A brittle and more or less transparent silicate mineral, the name covers a wide variety of chemically different stones of varying colors.

The best known garnets are the dark red varieties which have been used for thousands of years and were particularly fashionable during the Victorian era. Garnets have been valued as a sacred stone by the Native American Indians, the South American Indians, the Aztecs, the African tribal elders and the Mayans. Statues of Isis, the Egyptian nature goddess, often included garnets in her ceremonial belt, probably representing her blood and her power. The loving powers of garnet tend to reflect the attributes of devotion and it is strongly associated with the balancing of the sex drive and emotional disharmony, bringing love, compassion and an enhanced imagination. Associated with love and passion, the garnet has been known as a “crystal of commitment” – to purpose, to others and to oneself.

The garnet has been used in the treatment of toxicity, mental depression, heart trouble, inflammation and underactive thyroid.