Rhodonite: Rhodonite has a distinctive pink color. Rhodonite is the ‘complementary sister’ to Rhodochrosite. It is an emotional balancer and grounding stone that nurtures love and togetherness. Its healing properties are believed to heal wounds (including relieving insect bites) and reduce scarring. It can calm the mind and ease stress by improving self-confidence, encouraging forgiveness and clearing emotional wounds. It can activate the pineal gland and bring intuitive guidance. It’s also helpful for emphysema, inflammation of the joints, arthritis, promoting bone growth, aiding autoimmune diseases, stomach ulcers, and helping hearing. This stone can balance yin-yang, repair emotional shock and panic, aid reconciliation after long-term pain/abuse. It alleviates confusion and helps achieve one’s highest potential.

 Ruby (Birthstone: July) (Astrological Birthstone: Capricorn) Ruby is a bright red color, transparent when polished and opaque when not, frequently faceted. Ruby’s healing properties are said to detoxify the body, blood and lymph, and for aiding treatment of fevers and infectious disease. It helps restricted blood flow, heart and circulatory system issues, whilst it stimulates adrenals, kidneys, reproductive organs and the spleen. Ruby is very effective at boosting energy but for delicate or irritable people, it can sometimes over-stimulate! However, it’s effective at calming hyperactivity. It’s believed to balance the heart charka and to offer protection from psychic attack, it can promote good dreams and visualizations and stimulate the pineal gland. It aids clearing of negative energy and thoughts and encourages a positive, sharp and courageous state of mind.

 Ruby-ziosite: Ruby-in-Zoisite has been known for nearly 200 years as an ornamental stone. The medium grade red ruby material is usually spread irregularly throughout the green zoisite. The stone consists of crystalline aggregates of green zoisite (soft stone) with non-transparent ruby (hard stone) inclusions – there’s no other stone like it in the mineral world. Due to the differing hardness of the two materials, it’s quite hard to cut so diamond tools are usually used. Rubyziosite is found in Tanzania. Rubyziosite’s properties include those for Ruby (see above) but also include aiding spiritual learning and past life work, promoting individuality whilst retaining interconnectedness, and powerfully amplifying the bio-magnetic field around the body. Like Zoisite, Ruby in Zoisite is said to enhance fertility and to help with diseases of the reproductive system particularly the testicles and ovaries.

 Swarovski Crystals: Glass and crystal are strongly related…like cousins we might say. Glass is made of silica (sand), burnt lime stone and soda. Melt these together at extremely high temperatures and you have glass. But if you add one more thing to the composition – lead – the result is substantially different. Only small amounts of lead can turn what should have been normal glass into a similarly looking material only much stronger and resistant. Another main characteristic of this “special glass” is its high refractivity. All these mean that the lead glass can be cut and faceted just like any gemstone and it has a fascinating glare. Needless to say, the Swarovski company has its own secret recipe for their world-famous crystals, but what makes them so special is not the combination of ingredients but the superior cutting and polishing methods that they use. 

 Tiger’s Eye: Tiger’s Eye is recognizable by the rippled wavy bands of browns, golds, and yellows which often resemble a scenic view. It’s a member of the quartz group of chalcedonies and is one of the chatoyant gemstones, similar to Charoite. Tiger’s Eye’s healing properties are said to aid spiritual and body well-being, aid clarity of mind and act as a psychic protector. It can help eye issues, help throat and reproductive problems, dissolve constrictions and is helpful for repairing bones. This stone combines the earth energy with those of the sun to create a high vibrational state that remains grounded. It is a protective stone, it helps accomplish goals and promotes clarity of intention and is especially useful in aiding mental dis-ease and personality disorders. It can block self-criticism, alleviate depression and encourage creativity and self-worth.

 Topaz (Birthstone: November, December) (Astrological Birthstone: Sagittarius, Leo) Topaz comes in wide range of colors including blue, red, orange, peach, pink, gold, yellow, brown and clear. Being a transparent stone with a vitreous luster, its pure crystals look beautiful in exclusive jewelry items. The name Topaz comes from the Sanskrit and means fire. Topaz is found in Brazil, USA, Mexico, Australia, Pakistan, Russia, Siberia, China, Myanmar (SE Asia), Japan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Nigeria. Valued for centuries, it is thought that the healing properties of Topaz help mental and physical disorders including anorexia, it soothes, heals, stimulates, recharges, re-motivates and aligns the meridians, improves eyesight, facilitates ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’ and an urge to develop inner wisdom, is an aid for digestion and stimulates the metabolism. This stone facilitates problem solving.

 Turquoise (Birthstone: December) (Astrological Birthstone: Taurus, Sagittarius) Turquoise is a blue to blue-green mineral of aluminium and copper. It is one of the oldest known gem materials on our planet. Turquoise’s healing properties are believed to relax the mind, to ease mental tension, providing solace for the spirit and well-being for the body. It’s a protective stone and enhances the physical and psychic immune systems. It can regenerate tissue, benefit gout and rheumatism, alleviate pollution and viral infections, act as an anti-inflammatory, and stimulate overall healing. It instills inner calm while remaining alert, can inspire creative expression, aid exhaustion, depression and panic attacks, and being ‘protective’ it wards off influences and pollutants in the atmosphere. Some say that it attracts money, success, love, courage, friendship and luck. 

 Zircon (Birthstone: December) Zircon comes in many colors. It contains zirconium, silicon and oxygen with small quantities of rare earths and radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium. Due to its high refractive index and strong dispersion, zircon gemstones have great brilliance and intensive fire. It is used widely in industry as the main source for the metal zirconium used in steel alloys, abrasives and jet engines. It is not connected to Cubic Zirconia. Zircon is found in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Australia, South Africa, France and the USA. Zircon was used in the Middle Ages to induce sleep, to promote honor and wisdom, as a poison detoxifier and to bring prosperity to its owner. It’s a general healer but especially useful for liver complaints, childbirth and depression. It inspires intuition, durability, steadiness and integrity.