Rose Quartz gemstones - A fine gemstone with a pale pink color
Introduction
The Rose Quartz is a beautiful gemstone and it has a pale pink color that is wonderful to look at. The gemstone has a clarity that can only be described as being transparent or translucent. Getting a Rose Quartz that has clear, or true transparency is very rare, and this stone is so pale that you may not even see the hint of pink; the only time that you can see the color of a truly transparent Rose Quartz is when it has a considerable carat size. Since the ancient times, the Rose Quartz has adorned many types of jewelry and ornaments. The translucent variety can easily be found, and the colors are vibrant, and is used for carvings and beaded jewelry.
Just like other stones from the quartz family of stones, the Rose Quartz is susceptible to having inclusions, and when they are in a rutile nature, they can cause asterism to be seen through the stone. Since the stone is translucent, the asterism will only be seen when a light source is directed at the stone; in other clear gemstones, the asterism can be seen even in indirect light.
A History of the Rose Quartz gemstone
The Rose Quartz has a lot of physical and spiritual history. Dating back to the year 7000 BC, the stones were first discovered in Mesopotamia, which is currently called Iraq. In the year 800 to 600 BC, the Assyrians were known to have crafted jewelry from this wonderful stone. It is believed that the Romans and Assyrians were the first people to use Rose Quartz as a decorative gemstone. Since people believed that quartz contained magical powers, one that had a pink color was believed to bring good luck and strengthen love and friendship. The Egyptians, Romans and Greeks therefore used this gemstone whenever they needed to create talismans to bring the positive attributes of this gemstone. For the Romans, the stone was used to show ownership when used in a seal. For the Egyptians, the belief was that one who wore this talisman would ward off the process of aging.
In the middle ages, Rose Quartz was used in medicine in which the practitioners threw the stone into their potions when they were being prepared. In the Americas, this gemstone was mainly used as talisman which were in the form of amulets.
The occurrence of Rose Quartz gemstones
Rose Quartz is a stone that was discovered in the early ages, and it was formed by the metamorphosis of course-grained rocks; the most common deposits of Rose Quartz are found in granite shafts. Most Rose Quartz in the world comes from Madagascar, but there are also some deposits in Brazil, Russia, and Scotland and also in some of the states of the United States of America.
The legends and myths of the Rose Quartz
The Rose Quartz has a lot of spiritual legend; and this is very rich indeed. Given that the gemstone is regarded of love, it is no wonder that most of the legends revolve around the subject of love.
The first legend revolves around Cupid and Eros, who are believed to be the god and angel of love, and they are said to have brought the Rose Quartz to earth in order to awaken love and desire among people on the planet.
The second legend revolves around the love affair between Adonis and Aphrodite. It is said that Adonis was attacked by Ares, who was the god of war, who had assumed the form of a wild boar. Upon realizing what was going on, Aphrodite rushed in an effort to save the love of her life and ended up getting tangled in braid bush, which has very cruel thorns. It is said that their blood mingled with the White Quartz and solidified to form the Rose Quartz. It took the grace of Zeus to return Adonis to the heartbroken Aphrodite after about 6 months. This is the reason why the stone is said to be a symbol of reconciliation among lovers.
In Egyptian mythology, it is said that the Egyptian Goddess Isis, used to look for river-tumbled quartz in which to wash her face. She felt that a facial scrub using these fine stones would keep her beauty intact for all time. She would scrub her face in upward motions and then roll over her cheeks and around her eyes. The quartz that she used was the Rose Quartz; although the quartz is not used as a facial scrub, the motions that the goddess used are still in use today, since they are said to firm the facial tissues, thereby keeping the skin supple and beautiful. It was then said that when Isis returned to the heavens, an astrologer would drop a Rose Quartz to mark the spot where she carried out her rituals, and therefore she would know where to come when she needed to do this all over again. The Isis temple is found in the upper part of Egypt in a place called Philae.
In America, the myth of the temple of Isis has led to the naming of a region within the Grand Canyon, where Rose Quartz is found. One of the many buttes that were formed by water and wind erosion in this area, has huge bands of yellow, orange and red limestone deposits. After years of exposure to the sun and rain, the limestone deposits were soon punctuated by vertical seams comprised of Rose Quartz. This was formed when molten lava seeped through cracks in the limestone in the early times.
Metaphysical meaning of the Rose Quartz
As mentioned briefly before, the Rose Quartz is a gemstone that is closely related to love. If one does not have self-esteem, then the stone is said to reclaim this sense of self-worth. It is said that you cannot love another if you do not love yourself, and this is the first use of this stone. It is also a stone that is said to symbolize forgiveness and acceptance. It allows people to appreciate the beauty of the written word, music and art; it therefore encourages creative imagination. If you have a feud in your family, it is said to help one to be a great arbiter in bring around a solution suitable to all.
All-in-all, this is a stone that is given to symbolize love, so if you want to show your love for a certain lady, then you can give her a rig which has a Rose Quartz stone as the main piece. You should always give it as a symbol of friendship and love, and this has to be pure.
