the middle ages, Garnet was believed to guard against poison. Royals would put a Garnet into a glass of wine to ensure they were not poisoned to death.  

Eastern Europeans were said to wear Garnet around their neck to guard against night-wandering vampires.

In Victorian times, Garnet was worn in engagement rings and to mark fidelity in love.

In Jewish tradition it is believed that Noah brought a gem into the Ark as a source of light. During the flood, the Sun and Moon didn't shine, but this precious stone shone more brilliant by night than by day, so Noah could distinguish between day and night.

Saxon and Celtic kings wore Garnet jewellery for protection. Native American healers believed that garnets had protective powers against injury and poison. King Solomon wore Garnets on his breastplate and shield going into battle for protection as did Christians and Muslim warriors during the Crusades.

Garnets have historically been known as a stone that helps with hemorrhages, inflammatory diseases, and the suppression of anger. Doctors lived by the code “similia similibus curantu” meaning “like is cured by like” and so Garnet was prescribed for ailments that pertained to blood.

Asian tribes used small Garnets as bullets, believing that they would cause more harm than a regular one.

In Greek mythology, Persephone the Goddess of vegetation, was kidnapped by Hades, the God of the Underworld. She could only return to the surface world if she didn't eat. Since she ate some pomegranate seeds, she had to remain in the Underworld for that many months.  Because of Garnet's association with pomegranate seeds, it was believed the stone would ensure the safe return of a friend or loved one. Garnets were said to protect travelers on their journeys and were often exchanged between friends as tokens that they would meet again.

Did you know, crushed Garnet granules are use to make sandpaper!

 

EMOTIONAL PROPERTIES

  • Helps us feel safe and secure and able to adapt to change - Red
  • Helps us to overcome depression and melancholy, defeating thoughts, habits, roles and people that no longer serve us
  • Blesses us with love, health and safety
  • Brings hope to help us find a way out of a crisis
  • In relationships, Garnet brings love, devotion and emotional harmony - to create a warm, close-knit home, put a Garnet in the centre of your house, a sphere is ideal! 
  • Fills us with courage and motivation - Red
  • Supports us to act and speak with integrity and to stand up for ourselves
  • Increases our confidence


SPIRITUAL PROPERTIES

  • Linked to the pituitary gland, Garnet can expand our awareness and stimulate past-life recall (place on your Third Eye)
  • Clears negative energy in all of our chakras 
  • Protects from negative energy
  • Attracts people to the wearer for personal and business success, particularly helpful if you are starting a home businesses
  • Stimulates the controlled rise of Kundalini - Red



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Garnet may be helpful for:

  • Increase our metabolism
  • Depression and melancholy
  • Increases our energy levels
  • Cleanse blood
  • Pain, speeds up the healing process (especially from trauma).  For healing, it is best placed on the skin next to problem area
  • Spinal disorders




ENVIRONMENTAL PROPERTIES
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FACTS

APPEARANCE and VARIATIONS

COLOURS: 

 Colour Name Chemical Formula Inclusions that create Colour
Deep Wine Almandine Fe3Al2(SiO4)3 Iron and Chromium
Olive - Emerald Gree Tsavorite or Demantoid  Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3
Green Uvavorite Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3
Yellow Grossular or Topazolite Ca3Al2(SiO4)3
Orange - Brown Hessonite
Orange - Red Spessarite Mn3Al2(SiO4)3
Colourless Leuco-Garnet
Dark Red - Black Melanite
Pale Pink - Light Red Pyrope  Mg3Al2(SiO4)3
Pale Red - Purplish Rhodolite

  

 

Garnets can display different colours in different types of light and occasionally will showcase faint four-rayed asterism.

DIAPHANEITY:  Transparent to translucent

STREAK:  Colourless

LUSTER:  Vitreous

CRYSTAL FAMILY:    Silicate

FORMATION:  Found in metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks.  Most Garnet found near Earth's surface forms when a sedimentary rock with a high aluminum content is subjected to extreme heat and pressure. Garnet is also found in the rocks of contact metamorphism, subsurface magma chambers, lava flows, deep-source volcanic eruptions, and the soils and sediments formed when garnet-bearing rocks are weathered and eroded.

CRYSTAL SYSTEM:   Isometric

CHEMICAL FORMULA: X3Y2(SiO4)3

HARDNESS:   6.5 - 7.5 on the Mohs scale

ORIGIN:   Worldwide 
 

GENERAL
CHAKRA:  Heart and Root Chakras

BIRTHSTONE: The traditional and modern birthstone for January.

ZODIAC:  Capricorn, Aries, Leo, Virgo, Aquarius

ANNIVERSARY:  

PLANETS:   Mars

CLEANSING:  Our favourite way to cleanse Garnet is either to run it through a candle flame, sit close to an open fire, or simply leave it on the grass outside overnight to let any negative energy it's absorbed be soaked up by the earth and the energy of the moon cleanse and recharge it.  

CARE:  Garnets are pretty robust but could fracture if dropped on a hard surface.


ESSENTIAL OIL:  - 
 

REFERENCES:
Adam Barralet – www.adambarrralet.com, ,  Judy Hall – The Crystal Bible,  www.geology.com,  www.en.wikipedia.org, www.americangemsociety.org, www.gemsociety.org

All information provided on this website is for educational purposes only. The products listed on www.hiahbymiah.co.nz and @hiah.bymiah are not intended to diagnose, mitigate, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. www.hiahbymiah.co.nz offers information that is provided for recreational and personal reference purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional care. 

Thank-you so much for taking the time to read this, we appreciate your support ⊹ ♡。⋆