GARNET

Garnet is also listed as a birth/natal or star stone in the following birthstone tables:

Modern - January
Traditional - January
Ayurvedic - January
Zodiac - Aquarius
Sun Sign (Star Sign) - Capricorn
Sun Sign (Star Sign) - Aquarius
Talismanic - Taurus
Planetary - Scorpio
Arabic - January
Hebrew - January
Roman – January

Garnet's powers include healing, strength, and protection and it is often worn to relieve inflammations of
the skin. It is also believed to regulate the heart and blood flow and aid in curing depression. In earlier
times, garnets were exchanged as gifts between friends to demonstrate their affection for each other and to
insure that they meet again.

AMBER
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.
A Brief History of Baltic Amber

Amber stirs the soul, delights the eye, warms the heart and excites the
world's scientific imagination. Amber, an organic plastic, has the unique &
singular ability to encompass and preserve the organic materials it
encounters, like the the proverbial fly trapped in honey. Baltic amber is
approximately 40-60 million years old and was held dear by many ancient
cultures, treasured both for protective & decorative qualities. In modern
western times, the movie Jurassic Park caused a surge of popular interest in
this gemstone. However, amber has long commanded the hearts and minds
of humans--in fact, it has commanded whole economies.
Inside the plant material and insects it has encapsulated, strands of DNA--
life's basic code--are also captured. This is why amber is often referred to as
a "Window to the Past."

Common inclusions are plant materials such as oak leaf remnants or tiny
hairs from oak buds, pollens, spores, leaves, twigs and most famously of
all--insects. At least 214 plant species have been identified through
morphological analysis of amber. The scientific study of amber has yielded
ounty of priceless data about the ancient world which but for the golden fist
of amber's preservation would have been lost to the ages.

"I collect Baltic amber for its natural beauty & connection to the living
world. Not having a scientific mind; I have no idea what the proper name is
for this tiny creature; creatures I should say--for there are several.

I do know it is lovely & hope to have it made into a piece of jewelry

someday. It resides in my private collection. It is very beautiful to hold in
the palm of your hand & reflect upon the world before human came into
existence."
--Andzia, Purchased in Gdansk, Poland, in the
mid-nineties.

The Amber Road

The ancient amber trade routes brought faraway nations into contact with
one another and served as a communications and trade hub. As a luxury item
found only in a few widely dispersed areas, amber was one of the few
products deemed worthy of transporting such long and arduous distances.
From the Baltic Sea, down the Elbe River, and on to the Danube, one can
trace the ancient amber trade routes.

Amber was one of the first commercial products, and has been traded for
centuries. It has been found in the form of pendants dating from the
Paleolithic Era (c. 12,000 B.C.). Evidence of amber jeweller's workshops
has been discovered by archeologists tied to the Neolithic period. It is during
this time that caches of amber are also found embedded beneath the
foundations of houses- possibly intended to ensure the good fortune of the
occupants.

The ancient Amber Way led first from the North by water, from Jutland
down the Elbe, from Western Pomerania down the Oder, to Bohemia,
through Pomerania down the Vistula, and from the Samland Peninsula to the
Black Sea Coast. Then, overland, through the Brenner Pass into Italy, the
heart of the Roman Empire.

During the 1st-4th Centuries BC, it was the Celts who re-established what
would have been even to them, much more ancient trade roads previously
dominated by others, including the Phoenicians. Amber artefacts from
various periods have been found in Mycenae shaft graves (Greece) as well
as finds in Babylonia and Egypt (Tutenkhamen's tomb) & even in Brighton
(UK) where a particularly famous amber cup from a burial mound is housed.

But in the 1st century AD, Rome was next in line to become the undisputed
center of the amber industry.

The Romans used amber in a number of different objects, including coinage.

They apparently valued amber even more than the fair-haired Baltic slaves,
the harvesters of amber, whom often were taken back to Rome as well.
Amber has been mentioned by Homer in the Odyssey, and It has been
written by Pliny the Elder that the price of a small single piece of amber
sculpture was worth more than a healthy slave.

We learn from the Great Book of Amber that in the time of Nero, an
expedition was sent by Julianus to the Baltic Coast to procure amber. It was
brought back in such abundance that the ' "stage set" for the fight
[gladitorial] w[ere] based exclusively on amber. Even the ' "mesh" ' used for
restraining wild animals and covering the podium had a piece of amber in
every knot.' " --Pliny, Natrualis historia, XXXVII*

The Dark Ages descended and a period of great social unrest and migration
began. By the 1100s, Gdansk served as the main center of amber production.
The introduction of Christianity resulted in the popularization of the cross as
an amber motif.

After the Teutonic Knights returned from the Crusades, in the latter part of
1200 A.D., they became absolute rulers of Prussia and the Baltic sources of
amber, as well as the manufacture of amber objects--mostly religious objects
such as Paternoster beads (Christian rosaries). The Knights ruled with an
unyielding fist. Anyone caught with a piece of amber that was not part of a
rosary was subject to severe punishment and, often, hanging. Art prints
(lithographs) from that time commonly depict amber fisherman portrayed
along with gallows, a grim warning to all who would appropriate amber for
themselves.*

On my first trip thru Poland, I viewed the Marlbork Castle (one of the great
castles of the Teutonic Knights) for the first time from a train window. I
thought I was dreaming...crumbling walls, courtyards, turrets with banners
flying, a moat...

I was fortunate enough to return a few years later.The amber collection in

Malbork Castle has over 2,000 cataloged pieces & is eclectic--from ancient
pieces made by man's early workings to contemporary work of amber
artisans today.

Origins of Baltic Amber

About 45 million years ago, the territory of present central and northern
Europe known as Fennoscandia was covered by a thick "amber forest"
stretching from the Norwegian Coast to the Caspian Sea before the landmass
separated into what we know as present day Europe.

