Zodiac Signs

Pisces

Symbol ...... Two fish Date of birth ...... February 20 to March 20 Ruling planet ...... Neptune Element ...... Water Lucky days ...... Sunday, Monday, Thursday Lucky number ...... 7 Lucky stones ...... Topaz, Sapphire, and Emerald Lucky colors ...... Dark blue, Grey, White, Violet

Properties of favorable gemstones for Pisces

Emerald

Common name: Panna. Persian: Zamarud. Arabic: Zamarud. Nature: It is among the fine stones and is found in gold mines; it has several varieties. Temperament: Cold in the second degree and dry in the third, and its potency remains for a long period. Color and odor: Lustrous green, clear, transparent, attractive. Taste: Insipid, tasteless, like crystal, etc. Harmful effects: It is harmful to the bladder and to cold temperaments. Corrective: Musk, rose water, kewra distillate, etc. Substitute: Peridot (zabarjad) for neutralizing poisons, and coral for diarrhea. Planetary association: Associated with Jupiter. Specific benefit: It strengthens the spirit, heart, brain, and innate heat. Optimal dose: One dang for neutralizing poisons and one qirat for hemorrhage. Sub-optimal dose: Half a dang for neutralizing poisons and half a qirat for hemorrhage. Actions and properties: It is exhilarating; strengthens innate heat, heart, brain, liver, and stomach; alleviates grief, worry, sadness, depression, palpitations, and epilepsy; benefits pleurisy, pneumonia, hemorrhage, and bloody diarrhea; is useful against fatal poisons, vermin venom, dropsy, jaundice, urinary retention, expulsion of kidney and bladder stones, and leprosy. If someone has ingested poison, and drinks it finely ground to the weight of eight barley grains before the effects manifest, the poison will have no effect. Applied as a collyrium, it strengthens eyesight and removes corneal opacity. Gazing at emerald excessively removes eye fatigue, and wearing it as a ring is beneficial for epilepsy. It is said that snakes turn blind upon seeing it, but this matter is not correct, and whatever fame it has regarding bringing good fortune is also not correct. (Makhzan) There is no gemstone of such a fine green color as emerald. Unlike the aforementioned types of gems whose base was alumina or carbon, this is a different kind of gemstone whose base is silica. The deep green color of this gemstone is very pleasing to the eyes. The presence of emerald ornaments found in the ruins of Old Rome, Egypt, Pompeii (these are ruins of an ancient city located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, destroyed in 79 AD), and Herculaneum indicates that the ancients made use of emerald. Accordingly, Pliny writes in a book that the ancients knew emerald well and valued it. The aforementioned author refers to this gem by the name Smaragdus and records several curious accounts about it. From several other testimonies as well, it is clear that people in ancient times were well-acquainted with emerald. Thus, in 240 AD, a priest of Seville (a major city of Spain situated on the Guadalquivir River) named Isidore states that emerald is the noblest among all green stones; its color is extremely beneficial for the eyes of those engaged in cutting and polishing it. In the eleventh century, Psellus writes regarding emerald that this gemstone is of a fine green color, and several specimens are also golden-blue. If water is mixed with it, it can heal epilepsy and several other illnesses. Pliny writes accounts of several individuals regarding the luster and other properties of emerald. Some researchers describe two varieties of it: one emerald and the other peridot, but in reality, peridot differs from emerald in several respects. For this reason, it is discussed among second-grade gemstones. Physicians of Arabia and Persia describe the following varieties of emerald: (1) Zahabi: Those that have a golden color. Some experts believe that flies cannot enter a place where this variety of emerald is kept. (2) Sa'idi: This comes from Upper Egypt. If one looks at it, a person's reflection is visible and the eyes appear closed. (3) Raihani: Green-colored like the sweet basil flower. (4) Fustuqi: (An Arabic word meaning pistachio; a yellowish-green color resembling a pistachio kernel.) Blackish-green in color; it is also called old emerald. (5) Silqi: (An Arabic word meaning beet; a vegetable resembling a turnip.) Those whose color resembles Persian beet. (6) Zanjari or Zangari: Those whose color is like verdigris. (7) Kurrathi: (A type of plant called leek.) Those whose color is like leek. (8) Sabuni: Those whose color is a mixture of white and green. Among these, the two varieties considered finest are those that are hard, clear, green in color, and flawless. Present-day Indian jewelers describe the following varieties of emerald: 1. Purana 2. Margaja 3. Torika 4. Pyalika 5. Naya 6. Jahazi And they state two types for each: Kahi and Dahani. Kahi refers to those that have a blackish-green color, and Dahani to those that have a yellowish-green color.