Noveling and Blogging

It's been forever since I wrote a blog! More on that later though, first I want to talk about my novel :).

I decided to do Nanowrimo very last minute this year, actually about 10pm on November 1st. I'm writing a fantasy adventure quest-type novel. It's very different than anything I've ever written before and I'm having a lot of fun writing it. I think I'm doing better this year than I was at this point last year, I'm still enjoying it most of the time. I remember forcing the words out a lot during the second half of the month last year, I don't see that happening so much this year.

I think part of what is making it easier is that I've decided it's going to be a series. There is no way that this story as I want it to be is going to be done after 50,000 words. It is either going to be a much longer novel or a series. I'm not sure if I will wait and write the second book for Nano next year, not sure how well that would go.

Anyway, the other reason that I'm writing is about blogging. I know that when I'm done with Nanowrimo, I'm not going to want to deal with my novel again right away. I will probably wait until January to start editing. The thing is, I don't want to get out of the practice and routine of writing, so I'm going to be blogging.

I've heard of something called BEDA, or Blog Every Day in April. I want to try this, but I don't want to wait until April. I'm going to do it in December I think. I'm going to try to blog every day in December. I'm not sure how interesting these blogs will be, but I hope that some of you will want to read some of them.

Anyway, that's it for now, I want to try and get ahead with my word count today so that I don't have to worry about the novel too much tomorrow (I'm working 12 to 8).

On Sign Language and Learning a Second Language

Over the last few months I have slowly and painstakingly been learning sign language. I completed level 1 with 78% and had my first level 2 class last night.

I know that sign language is a little different then any other language and the learning process is different as well. I just never realized how hard it is. There is a ton of practising that has to be done in order to retain everything that you are taught. The class is an emersion class, there isn't supposed to be any talking out loud once you enter the room. This is partly to get your mind thinking in ASL and partly out of respect for the instructor, who is deaf.

Yes, the teacher is deaf! If you don't understand something or have a question, you need to find some way to communicate that to him without speaking. Now, imagine how difficult that must be. We take speaking and hearing for granted, we spend so much time using words, speaking and writing to get our feelings and points across. To suddenly be thrown into a situation where you are unable to do that is a bit of a culture shock. It also makes you learn faster though, you have to.

It makes me feel for immigrants to our country who don't speak English. I can understand how frustrating it must be for them to not be able to say what they want simply because they don't knoe the right words. They learn the words in time of course, just by being around people that are speaking English, but what a frustrating process it must be!

I think that in our daily lives we need to realize that speaking isn't a rite, it's a privelege, one that could be taken from us at any time. There are some people in my ASL class that are going deaf themselves and are now taking the time to learn sign language. They're thinking ahead. But what if you didn't have a warning? What if you lost your hearing in an accident, what if you had a child that couldn't hear? How many hearing people actually take the time to learn sign language? How many deaf people can live their lives normally without an interpreter?

We all need to start thinking outside of our comfort zone.

On Soul Mates and Second Chances

If someone had asked me a week and a half ago what I thought I would be doing tonight, I definitely wouldn't have told them that I was going to Tyler's so that we could watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. But that's what I'm doing.

Some of you are probably wondering what I'm doing and more importantly, what I'm thinking. I'm going to try and explain the train of my thoughts over the last week. Some of you are still going to think I'm crazy, but just know this: I am happy and I know I am doing the right thing for me.

Last week I was angry. I was furious. I was livid. And I still am. The only thing that changed was that on Friday, I started to miss Tyler really badly. I didn't miss the person that did all of this to me, I didn't miss that monster that cheated on me and hurt my feelings more than anyone else could. I missed the man that I fell in love with. I missed the man that I once believed to be my soul mate, the man that I knew for certain that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

My problem at this point on Friday night was that I didn't know if this man still existed. I didn't know if Tyler was still this man that I knew or if he was still the monster that had hurt me. I wasn't willing to give up the five great years that we had before all of this happened without finding this out. I needed to know if that man was still in there, I needed to give him a chance because I knew that this man was my soul mate at one time.

So I called him and we talked for a long time. I hung up the phone at 5am Saturday morning and felt better. On Sunday night I went to Tyler's house and we talked some more. He has answered all of the questions that I have asked him with brutal honesty.

You may all think that I'm crazy for talking to him or believing anything that he says, and maybe I am. But I feel in my heart that he is telling me the truth now. He is so unbelievably different now that I don't know how I didn't realize there was something wrong before. This is the man that I loved, this is the man that I am still very much in love with.

