Gemstones and Healing: Ruby

Rubies are considered the world over, as the “King of Gems.”

CATALOGING THE GEMS

I evaluate a gemstone in a number of ways. First, it falls into one of these categories: Heart Stone, Grounding Stone, Guard Dog Stone, High Energy Stone, Trauma Stone, Mental Stone, Stress Tone, Luck Stone, Psychic Stone, Money Stone, Arthritis Stone and Master Healer Stone. I created this system over the years because each stone has unique skills. Some, like the Master Stones, are diverse, multi-skilled and affect more than one chakra in our aura. With this blog, we’re going to look at Ruby. It is a “High Energy” stone, “Master Healer” stone and a “Strength” stone.

MASTER HEALING STONE

There are a handful of gemstones that fall into this category. These stones have more energy than the others. They also possess a laser-like focus upon the physical and astral body. And they work on ALL chakras, not just one or two. That is why they are called ‘master healers.’ Most of them are transparent and are able to carry light waves more powerfully through an individual’s collective bodies, physical or otherwise. Their color may also indicate a particular chakra(s) that they work with. Boji Stones, Diamond, Emerald, Fire Opal, Flint, Lodestones, Opal, Peridot, Ruby, Clear Quartz Crystal, Green Tourmaline and Turquoise all fall into this category.

HIGH ENERGY STONE

There is a select few gemstones that can actually give us physical energy. We’re fortunate to have them around. Some of these gems hit you with a noticeable jolt of energy. Others are more subtle and you will find yourself realizing after many hours, that you still have the same level of energy that you started with. These gems give you endurance at a more subtle level, but it’s there and you will see it prove itself out over a day’s time.

People who should not wear one are ADD and ADHD, bipolar and high strung individuals. Or people who are restless by nature. They don’t need a jolt from these stones. The same goes for animals that are ‘high strung’ by nature. Do not wear one of these gemstones.

STRENGTH STONE

These gemstones connect with our deeper core values of this personality in this lifetime BUT, they also connect with our SOUL who has far more strength built up in it as a result of hundreds of thousands of lifetimes. This is the phenomenal magic of Strength gemstones. They are able to ACCESS this vault of built-upon and earned spiritual strength so it can help us get through some present difficulty/test/initiation that we’re putting ourselves through in this lifetime at this moment. It ‘feeds’ us so that we don’t give up, despair or want to check out because the life lesson is “too hard” to deal with. Not all people are strong spiritually speaking. We have baby spirits to ancient spirits in human body on this Earth. No one is created equal. And we’re all working on collecting that very necessary soul strength so that we can take on tougher and tougher challenges–and work through them successfully instead of failing them.

This cache of strength is accrued by living thousands upon thousands of lifetimes. It is there, like a cosmic “IV”, much like a blood transfusion for a human body, it is a strength/energy transfusion into us in our present incarnation when we need it. Certain gemstones can access this cache and give us the necessary strength to continue forward and work through the gauntlet we’ve chosen. This gemstone is like the marathon runner at the 26th mile when it is the hardest mile of all–and the finish line is so close. These gemstones take us the last mile of our own marathon in Life and help us pass over the finish line.

THE HISTORY OF RUBY

Many of us know Ruby because of the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy was told to click her Ruby slippers so she could return home to Kansas and Auntie Em. However, Asia knew about Ruby a long time before that. In India and China, Rubies were laid in the foundation of major construction projects such as temples and palace. They believed by doing this Rubies would bring good fortune to the structure. Ruby is one of the oldest known gemstones in the ancient world and their use is remarkable and well recorded. Ruby was known as the King of Gems. Before we get into that, let’s look at it’s fascinating chemical make-up.

Ruby is Corundum (Aluminum oxide). It’s red color is caused by the element chromium. The name comes from Latin “ruber” which means “red.” Some gems crystallize in magmas or in gas bubbles (holes) in volcanic rocks and this is where Ruby is born. This gem is not classified as metamorphic, igneous or sedimentary, as a result. Check out this movie to see how the pink crystals in the magma create rubies: http://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/eps2//wisc/movie/volcano.mov

Ruby’s story has some interesting twists and turns. Did you know that Sapphires are also made of Corundum? The EXACT same chemistry and make-up as Rubies? Yep. The ONLY differentiation between rubies and sapphires are their COLOR. It used to be that Ruby had to be RED. Nowadays, the gem market has changed to make “pink” an acceptable color for Rubies. It used to be that “pink” corundum was always called a SAPPHIRE and not a RUBY. Take a look at these two jpegs that show a ‘pink’ Ruby and a ‘pink’ Sapphire.

