“You shall make the breastplate of judgment. Artistically woven according to the workmanship of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, you shall make it.
It shall be doubled into a square: a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its width.
And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row;
the second row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond;
the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings.
And the stones shall have the names of the sons of Israel, twelve according to their names, like the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name; they shall be according to the twelve tribes.”
– Exodus, 28:15 - 21
NEW KING JAMES VERSION
Whether the tradition of tying a protective gemstone to a date began with the Breastplate of Aaron - as described above - or with the observance and definition of the zodiac, amulet gemstones have had a place in a vast number of cultures throughout history. The recognition of healing gemstones identified with a specific month was popularized in 15th century Poland, where if one wanted to be fully protected, a full collection of the year’s stones was required. The attachment of specific gemstones to individual birth months evolved more clearly in the late 1800s, leading to the modern list of birthstones being adopted by the American National Association of Jewelers in 1912, with the addition of Tanzanite to the list in 2002. |