Amber is not, as is commonly thought, pine sap, but rather amber is the
vascular tisssue of the trees, exuded either during either injury or radical
climate change. Scholars have recently put forth three species of still
growing trees as candidates.* These are:

~ Agathis (aurakaria, Australia)

~ Cedrus atlantis (cedar, Atlas Mountains,
North Africa)
~ Pseudolarix wheri (larch, Canada)

Scientists at the Polish Museum of Science speculate that reddish tints found
in cherry amber are the resin of deciduous trees, such as cherry and plum
trees.
The collective name used for these amber-producing trees is Pinus
Succinifera, and they produced an unnaturally large secretion of resin.**
This resin has undergone myriad physical and chemical processes through
the eons, finally resulting in amber (succinit). Amber resins were first borne
out to sea on freshwater rivers from mountainous regions of the amber
forest, even whole damaged trunks due to temperature fluctuation were thus
carried to sea.

It is known from inclusions in amber that the sub-tropical amber forest also
included the following species of trees: palm trees, cypresses, magnolias,
rhododendrons, tea shrubs, oaks, maples, horse-chestnuts, mistletoe &
cinnamon trees as well as various kinds of heathers, heaths, mosses, lichens
and fungi. The forest must have been unimaginably beautiful--it is suggested
the Pinus Succinifera trees were similar to modern day sequoias. "Succinim"
is Latin for juice, also meaning sap- later it came to mean amber.

Amber is one of the few precious substances on earth we consider a gem

which is not of mineral origin. Diamonds, jet (both derived from various
stages of coal) and amber are the only gems of vegetative origin. The
valuation of any gemstone is tied directly to its rarity. The level of succinite
contained in amber determines its quality. Baltic amber contains the highest
level of succinic acid, thus Baltic amber is the most highly valued form of
amber.
A Brief History of Our Lady of Czestochowa: Amber Cloak & Crown

It is doubtful whether any other representation of Our Blessed Mother with

Her Divine Child, possesses a more ancient and glorious history than the
painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa.

Amber altar in Gdansk, St. Brygida church.

Illustration from the K. Drapikowski's publication,

2001- Polski Jubiler, No. 11-15
Tradition tells us that St. Luke painted it on the top of a cypress wood table
which came from the home of the Holy Family. At the request of the
faithful, Mary sat for the portrait. She was pleased with the finished portrait,
saying "My grace shall accompany it.

So began the miraculous history of the painting.

Venerated for nearly 300 years while hidden in Jerusalem, the painting was
discovered by St. Helen while searching for the True Cross. She brought it
back to Constantinople and presented it to her son, Constantine the Great,
the first Christian Emperor of Rome. Constantine built a chapel for the
portrait and where it remained in for five centuries.

Miracle upon miracle was attributed to the intercession of Mary by persons

praying before the portrait. Over the years, many enemies laid siege to
Constantinople. The chapel became a center of hope for the people of the
city. During one attack the city seemed ready to fall, but the people rallied to
the painting and the city was saved. Another time the city was under attack
and the chapel caught fire. Everything was destroyed except a small section
of wall upon which hung the painting of Mary and Jesus. The intense heat
and soot from the fire had darkened the already dark olive features of Mary
and Jesus.

Eventually it was given as a gift by the Byzantine Emperor to a Ruthenian

nobleman. The portrait was brought to Kiev and installed in the Royal
Palace of Belz. It remained there for 579 years. In 1382 the painting received
an injury from invading Tartar's. An arrow pierced it, leaving a scar which is
still visible on the neck. Concerned with the safety of the painting, Prince
Ladislaus Opolski decided to move it to one of his castles in Upper Silesia.

On the brow of a hill called Jasna Gora (bright hill) within a few paces of the
town of Czestochowa, the horses drawing the wagon with the painting
stopped. No amount of coaxing or goading could make them go on. Mary
appeared to Ladislaus and told him this was to be Her new home. The
Miraculous Image was placed in a chapel and given to the care of the
Basilian monks of the Greek Rite. A few years later, Prince Ladislaus gave it
over to the Latin Rite Hermits of Saint Paul who are still there to this day.

The year 1382 begins the remarkable record history of this miraculous
painting. If figured in the heroic successful defense of Poland against
invaders who were enemies of the Catholic Church. Over time, the
monastery as Jasna Gora became a monastic fortress and focal point of
Polish nationalism.

In 1655 the monastery held out against a mighty Swedish army. In 1683 it
was the Turks and in 1920 the Bolsheviks. As a result, Our Lady of
Czestochowa was crowned as Queen of Poland (feast is May 3).

During all these stirring historical events the painting did not escape
desecration and mutilation. In 1430 Hussites sacked the monastery. Pillaging
they loaded all the treasures of Jasna Gora into wagons. the horses pulling
the wagon with the painting would not move. The Hussites, threw the
painting off the wagon and the horses moved. One of the raiders seeing the
jewels and gold covering the painting slashed at it with sabers. Cutting twice
into the right cheek of Mary. When he went to strike it a third time he fell
dead. The other raiders fled for fear of Divine Retribution.

Repeated efforts by skilled artists to patch the scars failed. Each time the
facial cuts reappeared. It is believed to be the will of Mary that the scars
should remain as a sign to any who would desecrate Her Shrine. In 1909,
vandals tore off the gold crown and 'overdress' of pearls. This sacrilege was
repaired with the help of Pope, St. Pious X, who furnished new crown. Pope
after Pope have granted spiritual favors to pilgrims visiting the Shrine,
enriching it with many privileges. At present a painting of Our Lady of
Czestochowa adorns the alter of the Pope's private chapel at Castol
Gondolfo.

--Andzia