Garnet is the name of a group of minerals. Garnets are most often seen in red, but are available in a wide variety of colors spanning the entire spectrum.

The name ‘garnet’ comes from the Latin word ‘granum’ or ‘granatus’, meaning ‘grain’. As it happens, garnet is found in small grain – like crystals. It might also refer to the ‘Punica granatum’ or ‘pomegranate’, a plant with red seeds similar in shape, size, and intense color to some garnet crystals.

In Greek mythology, Hades tricked Persephone to eat the food of the underworld, the seeds of the pomegranate. By doing so she was forever bound to him and she could never fully leave the underworld. Hence comes the association with Scorpio – an underwordly sign – and the 8th House of the zodiac, the symbolic entrance to the underworld. And of course with garnet, thé Scorpio – gemstone.

The garnet – family consists of six varieties, based on their chemical composition. They are : almandine, pyrope, spessartite, grossular, uvarovite and andradite.

Garnet is a true Scorpio – Mars gemstone. They grant strength, energy, courage and undauntedness. Every garnet enhances passion in one way or another, but it also magnifies envy and jealousy. It gives passionate love, that might even turn into hate.

Garnet is a pretty powerful and dominant stone and not suitable for over – active or quick tempered people. In their case, wearing a garnet might lead to agression and abuse of power. It is neither recommended to people with high blood pressure.

Almandine is a more gentle, purple – red variant of garnet. Its name is a corruption of ‘alabandicus’, which is the name applied by Pliny the Elder to a stone found or worked at Alabanda in Caria, Asia Minor. Almandine occurs rather abundantly in the gem – gravels of Sri Lanka whence it has sometimes been called Ceylon-ruby. When the color inclines to a violet tint, the stone is often called Syrian garnet.

This gemstone contains iron and belongs with Mars and Pluto and was also associated with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. Almandine is a more suitable garnet for most people because of its less fierce nature. It amplifies the more positive properties of garnet such as : energy, courage and perseverance. It also promotes visualisation while meditating.

Pyrope is a transparent, dark – red garnet and the only member of the garnet family to always display red coloration in natural samples. It is from this characteristic that it gets its name : from the Greek for ‘fire’ and ‘eye’. Pyrope resembles Ruby a lot. It stimulates positive thinking and promotes steadfastness. Pyrope is an ideal stone for people who lack self confidence, will power and courage. Despite being less common than most garnets, it is a widely used gemstone.

Another member of the garnet – family is spessartite. The name is a derivative of ‘Spessart’ in Bavaria. Orange – yellow spessartite is found in Madagascar and is sometimes called ‘Mandarin garnet’. Violet-red spessartites are found in Colorado and Maine.

Grossular is a green colored, calcium-aluminium garnet. The name grossular is derived from the botanical name for ‘gooseberry’, ‘grossularia’. Other shades include cinnamon brown (cinnamon stone variety), red, and yellow. One of the most sought after varieties of the gemstone garnet is the fine green grossular garnet from Kenya and Tanzania called ‘tsarovite’. This garnet was discovered in the1960s in the Tsavo area of Kenya.

Uvarovite is a rather rare garnet, bright green in color. It is mined in the Ural mountains of Russia and is usually found as small crystals.

Andradite is a calcium-iron garnet and may be red, yellow, brown, green or black. Green andradite (demantoid) has been called the ‘the emerald of the Ural’ and is one of the most prized of garnet varieties. Topazolite is a golden yellow variety and melanite is a black variety.