I know that he regrets what he did, and he doesn't just regret it because he got caught. He regrets it because he knows it was wrong. He wishes that he had waited for marriage, he understands how important it is now. He is physically sick sometimes when he remembers the details when I ask him questions. There are a lot of little details that he honestly can't remember, partly because he was so high at the time, and partly because his mind has blocked them out.

He also knows now how much he loves me and how much he wants to be with me and only me. And it's because of all of these reasons that I'm giving him a second chance to prove it all to me. I'm going to let him prove how much he loves me and that he is still the same man that I fell in love with.

And don't think that I'm going to make it easy for him either. If I find out that he lies to me even once, I'm done. If I found out that he's used at all, I'm done. I'm the one that's calling the shots here because I don't want to get hurt again. He knows that nothing is concrete yet. No matter how much I want to be with him and how much I want things to work out for us, I still don't know if I can get past what he did. I don't want to live the rest of my life with the images haunting the back of my mind. I also don't want to live the rest of my life without the man that I love, so I'm going to try. It's going to be hard and it's going to take a really long time, but I'm going to try.

I want you all to know that just because I have forgiven Tyler and taken him back into my life does not mean that I expect all of you too. I know that I am not the only person that Tyler hurt with his actions the past few months. I realize that it's easier for me to even consider all of these thoughts than it is for most of you because I'm in love with him. I'm not going to force anyone to hang out with him or be nice to him. I do ask that no one go out of their way to be especially mean to him, he's going through enough. Try to imagine how you would feel if you made a huge mistake and lost everything and everyone that matters the most to you. I don't expect anyone to feel bad for him, there is no excuse for what he did, I'm just asking that you be sympathetic to the situation for my sake and his, and to please just leave him alone. He doesn't need anymore reasons to be afraid to go outside after dark.


I'm sorry if I upset anyone or if anyone thinks that I am outright wrong and crazy for doing this. But this is the man that I love and I want to try and forgive him and get past all of this. Right now I am happy and although you may not agree, I know that I am doing the right thing.

I hope that this post makes sense and that it hasn't been too all over the place. Please feel free to leave me a comment or email me on facebook if you want to know more about what's going on, I just don't feel quite right posting anymore details out in the open online. This is the last that I will be posting about this. It is a private issue and I am sorry that I made it so public in the first place (like I said - I was mad). I just wanted everyone who cares to know what was going on without me having to explain everything to everyone individually.

The end of a chapter in my life.

Tyler and I broke up. Actually, if you want to get technical, he broke up with me. We made it official on Saturday night, but it all started a week and a half before.

It was a Wednesday night and I had gotten off work a little early so that I could come home and watch American Idol at 8. I came home to find Tyler just sitting in our bedroom. He told me he needed to talk to me. I told him that I didn't want to talk right then, I just wanted to watch American Idol and eat the burger that I had brought home for dinner.

He said we needed to talk. He then proceeded to tell me that although I would probably hate him for what he had to say, it had to be said. He told me that he had spent the last two months trying to fall back in love with me. He told me that he didn't love me and that he was leaving me. He went to stay with his parents that night.

Needless to say, I was devastated. My mom, Claudio and I were also absolutely shocked. I had known that things in our relationship weren't exactly the way that they had always been, but I honestly believed that we were all right. I was, of course, still madly in love with him and I knew that he was still the man that I wanted to marry and have a life with.

We got together the next day to talk things through. We decided together that we were going to try to fix things. We would spend some time alone together (something that we had almost completely stopped doing at this point) and try to just have fun. A way to try and get the "spark" that Tyler had lost back. We went out and built a snowman, we watched a movie, I took him for dinner for his birthday and made him pancakes for breakfast the next morning. I thought it was going pretty well, all things considered.

Tyler came over on Saturday night to pick up some more of his clothes and his DVD player. We went to his parents for a little while after. It was then that he told me that he didn't want to try anymore. He thought that it was hurting us both too much, he didn't want to give me any false hope and it was just too hard for him. He then explained to me that he isn't sure if he ever wants to get married or have kids. Either way, he has decided that he definitely does not want to be with me anymore.

He wanted to still be my friend. The way I see it, at least for now, is that, if he gave up being with me, he gave up the right to be my friend and be involved in my life in any way. At least right now that's how I feel, talk to me in six months and maybe I'll have changed my mind.

I am upset. It feels like a huge chunk of my life and of my future has been torn away from me against my will and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. But right now, I'm just trying to focus on all of the good things and the good people that I have in my life, so thank you all in advance for your support.