Can you tell the difference?

This makes for some interesting and often confusion about Rubies and sapphires. Sapphires come in all colors, including the pink color. Rubies are seen as red only in the ancient world. They would not have considered a ‘pink’ one but then, back then, they didn’t have the science we have today to know that both were made from the same chemistry: corundum. And technically speaking, a Ruby is really, a RED SAPPHIRE!

The Mohs hardness scale rates Ruby at 9.0 out of 10.0, so it’s VERY hard. Only Diamonds are harder at 10.0. Some rubies have asterism or “star” effect. This is due to inclusions in the stone itself. Star Rubies have this six-sided star effect.

And some rubies can show color changes–though this is rare–it is called chatoyancy or the “cat’s eye” effect. An example is below and is of Chrysoberyl, not Ruby, but it does show the ‘cat’s-eye’ effect. Now, imagine that in a Ruby. I couldn’t find an image online of a Ruby with chatoyancy. So this one will have to do.

Rubies vary in color from a deep, deep red (a purple-red) to a pale red. Nowadays, the gem industry accepts “pink” rubies as well. They are transparent to opaque. The most sought after is a transparent “pigeon’s blood’s red” Ruby. In Nature, Rubies occur as a trigonal (Hexagonal Scalenohedral) crystal. And crystal habit varies with locality. Most of the time they are terminated tabular hexagonal prisms. Most Rubies have needle-like rutile or inclusions within them. These inclusions are called “silk” in the Ruby. And if they don’t have them, it’s a sign of being heat treated. Ruby has been heat treated for thousands of years, so this is nothing new. Why? Because a clear, transparent Ruby without rutile commands more money. MOST Rubies contain these rutile, however.

The best Rubies come from the Mogok Valley in Burma. This has been a main source mining area since ancient times. Nowadays, the quality of the Rubies has diminished greatly, but at one time, it produced the most valued “pigeon’s blood” variety. There are also Ruby deposits in Namyazeik in northern Kachin of Burma. They are found in Thailand, Cambodia and Afghanistan. After the second World War, they were found in Tanzania, Madagascar, Vietnam, Nepal, Tajikistan and Pakistan. In the US, Montana, North and South Carolina Rubies are sparsely found. A huge new Ruby deposit was discovered under a receding ice shelf in Greenland. And in 2002, the Waseges River of Kenya discovered Rubies. Most of the faceting done today is accomplished in Thailand. Most Rubies are heat treated (as are Sapphires) to deepen and intensify their color. Better color commands a higher price so it’s money driven.

I have dug for sapphires near Phillipsburg, Montana and found “pink” ones that would nowadays pass for “pink rubies.” That was at the Gem Mountain Mine and it is open to anyone who wants to take a shovel, a screen grate and go sift and find the raw, natural Sapphires in EVERY color. It was a great way to pass an entire afternoon on heavily wooded evergreen slopes. We brought our picnic basket and had amazing and exciting days when we visited. When we were digging (back in the 1970’s, you were allowed onto the land and provided a screen and shovel. Nowadays, they have done it for you. You buy bags of Sapphire gravel, there’s a water sluice, tweezers and you screen the gravel near their store. There’s always someone around to help you identify a rough sapphire. It’s still a lot of fun–but not like it was before when we dug hundreds of Sapphires from Gem Mountain. EVERYONE finds Sapphires at this place! See: www.gemmountainmt.com.

There’s a Synthetic Ruby market since 1902 and it makes them via the Verneuil Process. Only a gem expert can distinguish between the natural and synthetic Ruby. There are many names for Ruby: Burmese Ruby, Pigeon’s Blood Ruby, Cat’s Eye Ruby and Burma Ruby. These are all naturally known Ruby colors.

