Stones and tradition
January garnet, February amethyst, March aquamarine, April diamond, May emerald, June pearl, July ruby, August peridot, September sapphire, October opal, November topaz, December turquoise: that’s the so-called modern list of birthstones by month, one stone per month, as published by the GIA. Each zodiac sign also has its own traditional stones. They’re symbols only: no stone has any effect on health.
Pick your birth month, or enter your full birth date to see your sign’s stones too.
One stone per month, the first on the modern list, plus the other stones the same source gives for some months.
| Month | Stone | Color | Other stones for the month |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Garnet | deep red | — |
| February | Amethyst | violet | — |
| March | Aquamarine | light blue | bloodstone (heliotrope) |
| April | Diamond | colorless | — |
| May | Emerald | green | — |
| June | Pearl | pearly white | moonstone, alexandrite |
| July | Ruby | vivid red | — |
| August | Peridot | olive green | spinel |
| September | Sapphire | deep blue | — |
| October | Opal | milky white with rainbow flashes | tourmaline |
| November | Topaz | golden yellow | citrine |
| December | Turquoise | sky blue to green | tanzanite, zircon |
Source: Gemological Institute of America (GIA), “Birthstones” page, accessed November 8, 2026. Read the GIA page
Each sign has two traditional stones, chosen for their color or their symbolism. These pairings vary from book to book; here are Oracoo’s.
| Sign | Dates | Stones |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | March 21 – April 19 | Diamond, Red Jasper |
| Taurus | April 20 – May 20 | Rose Quartz, Emerald |
| Gemini | May 21 – June 20 | Agate, Citrine |
| Cancer | June 21 – July 22 | Moonstone, Pearl |
| Leo | July 23 – August 22 | Amber, Tiger’s Eye |
| Virgo | August 23 – September 22 | Sapphire, Amazonite |
| Libra | September 23 – October 22 | Opal, Lapis Lazuli |
| Scorpio | October 23 – November 21 | Obsidian, Topaz |
| Sagittarius | November 22 – December 21 | Turquoise, Sodalite |
| Capricorn | December 22 – January 19 | Garnet, Onyx |
| Aquarius | January 20 – February 18 | Amethyst, Labradorite |
| Pisces | February 19 – March 20 | Aquamarine, Fluorite |
The game’s 36 stones, with their color, their mineral family and what tradition credits them with. Stories and symbols, never remedies.
January birthstone
deep red · garnet (silicate group) · Capricorn, Aquarius
Its name comes from the Latin granatum, the pomegranate: its small red crystals recall the seeds of the fruit. Garnet is actually a group of silicates, with colors ranging from dark red to bright green, and it has been cut into beads and seals since antiquity. What tradition credits it with: steadiness, loyalty between friends and a taste for staying true to your course.
February birthstone
violet · quartz · Aquarius, Pisces
It is a purple quartz, colored by traces of iron, which antiquity ranked among the most precious gems. Giant deposits found in Brazil in the 19th century made it far more common. Its color, from pale lilac to deep purple, earns it a reputation for quiet wisdom: tradition credits it with calm, clear thinking and a habit of reflecting before answering.
March birthstone
light blue · beryl · Pisces, Aquarius
Its name means seawater in Latin. It is a beryl, the same mineral as emerald, tinted light blue by a little iron. Sailors of long ago took it along on their voyages, hoping for a gentle sea ahead. Tradition links it to serenity, smooth conversation and a taste for open horizons.
April birthstone
colorless · carbon (pure carbon crystal) · Aries, Libra
Pure carbon, crystallized deep underground under enormous pressure. Its name comes from the Greek adamas, the untamable. It is the hardest natural material, 10 on the Mohs scale. It was first mined in India, then in Brazil and southern Africa. Tradition credits it with clarity, endurance and faithfulness to a promise kept with patience.
May birthstone
green · beryl · Taurus, Gemini
A green beryl, colored by a little chromium or vanadium, whose name comes from the Greek smaragdos. The mines of Egypt, worked since antiquity, and later those of Colombia made its fame. Its tiny inner cracks are prettily called the garden. Tradition lends it renewal, hope and quiet elegance, like the first green of spring on a winter branch.
