Gemstones: Rules Before You Wear One

A gemstone is the most popular remedy in Vedic astrology, and probably the most misused. Arun Kumar Bansal's Encyclopedia of Astrological Remedies calls a gem "nothing but a medicine in disguise." Like any medicine, the right one helps, and the wrong one can do harm.

Here are the rules the texts and the practitioners agree on, before any stone goes on your finger.

The nine gems

The Jataka Parijata gives the classical list in one verse, the navaratna:

• Sun: manikya, ruby
• Moon: a vimala, "spotless", pearl
• Mars: vidruma, coral
• Mercury: marakata, emerald
• Jupiter: pushparaga, yellow sapphire (or topaz)
• Venus: vajra, diamond
• Saturn: a nirmala, "flawless", blue sapphire
• Rahu and Ketu: gomeda and vaidurya, hessonite and cat's eye

Notice the adjectives. The pearl must be spotless and the sapphire flawless. Quality was part of the prescription from the start (how the ancients tested a gem).

Rule 1: Strengthen only your friends

A gem doesn't make a planet nice. It makes it stronger. Bansal is direct about it. When a planet "functions as a malefic in the horoscope", its stone should not be worn, "because it will further strengthen the planet and will add more power to do more evils."

P.V.R. Narasimha Rao, in Vedic Astrology: An Integrated Approach, agrees. Wearing a gemstone "works only for planets that are favorable in one's horoscope," and "gemstones of functional malefics in a chart should be avoided as far as possible." He adds one more warning: avoid the gems of the marakas, the planets of the 2nd and 7th houses, "when one is running maraka dasas."

So the question is never "Is my Saturn weak?" It's "Is Saturn good for my ascendant?" That depends on which houses it rules (functional benefics and malefics).

Rule 2: Start with the trines

The safest stones belong to the lords of the trines, the 1st, 5th and 9th houses. Bansal's ascendant-by-ascendant table is built broadly around them. It gives each ascendant a life stone (the ascendant lord's gem), an effective stone and a lucky stone, and it marks the gems to avoid.

For an Aries ascendant, for example, it gives:

• Life stone: coral (Mars, the ascendant lord)
• Effective: ruby (the Sun, lord of the 5th)
• Lucky: yellow sapphire (Jupiter, lord of the 9th)
• Avoid: emerald and diamond

Rule 3: Weak but good? Then yes

Strength comes second. Narasimha Rao: "If a functional benefic is badly placed or weak, its gemstone can still be used." His example is a Capricorn ascendant, where Venus is the yogakaraka but sits in the 8th house. There, a diamond "makes Venus powerful enough to give good results."

He also suggests timing it. Choose a favourable planet "if a planet's dasa is running or if a planet is taking part in a favorable yoga," because a gem "speeds up the fructification of the good results promised in a chart." For a specific area of life, look to the matching divisional chart. For career, that's the gem of a yogakaraka in the D10 (the career chart).

Rule 4: Wear it properly

• The first day. "The ring must be worn for the first time on the weekday of the planet," with the planet strong at the time (Narasimha Rao).
• Against the skin. Bansal's first precaution: the stone "should touch your skin."
• Cleansed. Wash it in raw milk and clean water, pass it through incense, and recite the planet's mantra 108 times before wearing it (Bansal).
• The finger. Narasimha Rao gives the traditional scheme: the index finger for Jupiter, the middle for Saturn, the ring finger for the Sun and the little finger for Mercury. Mercury's and Venus's gems go on the little finger.
• The metal. Authors differ here. Narasimha Rao sets a pearl in gold and Bansal in silver, so follow one tradition consistently.

Rule 5: Some gems clash

Two stones can go together, Narasimha Rao says, "if the corresponding planets are friends and functional benefics", especially when they form a yoga. For a Virgo ascendant with Mercury and Venus joined, emerald and diamond together. For an Aries ascendant with the Sun and Moon joined, ruby and pearl.

Some pairs don't mix. Bansal: "Ruby, Pearl, Coral and Yellow Sapphire should not be worn with Blue Sapphire and Hessonite. Diamond, Emerald and Cat's Eye can be worn with any stone."

Rule 6: A gem has a season

Bansal holds that gems give their benefit for about three years, after which the stone should be changed or rested. It should also come off "if the desired result has been attained or dasha has changed." The diamond is his exception.

He even reads the stone's fate as an omen. A lost or stolen stone means the planet's harm has gone. A crack means the planet is very powerful and needs further remedies. A fading colour means the planet has been appeased.

A worked example

Our sample chart (14 March 1992, Delhi) has a Pisces ascendant. Bansal's table for Pisces reads:

• Life stone: yellow sapphire (Jupiter, ruler of the 1st and 10th)
• Lucky: coral (Mars, ruler of the 9th)
• Auspicious: pearl (the Moon, ruler of the 5th)
• Avoid: ruby, emerald, diamond and blue sapphire

Here's the interesting part. Jupiter is the weakest planet in this chart by shadbala (six strengths), sitting in the 6th house. It's exactly Narasimha Rao's case of a good planet that's weak, so the yellow sapphire is the classic choice.

And here's the trap. The native is running Mercury's mahadasha, 2020 to 2037. It's tempting to wear an emerald "to help the dasha". But for Pisces, Mercury rules two angles, the 4th and 7th, is a maraka and is also the badhaka lord (badhaka). The rules say no emerald. Support the period through the trine lords instead.

The takeaway

A gem strengthens its planet, good or bad, so wear only the gems of planets that serve your ascendant, starting with the trine lords. A weak friend deserves a stone, a strong enemy never does. Buy quality, wear it on the planet's day against the skin, avoid clashing pairs, and review it as the dashas change. A stone chosen from a sun-sign list can backfire.

Calculate your chart free to find your ascendant, the starting point for every gemstone decision.