Where you get into trouble is when someone tries to sell a Verneuil Ruby, which is synthetic. Or, they sell a pyrope Garnet as a Ruby. Others will use Spinel, another red gemstone, and hawk it as a Ruby. Here is a list of names so that you don’t purchase them thinking they are a Ruby and are not:

Adelaide Ruby
American Ruby
Arizona Ruby
Australian Ruby
Bohemian Ruby
California Ruby
Cape Ruby
Colorado Ruby
Elie Ruby
Montana Ruby
Rocky Mountain Ruby

And some other names that may include spinel, topaz, pink quartz. tourmaline and garnet making the buyer thinking they are purchasing a Ruby (and they are not) are:

Alabandine Ruby – almandine garnet
Ancona Ruby – rose quartz
Balas Ruby – pink to pale red spinel
Brazilian Ruby – pink topaz
Copper Ruby – cuprite
Garnet Ruby – garnet
Geneva Ruby – synthetic ruby
Ruby Spinel – red spinel
Siberian Ruby – red tourmaline
Spinel Ruby – red spinel

Similar gemstones to Ruby is Ruby Spinel. Many of the old Rubies in the Middle Ages were actually red Spinel! Among them, the Black Prince’s Ruby set in a royal crown of England was thought to be the largest cut Ruby–but alas, modern day science has determined that it is actually a red Spinel!

Historically, the earliest recorded Rubies were found in literature regarding the North Silk Road of China in 200 B.C.L. Asian countries held them in highest regard and Rubies were used to adorn a warrior or king’s sword, ornament armor, scabbards and harnesses in India and China. Ruby is called Ratnanayaka by the Indians, “Lord of the Gemstones.” Hindus called Ruby the King of Gemstones. They used to divide Rubies into castes, much like the social classes found in India. Rubies were sorted into upper, middle and lower class. This was determined by their flawlessness, transparency and beauty in regards to color. No inferior Ruby was paired with an upper class Ruby because it was believed an inferior one would contaminate a better one. It was believed if an inferior Ruby was matched in a piece of jewelry, that it would bring down the better Ruby and would automatically diminish its magical powers.

Rubies were donated to Krishna and these people were assured to be reborn as an emperor in a future incarnation. Hindus considered light colored Rubies appropriate for women whereas the darker (and more expensive colors) were for men. Women of India often use Rubies in their choice of earrings and other jewelry. A Mandarin’s rank in China was indicated by the color of the stone in his ruby ring. A red jewel meant he was a key figure among the great and noble. The French, in the 1880’s called Ruby the ‘gem of gems’ and the ‘dearly beloved stone.’

Some ancient cultures believed that Rubies grew on trees like fruit. The rubies would begin to bud as small white gems and slowly grow and ripen, turning bright red in the light of the sun. When the Ruby was ‘ripe’ it was ready to be picked.

In the Bible, Ruby is deemed one of the most precious of all gemstones. In Sanskrit writing, it was also given this crown of acknowledgment. And the Indian Emperors would give a special royal welcome to each Ruby crystal that was discovered from their mines.

Nowadays, Rubies have many applications other than just being beautiful and worn as jewelry. They are styluses on turntables, minute bearings in expensive wrist watches and in rod form, they form a crucial component of a laser’s core. Rubies are known to be one of the hardest and toughest stones on our planet. And for it to be used as a core to a laser, that’s pretty extraordinary. In England, it is used for coronation rings and to this day, enjoy popularity among royalty. Fergie, Duchess of York, received a Ruby engagement ring from Prince Andrew. Such is the royal power of Ruby.

ASTROLOGY RULER

Mars is the planet that rules Ruby. It is, after all, RED. And Mars is RED. Mars, literally, is our ‘engine’ for a given lifetime. Good aspects to Mars lends a “Mach 3 with your hair on fire,” vitality that few can match over time. Hard aspects to Mars drains this fiery engine to a dull roar.

Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf spoke passionately about Ruby and how powerful it was for boosting a person’s physical energy. All you have to do is wear it for about twenty minutes, and you too will feel it’s jet assist thrust and more energy is going to feed into your physical boy.

ASTROLOGY TRANSITS AND PROGRESSIONS WITH RUBY

With any Mars transit or progression, Ruby can be utilized to keep our energy up and stable at times when we need that extra ‘push.’ When our feet are put to the “fires” of Life, these stones can be best friends to you. If you feel exhausted, this is a sign that your Mars energy is being blocked. When it goes retrograde once every twenty-two months, your Ruby helper can pinch hit because Mars energy weakens leaving all of us feeling more tired than usual.

SOUTH

RUBY is a SOUTH direction gemstone. If there was a “Jupiter” or “Mars” position, it would be the South. At its finest, South energy is about the playful child who finds life curious, interesting, engaging and exciting. Risk takers are found in this direction too, because it is ruled by the fire element. Those who are South oriented will always be found in careers that involve risk of some sort. Or, their hobby will involve risk. People with a healthy South energy, even if adult or elderly, still have their child like fascination with life. They are optimistic people who are fully connected with and living their life to the fullest. They also have a wonderful sense of humor and can find laughter even in the darkest moments. Black humor resides here in this position. On the unhealthy side, there is extreme rage, rageoholics are found here, and angry people who are out of control. Children with ADD and ADHD are also found in this position. Anyone with extreme restlessness, inability to focus or complete a project have reverse South energy expression. And, they will be immature or stunted in emotional growth so that no matter what their age, they are still in the “teen years.”

