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In the
process of writing the fourth book in my Enchanted
Bookstore Legends, entitled Staurolite,
I’m expanding and developing the foundation of the magical lore of my fantasy
world. It’s based upon a group of four mystical gemstones that connect with the
four Chinese elements of air, earth, fire, and water. The book’s title is
actually a known gemstone, staurolite. The gem corresponding to air that I have
chosen to work with is the moonstone. In my series, it serves as one of the
powerful keystones that can empower the good Alliance to overcome the
threatening attacks by the evil Dark Realm. When I selected my keystone which
corresponded to air, I considered many attributes that would make it an
empowering symbol.
I’ve long
been fascinated with blue-white opalescence of the stone, sometimes described
as ‘billowy light’ gliding over the smooth cabochon surface. Gemologists refer
to this characteristic as adularescence, and a synonym for the stone is
adularia. Moonstone can be colorless, white, yellow, green, brown,
orange, pink, or grey, but it always has a white or blue sheen. The best
moonstone is colorless with a blue sheen. The colored varieties mainly come
from India.
The mystical connections of the gem intrigue me.
Moonstone is considered a birthstone for February, a mystical birthstone for
June, an astrological birthstone for the star sign Cancer, and the Ayurvedic
birthstone for September. I’ll soon be studying Ayurvedic yoga during my
teacher training this year and am eager to learn how this stone is used in that
science.
Traditionally, some believe moonstone can be used
to balance a one's yin and yang. The gemstone is thought to soothe and balance
emotions and evoke calm responses. Called a visionary stone, moonstone brings
inspiration, strengthens intuition and sensitivity, enhances creativity, allows
the wearer to see situations from different angles, and helps one to see things
more clearly. It has even been said that moonstone has the power to grant
wishes. Some believe this stone will build self confidence, enhance compassion,
and promote happiness and longevity. It is also thought to be a stone of
protection, especially for travel at sea, pregnancy, and childbirth.
It is also considered an ideal stone for lovers,
since moonstone is reputed to bring forth tender feelings, protect true love,
support a person's emotional and dreamy tendencies, and increase sensitivity to
others. It is said to attract friendship and loyalty to the wearer, encourage
personal attachments, help obtain romance, and arouse tender passion.
With all of these positive characteristics combined
with a captivating appearance, it’s no wonder this stone is often attributed
with magical properties in fantasy fiction. One series I especially love that
uses moonstones as a foundation for mysticism and spirituality is Sharon
Shinn’s The Twelve Houses. Her
goddesses are guided by gemstones, the most widely followed being the Pale
Mother/Silver Lady/Goddess of the moon who uses the moonstone as her symbol.
What other works of fantasy do you know that use moonstones in mystical
or magical ways?
Photo credit: By Memecry2 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
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