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10.3.2026 6:33 AM

A Compendium of Gemstones by James Callan

A Compendium of Gemstones

Amber is the crystallized sun, with conifer tears imprisoning ancient vampires.
Bloodstone is the heart of Christ, beating for eons on the pulse of our prayers.
Coral is the exoskeleton of colonial polyps, protecting children from Yōkai.
Diamonds are the purest form of carbon, a Hindu talisman, and a girl’s best friend.
Emerald is the sacred stone of Venus, the centerpiece jewel of Satan’s crown.
Fuschite is apple green, breaking Eve’s teeth when the serpent said it was ripe.
Garnet comes in many colors, like variable team jerseys worn by Kevin Garnett.
Heliodor is a gift from the sun, the piss of horses pulling chariots across the sky.
Ivory is the horn of Agni’s steed, the tusks of Ganesh, the remover of obstacles.
Jet is worn in mourning, warding off witches, black as the void in Charon’s stare.
Kyanite is a corpse hidden in the center of a snowbank in the parking lot at Lowe’s.
Lapis Lazuli is an ex-lover’s heart, plunged to sink to the bottom of Lake Baikal.
Moonstone is rainbows soaked in milk, a catalyst that turns men into wolves.
Nephrite was used in ancient China for burial rituals; in Wyoming to wrangle elk.
Onyx is used to make rosary beads and the pommels of Polish-Lithuanian sabers.
Pearl is Neptune’s necklace of foam, which Cleopatra swilled in a cup of vinegar.
Quartz is a mystic crystal ball: the future, past, and present all for a reasonable price.
Ruby is a ripe grapefruit, perfect for throwing at cars and Dorothy’s Gale’s slippers.
Sapphires are the shrunken heads of emperors, the eyes of the Greenland shark.
Tanzanite is the glint in the lion’s eye under the waxing gibbous in the Serengeti.
Unakite comes from North Carolina, where folkloric aberrations define the land.
Vesuvianite is the olive on the olive branch offered to Vulcan to sate his molten ire.
Wulfenite is a sunset on Mars, the oxidized tomb of Ares beneath Olympus Mons.
Xenophyllite comes from fragments of a fallen star, smithed into legendary swords.
Yowah nuts are the ejected young of the platypus, the anomalous mammalian egg.
Zircon comes in any color, like robes, and is a name suitable for a powerful wizard.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

James Callan lives and writes in Aotearoa (New Zealand). His fiction has appeared in Apocalypse Confidential, Burial Magazine, X-R-A-Y, Reckon Review, Mystery Tribune, and elsewhere. His collection, Those Who Remain Quiet, is available from Anxiety Press.