"The world's favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May."
- Edwin Way
Teale
A little birthstone history, fact, lore and legend.
I love May…the Lily of the Valley blooms and the Nightingale
sings!
Lily of the Valley is May's birth flower and the Nightingale is it's bird.
One legend tells that the first Lily of the Valley loved the
Nightingale, but because she was so shy, she hid in the long grass to listen to
his song. The Nightingale became lonely, and said he would no longer sing
unless the Lily of the Valley bloomed every May for all too see.
The traditional and modern birthstone for May is the
emerald. As a symbol of rebirth,
the emerald is believed to grant the owner foresight, good fortune, patience,
understanding and youth.
Emerald, derived from the word smaragdus, meaning green in Greek, was mined in Egypt as early as 330 B.C. Today, most of the world’s emeralds are mined in Colombia, Brazil, Afghanistan, and Zambia.
One of
Cleopatra's favorite gems, the emerald has long been associated with fertility, rebirth,
and love.
Ancient Romans
went so far as to dedicate this stone to Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.
May’s mystical birthstone is the sapphire…..but I will save
that for September!
Happy Birthday May, Happy Spring! Pick a few Lily of the
Valley and listen to the Nightingale sing.
Dear Renee,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this. My birthday happens to be in May, and nice to read about these soothing lovely legend! Life is so wonderful to value things around us.
Hugs and Thanks,
Wellajoy!