Proving the Existence of God

I watch a lot of youtube videos. I've become quite addicted to watching people from around the world vlog about their opinions and beliefs. One of the vloggers that I watch often is Dan Brown (username pogobat - check him out! http://www.youtube.com/user/pogobat). He is my age and is very intelligent and aware of political and worldly issues. I've learned a lot from watching his vlogs. In a lot of his earlier vlogs he talks about his beliefs and his opinions about God. As someone who was raised by two pastors you would think that he would be a Christian and have a firm belief in God. He is not.

He is an agnostic. He doesn't belief or disbelieve in God. He believes that it cannot be proven one way or the other that God exists. Here I agree with him. He also says that he has no reason to believe or not to believe in God. Here I disagree.

Everyone can find reasons not to believe. They see starving children in third world countries, homeless people on their streets, wars and people dying to young. But are these really reasons not to believe? I find myself asking the question: how can people look around and NOT believe?

Something as simple as a snowflake that lands on your sleeve in the winter is reason enough. Have you ever really looked at a snowflake? Have you seen how complex and perfectly made it is? I won't give the credit for that snowflake to evolution. I won't give the credit for the birth of a child, a medical miracle, a scientific discovery or the love of a woman for a man or a father to his son to anyone but God.

We can't prove the existence of God, but we can't disprove it either. We can look for many more reasons to believe every day.

Goodbye 2009

You were a good year!

This year I:

Turned 19

Moved into a house with my mom, her boyfriend and Tyler

Got engaged

Was able to by my own cigarettes and alcohol (legally!)

Wrote a novel in a month

Started working full time

Flew on an air plane without any parents

Didn't get my hair cut a single time (Oh God that needs doing badly!)

Got back in touch with some old friends

Made a Project for Awesome video to help get awareness for one of my favourite charities.

Read approx. 90 books

Watched more youtube videos than is healthy for one person



Goal for this NEW year: Do more stuff!

I mean really, I had a good year and all, but this year I want to do so much more! I want to move ahead with my life and get involved in stuff. I spend most of my free time reading or on the computer. I want to go out and do stuff!

I'm going to be taking a sign language class with my friend Amy (hopefully - I have to make sure that they'll still let me register!). I plan on completely editing my novel (from nanowrimo) in the next few months. If I get it done by July 1st they will send me a free paperback copy of it. But I want to do more!

This year I want to start planning my wedding, I want to move out, I want to graduate high school and start thinking about taking some college courses (anything!) I want to donate money to charity. I want to do it all!

I found a website today. It lets you write an email to yourself and then pick the date that it will mail out. I set it to email to me on January 1st 2012. I'll be almost 22 by the time I get that email. I wrote in it some of my goals, things that I hope I have accomplished by that time. I finished off the email by saying "Don't worry if you haven't done any of this stuff yet, you still have time."

There are a lot of things that I want to do with the time that I have. No one knows how much time they are going to have to get everything done. I want to start trying to get that stuff done in 2010 because I feel like I haven't done much with 2009.

I'm not usually the kind of person who makes New Year's Resolutions, but I guess this year I am. Wish me luck!

Holding Hands

I win!!!

I guess I actually should have posted this on November 25th when I reached my 50,000 word mark...but I really didn't feel like typing anymore. Lol!

I finished my novel...sort of. The story is finished, but the novel itself is far from being done. There is a TON of editing ahead for me at this point before it will be finished.

All I've done with it so far is a spell check. I want to change certain parts of it, but its hard for me to do because right now there is NO ONE I can go to for advice. I don't want to ruin the story for anyone by telling them any key plot points, but I feel like I may need help to change things the way I want to.

I am going to email the story to my mom to read and spell check and possibly Andrea if she feels up to it? Everyone else I fear may have to wait a few more months before they get to read it.

Keep in mind please guys...you don't want to read it yet lol. It is awkward and it is terrible. It definitely is not at the point where anyone can read it and enjoy it.

What is exciting though: because I won, I am going to get a free copy of my book in paperback version. I have to submit it to the website by July 1st, I can create my own cover for it and everything. Also! It will be available for other people to purchase! I don't know how much it will cost and I'm pretty sure that I won't get any money from that lol. So, at that point, if you want to read it, I'll just send you the file. If you love it, you can buy a copy I guess.

That's it for now I guess.

Oh! The story is called Holding Hands :)

Only 11 More Days!

