Ruby Crystal Meaning: Healing Properties, Uses, & Benefits

The Ruby gemstone is one of the four main precious gemstones. It is a red stone that rates 9 on the Mohs hardness scale. The Ruby crystal is a variety of corundum (aluminium oxide) and this is what gives the stone its red coloring. It is part of the hexagonal crystal system and is an expensive precious stone with a higher price for the quality of cut and carat. The Ruby is a popular gift for the 40th wedding anniversaries. The meaning of Ruby is protection and fortune. It is a root chakra and lower chakra stone.

The Gemstone of Protection 

Has there ever been a stone so connected to the lore of power, love, and opulence? There is something about Ruby that seems to smite the soul. Perhaps it’s the glowing hue of the blood-red color, or maybe it's the way it arouses our chi or the fact that we have seen this red stone adorning those who occupy seats of nobility. 

Of all the precious stones, Ruby has rare energy. In history it has been known to symbolize the sun, it has been called the inextinguishable flame, and Kublai Khan was said to have offered up an entire city in exchange for a ruby. A Burmese legend also believed that putting this stone beneath the skin could make you immortal. There’s no doubt, this stone has power. 

Ruby takes its name from the Latin word for ‘Ruber’ which means red. No doubt a nod to the deep coloring of this rich gem. Ruby is one of the four ‘precious gemstones’ taking its place alongside diamond, sapphire, and emerald too. It is mined in India, Afghanistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Madagascar - along with other places across the world. 

Natural Rubies will be imperfect and will have inclusions beneath the surface. These rutile needles lend a silken look to the interior of the stone and help us to separate true Rubies from the synthetic kind. Just like other red crystals, the Ruby blooms with energy, life, and love. It’s a heady aphrodisiac stone but also a gem that helps you to stay rooted and ready.

Ruby benefits 

Ruby is bright with benefits and is a protective and intense stone. For those who want to turn up the volume on their life force, Ruby is all about raising the stakes and boosting energy levels. For the wearer who chooses the deepened hues of the Ruby, any sluggish or despondent feelings can burn up like wood in the fire. The Ruby is a rare creature. It’s got strong aphrodisiac qualities that go beyond simple ideas of touch and desire. It’s a heady concoction of color, strength, confidence, and vitality. For those wanting a powerful gemstone that lights up their world, the Ruby is your rarity.

Physical 

Ruby is a stone of good fortune and this means fortune of the body, mind, and soul. When it comes to physical healing, this gem can strengthen the heart, muscles, and ventricles. As the vibrant deep red hues suggest, it’s a bloodstone which means it can encourage everything from circulation to menstrual pain. It can also help with issues around sexuality, fertility, and everything to do with reproductive issues. Ruby can also help the body detox, along with helping treat the kidneys, lymph, and adrenal glands. 

Emotional healing

Ruby may ooze opulence but beneath all the glitz and glamor, it is firmly connected to themes of love. The Ruby is a gem that encourages us to overcome old wounds and scuffs and grazes of the heart. It’s a perfect gem for those who are of a sensitive nature as it helps sustain, protect, and balance sensitivities. Ruby wants us to feel love in every way possible which means it will do all that it can to stir us up with a dash of confidence. For those who are quick to critique their own nature or who hold a distorted truth about their place in the world, Ruby swoops in with its fierce protective powers and radiant bright energy and releases us from these destructive thought patterns. 

The Ruby gemstone also helps you to rebuild trust, particularly when it comes to love and loss. If an old wound or story from the past seems to be holding you back when it comes to learning to love again, let the Ruby gem be your guide. This stone has huge healing vibrations and can dislodge symbolic lumps in the throat, the heart, and any space that may be interrupting your flow. It’s also a gem that is linked to luck and good fortune (there’s a reason why the Ruby is so closely associated with wealth and status. For those who want to grow their empire, Ruby can help you to play your cards right. It’s a leadership stone meaning that it could just encourage you out of your safety zone and into a place of seeking more. Yet, the Ruby stone isn’t about risky business so for those who are making financial decisions, this gem can guide your hand without putting your finances on the line.

Metaphysical 

Spiritually, Ruby is a shot of burning bright light in the darkness. For those who feel like the world has turned cold and they can’t engage, this gem will fire up your chi and get your inner engine going again. Ruby is an awesome stone for the root chakra - it gets you grounded, safe, and stable so that you don’t feel shaken by the winds of change. It helps our sacral and solar plexus chakras too. These lower chakras aren't just about stability and safety. They are also where our passion and creativity sit. By engaging a flow of energy that links the root to the creative center, you can walk through this world feeling more connected to your authentic self.