June birthstone
pearly white · organic material (nacre made by a mollusk) · Cancer
A pearl is not a rock: it is an organic material, made by a mollusk that coats a tiny intruder in nacre, layer after layer. For centuries it took divers and plenty of luck to find one; for over a century, they have also been grown on farms. Tradition credits it with gentleness, patience and a quiet glow.
July birthstone
vivid red · corundum · Leo, Cancer
A red corundum, colored by a touch of chromium. Its name comes from the Latin rubeus, red, and its hardness is 9 on the Mohs scale. The old mines of Myanmar, in the Mogok valley, long yielded the finest ones. Tradition credits it with courage, ardor and a campfire character: a stone that dares to be seen.
August birthstone
olive green · olivine · Leo, Virgo
Peridot is the gem variety of olivine, an iron and magnesium silicate with a very recognizable olive green. It comes from the Earth’s mantle, brought up by volcanoes, and some meteorites contain it too. In ancient Egypt it was mined on an island in the Red Sea and, it is said, called the gem of the sun. Tradition credits it with cheerfulness and optimism.
September birthstone
deep blue · corundum · Virgo, Libra
Sapphire is a corundum, like ruby, colored deep blue by fine traces of iron and titanium. In antiquity its name probably referred mostly to lapis lazuli; it was given later to the blue gem we know today. It long adorned the jewels of royal courts. Tradition credits it with loyalty, wisdom and a clear-eyed view.
October birthstone
milky white with rainbow flashes · hydrated silica (not crystallized) · Libra, Scorpio
Opal is silica that contains a little water. Its shifting flashes come from tiny stacked spheres that play with the light, like a rainbow shut inside. The Romans prized it, and Australia supplies most of it today. Tradition lends it imagination, spontaneity and a taste for change: a stone that is never the same twice.
November birthstone
golden yellow · topaz (aluminum and fluorine silicate) · Scorpio, Sagittarius
Topaz is an aluminum and fluorine silicate with a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale. In antiquity its name probably referred to the peridot mined on the island of Topazios, in the Red Sea. It comes in golden yellow, pink, pale blue or colorless. Tradition credits it with confidence, human warmth and a sunny character.
December birthstone
sky blue to green · hydrated copper and aluminum phosphate · Sagittarius, Capricorn
Its name means Turkish stone: it reached Europe from Persia along the trade routes of Turkey. This hydrated copper and aluminum phosphate is softer than quartz (5 to 6 on the Mohs scale). Ancient Egypt, Persia and the peoples of North America also worked it. Tradition credits it with faithful friendship and a good journey.
Signs: Taurus, Libra
pale pink · quartz
A soft pink quartz whose color comes from very small traces of other elements. It is found mostly in milky masses, rarely in sharp crystals, and it works well as beads and cabochons. Its hardness is 7 on the Mohs scale. Tradition credits it with tenderness between friends, gentleness and kindness toward yourself.
A stone for every sign
clear and transparent · quartz
Perfectly limpid quartz, often sold as clear quartz, which the Greeks called krystallos, ice: it was believed to be water frozen forever. Cut into a sphere, it became the very image of the crystal ball, even though many balls on sale are glass. Tradition credits it with candor, transparency and a use for everyone: it belongs to no particular sign.
Signs: Gemini, Leo
yellow to orange · quartz
Citrine is a pale yellow to orange quartz, colored by iron. Its name comes from the Latin citrus, the lemon. In the trade, many citrines are actually heated amethysts, because natural citrine remains rare. Tradition credits it with good humor, optimism and a sunny side that makes you want to leave the house.
Signs: Leo, Gemini
golden-brown stripes · quartz
Tiger’s eye is a quartz with golden-brown stripes, formed when silica took the place of the fibers of another mineral. Turn it, and a band of light glides across its surface like the gaze of a big cat: this is called chatoyancy. Tradition credits it with a frank gaze and confidence in your choices.
Signs: Sagittarius, Libra
night blue, gold-veined · rock (lazurite, calcite and pyrite)
Lapis lazuli is not a single mineral but a rock made mostly of lazurite, scattered with white calcite and small golden flecks of pyrite. It has been mined for more than six thousand years in the mountains of Afghanistan. Ground up, it gave painters ultramarine, a deep blue. Tradition credits it with wisdom, candor and the art of saying the right things.
