Agate - Achat

Gives protection, inner power and grounding. This essence gives a deep feeling of security.

*Agate is already described as a mystical stone in the Old Testament, where it symbolizes one of the twelve tribes of Israel in the breastplate (hoshen) of the Jewish high priest.

The use of agate as a healing stone is documented by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), among others, in her Book of Stones. According to her, the stone, applied externally after contact with the venom of spiders and snakes, was supposed to heal the painful area and remove and draw out the venom. People suffering from falling sickness and moon addicts were supposed to wear an agate on their skin at all times in order to be spared outbreaks of illness. Special dietary rules using agate to prepare cooking water should even be able to cure these diseases ("unless God wills it not"). Carried openly around the house in the shape of a cross, agate is said to protect it against thieves.

Among esotericists today, agates and their sub-varieties are also used as healing stones for various ailments, such as eye agate and onyx for eye inflammation, carnelian for sore throats, varicose veins, sciatica and testicular diseases, as well as agate itself for water blisters on the feet.

As a zodiac stone, yellow agate is assigned to the zodiac sign of Pisces, according to other sources agate is generally assigned to the zodiac sign of Virgo, Gemini or Scorpio.