I can't believe it's already the 19th! It's gone by so fast. I feel pretty good about my novel right now. I'm actually 1201 words ahead right now...which is good because I have to work the next three days. I want to try and stay a little bit ahead for the next week and hopefully have the whole 50000 written by the end of the 29th.

I've really enjoyed writing this novel so far. I think it might be a little while before it's ready for anyone to read it though. It will probably take me as long to edit it as it has to write it. That doesn't mean that it's going to take me a month though - I don't plan to spend two hours a day editing!

My characters had a bit of an unexpected crisis happen today - I just decided it was going to happen one scene before it did! They'll make it through though. I left off writing for the day at the beginning of the scene. I find it's easier to sit down and write if I already know what is about to happen, if I'm in the middle of something. It will pretty much give me enough words to fill up my count for tomorrow and maybe saturday as well.

After that, there isn't much more until it's finished! I have 32874 words right now. That's the most I've ever written of one thing! It's almost 11000 more words than I wrote of my novel last year. I am so determined to finish it this year! I only have 17126 words left to write!

My ending is clear-cut as well. I had the ending of this story planned out before I even started writing. I have reconsidered what I have planned a few times, but I always go back to my original plan - even if I might hate myself for it!

I realize that this post probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I don't want to actually give away any plot points in case any of you actually ever read my novel. I want everything to hit you when you read it, I don't want anyone to know what happens before it does!

Wish me luck with my last 17000 words! It doesn't feel like too much compared to what I've already written...but it does feel like a lot to write in eleven days. :)

Love Story

I love the fact that my novel is just a regular fiction love story. No super powers, no mythical creatures, no fantasy at all. It's the first time that I've ever written anything like this before and I'm having so much fun doing it.

It's not the most original of stories. People have been falling in love for thousands of years though, so how original can one love story be? What's so special about my story is that part of it is based loosely on something that actually happened with a certain couple in my family. I can't say anymore without giving the plot away to some people (mom!).

It's something very romantic though. People say that you should write what you know. I've tried before, but never like this. I can write what I know with fantasy, and it's fun because you can make things up that could never exist in real life. Writing a love story is different, because this really could happen in real life. It's a new experience for me, and I think that it shows that I'm growing as a writer.

If there's one thing in life that I know about, it's love.

Nanowrimo!

Ok, so I was totally planning on posting my story as I wrote it. I even started doing that, the first two chapters were posted here.

I'm not doing it anymore

I AM still writing my novel, I've just decided that it's best if no one reads it until it's completed and edited. It is just a first draft and it was putting stress on me to have to worry about it not having an errors.

Therefore, it shall remain private until it is completed.

For now I am doing great. I currently have 5654 words which is actually 2320 words above where I need to be by the end of day two. On average I should be writing 1667 words a day. I am way ahead right now because I wrote 5008 words in the first day. I wanted to hit 7000 words tonight, but I'm not sure if I'm going to.

I don't want to start out too fast and burn out in a few days.

Wish me luck!

Engaged :)

I'm so happy!

The man that I love finally asked me to marry him. I can't wait to be his wife and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with him.

He asked me on Monday night when we were getting ready for bed. It was so unexpected at the time. I knew that he was going to ask me sometime soon, but I wasn't expecting it right then, and it was perfect. I was brushing my teeth and then came back into the room. Tyler was sitting on the floor looking through a box. All day something had been beeping in that box and it was driving us nuts. I sat down on the bed and asked him if he had found it, he said no.

Then he turned to me and said "You know I love you and I want to spend forever with you, will you marry me?"

The ring that we picked out together is gorgeous, even more beautiful than I thought it would be. I love it and I love him.

Ideas

Now that I have an idea:

A girl from a wealthy, old-fashioned family is in love with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Eighteen-year old _____ wants nothing more than to marry her high school dropout boyfriend _____. Her parents don’t agree and force the young couple apart.

The pair meet in secret for months planning how to spend their lives together. They are willing to do anything, no matter who it hurts, to be together. When their plan is put into motion the parents have no choice but to let the young couple be together at all costs.

This is just a very basic plot synopsis, I can't say more without giving anything away or until I actually start writing.

Now, I get to do the fun stuff, the names! The names are a more complicated process then you'd think. Name meanings are very important to me and its hard to find names that I like that have the specific meanings that I want.

I want the girl's first name to mean: rich, wealthy, of noble kin etc and the boy's name to mean: poor, worker, maker etc.

