Garnet
garnet group (almandine, pyrope, spessartine, grossular, andradite, uvarovite)
Not one mineral but a family of six-plus species sharing a cubic structure, ranging from the black-red almandine in every schist to the green tsavorite that costs more than most emeralds. Named for the pomegranate. People carry it for courage, protection and love. Tradition attaches it to the element fire, the root, sacral chakra, Mars.
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Mineral facts
Hardness
6.5-7.5 Mohs
Formula
X3Y2(SiO4)3 — e.g. almandine Fe3Al2(SiO4)3
Family
silicate
Where it comes from
India, Brazil, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, USA (Idaho, New York), Russia
What it is
Not one mineral but a family of six-plus species sharing a cubic structure, ranging from the black-red almandine in every schist to the green tsavorite that costs more than most emeralds. Named for the pomegranate. Nearly the only gem in wide circulation that is sold exactly as it came out of the ground.
What it is confused with
ruby, red-spinel, red-glass, carnelian, rhodolite, zircon
Well-formed crystals are rhombic dodecahedra or trapezohedra, rounded twelve- or twenty-four-sided balls with flat faces and no visible cleavage anywhere. That equant, ball-like crystal shape with many equal faces is the single best identifier, and it appears in schist and gneiss as dark red knobs. Vitreous to slightly resinous luster, and broken pieces show conchoidal fracture with sharp edges. Deep red material looks nearly black in reflected light but glows wine-red when backlit.
How to tell
Equant many-faced crystals with no cleavage and hardness 6.5, 7.5. Backlight it: garnet transmits a rich wine or raspberry red where carnelian is orange and jasper is opaque. Most garnet shows no pleochroism, which separates it from ruby.
Garnet is one of the very few gems almost never treated, no heat, no oil, no irradiation in normal commerce. That is itself a useful selling point and a useful ID clue.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Garnet is a silicate, 6.5-7.5 on the Mohs scale, and it is the stone traditionally carried when the problem is proximity rather than intensity.
You know what this one would do for you. You just don't have it.
Garnet for every sign
Aries
No heat, no oil, no irradiation.
Nearly the only gem in wide circulation sold exactly as it came out of the ground. No heat, no oil, no irradiation. It grows as rounded twelve-sided balls with no cleavage anywhere, and medieval travellers carried it as a light for the road home.
Taurus
Named for the pomegranate.
Named for the pomegranate, and the Persephone link is explicit in modern practice. It is one of very few gems in wide circulation that is never heated or oiled or irradiated, which makes it the honest option on any shelf. Medieval travellers carried it as a light for the road home.
Gemini
A family rather than a mineral, sharing one cubic structure.
Garnet is a family rather than a mineral, six or more species sharing one cubic structure, running from the near-black almandine in ordinary schist to green tsavorite that outprices emerald. It is also among the very few gems that never sees heat or oil. What came out of the ground is what you buy.
Cancer
Named for the pomegranate, and tied to coming home.
Named for the pomegranate, and the tradition ties it to Persephone and to coming home, which medieval travellers took literally and carried it as a light in the dark. Crystals grow as rounded twelve-sided balls with no cleavage anywhere. Almost nothing is done to it between the ground and the shop.
Leo
No heat, no oil, no irradiation. Garnet arrives finished.
Almost the only gem in wide circulation sold exactly as it left the ground. No heat, no oil, no irradiation, because garnet has never needed any of it. It grows as rounded twelve- and twenty-four-sided balls with no cleavage anywhere, and the name comes from the pomegranate.
Virgo
Sold exactly as it came out of the ground.
Almost nothing is done to it. No heat, no oil, no irradiation in ordinary commerce, which leaves garnet close to the only gem in wide circulation sold exactly as it came out of the ground. The crystals are equant balls with twelve or twenty-four flat faces and no cleavage anywhere.
Libra
Twelve identical faces meeting at equal angles.
Well-formed crystals are rhombic dodecahedra, twelve identical faces meeting at equal angles, with no cleavage anywhere to spoil the geometry. Garnet is also among the very few gems almost never heated, oiled or irradiated. It reaches the counter exactly as it left the ground.
Scorpio
It arrives exactly as it came out of the ground.
Named for the pomegranate, and one of very few gems in wide circulation that is never heated, oiled or irradiated. It arrives exactly as it came out of the ground. Medieval travellers carried it as a light in the dark, and the Persephone reading is explicit in modern practice.
Sagittarius
Medieval travellers carried it as a light in the dark.
Medieval travellers carried it as a light in the dark, and the Persephone connection is explicit in modern practice. It is one of very few gems sold exactly as it came out of the ground, with no heat and no oil anywhere in normal commerce. The crystals come out as twelve-sided balls.
Capricorn
It came out of the ground looking like that.
One of the very few gems in wide circulation that is never heated, never oiled and never irradiated. What sits in the case came out of the ground looking like that, in equant twelve-sided crystals with no cleavage anywhere on them. Backlight it and the red runs wine rather than orange.
Aquarius
A family rather than a mineral.
Garnet is a family rather than a mineral, six or more species sharing one cubic structure, from the black-red almandine in every schist to tsavorite that outprices emerald. It is also one of the very few gems sold exactly as it left the ground, with no heat and no oil anywhere in the process.
Pisces
The stone of coming back rather than leaving.
Named for the pomegranate, and the Persephone connection is explicit in modern practice, which makes it the stone of coming back rather than leaving. It is a family of six or more species sharing a cubic structure. Almost uniquely, it is sold exactly as it came out of the ground.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
fire
Planet
Mars
Chakra
root, sacral
Signs
capricorn, aquarius, scorpio, aries
What tradition says
In crystal lore, garnet is associated with commitment, return and safe homecoming, the Persephone-pomegranate link is explicit in modern practice and the stone was carried by travellers as a light in the dark in medieval European tradition. January's birthstone.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Hard, untreated and stable. Warm soapy water. Demantoid and some included stones are brittle; otherwise it is a low-maintenance stone.
Common questions
What does garnet mean?
Garnet is carried for courage, protection and love. Not one mineral but a family of six-plus species sharing a cubic structure, ranging from the black-red almandine in every schist to the green tsavorite that costs more than most emeralds.. Tradition links it to the root, sacral chakra.
Is garnet real or fake?
Garnet is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Equant many-faced crystals with no cleavage and hardness 6. 5, 7.. Garnet is one of the very few gems almost never treated, no heat, no oil, no irradiation in normal commerce.
Can garnet go in water?
A short rinse is fine for garnet, then dry it.
Common · deep red, wine red, orange, green, pink, purple-red, black-red
Where this leads
This stone belongs to
Related crystals
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works