Amethyst: Alcoholism's Nemesis |
Amethyst is a purple form of quartz and the ornamental Amethyst Spirit Cactus Quartz crystals with their unusual cactus shapes, are eagerly sought by collectors. The deposits of these from the Magaliesberg dig in South Africa are especially sought and extremely rare.
The name amethyst comes from the Greek word a("not") and methuskem ("to intoxicate") as it was believed the stone prevented those wearing it from intoxication. Ancient Greeks and Romans not only adorned themselves with it, but crafted drinking vessels to prevent themselves from over-imbibing. Anyone wishing to protect a drunk from an inebriated state mixed pulverized amethyyst into their drink.
Napoleon captured the bust of Trajan in Berlin which was crafted of amethyst. A legend about the quartz's name says that a maiden called Amesthystos turned down the affections of a drunken Dionysus and prayed to remain chaste. The goddess Artemis turned her into a white stone to protect her chastity. As an offering Dionysus poured wine over the stone, coloring the stone purple.
The colors of amethyst run from a pale violet or lilac to a really deep purple, depending on its being subjected to ferric iron. The ideal or "Deep Siberian" bluish purple amethysts come from Russia, but a discovery found on Pleasant Mountain in Denmark, Maine by George Howe in the 1900's was said to exceed the quality of the Russian gemstones. Another important find was at Deer Hill in Stow, Maine in 1875 on a farm owned by George Eastman. Dr. George Kunz, an expert of minerals from Tiffany's happened to be in Deer Hill at that time, and purchased some specimens. In 1885 an amethyst quartz was found there which became a 25 carat gemstone. A later dig at the same location resulted in one ton of quartz crystals 22 feet below ground, and produced some six hundred pounds of amethyst. A dark violet amethysts some as large as a man's fists were found in 1900 in the Rio Grande do Sul.
Amethyst, the birthstone of February, has lost a lot of its value due to the size of discovered deposits. Queen Charlotte of England had a bracelet in the 18th century which was estimated to be worth 2000 pounds and two hundred years later was worth only 100 pounds. Supplying the quartz are Brazil, Delaware County in Pennsylvania, Amethyst Mountain in Texas, Haywood County, North Carolina, Lake Superior area; northwestern Ontario; Nova Scotia, Bolivia, Uruguay, Zambia, and Yellowstone National Park.
As a talisman the amethyst is thought to embody heavenly understanding and political, religious, philosophical and material thought and action. Some of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church wear rings of amethyst.
An amethyst blending of purple and the orange of citrine of the same quartz family are called "Oriental amethysts", a connotation not agreed to by the Amercan Gemological Society. The less desirable amethyst is the "rose de France." The Bacchus stone gets its name from the legend that Diana turned a maiden who Bacchus loved into an amethyst.
It has been noted that amethysts can lose their color, and jewelry made of them should not be exposed to extreme sunlight or to a black light. As a matter of fact, some of them even lose their color in daylight, the cause of which is not known.