Garnet: January’s Gemstone

Garnet is the birth stone for month of January and the anniversary gemstone for second year of marriage. Garnets are found in Brazil, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, India, Siberia, Africa, and the USA.
Nearly everyone thinks of garnet as a red gem. In fact, this family of gemstones is available in all colors except blue. Garnets offer enough variety in appearance to suite every taste.
There are many ancient traditions and legends about garnets. Some Hebrew writers include it as one of the 12 gems in Aaron’s breastplate. Christian tradition long considered the blood red garnet symbolic of Christ’s sacrifice. The Koran holds that it illuminates the Fourth Heaven of the Moslems. Garnet was said to give its guidance in the night allowing him to see when others couldn’t. Legend claims that Noah hung a large garnet in the ark for illumination. According to the Egyptians, garnet is an antidote for snake bite and food poisoning.