I also want their last names to mean love or beloved

So far I have:

Girl's first names:

Diana – Divine
Celia – Heaven
Cordelia – Of unknown meaning
Rosaline – Little rose
Adelaide – Of a noble kin
Mona – Desires, wishes
Alicia – of noble kin
Alice – of noble kin
Daria – Rich
Nadia – Hope
Kimbra - From the royal fortress meadow.
Kimberly – From the wood of the royal forest
Davia – Beloved
Julia – Beloved
Amanda/Manie – Worthy of being loved


Boys names:

Mason – Stone worker
Turner – Lathe worker
Tanner – Leather worker
Walker – Cloth worker
Carter – Cart driver, cart maker

Last names:

Davies – Beloved
Edward – Wealthy guardian, rich or happy
Lovell – Dearly loved
Lowell – Dearly loved
Raman – Beloved, pleasing
Wilmot – Beloved heart


Help?

Also, I think I'm going to post what I write each day for anyone who wants to read along while I write. Keep in mind if you do that there is no editing done during November. It will be full of grammar and spelling errors as well as (probably) continuity errors and scenes that will be completely changed or deleted later on. It is by no means a finished product. :)

Stumped...Nanowrimo again

So, I really want to do Nanowrimo this year and win! I don't even really care if all I write is crap, I just want to get my 50,000 words written in November this year since I gave up last year about halfway through (I wrote just over 22,000 words).

So today I was surfing the nanowrimo website's FAQ section when I noticed that they strongly encourage the writers to use an outline for their novel. So I figured, during October I'll write myself an outline so that I'd be more prepared than I was last year.

The only problem is, I don't know what to write about. This is the worst possible time to get writer's block, I feel like I don't have a creative bone in my body right now. I know that I don't want to write about vampires (tried that last year) and I don't want to try to write my own life story (tried that last year as well). Other than that, I haven't got a clue. I don't even know if I want to write fantasy or real life.

Hopefully something will come to me soon. Otherwise November is going to suck.

Beauty Pageants

I was watching the show Toddlers and Tiaras last night and it got me wondering. Is there any reason for this? Are there any positive effects of pageants for children? While I was doing my research I had a lot of trouble finding any positives effects at all. Here is what I did find:






Pageants can help prepare young girls for real life, they can give them skills that are being forgotten and may never be taught to them otherwise. These girls learn manners, etiquette and grace during the pageant. Poise and grace are things that were important to young women a hundred years ago, but have been all but forgotten now.

On the other hand, one might argue that being in pageants robs these girls of their childhood. Pageants take up a lot of time. There is not only a lot of traveling involved, but a lot of other preparation. These girls must get tans and learn how to dance or sing before they even have a chance of winning. Their talents must be refined before they are able to compete. This causes them to miss out on playing regularly and on just being a kid. Schoolwork may sometimes be neglected in order to prepare for a pageant weekend. Sometimes the pageants may fall on the same days as other events and the child will miss out on that school trip or on their friend's birthday party.

Pageants can raise a child's self confidence. A shy child may open up and feel better about themselves while onstage and getting so much positive attention. It can make children outgoing and give them the independence to do better later life.

Competing to see who is the prettiest can also take a very negative tole on a child. If they don't win and they aren't getting positive attention, their self-esteem will almost certainly be lowered. It can lead to problems later in life. When these girls are teenagers they are going to care way too much about beauty and will judge themselves and their peers solely on their looks. They will think that beauty is everything and that they should use it to get what they want. Teens who were once pageant children may end up with low self-esteem, eating disorders and depression as well as a sense of never being good enough.

It can also lead to children being extremely spoiled. Being given pretty clothes and all kinds of attention can give children a sense of entitlement. Parents may sometimes bribe their kids to do the things that they don't want to, or to get them to perform better, for example "if you win today, I'll buy you that cell phone you wanted," or "if you just practice the routine another half an hour we'll go out for ice cream". Children may begin to realize this and manipulate their parents into giving them whatever they want.


Pageants can be fun for children. If too much stock isn't put into winning, a child can slow down and enjoy what they are doing. They will be happy while performing and improving their skills. It's fun to get dressed up and look nice. They may even be able to make long lasting friendships with other girls in the pageants who know just what their life is like.


While it may be fun for these little girls to play 'dress-up' it is innapropriate for these parents to be oversexualizing their children. These little girls dress, dance and act like adults and it is damaging. It can give a girl a tarnished view of how a child is supposed to look and act. This can also attract pedophiles and cause young girls to have stalkers or to be sexually abused.

