For as long as humans have mined for gemstones and used them as symbols of wealth and status, emerald has been considered a cardinal gem – one of the gemstones valued above all others for its beauty, rarity, spiritual significance and metaphysical properties.
Some of the world’s most impressive and historically notable gems are emeralds, and humankind’s relationship with the stone extends far beyond simple admiration.
Some people even believe that an emerald has the ability to imbue the wearer with abilities that extend into the realm of the unexplainable.
Once you learn about the unbelievable history and metaphysical properties of this amazing gemstone, you may never look at your favorite emerald necklace in the same way again.
History and Etymology of Emerald
The first known use of the term “emerald” occurred in the 14th century.
Its roots include the Arabic word barq (meaning “lightning”), the Semitic word baraq (meaning “shine”), the Greek word smaragdos (meaning “green gem”), the Medieval Latin word esmaraldus and the Old French word esmeraude.
Although it took the world a while to settle on a word for this gem, our love for emerald goes back more than three millennia.
Around 1,500 years before the birth of Christ, emeralds were already being mined in ancient Egypt.
A noted lover of emeralds, Cleopatra claimed domain over all of Egypt’s emerald mines during her reign.
Once the area that is now Colombia was discovered to have the world’s richest emerald deposits, most of the old mines in Egypt were shut down.
When Spanish explorers plundered the wealth of the Inca empire, emeralds were among the many treasures looted.
The Colombian emerald mines remain rich to this day and may produce up to 95 percent of the world’s supply of gem-quality stones in any given year.
In lesser quantities, though, emeralds are found just about everywhere – including in the United States.
Religious Significance of Emerald
For almost as long as people have mined emerald, we have attached religious significance to the gem. These are some of the more notable examples.
- Ancient Hindu texts mention a city called Devaraka as the inhabitance of Krishna. The city is described as resplendent with a variety of gemstone-based structures including emerald pillars.
- In the Buddhist text Saddharma Pundarika, a shrine consisting of seven precious materials – including emerald – is described. Once the shrine is built according to the specifications in the text, celestial gods will decorate it with flowers.
- The Romans considered emerald to be symbolic of the gods Mars, Venus and Mercury.
- In Islamic tradition, green is considered a holy color. The Prophet Muhammad is described in Islamic texts as wearing an emerald green cloak.
- Emerald is mentioned throughout the Bible. It was one of the gemstones given by God to King Solomon to symbolize his power. In Christian tradition, the emerald is thought to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus. Many priests in the early Christian church wore emerald rings in Christ’s honor.
Metaphysical Properties of Emerald
Since the Middle Ages and perhaps longer, people have ascribed certain unexplainable metaphysical properties to gemstones.
Emerald – perhaps due to its rarity and singular beauty – has enough traditional lore surrounding it that describing all of its purported properties would require the space of an entire book.
Here are a few of the more interesting metaphysical properties that some have thought emerald to possess.
- Placing an emerald under one’s tongue was thought to enable that person to see the future.
- Wearing an emerald ring was thought to prevent conception. However, you’d have to utilize that property at the cost of the stone because it would break during the act. Some cultures, however, thought exactly the opposite and considered emerald to be a symbol of fertility.
- Emerald has historically been thought of as a talisman for preventing or curing a wide variety of maladies including poisoning, malaria, epilepsy, leprosy, cholera and evil spells.
- Wearing an emerald was thought to grant one the ability to detect a lie such as a false oath made by a lover. It was also thought to improve the wearer’s memory and eloquence.
- Some people believed that wearing an emerald helped to enable one to amass great wealth. Since a certain amount of wealth was required in order to own an emerald in the first place, though, that may have been something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
10 Fun Facts About Emerald
- Emerald is a form of beryl, a crystalline mineral containing beryllium, aluminum, silicon and oxygen. Pure beryl actually has no color; emerald is green due to chromium impurities. Different impurities produce beryl crystals of different colors. Aquamarine and morganite are also forms of beryl.
- The Spanish word for emerald is esmerelda, and the given name Esmerelda literally means “emerald.”
- In the United States, emerald is the traditional gift for the 20th, 35th and 55th wedding anniversaries.
- The first known usage of the term “Emerald Isle” to refer to Ireland occurs in a poem called “Erin,” written by Dr. William Drennan of Belfast in 1795.
- Emerald has a hardness of 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale, making it somewhat brittle and difficult to set into jewelry. During the Spanish conquest of the New World, conquistadors attempted to verify the authenticity of emeralds by smashing them on anvils. However, even a diamond will break if hammered on an anvil.
- Instead of being worn as jewelry, some of the largest emeralds ever found have been carved into priceless works of art. One such example is the Emerald Unguentarium, which was commissioned by Emperor Ferdinand III of Vienna in 1641. The enormous emerald crystal probably weighed over 3,000 carats before carving and was made into a vessel for ointment. The vessel’s lid and feet are also made from emerald.
- Emerald is the birthstone for those born in the month of May. In that sense, the green hue of the stone may symbolize the new growth of spring.
- It’s common for an emerald to have cracks that extend all the way to the surface. To improve the clarity and stability of the stones, it’s standard practice in the gem trade to fill those cracks with oil. It’s sometimes necessary to re-oil old emeralds when the original oil coating wears away. Because of the cracks, you should never clean an emerald with an ultrasonic cleaner.
- The color green is thought by many to have a soothing effect on tired eyes. In fact, it’s an old tradition for a gem cutter to keep an emerald on his or her workbench and to look at it periodically to reset the eyes.
- Natural emeralds are often extremely old stones. Carbon dating has been used to estimate the age of the oldest specimens at about 2.97 billion years.
There’s something about emeralds that people have always found magical.
Whether your idea of magic is a shining example of natural beauty formed underground over billions of years – or something of the more metaphysical variety – emeralds certainly have plenty to offer and are worthy additions to your jewelry collection.