Opal, Amethyst and Bloodstone
Back to Gemstone series for me, in last post, I talked about Tourmaline, Onyx, Topaz and how they give hints of Jade Emperor/Azor Ahai creating the dragons and the myhts connection to the Andal figures like Hugor of the Hill and Galladon of Morne
Opal Emperor
The connection to Andals continues with the Opal Emperor and gives us hints about the Andals and Rhoynar, possibly a common ancestor while they still lived in Essos, or a change of influence after Andal migration to Westeros. Or a case of first bookism when Arbor was called Rhoyne and Dorne was ruled from the Ironport in 1993 drafts, placing Opal Emperor closer to Jade Emperor. Anyways, back to search for more hints about the Emperor's identity
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. The name opal is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word upala (à€à€Șà€Č), which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative opĂĄllios (áœÏΏλλÎčÎżÏ).
As references to the gem are made by Pliny the Elder, one theory attributed the name's origin to Roman mythology: to have been adapted from Ops, the wife of Saturn, and goddess of fertility. (The portion of Saturnalia devoted to Ops was "Opalia", similar to opalus.)
Another common claim was that the term was adapted from the Ancient Greek word, opallios. This word has two meanings, one is related to "seeing" and forms the basis of the English words like "opaque"; the other is "other" as in "alias" and "alter".
The meaning of Opal gives us a connection to the fertility deities, and child sacrifices. Ops is the Roman Goddess of fertility, and said to be the Consort of Saturn/Cronos, God of fertility and time, her Greek equal is Rhea. The myth of Saturn and Ops state that Saturn was afraid of being usurped by his own children, ate them except Jupiter/Zeus because Ops presented Saturn a rock and hide the infant Jupiter/Zeus. Which makes Garth the Green the Cronos figure, with Durran Godsgrief as Jupiter/Zeus/Storm God and Elenei as Aphrodite(?), according to the myth Jupiter does usurp his father, killing him and freeing his siblins from his father's bely.
Ops is refered as Ops Consiva (she who sows) an anti-Ironborn figure, she is also the Goddess of opulance, and wealth, she is depicted with a scepter and cornucopia.
In asoiaf series opals are first mentioned in Dany V of AGOT as fire opals, the word also appear in her chapter as eyes of Gemstone Emperor, opal knights gifted by Xaro, Xaro's jewels, and her crown gifted by Qartheen, we see fire opal appear when Daenerys crosses Red Waste and her bloodriders find a bracelet with fire opal, and Margaery's wedding Chalice with fire opals used for the Martell Sun sigil.
If opal in our story is fire opal and connection to (Andal) Dorne that started with Onyx Emperor shifts into a Rhoynar one with Opal, it makes sense why his daughter Amethys Empress succeeded him. Rhoynar practices absolute primogeniture, meaning the eldest child inherits regarless of gender. Rhoyne being Arbor in 1993 drafts also makes sense if they are connected to Ops, the Arbor in story is founded by Garth the Green's son Gilbert of the Vines, a Dionysus/Bacchus figure, a chthonic fertility deity like Ops. And the Rhoynar culture (or how they are seen by other Kingdoms) may be inspired by the Opalia/Saturnalia festivals.
Amethys Empress
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. Unlike other Emperor names on the list, Amethyst only comes in the shades of purple, lacking the color variety of the previous gems.
The name comes from the Koine Greek αΌÎÎžÏ ÏÏÎżÏ amethystos from α- a-, "not" and ΌΔΞÏÏÎșÏ (Ancient Greek) methysko / ΌΔΞÏ metho (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Which strengthens the tie of Opal Emperor to Gilbert of the Vines.
In Greek myths the Goddess Rhea (Ops in Roman mythology) gives Dionysus/Bacchus an Amethyst stone to preserve his sanity, it is possible mother of Amethyst Empress wanted her daughter to succeed her husband, due to his drunken and weak nature.
Mentions of amethyst in asoiaf series starts with Daenerys I of AGOT, she has the strongest connection to this Gemstone because she represents Amethyst Empress in the current story. She wears an amethyst crown and amethyst bracelets to meet Khal Drogo, Euron says Daenerys' eyes are amethyst, Euron is an antagonist, one of the lies Daenerys must slay, his also known to consume Shade of the Evening, making Aeron drink it as well, causing him to hallucinate. We can see that corruption that lead to Bloodstone's reign started with Opal Emperor since he seem to represent the darker aspects of Dionysus.
A second mention of amethysts is the heir net Sansa wore to Joffrey's wedding. She is told the stones are black amethyst, but it is poison, Olena, a Redwyne and a descendant of Gilbert of the Vines, put the poison in Joffrey's drink, killing him. We are told Euron, and his gifts, one of them being Shade of the Evening, is poison, and we have poison hidden as Amethysts.
Third mention of amethysts are connected to Ser Flemen Brax, Ser Flement Brax is a knight from Westerlands, Tyrion describes him as "The knight who led them wore silver armor inlaid with amethysts and a striped purple-and-silver cloak. His shield bore a unicorn sigil, and a spiral horn two feet long jutted up from the brow of his horsehead helm." Outside of main series amethsyts are mentioned once in The Mystery Knight, Ser John the Fiddler aka Daemon II Blackfyre wears a silver chain studded with amethysts, and Dunk says the stones match the colour of his eyes.
I think we are meant to link silver and amethyst, and the colors grey and purple together, which brings us to the House Dayne of Starfall to find another name/identity for the Empress.
