Amethyst Facts & Lore

Amethyst is one of America’s most popular gemstones.  Loved by all, Amethyst has long been considered a favorite.  Amethyst is the birthstone for people born in the month of February.  Amethyst is also the gift for the 6th year wedding anniversary.  Plus, the Gad tribe, one of the 12 tribes of Israel, also uses Amethyst as their stone.

Fine Amethyst has been featured in the British Crown Jewels, and were also a favorite of Catherine the Great, and Egyptian royalty.  Great thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci believed that Amethyst could dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence. 

 Because of its wine like color, Greek legends associate Amethyst with the god of wine.  According to this myth, amethyst was created by Dionysus, god of fruitfulness and wine.  Angered by the purity of a young woman named Amethyst, who preferred to pay homage to the goddess Diana, he ordered two tigers to devour her.  Diana came to her rescue transforming Amethyst into a white quartz.  Overcome with remorse, Dionysus shed tears into his goblet of red wine.   Some of the wine spilled, running on the white stone, which absorbed its color, creating the stone amethyst.  Ancient Greeks believed that drinking wine from a cup of Amethyst would make them immune from drunkenness.

Amethyst Properties: Amethyst is made of quartz, a very common crystal that is abundantly found across the world. It’s the cousin of other quartz gemstones like citrine (yellow quartz), rose quartz, and smokey quartz.