Beryl is one of the most important gem minerals, although unknown even to the gemstone-buying public. Beryl is colorless in pure form and has many different impurities present during crystal growth that give splendid color varieties:  Emerald is the green variety and Aquamarine is the blue-green variety; Heliodor is the greenish-yellow variety, also known as Golden Beryl; Morganite is the pink variety; Goshenite is the colorless variety; Bixbite is the red variety.

Name:  Beryllus is the Latin word for magnifying glass, from this the German word for Brille, which means a pair of glasses.  In sixteenth century England, windowpanes were referred to as berills and mirrors were called berral-glas.

History, Myth, Legend & Lore:

Damigeron, 2nd Century B.C. - Beryl was first recorded in De Virtutibus Lapidum. This stone was used for damage to the eyes and for all sickness, when put in water and given as a drink. He also states the stone takes away pain in the liver and in breathing.

Pliny the Elder's natural history - listed the stone to cure eye diseases and for minor ailments.  The eye was to be washed with water immersed with beryl and prescribed placing the powdered beryl in the eye each morning.

Roman legend - Beryl absorbs the atmosphere of young love.  "When blessed and worn, it joins in love and does great things".  The gem was considered appropriate "morning gift" presented the groom as a token of his love following the consummation of marriage.

Middle Ages - claimed that beryl was the most popular and effective "oracle crystals".  Many methods in using the stone as a divining tool were described in ancient literature.  One method used was suspending the stone a thread over a bowl of water, just touching the surface.  The inner edge of the bowl was lettered with characters of the alphabet.  The diviner holds the top thread and allow the stone to strike certain letters, which would spell the answer to the question.  Another method was to cast a crystal into a bowl of pure water; the disturbances in the water surface would reveal messages to a seer.

Sir Reginald Scott, sixteenth century scholar - describes a ceremony in his Discoverie of Witchcraft; to give beryl potency as an oracle stone, it was recommended that the stone be charge or consecrated - the ceremony performed at sunrise on a clear weather.  He adds testaments of appearance of visions and the gem provides insight into the rites of ceremonial magic.

Christian tradition, tenth century - Bishop of Caesarea associate the Foundation Stones of Revelation twenty-one with the apostles.

Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) - associated Beryl with death and the dead for centuries.  He writes Beryl potent against demons and evil spirits but the power lost if the stone touches a corpse.  To be effective in calling the spirits of the dead, the stone must be engraved with an eagle or the plant artemisia dracunculus.