Alluring Amethyst

The February birthstone is amethyst, a variety of quartz found in several beautiful purple shades. The name is derived from amethystos, meaning “sober” in Greek, from an old, repeatedly tested and ultimately disproven belief that the gem prevented drunkenness. The Greek Anthology has a verse describing a signet ring with an image of the goddess Methe, worn as protection from inebriation.

The quatrain reads:

I am Drunkenness, the engraving of a skilled hand, but I've been engraved in amethyst. The stone is in opposition to its emblem. Yet the holy object belongs to Cleopatra, for on the queen's hand even a drunken goddess should be sober.

A poem with a reference to a drunken goddess is one to remember. There has been some debate about the authorship and date of this ancient work, but however scholars attribute it, the queen would not have been the famous Cleopatra VII, the last active Ptolemaic pharaoh of Egypt (although that most celebrated Cleopatra did adore jewelry).  The royal in question may have been the sister of Alexander the Great.

Amethyst is mentioned in the Bible as ninth (third stone in the third row) in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:19; 39:12), one of the gems representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel. It is also named in the New Testament as the twelfth and last gemstone in the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:20).

Amethyst stands for courage, sincerity, and strong relationships.

Violet and Primrose: Shy Beauties

Tying in with this vivid purple theme, the violet, symbol of faithfulness, loyalty, and modesty, is the February flower. A “shrinking violet” means a person who is very shy and modest, but in contrast, violet perfume is said to have a “flirty” scent. The flowers contain ionone, which makes the smell intermittent to humans. Thus this flower, with the olfactory characteristic of being here and gone, then back again, is associated with both bashfulness and flirtatiousness.

When I was a young girl, I discovered the fragrance “April Violets” by Yardley, and it immediately became a favorite. When I told my mother how much I loved it, she informed me it was the fragrance of choice for her mother, the maternal grandmother I never knew.

The primrose, which in Victorian times had many meanings, including shyness and “I can’t live without you,” appears in some modern sources as an alternate February birth month flower. (In The Hunger Games the younger sister of the main character is named Primrose Everdeen.)  Primroses are often pale yellow, but can be white or pink, with a yellow center. The primrose must have been added relatively recently, as I haven’t found any antique postcards that represent it as the February flower. In fact, February stands out as unusually consistent over time in showing the amethyst and the violet as the symbols for this month.

“February” postcard from the 1908 E. Nash “Shining Star” birth-month series.

My antique postcard for this month is a 1908 E. Nash card, postmarked February 12, 1909, from their “guiding star” or “shining star” birthday series. An amethyst ring (depicted oddly out of perspective, perhaps to emphasize the stone), and five violets, appear with the verse:

Your flower is the Violet For Modesty it’s known The Amethyst, Sincerity A royal birthday stone Your lucky star sheds happiness No matter where you roam.

The embossing is clearly visible on on the message side of this “February” postcard, postmarked 10 AM February 12, 1909 in Reading, PA.