Month Modern Traditional Star Sign Planetary Stones January Garnet Garnet - Crusaders used this gem for protection from injury. Ancient warriors thought it would bring victory. Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan 19) Lapis Lazuli February Amethyst Amethyst - Saint Valentine wore an Amethyst. It made up Cleopatra's signet ring. Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18) Turqoise March Aquamarine Bloodstone - was the preferred stone when carving religious subjects. Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20) Aquamarine April Diamond Diamond - The brilliance of a Diamond as always been appreciated throught the ages. It is also a Girl's Best Friend. Aries (Mar 21 - Apr 19) Jasper May Emerald Emerald - was once believed to ward off many kinds of sickness, the green represented life, which is renewed in the spring. Taurus (Apr 20-May 20) Emerald June Pearl Alexandrite - Discovered in 1839, it was named after Prince Alexander of Russia. It reflected the Russian national colors, red and green. Gemini (May 21-June 20) Tiger Eye July Ruby Ruby - the red in a ruby represnted blood, which represented life. Cancer (June 21 - July 22) Moonstone August Peridot Sardonyx - Roman soldiers wore this gem to bring good fortune and in the middle ages, it was believed to bring gravitas to the wearer. Leo (July 23-Aug 22) Rock Crystal September Sapphire Sapphire - represented a pure soul. It was often worn by priests for protection from impure thoughts. Virgo (Aug 23-Sept 22) Citrene October Opal.Black opals,white opals,grey opal,red opals,green opals,blue opal and clear crystal along with semi-crystal Opals, you can have purple opals,orange colours opals multicoloured opals and semi-black opals- represented hope and love in the western and eastern worlds. Thieves wore opals in hopes of not getting caught. Libra (Sept 23-Oct 22) Sapphire November Topaz Topaz - was believed to have a relaxing and cooling effect: on boiling water, fever, and even anger. Scorpio (Oct 23-Nov 21) Garnet or Ruby

Opal field at Yowah in Outback Australia - of where we are, and how to get here. Cunnamulla is the closest town to Yowah with a post office, approximately a 2 hour drive. Yowah is known as the Friendly Opal TownYowah about 1050 kilometres inland from Brisbane which is the capital of Queensland  Australia.  Yowah is well known for its Yowah Nuts and is a popular destination for opal fossickers, Australian opal or Brazilian opal where only a small percentage may craze or crack. The good news is that tests by GIA and others have shown that opal from the Wello province in Ethiopia will revert back to its original state, once dried, with no adverse reaction such as cracking. Australian opals are sedimentary in nature, forming in ancient sea beds, whereas Ethiopian opals originate from volcanic activity. All volcanic opal is called,hydroplane opal. Opals ability to absorb water and change from opaque or semi-translucent to translucent or transparent. Sometimes this highlights the color play, others will just become transparent or opaque, with no color when hydrated. Hydrophane opals vary widely from source to source, so it is important to learn the characteristics of gems from a particular mine rather than consider all hydrophane opals to be alike in both looks and properties. Opal miners discovered the Mintabie opal fields some time just after world war 1. Because of the extremely harsh conditions and lack of water not much mining was done until heavy machinery was bought in later on. The sandstone at Mintabie opal fields is very hard (much harder than Coober Pedy) and the upper level the early opal miners worked was extremely difficult to mine with old fashion hand mining and discouragement would have come easy.Mintabie opal field is located 280 kilometers north of Coober Pedy. It is 35 kilometers west of Marla,vivid colour of the opal.Around 1920 a well digger by the name of Larry O'Toole is attributed with finding the first opal at Mintabie. However, aborigines were selling a semi black type of opal at Coober Pedy that was obviously not from Coober Pedy. It most likely was Mintabie opal. In the late 1970's a Croatian miner named Milan started a major rush to Mintabie by finding a huge pocket of opal on the escarpment. Following Milan were opal miners such as Drago, Stan, Joe, Tony,Yakka, Sarge, Ted, Russian Spy, and so many more pioneer opal miners of the era. Combined, they were responsible for the development of one of Australia's major opal fields. During the 1980's the Mintabie opal fields were the biggest producer of opal in terms of value. Care and Handling Wello Opals.Tests are done under laboratory-controlled stress conditions with distilled water and temperature monitoring. Other tests were made with the knowledge that losses may occur, like soaking in hot tea or immersing after exposing a stone to stress. We commission these types of studies so that we can advise you of all the necessary precautions and possibilities and so you will not take risks with your purchases. When Wello stones were immersed and then left to dry repeatedly , there was no cracking or change from their original appearance. The laboratory subjected smaller stones to high heat in order to rapidly dehydrate water-soaked stones and found them to be stable even under these conditions. They did further studies on care and handling and strongly recommend that you do not experiment by immersing these opals in water or other liquids or oils, since contamination can occur, leaving residues within the opal. This can eventually change the original body color or the way light is transmitted by the stone, which in turn may affect the color play or brilliance. Immersing hydrophane opal underwater may, in rare cases, cause stress from uneven expansion, which can create a crack similar to those caused by sudden shock. Chances increase if the water temperature is at odds with the stone temperature, if the stone had any previous trauma or if it is set into jewelry. The time period for dehydrating can be minutes to more than a week and will vary depending on stone body type, size and environmental conditions.Do not fear accidental situations such as dropping your opal into a wash basin or getting caught in the rain; the absorption is not immediate and requires more time than a quick dip. Like most gems, opal should be handled and cleaned with care. Never use perfume, hand soap, high temperatures or sudden cold temperature changes ,never use a steamer or ultrasonic, keep away from harsh cleaning agents,; simply wipe with a clean soft cloth. The Arrival of solid opal from the Wello district of Ethiopia is taking the gem world by storm. Some are confusing the Wello opal, discovered circa 2009, with the original Ethiopian opal discovery in 1993 at Yita Ridge in the Shewa province. Australian opal or Brazilian opal where only a small percentage may craze or crack.Lightning Ridge is a town in north-western N.S.W Australia 50 K near the southern border of QLD. Lightning Ridge area is a world epicentre of the mining Black opal gem and other opals,gray opals etc gemstones. Lightning Ridge has the largest known deposits of black opals in the world. The name Lightning Ridge is said to have originated when in the 1870s passers by found the bodies of a farmer, his dog and many sheep which had been struck by lightning.

Humanity is beginning to rediscover the almost forgotten healing arts based on earth energies that is thought to be inherent in several different stones.  Crystals and minerals were the first thought to contain the necessary power used in healing many types of sicknesses.   Next came the gemstones themselves and the clearer and more perfect, the more power they contained.

 Amulets were made of various combinations which were thought to ward off evils, sickness and bad luck while imparting to the wearer the powers to do mighty things.  For example: an ancient circular stone was believed to embody the powers of strength and that is why they were worn as arm bands.  A 10,000year old shaman was discovered in the Italian Alps with a similar arm band in place.  Then there is the Pi disk from China that is a protective device worn since ancient times.