Jasper

Jasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded jasper. Jaspilite is a banded iron formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper. Jasper is basically chert which owes its red color to iron(III) inclusions. The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2.5 to 2.9. The jasper is, along with Heliotrope (bloodstone), one of the traditional birthstones for March.

The name means "spotted or speckled stone", and is derived via Old French jaspre (variant of Anglo-Norman jaspe) and Latin iaspidem (nom. iaspis)) from Greek ἴασπις iaspis, (feminine noun) from a Semitic language (cf. Hebrew יושפה yushphah, Akkadian yashupu). Green jasper was used to make bow drills in Mehrgarh between 4th and 5th millennium BC. Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and Latin. On Minoan Crete, jasper was carved to produce seals circa 1800 BC, as evidenced by archaeological recoveries at the palace of Knossos. Although the term jasper is now restricted to opaque quartz, the ancient iaspis was a stone of considerable translucency. The jasper of antiquity was in many cases distinctly green, for it is often compared with the emerald and other green objects. Jasper is referred to in the Niebelungenlied as being clear and green. Probably the jasper of the ancients included stones which would now be classed as chalcedony, and the emerald-like jasper may have been akin to the modern chrysoprase. The Hebrew word yushphah may have designated a green jasper. Flinders Petrie suggested that the odem, the first stone on the High Priest's breastplate, was a red jasper, whilst tarshish, the tenth stone, may have been a yellow jasper.

Primbon : Jasper dapat mengusir arwah jahat dan melindungi terhadap ular maupun gigitan laba-laba. Bagi kesehatan, Jasper membantu proses penyembuhan dari lambung, menyeimbangkan kerja kelenjar endocrine. Di abad ke 4, Jasper dikenal sebagai pembawa hujan yang hebat. Jenis-jenis Jasper dan bantuan yang dapat diberikan : Jasper kulit Leopard dikatakan dapat memberikan orang apa yang mereka butuhkan. Poppy Jasper membantu memberi kebahagiaan didalam hidup. Opalite Jasper dapat membantu untuk tidur nyenyak. Jasper Coklat membantu fungsi hormonal wanita dan mengatasi rasa tidak aman. Jasper Hijau membantu fungsi usus kecil, mencegah sembelit, mengurangi kejang pada usus serta memerangi luka di lambung, selain itu juga mengurangi Stress/rasa tertekan yang parah maupun meningkatkan perilaku mental secara positif. Jasper Merah menyeimbangkan kerja lambung dan pancreas, meningkatkan energi serta memberikan perlindungan terhadap tekanan dari pihak luar.