Tourmaline - The Rainbow Gemstone

This is part 2 of a continuing series of posts about gemstones and their legends and properties...

Tourmalines are precious stones that come in a huge array of colors. An ancient Egyptian legend says that the colors are a result of the fact that tourmaline had to travel a long way from the center of the earth up to the sun. It supposedly travelled along a rainbow, and collected all of the colors along the way. The word tourmaline is derived from the Singhalese expression "tura mali" which means stone of mixed colors.

Tourmalines come in many colors- red and green, blue, yellow and black. Sometimes you may see more than one color in one stone. Some tourmalines change their colors depending whether they are in sublight or artificial light.

Tourmalines are supposed to have a influence on love and friendship, and are said to help make them long lasting and stable.

The Dutch first discovered that if you eat or put pressure on tourmaline, it will create an electrical charge and become a magnet. This property makes it popular among scientists to this day, who use this property in computers, musical keyboards and cell phones.

Check out the tourmaline items in my Ebay store!