Some varieties have brown or purple overtones. The rarer varieties can be orange, green, or even subject to color changes in different types of light. Because of its beautiful red coloring, the Romans called it granatum, meaning pomegranate. Garnets are relatively hard gemstones, measuring about 7.5 on the Moh's hardness scale. In the Middle Ages, garnets were cut into cabochons, and hollowed out beneath.
Garnets protect travelers, prevent fever, and promote good health.
They represent fire, truth, love, and fidelity. Lapis is an opaque blue gemstone which at its best is a rich shade of ultramarine. It often has inclusions such as pyrite, which looks like flecks of gold, and calcite, which appears in milky white veins. This stone was sacred to Laz, the Babylonian goddess of love. Egyptians used the stone extensively, in jewelry, or ground up in cosmetics, paints, and medicines.