It is this persuasion that should be chiefly considered in any attempt to tamper with the traditional attribution of the stones to particular months or to the zodiacal signs. Once we allow the spirit of commercialism pure and simple to dictate the choice of such stones, according to the momentary interest of dealers, there is grave danger that the only true incentive to acquire birth-stones will be weakened and people will lose interest in them. Sentiment, true sentiment, is one of the best things in human nature. While if darkened by fear it may lead to pessimism, with all the evils which such a state of mind implies, if illumined by hope it gives to humanity a brighter forecast of the future, an optimism that helps people over difficult passages in their lives. Thus, sentiment must not be neglected, and nothing is more likely to destroy it than the conviction that it is being constantly exploited for purposes of commercialism. For this reason, the interest as well as the inclination of all who are concerned in this question of birth-stones should induce a very careful handling of the subject.
Quite true it is that there are now, and have been in the past, several lists of these stones, differing slightly from one another, but all are based essentially either upon the list of foundation stones given in Revelation (xxi, 19) or upon that of the gems adorning the breastplate of Aaron and enumerated in Exodus (xxxix, 10-13). For convenient reference, we give the latter according to the Authorized Version of the Scriptures, and also as corrected by later research, and the former according to the Authorized Version.
| Breastplate. | Foundation Stones. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorized Version. | Later Correction. | Authorized Version. | |
| I | Sardius | Carnelian | Jasper |
| II | Topaz | Chrysolite (peridot) | Sapphire |
| III | Carbuncle | Emerald | Chalcedony |
| IV | Emerald | Ruby | Emerald |
| V | Sapphire | Lapis-lazuli | Sardonyx |
| VI | Diamond | Onyx | Sardius |
| VII | Ligure | Sapphire | Chrysolite |
| VIII | Agate | Agate | Beryl |
| IX | Amethyst | Amethyst | Topaz |
| X | Beryl | Topaz | Chrysoprasus |
| XI | Onyx | Beryl | Jacinth |
| XII | Jasper | Jasper | Amethyst |
While the arrangement differs in Revelation, the stones are nearly identical. For chalcedonius, we should probably read carchedonius, a name of the ruby; sardonyx is the onyx of Exodus; the jacinth (sapphire) is probably the “ligure”; the sapphire was the lapis-lazuli, and sardius is equivalent to carnelian. There thus remains only the chrysoprase, which for some reason has substituted the agate. In the eventual association of the foundation stones with the months, the first, the jasper, was assigned to March, with which month the year was reckoned to begin.
The list suggested and adopted in Kansas City reads as follows:
| Month. | Birth-stone. | Alternate Stone. |
|---|---|---|
| January | Garnet | |
| February | Amethyst | |
| March | Bloodstone | Aquamarine |
| April | Diamond | |
| May | Emerald | |
| June | Pearl | Moonstone |
| July | Ruby | |
| August | Sardonyx | Peridot |
| September | Sapphire | |
| October | Opal | Tourmaline |
| November | Topaz | |
| December | Turquoise | Lapis-lazuli |
Among the many changes in this list from that habitually followed, it will be noted that the ruby is transferred from December to July, changing places with the turquoise, which became the gem of December. This has been favored on the ground that the warmer-colored gem was best adapted for a July birth-stone, while the paler turquoise was best suited to a winter month, when the sun’s rays are feeble. The contrary, however, is true; for it is in winter that we seek for warmth, while in the heat of summer nothing is more grateful than coolness. This transposition is, in effect, simply a return to the ordering of these stones in the Polish list, which may perhaps have become popular in Europe in the eighteenth century through Marie Leczinska, the queen of Louis XV. Another undesirable change takes the chrysolite (peridot) from the place it has always occupied as the gem of September, and makes of it an alternate for August, with the sardonyx, while the sapphire, properly the gem for April, is made the birth-stone for September. For October neither the tourmaline nor the opal is as appropriate as the beryl, while for June we should prefer the asteria to the moonstone as a substitute for the pearl.
This suggested radical change or violation cannot be permitted. The time-honored ordering is familiar now to all who are interested in the matter, and any change, even if one apparently for the better, is liable to disturb the popular confidence in those who are supposed to be familiar with the subject. Above all, there should be no duplication or triplication of birth-stones for any given month, the choice between a birth-stone or an astral or zodiacal stone or the combination of these affording all the variety that is necessary or should be desired.
As the diamond does not appear to have been known to the ancients and is not given in any of the lists of birth-stones before the last century, and as diamonds, like gold and platinum, may easily be used as accessories to other stones, would it not perhaps be better to omit the diamond from the list of the stones of the months, and rather use these gems as a bordering or other ornate addition to the stone of the month? The pearl, which is not a stone in any sense of the word, should not appear in the list at all; but it can be worn in some device suggesting a sentiment, as, for instance, an emblem of purity, etc.
The tourmaline, as a gem only known in modern times or since the eighteenth century, seems out of place in the list of birth-stones, which ought only to comprise precious or semi-precious stones which have been known and worn from ancient times.