OCTOBER

Hello my lovelies! How are you? We are once again one month closer to year's end. I must admit that these lovely autumn days are one of my favourites - it's not too hot anymore and the colours are absolutely amazing. For me it's also the month when my university clases start again.

October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the sixth month to have the length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name (from the Latin �cto meaning "eight") after January and February were inserted into the calendar. October is the seasonal equvalent of April in the Southern hemisphere.

October's birthstones are the tourmaline and opal. Its birth flower is the calendula.

Tourmaline is a crystalline boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is classified as a semi-precious stone and the gemstone comes in a wide variety of colors.

Brightly colored Sri Lankan gem tourmalines were brought to Europe in great quantities by the Dutch East India Company to satisfy a demand for curiosities and gems. At the time it was not realised that schorl and tourmaline were the same mineral (it was only about 1703 that it was discovered that some colored gems weren't zircons). Tourmaline was sometimes called the "Ceylonese [Sri Lankan] Magnet" because it could attract and then repel hot ashes due to its pyroelectric properties.

Tourmalines were used by chemists in the 19th century to polarize light by shining rays onto a cut and polished surface of the gem.

Commonly encountered species and varieties:

• Schorl species: Brownish black to black
• Dravite species: (from the Drave district of Carinthia) Dark yellow to brownish black
• Elbaite species: named after the island of Elba, Italy
• Red or pinkish-red�rubellite variety
• Light blue to bluish green�Brazilian indicolite variety (from indigo)
• Green�verdelite or Brazilian emerald variety
• Colorless�achroite variety (from the Greek "????�??" meaning "colorless")

Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2�nH2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia.

The internal structure of precious opal makes it diffract light. Depending on the conditions in which it formed, it can take on many colors. Precious opal ranges from clear through white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown, and black. Of these hues, the black opals are the rarest, whereas white and greens are the most common. Opals vary in optical density from opaque to semitransparent.

Calendula is a genus of about 15�20 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the daisy family Asteraceae that are often known as marigolds. They are native to southwestern Asia, western Europe, Macaronesia, and the Mediterranean. Other plants are also known as marigolds, such as corn marigold, desert marigold, marsh marigold, and plants of the genus Tagetes. The genus name Calendula is a modern Latin diminutive of calendae, meaning "little calendar", "little clock" or possibly "little weather-glass". The common name "marigold" refers to the Virgin Mary. The most commonly cultivated and used member of the genus is the pot marigold (Calendula officinalis). Popular herbal and cosmetic products named 'calendula' invariably derive from C. officinalis.

Calendula species have been used traditionally as culinary and medicinal herbs. The petals are edible and can be used fresh in salads or dried and used to color cheese or as a replacement for saffron. A yellow dye has been extracted from the flowers.

Romans and Greeks used the golden calendula in many rituals and ceremonies, sometimes wearing crowns or garlands made from the flowers. One of its nicknames is "Mary's Gold," referring to the flowers' use in early Catholic events in some countries. Calendula flowers are sacred flowers in India and have been used to decorate the statues of Hindu deities since early times.

Calendula ointments are skin products used to treat minor cuts, burns, and skin irritation.

On Stardoll

There are three opal themed items os Stardoll; two of them can be found in Epiphany on page 3 and the third one can be found in Golden Sands on page 7.

Thank you lolitka1444 for finding these three items.

There are also tourmaline earrings available in Splendid on page 4 (there are few more items on this page that could be "made" out of tourmaline, but only these earrings are "officially" made out of it).

If you know of any other items that are/were available on Stardoll and are inspired by this month's birthstones (opal, tourmaline) or birth flower (calendula), please let us know in the comments below.

October birthdays:

  

October 1st: gold3silver
October 2nd: irene-super3
October 5th: B.E.A.T.K.A
October 15th: Louisa.Karemina
October 18th: 19rhy99 and Dollwars34
October 20th: Aonuk

If there's anyone else that celebrates their birthday in October, please leave a comment with your username and birth date.

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