Garnet's deep red resonates with the root chakra, and can appear almost black.
Throughout the month, as I work with clients and friends to develop crystal mojo bags, or medicine bundles, I am thinking about crystals and their attributes constantly. Last week's meeting with the Devil, coupled with a medicine bundle I was creating, brought Garnet to the forefront of my consciousness. Garnet, what an amazing stone!! Both the Devil and Garnet are symbols of Capricorn, which makes sense. Both are about the material, about earthing, in some ways.
There are many types of Garnet--Black Andradite Garnet, Rhodolite Garnet, Grossular Garnet (which is green), Spessartine Garnet, Uvarovite, but the one I will be talking about is Almadine Garnet, the one you are most likely to find at your local crystal shop or metaphysical shop. Garnet has a Moh's Hardness of 7.5, and its name derives from the Latin granatum, meaning "pomegranate" since its color resembles the seed of the pomegranate. Like Lapis, Malachite and other ancient stones, Garnet is a stone of the ancient. A necklace of garnet was found in a grave from 3000 BCE, which really does speak to its hardness and durability.
Garnet is a stone of earth, resonating with the Root Chakra, and strengthening our Base and Earth Stone Chakras, making it an excellent stone for those feeling ungrounded, airy, or spacey. I just cannot talk about how important grounding is--for spiritual work, for healing work, for everyday existence. Garnet is an amazing ally in that realm, because it is a protective stone, but it also stimulates the heart. If you know anything about kundalini energy, the Garnet is an activator of the kundalini in the base of the spine.
So, let's talk about grounding and love, because that is part of the reason I chose Garnet this week. Garnet has the unique and beautiful resonance to help strengthen love relationships that are safe. It is a stone, as Naisha Ahsian says, of physical love. Physical love does not just mean sex, but the physical act of making a home, working together, building a family and future. When we combine those beautiful frequencies of base and heart, we create homes, safety, and security. Garnet also helps our heart desires manifest into reality. This is a great stone for someone working on their marriage. It firstly grounds one in reality, helping to alleviate stress and anxiety, but it also grounds one in the present moment. This is part of the gift of earthing. We feel Mother Earth's love for us, holding us, supporting us. We fall into that place of unconditional love that Earth and the Divine feel for us. We understand our integral role in nature and in our universe (the community as well), and the present. It helps us be here now. And so this beautiful stone, if we work with it, can help us be present in our relationships, cording us to Mother Earth and our long term goals.
Because of its beautiful earthing qualities, Garnet works beautifully for psychic protection. Robert Simmons suggests to combine it with Black Andradite Garnet for extra ooomph for psychic protection and grounding.
A beautiful affirmation for Garnet might be
I am grounded in the present. I am held and loved. I hold and love.