Around 1250 to 1300, Greeks named the purple quartz amethyst meaning “not intoxicated or intoxicating,” based on the gem’s seeming ability to prevent drunkenness. The name amethyst, is tied to Dionysius, the Greek god of intoxication, who was known as Bacchus to the Romans. As the story goes, Dionysius felt insulted by something a human said. He was a vengeful Greek god who decided to take his anger out on the next human who came near. A woman named Amethyst was the unfortunate human to suffer Dionysius’ wrath. The Greek god sent tigers to kill her. Amethyst was actually on her way to worship the goddess Diana, who turned Amethyst into a quartz statue so the tigers could not hurt her. Dionysius felt so bad about what he had done that he cried, raining wine down on the quartz statue. In the Roman version of this myth, Bacchus poured the juice from his grapes over the statue. The wine is what was believed to impart the rich, purple amethyst color. True to amethyst meaning, this semi-precious gem promotes mental clarity and helps curb addictive behavior.
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