Multiple birthstone calendars in circulation?

Birthstones. That sounds nice, but how did that actually come about? If you search on the internet, you will often find several birthstones that correspond to your month or zodiac sign. And then there are also two birthstone calendars! Nicely confusing. Couldn't that be a bit clearer? To create some order in the chaos, I have tried to explain it below.

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A piece of history

There are several stories about the origins of birthstones. I think the best known in the West is the story described in the second part of the Bible: Exodus. According to this story, a Jewish scholar saw twelve stones on Aaron's breastplate (a religious garment). Those stones then stood for the 12 tribes of Israel. Later a scholar linked these stones as a symbol to the 12 constellations.

Hundreds of years later, scholars and monks believed that these stones possessed special powers and these 12 stones were linked to the 12 months of the year. The monks believed that the stones were most powerful if they wore them in the corresponding month. This is how the birthstone calendar with the months was created.

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Various birthstone calendars in circulation

In principle you can distinguish 2 types of birthstone calendars: the birthstones per month and per zodiac sign. But that's not the only thing…

If you search on the internet, you will quickly come across different birthstones for your month. This can be very confusing. How is this possible?

Because some stones have become very rare. Take the diamond for the month of April. Priceless for most people. That is why a search was made for a stone that resembles the original stone in appearance and strengths. For example, you will find a Herkimer diamond as a birthstone for April with me.

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Birthstones: a beautiful symbolic gift

Some people firmly believe in gemstones and therefore also in birthstones. Others are diametrically opposed to this and find it all vague. It has never been scientifically proven that gemstones actually help. My grandmother was 100% convinced. I, with my down-to-earth upbringing, a lot less so. Still, I think the symbolic meaning of gemstones is very beautiful. And…you never know ;).