![]() ![]() They were favourite stones of the Egyptian nobles as well as the British Royalty. The goat, liking grapes, went devastating vineyards and so another antidote of the wine and the drunkenness has been created this way. The god's tears stained the quartz purple, creating the gem we know today.Īncient Egyptians related amethyst to the zodiacal sign of Libra, formerly called Goat. Bacchus wept tears of wine in remorse for his action at the sight of the beautiful statue. Diana turned Amethyst into a statue of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the brutal claws of the tigers. Along came the unsuspecting Amethyst, a beautiful young maiden on her way to pay tribute to the goddess Diana. In order to perform this, he created fierce tigers. Bacchus, the god of wine, was angered one day by an insult from a mere mortal and swore revenge on the next mortal that would cross his path. The legend of the origin of amethyst comes from a Greek myth. Nowadays, ceremonial wines are still drunk in cups made of amethyst. ![]() It was particularly considered as the stone of bishops who still wear it often.Īmethyst was also appreciated as a strong antidote against drunkenness and even today this gemstone symbolises sobriety. Symbolising the devotion and supposed to encourage the celibacy, amethyst was strongly searched by churches in the Middle Ages for their ornamentations. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that amethyst had the power to dissipate bad thoughts and to sharpen intelligence. Purple was considered a royal colour so it’s not surprising that amethyst was in great demand during history. The stone resulting from the combination of the two colours of amethyst and citrine in a single crystal is called ametrine.įor more than 5 000 years, amethyst has been used as ornament in Europe and Asia. Clear amethyst is often heated to become citrine. The difference of colour between the both is due to their different oxidation states of iron in the structure. The amethyst shares, with its sister citrine, the same main colouring agent: iron. The amethyst, simple silicon dioxide (quartz), owns its colour to a very small quantity of iron and aluminium distributed in the crystal structure.
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