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BIRTH-STONES
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duplication
or triplication of birth-stones for any given month, the choice between
a birth-stone or an astral or zodiacal stone or the combination of
these affording all the variety that is necessary or should be desired.
As
the diamond does not appear to have been known to the ancients and is
not given in any of the lists of birth-stones before the last century,
and as diamonds, like gold and platinum, may easily be used as
accessories to other stones, would it not perhaps be better to omit the
diamond from the list of the stones of the months, and rather use these
gems as a bordering or other ornate addition to the stone of the month?
The pearl, which is not a stone in any sense of the word, should not
appear in the list at all ; but it can be worn in some device
suggesting a sentiment, as, for instance, an emblem of purity, etc.
The
tourmaline, as a gem only known in modern times or since the eighteenth
century, seems out of place in the list of birth-stones, which ought
only to comprise precious or semi-precious stones which have been known
and worn from ancient times.
"Astral
stones" or "zodiacal stones" are terms used to designate those gems
which were believed to be peculiarly and mystically related to the
zodiacal signs. "While these signs constitute a twelve-fold division of
the year just as do the months, they do not exactly coincide with the
latter as now reckoned, but overlap them, so that the sign Aquarius,
for instance, covers the period from January 21 to February 20, that of
Pisces from February 21 to March 20, that of Aries, the spring sign,
from March 21 to April 20, and so on down to Capricornus, which begins
at the winter solstice. Thus, every necessary opportunity is afforded
for enlarging the selection of natal stones while preserving the
traditional order of
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