As a person born in the dwindling days of summer, my outlook, at times, can seem metaphorically tropical.  Often it can feel as though this is my birthright, to love the slow, hazy days of  sunshine, the days lapping by the streams idling carelessly, the long walks waxing poetic, the nights with the air thick like Molasses sipping Sangria and gazing hopelessly into a lovers eyes.  During the bleaker, harsher months of winter, I can often find my mind wandering to the Brazilian beaches of Ipanema or the dense jungle overhang of a Costa Rican rainforest, the Rock of Gibraltar where Spain meets Morocco or the delicate string of islands in French Polynesia.

Peridot has the ability for me to capture this sentimentality, this mind wandering that I love to languish in. The coloring can remind one of a jaguars’ eyes in the grass gazing with piercing intent at their prey or palm fronds rustling in the breeze on the islands of the Caribbean.  Peridot has the whiff of something magical and intoxicating about it, something carnal and powerful, something fundamental and base, and yet complex.

Peridot is the reigning birthstone of the month of August for those born under the powerful, leadership sign of Leo (c’est moi) or the exacting, industrious, grounded sign of the Virgin.  It is said to bring the wearer power and influence, to bring good fortune and great wealth.  It is very uncommon and outstanding in the respect that it is a gem that is formed deep within the Earth and brought to full being with the aid of volcanoes.  On the islands of Hawaii, peridot represents the Tears of Pele, who is the goddess of volcanoes and fire.  It is no wonder that this birthstone coincides with the month of August then as Leo is both a fire sign and a sign of royalty.

“For one swallow does not make a summer, nor does one day; and so too one day, or a short time, does not make a man blessed and happy.”
–Aristotle 

Attribution to Diamonds in the Library, American Gem Society, Christie’s