The money that is won in pageants can go towards good things. It could be put away for special occasions or saved for college later on. Pageants for older girls usually have scholarships to be won. More focus is put on a platform (a charity or an awareness program that the girl supports) and volunteer work is also an important factor.


The problem is, the younger girls in beauty pageants don't need to worry about community service or charities. Chances are the money being won is going towards paying for the pageants. Pageants are extremely expensive. The dresses can cost thousands of dollars plus traveling costs, makeup, hairpieces, dance/singing lessons and other costs. Often the child's mother doesn't work and devotes her time only to the pageants and running the child's schedule. This can cause parents to be more concerned with their child winning money and can put pressure on the girl.


Finally, pageants effect the whole family. They bring the child and the parents together by giving them something to do with each other. Each pageant can be like a family project or vacation for these children. It means they get to spend a lot of time with their mothers who are often at home with them and not at work.

Pageants can also tear families apart. If there are older sisters or brothers, it could be hard on them to have a sibling who is in pageants. It might make them feel bad about the way that they look. It can also cause them to feel like they aren't as loved by their parents because they don't receive as much attention as the child who is in the pageant. It can cause them to feel ugly or useless compared to their sibling.

In conclusion, pageants do more harm to children than they do good. They do have a few positive effects on a child and a family, but they are heavily outweighed by all of the negative effects. This is not something that I will ever involve my children in and I don't have very much respect for the parents that do.

Amethysts

Mythical Properties of Amethysts according to Jewelsforme.com


According to Greek mythology, Amethyst was a young virgin who became the object of wrath of the Greek God Dionysus after he became intoxicated with red wine. When Amethyst cried out to Goddess Diana for help, she immediately turned the girl into a white, shimmering stone (quartz). When Dionysus realized what had happened and felt remorse for his actions, his tears dripped into his goblet of red wine. The goblet overturned, and the red wine spilled all over the white rock, saturating it until it became the purple quartz that is now known as Amethyst.

The name amethyst derives from the ancient Greek word amethustos, meaning sober. It was said that an amethyst could prevent the bearer from becoming excessively drunk and also instills a sober and serious mind. It was believed that if a person drank from a cup or goblet made entirely of amethyst, he or she would not get drunk at all. In Greek mythology, amethyst was rock crystal dyed purple by the tears of Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry. Ancient Egyptians used the stone as the representative of the zodiac sign of the goat. The goat was considered the enemy of vines and vineyards, and therefore the antidote of wine.

Amethyst has been thought to have many attributes throughout history, and all of them are good. The stone was thought to control evil thoughts, quicken intelligence, make a shrewd man in business, preserve soldiers from battle wounds, aid the warrior to victory, help the hunter in search of his game, protect the wearer from contagious diseases, and put demons to flight if the figure of a bear is inscribed on the jewel. Amethyst was known as a gem that would bring forth the highest, purest aspirations of human kind. Chastity, sobriety, and control over one’s thoughts were all attributes heightened by wearing the stone. The gem would guard against the anger of passion, and the violent or base nature of its wearer. The stone encouraged calm, bravery, and contemplation.

Amethyst has religious connotations, as well. It was one of the twelve stones that adorned the breastplate of the high priest Aaron (Exodus 39). Amethyst later has stood for the tribe of Dan, one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Apostle Matthias and the Guardian Angel Adnachiel spirit are associated with Amethyst, as well. During the Middle Ages, Amethyst stood for piety and celibacy and was therefore worn by members of the Catholic Church clergy and was used to adorn crosses.

During the Renaissance, Amethyst has stood for humility and modesty. Throughout the ages, powerful and rich monarchs have used Amethyst as a symbol of royalty, and some Amethysts even decorate the British Crown Jewels. Rumor has it that Amethyst was a personal favorite of Queen Catherine the Great of Russia.

Historically, the stone was believed to assist prophecy and visions and to bring riches and powers to its owners. It has always been associated with the civil and religious classes that have ruled human cultures. In the Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui, the amethyst enhances the wealth corner focusing on the giving and receiving of material wealth. At the highest level, amethyst bestows the spiritual understanding required to reach the state of bliss. It is associated with the crown chakra at the top of the head where divine essence enters. It is a good stone to solve discord, suggested for children and warring relatives. In Renaissance magic, an amethyst engraved with the image of a bear was worn as a protective amulet. In Graeco-Roman times, rings of amethyst set in bronze were worn as charms against evil, and magical cups carved from amethyst banished sorrow and evil from all who drank.