Signs: Capricorn, Taurus
deep green, banded · copper carbonate
Malachite is a copper carbonate whose green bands, traced in circles and swirls, resemble the rings of a tree trunk. Its name comes from the Greek malache, the mallow, because of the color of its leaves. The Urals made vases from it, and even palace salons. Tradition credits it with transformation and the daring to turn a page.
Signs: Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius
gray-blue with iridescent flashes · feldspar
Labradorite is a feldspar named after Labrador, in Canada, where it was described in the 18th century. Turned in the light, it lets out flashes of blue, green or gold: this is called labradorescence. A legend from the Labrador coast says that northern lights stayed trapped in the rock. Tradition credits it with fresh ideas, curiosity and a touch of mystery.
Signs: Cancer, Pisces
milky bluish white · feldspar
Moonstone is a feldspar whose inside lets a bluish glow float, called adularescence, like the reflection of the moon on water. An old belief held that its shine followed the phases of the Moon, which would explain its name. Tradition links it to intuition, gentleness and a taste for daydreaming a little before deciding.
Signs: Scorpio, Sagittarius
glossy black · volcanic glass
Obsidian is not a crystal but a volcanic glass, born from lava that cooled so fast nothing had time to crystallize. Broken, it gives sharp edges: blades were made from it as far back as prehistory. Polished, it becomes a dark mirror, where scholars of old looked for visions. Tradition credits it with lucidity and honesty with yourself.
Signs: Aries, Scorpio
brick red · quartz (opaque microcrystalline variety)
Red jasper is a very fine-grained, opaque form of quartz. Its name comes from the Greek iaspis, and its brick color from the iron it contains. It was used to make tools as far back as prehistory, then beads and seals, because it polishes beautifully. Tradition credits it with perseverance, a sense of the concrete and a quiet courage.
Signs: Aries, Virgo
translucent orange-red · quartz (chalcedony)
Carnelian is a chalcedony: a quartz with almost invisible grains, translucent, orange to red because of iron. The Romans engraved it to make seals, since the story goes that wax doesn’t stick to it. Its name recalls the cornel cherry, the small red fruit. Tradition credits it with momentum, creativity and good cheer at the start of a project.
Signs: Virgo, Taurus
soft sparkly green · quartz
Aventurine is a quartz scattered with tiny flecks of mica, which give it a soft sparkle. Its name comes, it is said, from a Murano glass found by chance, per avventura in Italian; the natural stone, which resembles it, later took the name. Tradition credits it with a taste for chance, quiet daring and curiosity about the unexpected.
Signs: Gemini, Virgo
gray, brown or bluish bands · quartz (banded chalcedony)
Agate is a chalcedony, a very fine-grained quartz, laid down in concentric bands in the cavities of volcanic rocks. Its name is said to come from a river in Sicily, the Achates. The German town of Idar-Oberstein has made cutting it a specialty for centuries. Tradition credits it with balance, patience and a sense of order in your ideas.
Signs: Leo, Capricorn
black with white bands · quartz (banded chalcedony)
Onyx is a chalcedony with parallel black and white bands, the straight-lined cousin of agate with its curved stripes. Roman engravers liked its contrasting layers for carving cameos, the white standing out against the dark. The plain black sold in shops is often dyed agate. Tradition credits it with determination, calm in action and the art of holding steady when everything stirs.
Signs: Aries, Aquarius
metallic gray · iron oxide
Hematite is an iron oxide, steel gray and shiny as a metal mirror. Scratched, though, it leaves a red powder: it is what colors red ochre, a pigment used since prehistory, notably for cave paintings. Polished, it was also used to make mirrors. Tradition credits it with concentration, grounding and a taste for solid things.
Signs: Sagittarius, Virgo
royal blue veined with white · feldspathoid
Sodalite is a silicate containing a lot of sodium, hence its name, in a royal blue veined with white. It is often mistaken for lapis lazuli, but it lacks the golden flecks. It was first described in Greenland, at the start of the 19th century. Tradition credits it with logic, clear speech and well-ordered thinking.
Signs: Virgo, Aquarius
turquoise green · feldspar (microcline variety)
Amazonite is a green variety of microcline, a feldspar, whose color comes from small amounts of lead and water. Its name recalls the Amazon, but no deposit is known in that river’s basin: the label is misleading. Tradition credits it with the art of talking without quarreling and with words that soothe.
