Purple Banded Agate Choker
Often called the “earth rainbow”, Banded Agate is a healing stone for body, mind and spirit. It can increase concentration, honesty and memory. Banded Agate also protects the wearer from psychic attack, thereby preventing negative energy from harming you.
Physically, Banded Agate increases stamina, helps with digestive conditions and protects the body from harmful radiation from X-rays.
Agate is formed with bands of microscopic quartz crystals. It is a variety of Chalcedony. Agate is a grounding stone as well as a spiritual stone, allowing for one to bring their spiritual experiences into their everyday reality. Agate is believed to improve mental functions and can help where issues of clarity and stability are concerned. Agate is also helpful in overcoming negative emotions by bringing love into the chakras. Although they work very slowly and deliberately, this gentle nature of Agate helps it to have a lasting impact.
Agate is also known as chalcedony. It is a stone that has been used for centuries as gems and as precious materials for the production of ornaments or small sculptures. The name chalcedony comes from Chalchedon, an ancient port on the Sea of Marmara, in Asia Minor. Ornamental materials used to be mined in that area and it was an active trading center for many gems. Various forms of agate used to be used extensively for bases and handles of gold items such as goblets, and for stone inlay work. Tiny crystals of quartz interlock to form agate and because of this, it is always opaque to translucent. Agate is an excellent material for cameos as the contrast between the different layers is used to heighten the relief. Agate's value was quite high in antiquity, when it was one of the main gemstones used. Now its value is fairly low, except for the rare green form called chrysoprase.
Unusual colors and markings of agate made it very highly regarded by the ancients and it was revered throughout history until the present. According to Pliny the Elder, agate was believed to make its wearers "agreeable and persuasive and give them god's favor." In the middle of the 1800's, amulets made from eye agate (brown or black agate with a white ring in the center) were so popular that agate cutters in Germany had no time to cut anything else. The eye was believed to take on the watchfulness of one's guardian spirit and to protect the wearer from the evil eye.
Agate rates a 6.5 to 7 on the hardness scale. The typical color of agate is a blue whitish grey. The most highly prized forms of agate are sard, cornelian, chrysoprase and jasper. Agate has many subspecies, which are distinguished by their colors and patterns. Carnelian is yellow-orange to orangey red and translucent. Chrysocolla is an intense light blue or blue-green. Chrysoprase is translucent, light to medium yellowish green, and was once considered to be a prized form of jade. Bloodstone is another form of agate, opaque and dark green with spots of dark red. Legends said bloodstone was formed out of drops of Christ's blood as he was crucified. Blue Lace Agate is translucent and is lavender to light blue with lacy white lines. Jasper can be different opaque colors, usually green, red, or yellow. Jasper can show various landscape-like patterns within the stone.
Wearing agate was believed to be a cure for insomnia and nightmares. However in spite of these positive attributes, Cardano wrote that while wearing the stone, he experienced a high amount of misfortunes which were no fault of his own. He then stopped wearing agate. Cardano tested different stones by actually wearing them and seeing how the results would affect his life. However, he failed to appreciate the fact that there was no proof of the connection between the events in his life and the wearing of the stones. In another one of his articles, Cardano takes a more sympathetic look at agate and claims that all different kinds of the stone render those who wear them “temperate, continent, and cautious; therefore, they are all useful for acquiring riches.”
∞ For your consideration, my elegant Semi-precious Malas - Collars – Chokers and more.
All of my Malas - Collars – Chokers – Key Holder Necklaces are made with Semi-precious stones, strong nylon threads, Nickle free chains, hand knotted and made with passion. My designs, and the materials used to create them, are meant for 24/7 wear, evening ware, meditation, mantra recitations and in some cases BDSM play. While all my metal materials are lead- and nickel-free, like all jewelry items even 24kt gold, will tarnish, corrode, and become damaged if they have contact with liquids or chemicals. My designs are meant for symbolic representation of your passionate lifestyles, relationships and connections to a higher state of mind. ∞
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