Even since the time of the ancient Babylonian civilization, man has attributed magical significance to certain gemstones. For example, the Babylonians believed that the power of gemstones could be harnessed to provide medicinal benefits, the appeasement of the gods, and the focal point of certain rituals. This tradition of assigning significance to gemstones has lasted to the present day in the form of birthstones, or Zodiac stones. The concept behind birthstones and Zodiac stones are the same, in that both assign a specific gemstone to each individual person depending on the day that the person was born, but the only difference exists in the days that match up with the term: while birthstones correspond to the month, Zodiac stones correspond to the astrological sign, but the stones are the same. Whatever the designation of the gemstone, though, the concept behind birthstones means that each person has a special and significant gemstone depending on the day that he or she was born, and these make excellent gifts to the person in the form of jewelry. For those born in January, the traditional birthstone is the garnet. photo credit: tiffa130

If the difference between Zodiac stones and birthstones was not minute enough, there happen to be several subcategories of birthstones to be acknowledged. Traditional birthstones are those that have become assigned to each particular month just out of tradition that has come to be accepted in mainstream culture. The Gregorian calendar, which is the one that we use today, has twelve months, with each month matching up to a particular birthstone. These pairings were first popularized in 1870 when Tiffany & Co. published a set of poems from an unknown author, and to this day it is unknown whether or not the poems are from the original Gregorian calendar or not. Considering the significance that the ancient Romans placed on gemstones in everyday life, it is certainly a possibility that the original drafting of the Gregorian calendar would have included stipulations about which gemstones would be compatible with which times of the year.

A verse of these poems is as follows:

By her who in January was born
No gem save garnets shall be worn
They will ensure her constancy
True friendship and fidelity.

It has been determined that most of these gemstones are popular choices for the time of the year to which they correspond, specifically reflecting Polish tradition, so the poems may have root in European custom.

Another important note in the history of gemstones is from the Jewish tradition. The historian Josephus decided that there was a connection between the twelve gemstones of the breastplate of Aaron — the brother of Moses and the first High Priest of the Jews — the twelve months, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The list of gemstones on Aaron’s breastplate is found in Exodus, while the more precise list can be found in Revelation, with the gemstones listed in the order of the calendar, signifying a more direct correlation between the gemstones and a month of the Gregorian calendar. Poland was the first country to actually popularize the idea of wearing gemstones in the form of jewelry, something that came about in the fifteenth century, and from there the custom spread. The tradition at that time consisted of everyone wearing the birthstone for that month because the powers contained within the gemstones would be heightened during the month. For that reason, people would be encouraged to own a full set of the twelve different birthstones and rotate them as necessary in order to have the heightened powers of the birthstones active throughout the entire year.

Today, the most widely used list of gemstones is the modern list of birthstones. This was standardized by the American national association of jewelers, the Jewelers of America, in 1912 because of a vast amount of discrepancies between what the birthstone was actually decided to be for a particular month and what an unscrupulous jeweler would tell a customer to make a sale. This list has several differences to the traditional birthstone list. In particular, March, June, August, and December have completely different gemstone designations, while several other months have, in the modern list of birthstones, one of the gemstones decided upon in the traditional category of birthstones.

January’s birthstone is the garnet, so if you were born in January or if you want to perhaps benefit from the cosmic significance that garnet has during the month of January, garnet is the gemstone to keep close. The actual mineral can be found in many different colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, black, and pink, with blue being the rarest form of garnet. Many different species of garnet have color-changing properties, appearing one set of colors during the daytime and then another set of colors under incandescent light. For that reason, there are many different classifications of certain subspecies of garnets based on the range of the color changes that occur. While crystal garnet is primarily used as a gemstone, garnet sand makes a usable abrasive and it is a common replacement for silica sand in sand blasting. Garnet can even be used to cut steel when mixed with water and used at a very high pressure. Garnet sand can also be used in water filtration to help make water drinkable. New York’s gemstone is the garnet, whereas garnet is the state mineral of Connecticut.

As far as garnet as a gemstone, the only colors that are widely sold are various shades of green, red, yellow, and orange, with a corresponding range of prices based on the shades of colors and the quality of the gemstones. There are also plenty of superstitions surrounding garnet gemstones. If your business is struggling and you need something to kick-start your business, place three or more garnets in and around your desk and you should start to see more profit rolling in. Those who suffer from depression should consider placing garnet under their pillows, as garnet can cure the condition. Garnets can also confer popularity and self-esteem when worn as jewelry, perfect for the shy bookworm that wants to make his or her way to the forefront. Those who are going on a trip but are worried about flying or personal safety while away from home should consider taking garnet with them, as garnet is said to confer protection to travelers. Garnet is also said to bring constancy to friendships, great for those who have trouble maintaining long-term friendships for whatever reasons. Presumably, the month of January heightens all of these positive effects, so if any of these are appealing, one should consider garnet.

Birthstones are a fascinating tradition: one can wonder why man has placed so much significance in precious minerals throughout the span of human history. While we have found practical purposes for many of these gemstones, such as through the use of abrasives and water filtration, our ancestors would have had little practical use for things such as garnet. Still, though, the tradition of birthstones has been around for as long as two thousand years and perhaps longer. The birthstone for the month of January is the garnet, making it the perfect gift for someone whose birthday falls in January.