Peridot - Beautiful 'gem of the sun' is the birthstone, gemstone for the month of August.

Peridot is the gem form of the mineral olivine. It is the iron, which creates the color of this beautiful gemstone. Peridot is found only in green, ranging from a summery light yellowish green to a 7-up bottle green.

There is such a gem as Golden Peridot, however it is very rare. When found in this rich color, Peridot is known as the Gem of the Sun. Peridot, the volcanic gem is born in fire. Small crystals of this stone are often found in the rocks created by volcanoes and also can be found in meteors that fall to earth! Wow - an extraterrestrial gemstone?

Peridot is treasured in Hawaii as the goddess Pele's tears. Even though Peridot is produced from Hawaiian volcanoes, almost all of the gems sold in Hawaii today are from Arizona. The island of Oahu even has beaches made out of olivine grains but unfortunately they are much too small to cut into marketable gemstones. Today Native Americans on the San Carlos Reservation mine most Peridot in Arizona.

Ancient Peridot mining was a dangerous occupation:

Peridot was mined in ancient Egypt on an island called Zeberget. Mining was done at night because legend said that the gem could not be easily seen during the day. It is said the island was infested with serpents that made mining a very dangerous occupation until one Pharaoh finally had all the serpents driven into the sea.

Lore and legend of the Peridot gemstone include beliefs that it had the power to drive away evil spirits. The power was considered to be even more intense when the stone was set in gold and was said to gift the wearer with clearness of thought. Peridot was also said to strengthen the power of any medicine drunk from goblets carved from the gemstone. Peridot has healing powers, extraterrestrial origins? Lucky the August baby!

The following is a list of Birthstones and their respective month.

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