Red Gemstones Meaning and Healing Powers

Red must be the most powerful color of them all. It represents passion, danger, love, anger - it raises emotions of all types within us even those that may seem extreme opposites.

Throughout history and across every culture, red gemstones have been desired for their rarity and power, lusted after by kings and sultans, fought over by empires and linked with love, passion, romance and symbolizing good health and vitality.

In the Hindu or Yoga traditional spiritual health system, these are connected to the Root Chakra. The Root Chakra is situated at the lower end of the spine and is responsible for addressing emotions related to safety, security, and physical vitality.

The origins of the dramatic feelings that red can induce stretch back to our primitive history when red signified blood, fire and flesh. It could also mean fruits and berries were ripe and ready to eat or conversely could signify poison and danger.

The color red has also enabled us to read each other's thoughts and state of mind - a blushing face can hint at desire and love or a deeper red can indicate rage and imminent attack. Rosy cheeks have always been seen as a sign of good health and vitality.

It is no wonder that red brings forth such excitement and emotion and helps explain why we have always loved red gemstones as well as red sports cars, red football shirts and red uniforms in war.

Advertisers like to use red to evoke strong feelings and sexuality - think red lips, red nails and red dresses. For brands and signs, red is the color that grabs the eye - and look at how many of the flags of the world contain a bit of red.

On a scientific level, red has the longest wavelength of all the colors that we can see so when it hits your eyes it has the highest intensity and the most impact.

In all parts of the world, red is used at the traffic lights and halt signs to mean stop, to tell you no entry and warn of upcoming danger.

Today we are going to look at a few of the most powerful and meaningful red gemstones. Let us begin with the epitome of red:

Ruby - The Stone of Love

One of the original 'precious gemstones', Rubies are called 'ratnaraj' meaning the king of gems in Sanskrit the ancient language of India where this gemstone first came to prominence thousands of years ago.

Red Garnet - The Stone of Health

Garnet gemstones can be found in almost any color but they are most famously red. The name garnet originally came about because of the gemstone's similarity to bright red pomegranate seeds.

Red Spinel - The Stone of Immortality

For hundreds of years spinels and rubies were considered the same stone but once scientists were easily able to distinguish them, spinels acquired the name of imposter. This is grossly unfair as spinels are in fact more rare than rubies and it could be argued, more beautiful.

Red Sapphires? - The Gemstone of Wisdom

Surely there is no such thing as red sapphires! I have said it myself a few times - sapphires come in all colors except red, then it is a ruby. However there are always exceptions to a rule. Deep pink or reddish orange sapphires do not quite qualify as rubies but can still be described as red sapphires and sapphires treated with berylium and heat take on a definite red hue.

Red Zircon - The Stone of Virtue

Zircon is another very colorful species of gemstone which features some excellent reds. The name itself may have come from the Arabic word 'Zargun' which means red. They are famous for their fantastic clarity and great sparkle.

Red Tourmaline - The Receptive Stone

Tourmaline is often called the most colorful of all gemstones and that includes some amazing red examples, most notably the Rubellite Tourmaline.

Red Fire Opal - The Stone of the Bird of Paradise

This is not your usual opal (if such a thing exists) as it does not show any play-of-color but these translucent to transparent gemstone certainly display a fiery glow.

Strawberry Quartz - The Stone of Love and Happiness

Strawberry Quartz is a clear quartz with fascinating flaky inclusions usually of hematite which give it its red colored appearance.

So that was our pick of some of the best red gemstones available.

To keep the article fairly short I excluded a few great gemstones such as carnelian, jasper, andesine labradorite, coral, agate and more. I also left out red diamonds and red beryl as they are very rare and very expensive.

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