If they the amethyst will wear.
The February stone has a wider range of color, and may be chosen in any shade from light lilac to a deep royal purple. It is a symbol of beauty and of power. It has been traditionally associated with the Princes of the Church, and down the ages has been the chosen royal gem.
Out of the ancient Hebrew comes the thought that the amethyst has the power to prevent nightmares and unpleasant dreams.
With its buried meanings of beauty and power, of power-claiming beauty, the amethyst was one of the earliest stones to be cut in the shape of a heart.
Here is a story of the best known and most heralded of the powers of the amethyst, its potency as a guard against intoxication, against the evil effects of overindulgence.
The god of revelry and wine, Bacchus, we are told, fell in love with a nymph, who sought to avoid his tipsy embrace. (One needs not the gods to picture such a pickle!) This nymph, however, prayed to Diana, goddess vowed to chastity. Diana changed her to an amethyst, with power to withstand the effects of drink. The frustrated Bacchus gave the stone the color of wine. Hence the amethyst was known to the Greeks as “the sobering gem.” It should surely be the token stone of Alcoholics Anonymous, for its very name, a-methyst, comes from the Greek, meaning “against strong drink.”
February, we are told, is the cruellest month; its chill seems to call for the warm coursing of an invigorating drink. It is most fortunate that the stone for this month of biting cold is the amethyst.
Red the cheek glows,
Still redder the nose;