With Wicca and "New-Age" practises on the rise, many folks will likely be searching for holiday gifts to buy a Pagan pal or Wiccan friend, and many gift options will include gemstones. A buyer, especially one with the needs of a homeopathic or Reiki energy healer, needs to be aware that many types of enhanced, or outright fake, gems are being offered online these days. Most of my own current stones have been in my collection for quite some time and all gems are genuine. I know these stones to be genuine because I either purchased them from reputable dealers, jewelers, or dug them out of the ground myself, (during some of my more youthful adventures). Genuine citrine pendant shown at left, and ritual tools I've crafted using genuine unenhanced gemstones.
~ Real Citrine; not a cheap fake ~
Citrine is a notoriously enhanced stone these days, often being badly dyed quartz or lesser grade citrine aggressively treated with high heat to gain a deeper color, if natural stone at all. The citrine that is REAL genuine, natural gem, and not the heat treated variety sold most often today, will be a pale "beer" yellow and not have a dark root-beer brown or shockingly vivid yellow color. Heat treated, sometimes called burnt citrine, is generally easy to spot because it often has a greasy looking rainbow randomly on the surface, caused by temperature fluctuations during the treatment.
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| example of naturally dark citrine shown in a mobile like necklace pendant by Tree Pruitt (sold). |
Burnt, and irradiated stones such as most citrine and amethyst sold today, do not have the same metaphysical qualities of the earth-born, genuine gems, but can have more visual and certainly economic appeal. However, such gems are commonly passed off as genuine, and became popular because the more pale colored unenhanced varieties are elusive, more costly, and often difficult to obtain. It is required by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC in USA) to disclose all enhancements to gem stones, and method of enhancement used if known. Buying your gems from a reputable dealer or crafts-person will avoid being misled when shopping. A seller should be able to tell you about a gemstone in their possession. However, if they can't tell, and your heart desires the piece anyway, then consider the purchase as a personal joy rather than a financial investment or metaphysical tool.
Shown below is an example of a deep purple natural amethyst.
which does not hold and build up negative energy, the other being kayanite. The golden gem citrine breaks apart negative enery and is able to change, or transmute it; according to Love is in the Earth, "being able to work out problems on both the physical and subtle levels." Citrine, therefore never needs to metaphysically cleaned of energy accumulated over time. It is thought to be a healing gem, with protective qualities as well. For centuries citrine has been known as "the merchant's stone" because it is said to bring wealth and prosperity when placed in a cash register drawer or kept with the financial rewards of earning. A fellow artist has recently presented an informative Internet lens for shoppers at a nifty site called Squidoo, (which allows you to share & learn about tons of different topics). The lens by Staci Rose is titled, Guide to Gemstones and Glass and Trust. Why not stop by her lens and see what she has to share too?
* Referenced Melody's Book; "Love is in the Earth", page 209.
