What are garnets?
Garnets are opaque to translucent minerals that can be found as individual crystals, clumps of inter-grown crystals. Though most commonly found in reddish hues, garnet comes in a rich array of colours including green, oranges, pinky-orange, purple-red and even blue.
The colours of garnets are also know by their variety names:
| Garnet Variety | Description | |
 | Demantoid | The olive green gemstone variety of the mineral andradite, a member of the garnet group. |
| Hessonite | The orange tones of hessonite may range from honey yellow to a reddish-brown, hence its cinnamon. | |
 | Mandarin garnet | Bright orange to orange-red, usually originating from the African countries of Namibia and Mozambique. |
 | Rhodolite | Rose-red form of Garnet with a light color or more purplish color than typical Garnet gemstones |
| Star garnet | A rare form of the garnet crystal that exhibits asterism in the form of a four-rayed star. | |
| Topazolite | Yellow to brownish-yellow variety of andradite garnet. | |
 | Tsavorite | Green to emerald-green transparent variety of grossular garnet from Africa. |
What month is the garnet birthstone?
Garnet is the birthstone of January. It is also the gemstone for the second anniversary.
Where does the name ‘garnet’ come from?
The meaning of garnet is rooted in ancient history and comes from the Latin word ‘granatum’, which means pomegranate: a reference to its intense red colour that resembles the glistening, deep red seeds of the fruit.
What is the spiritual meaning of garnet?
According to the tropical astrology, the garnet stone considered as the birthstone of the zodiac sign Aquarius. Its also considered as the birthstone for Capricorn zodiac. Essentially, it is the birthstone of the month of January, and since both Capricorn and Aquarius are born in January, it happens to become their designated stone. If you believe in the Chinese Zodiac system, and the Rat happens to be your birth zodiac sign, the garnet stone is your birthstone.
The red colour of the stone is associated with the spirit of the fire sign. As one of the four elementals, the quality of fire exists at very high levels within garnet. And, its seen to evoke the energy of love and creativity along with power, vitality, and sensuality. It promotes a feeling of love, be it with someone else or self-love, garnet stone can boost this feeling. It increases the feeling of joy and happiness in our lives.
