Thor’s day, said the Anglo-Saxons. Again they transmuted the powers, for Thor is the god of war, while to the Romans this is the day of Jupiter, king of the gods. It is a violet day, the day of the violet sapphire. This is a precious stone indeed, and a potent day. In the man it marks sober judgment, gravity, industry. In the woman the Thursday sapphire denotes high thoughts, and a love that lifts beyond the body with the spirit. Fortunate are they between whom a violet sapphire passes on a Thursday.
Friday
Here the Anglo-Saxons made no mistake, for Friya is their god of love, and Friday is Venus’ day. Friday still feels the force of the sapphire, but the sapphire must be blue. In the man, the blue sapphire marks magnanimous thoughts and wisdom.
In the woman, the blue sapphire of Friday, especially the star sapphire, marks courtesy and keen powers of observation. The girl Friday sees more than she tells. But there is need for caution; without the stone, these feminine powers may shift to a colder watchfulness, accompanied by jealousy and suspicion. Beware a flaw in the precious stone, the precious one. Friday is an auspicious day for love, if love is bedecked with a blue sapphire.
Saturday
Saturday is the seventh day, the day of rest. Thus the Anglo-Saxons did not labor to translate it from the Latin; it is the day of Saturn, the Roman god of time and growth. Saturn was the father and first king of the gods; his stone is the king of gems, the diamond. Saturday crowns the days of the week, as the diamond crowns the family of the gems. In a man the diamond marks gravity, fortitude, constancy. In a maiden, it may betoken a certain giddiness, a flighty fancy that has not yet found its destination; but in a woman it marks perseverance and constancy. The woman of the Saturday diamond knows what she wants, and works unfaltering to attain it.
The Months
Thus, from the jacinth and the pearl to the sapphire and the diamond, runs the gemmed story of the days. More fixed in popular imagination are the special stones of the months, for these have become the birthstones that mark the natal days. In early times there was considerable variety; today there is general agreement as to these stones. They may have come, as many believe, from the twelve stones in the breastplate of the Jewish high priest. Or they may be transferred from the twelve foundation stones proclaimed in Revelations for the New Jerusalem. The ages have fixed them as memorials of birth, and one should have at least one lucky jewel adorned with one’s birthstone.
TABLE OF BIRTHSTONES
| Month | Birthstone |
|---|---|
| January | Garnet |
| February | Amethyst |
| March | Aquamarine |
| April | Diamond |
| May | Emerald |
| June | Pearl |
| July | Ruby |
| August | Sardonyx or Peridot |
| September | Sapphire |
| October | Opal |
| November | Topaz |
| December | Turquoise |