Bloodstone: March’s Other Birthstone

As a young girl I remember my great grandmother collecting jasper stones. Beautiful and sleek she would run her finger against the surface of the stone. I do not have a jasper collection today but I do have one lovely 1920’s bloodstone ring that I too like to run my finger along, remembering shared moments with my grandmother and enjoying a shared appreciation of nature’s beauty.

The bloodstone is green jasper that is flecked with bright red spots. The Greeks called it Heliotrope, which means, “Sun” and “Turning”. I have heard several different reasons for this name. One states that if you dipped the stone in water it would turn the sun red. Another more simply attributes the name to a shared color with the sun mirrored in the ocean at sunset.

Mythic in many cultures, Medieval Christians believed the stone to have originated when Christ’s blood dripped from his wrists, staining some jasper at the foot of the cross. Also called the martyrs stone it was often used to carve crucifixes and martyrs. Other cultures used the bloodstone as an amulet against the evil eye and others as a symbol of justice.

Regardless of meaning or myth, I can’t help loving my bloodstone ring, imbuing it with my own personal meaning of shared moments with my grandmother. And I find myself turning my head every time I see a particularly beautiful bloodstone ring cross my path. Maybe a Victorian bloodstone pinky ring next I think. Maybe I’ll start a jasper collection of my own. Only this collection will reside on my fingers not in my hand.

After all, who doesn’t want a collection of rings that protect against ‘the evil eye’?