Why Emeralds

 Being new to the whole blogger phenom, I was thinking about what the significance of my blog would be. I started thinking about why I chose the name "Emerald" which led me to look up the history and facts of the gemstone, Emerald. This is what I found: (This article came from International Gem Foundation.)

The gemstone, Emerald, is a fascinating gem.  They have the most beautiful, most intense and most radiant green that can possibly be imagined: emerald green. It is said that the Emerald is far more valuable than a Diamond! Emeralds have been held in high esteem since ancient times.The green of the emerald is the colour of life and of the springtime, which comes round again and again. But it has also, for centuries, been the colour of beauty and of constant love. In ancient Rome, green was the colour of Venus, the goddess of beauty and love. The lively luminosity of its colour makes the emerald a unique gemstone. However, really good quality is fairly rare, with inclusions often marring the evenness of the colour – signs of the turbulent genesis which has characterised this gemstone. Fine inclusions, however, do not by any means diminish the high regard in which it is held. On the contrary: even with inclusions, an emerald in a deep, lively green still has a much higher value than an almost flawless emerald whose colour is paler. Affectionately, and rather poetically, the specialists call the numerous crystal inclusions, cracks or fissures which are typical of this gemstone 'jardin'. They regard the tender little green plants in the emerald garden as features of the identity of a gem which has grown naturally.Whilst its good hardness protects the emerald to a large extent from scratches, its brittleness and its many fissures can make cutting, setting and cleaning rather difficult. Even for a skilled gem cutter, cutting emeralds presents a special challenge, firstly because of the high value of the raw crystals, and secondly because of the frequent inclusions. However, this does not detract from the cutters' love of this unique gem. Indeed, they have developed a special cut just for this gem: the emerald cut. The clear design of this rectangular or square cut with its bevelled corners brings out the beauty of this valuable gemstone to the full, at the same time protecting it from mechanical strain.

I found this fascinating. When I was in college, I was given the name, Emerald, when I became a member of my school's sorority.  At the time, I never thought more about the name, other than it stood for beauty, and that we, as sorority sisters, were "gems." My sorority legacy, the family of sisters to which I was initiated into, had been given names of jewels for generations of sorority history.  Pretty cool, as a young 19 year old.....now, almost 20 years later, the meaning, history and beliefs about Emeralds is even more fascinating to me.  I began to see that emeralds, as  rare and valuable gemstones, are somehow symbolic of deeper truths that apply to life.  Life is a beautiful journey, but one in which we can expect challenges and bumps along the way - inclusions and imperfections like in an emerald.  Like the article explains, gem cutters, find these inclusions, imperfections, cracks and fissures, things to rejoice in, celebrate even, for those are the very things that give the emerald its unique and rare qualities.  Imperfections, challenges, and hardships in life can be likened to the inclusions of an emerald - they are to be embraced - for they can give our life unique vitality, strength, boldness, renewed compassion, and beauty. Like so many things, it is what happens before that contributes to a thing of beauty - the storm before the rainbow, the long and difficult training before an Olympic win, the breaking free from the chrysalis before a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.....the list goes on and on....beauty... it is found all around us. We just have to go through and around life's imperfections.  Beauty awaits!