HOW TO WEAR A RUBY

This isn’t something you wear every day. Unless you have CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome, then you might. Ruby should be used when you need more energy than usual. Then, you wear it. People who suffer from fatigue should wear it when they don’t feel they can make it through the day. Ruby is something that you may wear for an hour or two and then, take it off. Few people can stand wearing it all day; but fixed signs such as Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius can. It can make mutable signs of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces jittery if they leave it on too long. Cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn can wear it a bit longer than the mutable signs.

From a heart/emotion perspective, Ruby should be used to help a person sort through his or her feelings toward another. This will help the person clarify why they do or don’t love someone enough, or perhaps, too much. Ruby always focuses on the issue of our heart centered feelings and wants to quickly push through any barriers or hindrances and get on with the business of living our life with passionate qualities that will make us creative and happy.

WHO SHOULDN’T WEAR A RUBY?

Anyone who has the disease Cancer or any disease that deals with cell multiplication (benign tumors are examples of this) CANNOT wear ruby at any time. People with ADD/ADHD or Bipolar disease should not wear it. Those who are high strung and nervous shouldn’t wear it, either. The red, fiery energy of the gemstone increases cell multiplication to its highest degree.

Oh Shinnah Fast Wolf warned that if a person who has the disease Cancer, that they shouldn’t wear Ruby unless they wore Emerald afterwards to “cool” the swift energy of Ruby down.

From a love and emotional standpoint, a person who is jealous or envious should NOT wear Ruby. It will exacerbate these feelings and make them ten times worse.

Never wear Ruby to bed. You will toss and turn all night and not sleep a wink!

SPIRITUAL CONSIDERATIONS

The myths and beliefs around Ruby since ancient time are many. Ruby was said to represent the Sun, romance, love, prosperity, generosity, courage, healing, inspiration and devotion. If one looks at all of these they have one thing in common: the HEART. Ruby, as one of the few Master Healers, affects and supports all the chakras of our body. Ruby has special powers over our root and heart chakras, however. Ruby is androgynous. The Root is the chakra that tethers us to the Earth to do our duty down here. Saturn, too, is the Lord of Karma and is also about grounding. When there is a strong, unbroken connection with our planet, there is energy GIVEN to us. Mother Earth considers all of us her ‘children’ and she gives us not only physical sustenance, but also energy nurturance as well.

The bad news is if we aren’t in our body and therefore ‘ungrounded,’ we don’t get that energy. I often see this with people who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome–they are way out of their body, astrally speaking. And they don’t get any extra ‘juice’ in the form of energy from Mom Earth because they are partially disconnected. They become exhausted to the point where they literally, can’t move. This is where Ruby does double duty…pulling the person back into their body and, at the same time, juicing them with some desperately needed energy.

Extra energy to help us can come from one of two directions–either from the Cosmos through our crown chakra, or up from the planet we live upon via our root chakra. Either way, the energy is light, healthy, loving and positive. These are all things we desperately need in our lives. When things get grim, wearing Ruby can send a signal to Mom Earth that we need more energy than normal. And Ruby, like the Earth, are slow but sure and something that can be counted on when its darkest before our personal dawn. When you feel exhausted, think of Ruby. They just may ‘pop’ you back on your feet!

When I analyze a stone I’ve not worked with before, I ask many questions. Among the first is: How was it formed? There’s only three ways, geologically, a stone can be created. Sedimentary rocks are formed when igneous rocks are eroded by weather and other forces (they are turned into soil or gravel or sand) and they become sediment under the sea. Fossils are often found in accumulated layers along with them. Together, they form sedimentary rocks. Examples are limestone, chert, chalk and sandstone.

Igneous rocks these are stones that solidified directly from molten silicates, which geologists call magma. Examples are: granite, basalt, pumice and flint (which is a form of quartz).

Metamorphic rocks are made up of igneous and sedimentary rocks of all ages which have been subjected to intense pressure. Examples are: slate, marble and quartzite.