Although we are lead to believe House Dayne was founded by a knight that followed a falling star, I think it is also possible falling star was just a descending God-Empress who moved to a new land after her usurpation. Nevertheless we first have to find the star that is connected to the Daynes, and that would be Vega. Vega's name comes from Arabic an-Nasr al-Waqi, meaning descending Eagle, but in Latin it was referred as Vulture Cadens, which connects Amethyst Empress to Dorne through the Vulture Kings. In Chinese legends the star of Vega represents the Goddess ZhinĂŒ, daughter of Jade Emperor - our Azor Ahai figure, and is connected to the Qixi (seven nights) myths, confirming Andal connection with Azor Ahai and House Dayne. In Asyrrian language, Vega was called Dayan-same "Judge of Heavens" connecting Amethyst Empress to Maiden Made of Light who turned her back to humanity and caused Lion of Night to send his demons to Earth to punish humanity. This name of the star might also explain why Dawn is not an ancestral sword but only given to knights that are deemed worthy. Akkadians associated Vega with goddess Tiranna/Marzat, whose name meant bow of heaven, she was called Great Lady zana riĆĄarri and She who makes city florish UrualĆĄarra, connecting her to the deities Rhea and Cronos, Manzat/Tiranna is also associated with Goddess Ishtar. Babylonians called Vega as Dilgan, messanger of Light, in Hindu myhts the star is called Abhihit (invincible)
I think it is possible Amethyst Empress were posioned, or was a tool to posion her own father, and the poisoner was her lover. We are told love is poison, a sweet poison, but posion nonetheless, Daenerys the current Amethyst Empress is told she will know a betrayal for love, if she is daughter of Ashara Dayne and Rhaegar as I suspect this would explain why Robert and Green Grace(?) tried to poison Daenerys, she is living the fate of her ancestor, but this time she is surviving the attempts.
It is also interesting that Vega was once our pole star, and will be our pole star again in the future due to pole shift, I think asoiaf main series is about this shift, with its wacky seasons, after the Amethyst Empress' usurpation aka the first Pole Shift, Maiden Made of Light turned its back on Earth, and Lion of Night sent its demons, meaning the planet experienced variors catalyst, with the birth of Daenerys and return of the Red Comet, the pole is shifting again, explaining why the Others woke up and descending towards the Wall for another Long Night. It is possible the constellation Lyra (where Vega is found) is called Sword of the Morning in asoiaf universe.
As the current Azor Ahai/Stallion Who Mounts the World, Daenerys embodies the Judge aspects of Vega, as she punishes the Slavers, Benerro says Volantis/the Triarch will be punished if they take arms against Daenerys. "Death itself shall bend its knee, triumph over darkness bringing a summer that will never end, whoever died in her cause shall be reborn" I think that's what first Amethyst Empress promised to her people as well, before she was poisoned and usurped, causing her to turn into the Great Other whose heart is corrupted and becomes a source of poison(Shade of the Evening Tree), and who ever died in her cause is awakened as Others and whights.
Bloodstone Emperor
Our last Gemstone Emperor is Bloodstone, whose dark deeds brought an end to Empire of the Dawn.
Bloodstone is also known as Heliotropes (from Ancient Greek ጄλÎčÎżÏ (hážlios) 'sun' and ÏÏÎÏΔÎčΜ (trĂ©pein) 'to turn'), are aggregate minerals, and a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz that occurs mostly as jasper (opaque) or sometimes as chalcedony (translucent). I don't know if I ever mentioned chalcedony but both chalcedony and jasper is mentioned when the Qartheen attempt to assassinate Daenerys with Scarab, Jaime mentions a statue of Mother with chalcedony eyes. The jasper gemstone is associated with House Arryn, Catelyn receives a jasper inlaid message with Lysa's message, which brings us to the poisoning again as that's how Lord Jon Arryn dies. The other known Jasper in our story is Lord Jasper Wylde, the House sigil a maelstorm on yellow, reminding us the spiral carpet Daenerys sees in House of the Undying.
The Heliotrope name and meaning is a nod to Maiden Maid of Light, this time identified as a Sun figure, turning her back to humanity.
Heliotrope was called "stone of Babylon" by Albertus Magnus and he referred to several magical properties, which were attributed to it from Late Antiquity. Pliny the Elder (1st century) mentioned first that magicians used it as a stone of invisibility. Opal is also said to have magical qualities and was used as a stone of invisibility, meaning Bloodstone inherited his magical abilities from Opal Emperor. Damigeron (4th century) wrote about its property to make rain, solar eclipse, and its special virtue in divination and preserving health and youth. In Scotland, the Gaels saw heliotropes as the product of an everlasting battle (seen as the aurora borealis) fought by 'the Nimble Ones,' giant faerie-folk who danced and fought in the night skies, their blood pooling into the red part of the aurora before falling in drops to the ground to form bloodstones.
I think Bloodstone Emperor was twice marked by the Old Gods, having one green and one red eye, leading to his name.
According to Yi Ti legends, he practiced torture, dark arts, and necromancy. He enslaved his own people, took a tiger-woman for wife, feasted on human flesh and cast down the true gods of Yi Ti to worship a black stone that fell from the sky. Some scholars believe him to have been the first High Priest of the sinister Church of Starry Wisdom. Arya sees the Priests of this religion singing to the Evening Stars.
Which brings us to the difference between House Dayne titles, Sword of the Morning and Sword of the Evening, the two branches House Dayne of Starfall, and House Dayne of High Hermitage, and of course Tarth with their Evenstar title and Azor Ahai figure in Galladon of Morne.
