Bloodstone

As its name may suggest, Bloodstone is a powerful healing stone with the splashes of red said to represent life itself, like vital blood. It promotes courage, inspiring bravery and heroic actions all the while encouraging selflessness. It also has strong protective properties, protecting against negative energy from both the environment and individuals and helps in warding off the evil eye. 

Bloodstone is a great stone to use to help acquaint yourself with your intuition and the inner wisdom of your soul. Inspiring you to connect with your life's purpose, it helps pave the path to transformation and assists you in adapting to change. It has a grounding energy that helps anchor you to the Earth and encourages you to open your self up to the messages from the universe. Charged with lifeforce, it enhances your creativity and imagination and gives you the stamina to chase your dreams.   

Bloodstone is a bit of an all rounder stone, in a magical sense. It is a great staple crystal companion to keep with you because it has so many fantastic properties. 

History

Legend states that Bloodstone was created from the blood of Jesus Christ when he was crucified at the cross. His blood stained the stones below him and as a result it created Bloodstone. His blood is believed to be what made the magical properties of the stone. Throughout history, it was used by many ancient cultures including the Babylonians, who carved amulets out of it and used it in divination. The ancient Egyptians believed it to help defeat their enemies. Other cultures believed it could help change the weather.

Geology

Bloodstone is a type of cryptocrystalline quartz, a dark green variety of Chalcedony that features bright red splattered inclusions. Minerals such as Chlorite, Amphibole and Pyroxene give Bloodstone its dark green appearance and the red blood like inclusions are the result of iron oxide. It has a hardness of 7 on Mohs scale and can be located around the world including Australia, Brazil, China and Madagascar but most of the Bloodstone that you see today comes out of India. It used to be named 'Heliotrope'.