I believe one of the reasons why Ruby is formed like it is, makes it unique and explains why it’s so energetically powerful. It is not birthed by any of the three above ways most rocks and gemstones are formed. Instead, as magma, that hot lava deep in the earth, begins to move through the layers of rocks, bubbles occur in the magma. These bubbles then create and form Rubies. If you can visualize the red hot power of magma forcing its way up through the crust of the earth, you understand the ‘engine’ that Ruby runs on. It is limitless energy. It does not waver, sag or stop after a while. It’s like an Energizer Bunny on steroids and it never wears down or out.

Another way to work with Ruby is to lay down. Place the Ruby on your heart chakra. And then wait. Some type of sensation will be felt. After five or ten minutes, place the Ruby on your Root Chakra area. Some of the sensations people report are buzzing, tingling, warmth or simply more energy coursing through them.

Chakras are always going out of balance due to the stress/pressures of our lives down here. This is nothing new. However, because of the fire/water properties of the Ruby may be able to help loosen the debris (positive ions) that build up and collect in a given chakra. To find out which one will do the trick, you must go through this procedure. Most people will find one of them will give them the sensations. And it won’t be in every chakra because not all of them are filled with debris.

Ruby is also a heart chakra gemstone. And it has a long, long ancient history as being the gemstone to repair broken a broken heart, or having someone fall in love with you. Ruby symbolizes: romance, love, prosperity, generosity, courage, healing, inspiration and devotion. As I said earlier, these are all assigned to our heart, our emotion of love and compassion. If we don’t have “heart” we can’t move ahead in a given lifetime. And surely, it takes raw courage to live down here and not only survive, but thrive. Another heart centered phenomena. Perhaps our forefathers and mothers saw the red quality of the stone and it reminded them of the red of their own heart.

Ruby gives the wearer courage to live. Many times, especially when battling Cancer, the will to live dissolves. Oh Shinnah used Ruby on Cancer patients. She always used Emerald afterward to ‘cool’ it down. She warned us repeatedly that Ruby, because of its powerful red energy, could increase cell multiplication to the maximum and create more Cancer, not less. She used a secret formula that I’m not at liberty to share, when working with these patients. Suffice to say, she reported some success by the combination of Ruby followed by Emerald.

Ruby when it comes to the matters of the heart in a symbolic sense, is about helping us to locate what and who we love. And how we love. For those who give endlessly but don’t know how to receive or take for themselves (low self-esteem individuals), Ruby starts to work on fixing this imbalance. Ruby will help the person see how valuable they to themselves and to this world. It has rulership over all kinds and types of love from sex to compassion and everything in between that is labeled “love.”

IN SUMMATION….

Ruby is sort of like Dorothy being stuck in the land of Oz and wanting to get back to her home in Kansas. Granted, these aren’t a pair of ruby colored shoes you can click together to leave the world of magic to the world of the Real. But, they do have some attributes that are definitely worth checking out. They keep us “here,” grounded and focused in our third dimensional world.

If you are drawn to the Ruby, then this gemstone is for you and can aid/support you. Obviously, if Ruby doesn’t excite you, don’t buy them and try them–nothing will happen. We intuitively know what will help us and what will not.

Wearing Ruby is like becoming a formula one racer. Things are going to pick up in speed on EVERY level within yourself. Cells get a punch of vitality, every organ responds in kind. Ruby is super-fast for giving the person an extra ‘wind’ in order to accomplish a goal, a race or a date that must be met. It’s not the kind of gemstone you wear every day because eventually, it will burn you out. This is one gem that you use sparingly and at the right time.

IMAGES:
cat’s eye chrysoberyl
http://www.starruby.in/store/chrysoberyl-cats-eye/5-09-carat-attractive-olive-green-chrysoberyl-cat-s-eye
Hand holding raw sapphires from the Gem Mountain Mine in Montana
http://gemmountainmt.com/default.aspx
Movie of how Ruby is made
http://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/eps2//wisc/movie/volcano.mov
http://www.jewelsforme.com/Ruby-history.asp
ruby jewelry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ruby_gem.JPG
faceted ruby, natural, with inclusions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ruby_-_Winza,_Tanzania.jpg
Ruby rough from Tanzania, Africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ruby_cristal.jpg
Naturally occurring ruby crystal
Star Ruby
starruby.in
Pink Sapphires faceted
ellie-everythingpink.blogspot.com
pink ruby ring with heart shape
gemstonedepot.com
Ruby crystal in Calcite, Afghanistan
http://www.fabreminerals.com/search_show.php?SECTION=RSSLV&CODE=AB29M4