Bloodstone (also called The martyr's gem)

My quest to update my gemstone website continues. This is interesting material to cut; kind of like that Forest Gump thing, you never know what you're going to get. I was hoping for some bright patches of red mixed with green but got a kind of specked red and yellow-orange, still very pretty.

Bloodstone is a green jasper dotted with bright red spots of iron oxide; an attractive chalcedony quartz is also known as heliotrope because in ancient times polished stones were described as reflecting the sun. Medieval Christians often used bloodstone to carve scenes of the crucifixion and martyrs, for which reason it was also dubbed the martyr's stone. According to the legend about the origin of bloodstone, it was first formed when drops of Christ's blood fell and stained some jasper at the foot of the cross. Even today, finely pulverised bloodstone is used as a medicine and aphrodisiac in India. Perhaps that explains why it is now rather difficult to find fine specimens of bloodstone on the market. In ancient times, bloodstone was thought to be able to stop hemorrhages with the merest touch. Some believe Bloodstone relieves stomach and bowel pain, and strengthens blood purifying organs and improves blood circulation. Bloodstone has a positive influence on a bladder. Bloodstone is also believed to be a very magical stone. Bloodstone is found in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Kathiawar Peninsula and the USA (Wyoming).

 

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