Signs: Pisces, Aquarius
violet, green or blue, often striped · calcium fluoride
Fluorite is a calcium fluoride, soft (4 on the Mohs scale) but with a wild palette: violet, green, blue, yellow, sometimes in bands. Its name comes from the Latin fluere, to flow, because it was added to molten metals to make them more fluid. The word fluorescence was born from this stone. Tradition credits it with a clear mind and concentration.
Signs: Capricorn, Scorpio
deep black · tourmaline (schorl, boron silicate)
Black tourmaline, or schorl, is a complex silicate containing boron, with a hardness of 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale. Heated, it attracts dust and ashes: Dutch merchants called it the ash puller for that reason. Tradition credits it with grounding, gentle discipline and the pleasure of a well-kept routine.
Signs: Gemini
white veined with gray · calcium borosilicate
Howlite is a calcium borosilicate, soft (3.5 on the Mohs scale), white veined with gray. It carries the name of a Canadian geologist, Henry How, who described it in Nova Scotia in 1868. Porous, it takes dye very well, which lets it pass for turquoise. Tradition credits it with patience, calm and measured dialogue.
Signs: Taurus, Leo
pink to raspberry red · manganese carbonate
Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate, and its Greek name means rose-colored. The pink-striped stalactites of an Argentine mine, the Capillitas, earned it the nickname Inca rose, and it is the national stone of the country, a source of local pride. Tradition credits it with generosity, joy of living and an openness to other people.
Signs: Sagittarius, Aquarius
deep blue · copper carbonate
Azurite is a deep blue copper carbonate, often mixed with green malachite. Its name comes from the Persian lajvard, blue, like azure and lapis lazuli. Ground up, it long supplied European painters with a blue, before synthetic blues arrived. Tradition credits it with intuition, imagination and a taste for questions that make you dream.
Signs: Libra, Virgo
soft green to deep green · jadeite or nephrite (two different minerals)
The word jade covers two distinct minerals: jadeite, a pyroxene, and nephrite, an amphibole. Chinese artisans have carved them for thousands of years, and other peoples, such as the Maya, worked them too. Very tough, jade withstands knocks better than harder stones, which made it a symbol of endurance. Tradition associates it with elegance, harmony and serenity.
Signs: Leo, Aries
honey yellow to orange · fossil resin (organic material)
Amber is not a stone but a fossilized tree resin, tens of millions of years old: an organic material. Warm to the touch, it floats in very salty water. Rubbed, it attracts little scraps of paper; its Greek name, elektron, gave us the word electricity. Sometimes an insect is still trapped inside. Tradition lends it warmth and the sweetness of living.
Pairing a stone with each month is an old tradition, and it has varied a lot across countries and eras. The most widely used list today is called the modern list: it’s the one published by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), a US gemology institute. Oracoo keeps the first stone for each month and lists the others in the table.
Some months have several stones: June, for example, brings together pearl, moonstone and alexandrite.
Your birthstone depends on the month; your sign’s stones depend on the zodiac dates, which straddle two months. For a birthday on October 25, the month’s stone is opal, and Scorpio’s stones are obsidian and topaz. The two go well together: keep the one whose color or story speaks to you.
Your sign’s stones also appear on your daily horoscope.
Each stone carries symbols: tradition credits garnet with steadiness, amethyst with calm and aquamarine with serenity. These are stories and associations, handed down through legends, jewelers and folk traditions.
They say nothing about health: no stone has any medical effect, and no stone keeps anything bad away. On Oracoo, a stone is a game symbol to collect in your grimoire, and nothing more.
Every morning, your daily oracle draws one of the 36 stones, along with what tradition credits it with. For a little fun for two, the zodiac compatibility calculator gives you your duo’s stone. As for your crew, read the cards for them: that’s where the gift is put to the test.
The heart of the game
A stone is for keeping, a prediction is for playing. Read three cards for someone in your crew: the stone of the day will be waiting in your oracle afterward.
Garnet, on the GIA’s modern list. It’s best known in deep red, but the garnet family includes green stones too.
The list has grown over time: the GIA, for example, gives three stones for June and three for December.
No. Tradition credits them with symbols, loyalty, calm, courage, but no stone has any effect on health or destiny. It’s a lovely story to tell, not a remedy.
The table by sign gives two traditional stones for each of the 12 signs. Enter your full birth date in the tool, and it finds them for you.
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