Amber

The gemstone Amber is one of the birthstones listed for the Sun Sign for Taurus.
Amber deposits have been found that range between 360 and one million years old and belong between the Carboniferous and Pleistocene geological periods.   As sticky resin oozed from ancient pine trees, small insects, plant material, feathers and other small objects in the path of the flow became entrapped.  Over time, the resin was encased in dirt and debris and through a process of heat and pressure it fossilized to become amber.  
Amber increases in value with the rarity and perfection of the entrapped object.  Complete insect specimens are rare though and command top price.
Copal, is also a tree resin but it hasn't fully fossilized to amber. It is usually only thousands of years old, instead of millions of years. There is strong debate about some deposits of African amber as to whether it is copal or true amber.
Amber can range in color from dark brown to a light almost clear lemon yellow.  Most amber that has been used in jewelry is from the region of the Baltic Sea or the Dominican Republic.
Amber is very soft, between 2 1/2-3 on the Mohs scale and can be scratched easily.  Bracelets and rings with amber cabochons should be worn with care to prevent marring the stone. Much of the amber used in commercial jewelry is actually reconstituted which makes it harder and less prone to scratching. Reconstituted and processed amber usually doesn't have natural inclusions.
There are many tests that can be performed to determine if the piece is natural amber or man-made. Of these, only the flotation test is recommended for the novice. Make a saturated solution of regular table salt and water and place the piece of amber in this mixture. If it floats, it is amber. If it sinks it is man-made (some natural copals will also sink and you would need to make more scientific tests to make a determination).

Folklore, Legend, and Healing Properties:
Powers attributed to amber include love, strength, luck, healing, and protection, calming for hyperactivity and stressed nerves, finds humor and joy.  Legend says that Amber was believed to provide magicians and sorcerers with special enhanced powers. Helps remove energy blockages, strengthens physical body. Excellent for enhancing altered states of consciousness.

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Amethyst

Amethyst is the official birthstone for February as adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912. It is also the birth stone for the Zodiac sign of Pisces. Amethyst is suggested as a gem to give on the 4th, 6th and 17th wedding anniversaries.
Amethyst is the purple variety of quartz and the most valued member of the quartz family. It must be purple to be amethyst, but it can display a range of shades including deep purple, light lilac, lavender and mauve. Top quality amethyst is a deep medium purple with rose-colored flashes. Its purple color made it a stone of royalty for many thousands of years.
Amethyst can occur as crystals that are six sided on either end. It also forms as drusy which are crystalline crusts covering the host rock. It is found inside geodes and in alluvial deposits all around the world and occurs in either crystalline or massive forms. When manganese is present in clear quartz amethyst is produced, while the amount of iron contained in the specimen accounts for the depth of purple.
Mohs scale of hardness is 7.

Folklore, Legend, and Healing Properties:
Throughout history amethyst has been used to guard against drunkenness and is thought to be helpful in overcoming addiction. It has been used for hearing disorders, insomnia, headaches and other pain. Some sources suggest it is used to stabilize mental disorders.
It was worn to make the wearer gentle and amiable. Amethyst powers include: dreams, healing, peace, love, spiritual upliftment, courage, psychism, protection against thieves, and happiness.

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Aventurine

Aventurine is the Star Sign for Libra and the Planetary stone of Taurus.

Aventurine is a translucent to opaque variety of microcrystalline quartz. It contains small inclusions of shiny minerals which give the stone a sparkling effect known as aventurescence. Inclusions of mica will give a silverish sheen, while inclusions of hematite give a reddish or grayish sparkle.
 
Aventurine ranges in color from green, peach, brown, blue and a creamy green. Besides its uses in jewelry, aventurine is also used for ornamental purposes like vases, bowls, and figurines.

Aventurine is found in India, Chile, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Austria, and Tanzania. It is a 6.5 on the Mohs scale of hardness. This mineral is often mistaken for amazonite or jade.

It is interesting that the name for the stone is derived from an accident. Sometime during the 18th century, Venetian glass workers were preparing molten glass when copper filings accidentally fell into the batch producing a glass with sparkles. The name aventurine comes from the Italian "a ventura," which means"by chance".

Folklore, Legend, and Healing Properties:
Aventurine has been used as a lucky talisman and is a popular stone for gamblers.
Legends say that it is an all-purpose healer, used to reduce stress, develop confidence, imagination and improve prosperity. A legend from ancient Tibet says that aventurine was used to improve nearsightedness and to increase the wearer's creativity.
Many believe that aventurine has the capacity to calm a troubled spirit and bring about inner peace.

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Chalcedony

Chalcedony and its named varieties are well represented in various birthstone charts and can be found for all the months except January, April, and November. It is also listed as a birthstone for all the Zodiac signs except Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio and Sagittarius.
The term chalcedony is derived from the name of the ancient Greek town Chalcedon in Asia Minor.
Chalcedony, which is found worldwide, is the name for a group of stones made of a microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline variety of quartz, which means the quartz crystals are too small to be seen without high magnification.
In jewelry usage, the name Chalcedony is usually applied only to the light blue translucent and waxy form. Other stones in this group are know as agate, jasper, petrified wood, bloodstone, petrified dinosaur bone, fire agate, tiger's eye, chrysocolla, chrysoprase, onyx, sardonyx, and carnelian.
Chalcedony is found in almost every color including: white, gray, black, brown, brownish red, orange, yellow, light to dark green, blue, lavender or, in the case of agates and jaspers, combinations of those colors.

Folklore, Legend, and Healing Properties:
Native American Indians believed chalcedony was a sacred stone and used in the spiritual ceremonies of the tribe.
It is thought to increase vitality, stamina, and endurance and to promote emotional balance and charity while relieving melancholy, fever, gallstones, and eye problems.

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Jasper

Jasper is one of the birth stones listed for the Sun Sign of Virgo. It is also the Mystical birthstone for the month of October.
Jasper is an opaque and fine grained variety of Chalcedony. It is found in all colors including: red, brown, pink, yellow, green, grey/white and shades of blue and purple.
It often contains organic material and mineral oxides which give it interesting patterns, bands and colors. Many of these patterns resemble landscapes with mountains and valleys, thus the name "picture" is part of the name of many well know jaspers.
Jasper was a favorite gem in ancient times and is referenced in Greek, Hebrew, Assyrian and Latin literature.
Found worldwide, a wide variety of named jaspers is found in the western areas of the Unites States; California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Washington.
Picture jasper is a petrified or silicated mud that dripped into gas pockets in molten lava. It became superheated and then solidified forming the unusual banded patterns which are typical of this stone.
A 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, Jasper is the state rock of Massachusetts, USA.

Folklore, Legend, and Healing Properties:
Poppy Jasper is said to help bring joy into life.  Opalite Jasper is said to help one sleep.

Legend says that Jasper would drive away evil spirits and protect against snake and spider bites. In the fourth century, it was thought to bring about the rain.
Jasper is protective. It can align all the chakras and balance yin yang energies, it is stabilizing and healing.

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