Ruby also helps the heart. It’s often used as a symbol for those who have been married 40 years, this means it goes beyond the confines of romantic love and dives deeper into issues of compassion, protection, and perseverance. With its velvet red fire and its chi rousing powers, Ruby is a stone that very much encourages you to light up your inner light in every which way possible. More love, more confidence, more power, and more pleasure.

Zodiac properties 

Check out our Capricorn Zodiac Pack

The Ruby gemstone speaks to those born under the banner of a thousand different stars, but it has a special connection with those who share the Zodiac sign of Capricorn. As a July birthstone, this gem is summer incarnate. Its coloring comes with suggestions of the sun burning in the midnight sky and it brings with it the elements of endless light, passion, power, and rising heat. 

Capricorns are ruled by Saturn and so is the Ruby stone. They both share powerful energies and the deep belief that grounding down into one’s core will only brighten their life. They also share the traits of persistence and power. In the interest of balance, the Ruby doesn’t stop there - yes, it’s a stone for protection but it’s also about peace, balance, love, and beauty. All elements that can help Capricorns to thrive in this world. 

Ruby is also a good gemstone for those born under the sign of Cancer. Cancerians can be modest folk and tend not to put themselves out there too much (which can hold them back). The rare confidence-boosting powers of the Ruby can help to up their sense of self-worth and put determination and self-belief back into every step they take.

How to use 

Turn up the heat in your home and your soul by welcoming the sparkle and splendor of red hot Ruby into your world. This glowing gem is a jewel of joy, passion, pizazz, and living a brighter, more luminous and awakened life. It’s perfect for those who want to unshackle themselves and learn to love deeper, without compromising on their feelings of safety. From timeless Ruby jewelry to talismans and feng shui, here are the many ways to work with Ruby and to make the most of its red hot heart. 

Jewelry

A symbol of nobility, the Ruby stone is celebrated as being a precious and flawless vision of perfection. Whether adorning the fingers of queens or emperors, there’s a reason that those in strong leadership roles love to wear this stone. One of the best ways to make the most of your Ruby is to wear it against the skin. When precious gems and crystals are pressed against the skin, they have direct contact with our own energy source and can get deeper into instant healing. If you want to cleanse chakras, balance energies, and work with crystals in both subconscious and intentional ways, jewelry is just the way to go. You can wear a Ruby necklace to keep the stone close to your heart space, you can wear a Ruby bracelet so the gem connects with the beat of your pulse and flows throughout the body. You can wear Ruby rings so the stone stays in your eye-line and reminds you of joy. 

Stones that work wonders when paired with Ruby include other red gemstones like Red Spinel, Garnet for rousing passion, Carnelian for warming the soul, Red Jasper for earthly splendor, Red Beryl for filling your cup, and Red Quartz for higher levels of love and loyalty. If you want more balance in your crystal pairings, you can also look at gentler water energy style blue-green stones or softer energy stones like Kyanite. Ruby Zoisite is a gemstone that fuses fire and patience. Weaving together the best of both worlds, this unique gem is also a healer of hearts and gets the blood flowing. For those using Ruby to heal and open their hearts, you can also pair it with any range of gorgeous green stones. From the enticing beauty of Emerald to earthy Moss Agate, green gems work directly with the heart chakra to clear blocks and create a beautiful loving space within your center. 

For those who want to boost their levels of protection when working with the Ruby stone, you can also pair it with grounding black protective stones too. Gems like Obsidian and Black Tourmaline provide a perfect cloak of invisibility and take you out of the firing line when it comes to bad energies and psychic attacks.

Wearing Ruby jewelry is in keeping with ancient lore - when these fiery stones were used as talismans and amulets to keep the wearer safe and sound. In the past, Ruby amulets would be worn to protect against poison, spirits, and poor thoughts. The same is applicable today. The world is full of negative energies but you can keep your own space sparkling with a Ruby amulet to remind you to stay connected to your joy. 

Home & office 

For those who want to use the Ruby stone as a way to effectively cleanse and cheer their space, it’s always a welcome gem to have in the home and office. Ruby (like other red stones) is a gem of energy, passion, pleasure, warmth, and activity. For those who want to amp up their intimacy, you could place the Ruby next to your bed, energetically turning your room from a flop down palace to a beautiful boudoir. 

Another place the Ruby can go is in any shared spaces or living spaces that could benefit from harmony and good cheer. If you feel like you aren’t sure of your stature or place within the family or even in a shared home, you can bring this stone in and let it boost your confidence and bring balance. 

The Ruby is also a great stone for any working space or office. With confidence, charisma, and charm, Ruby helps us with focus, energy, and decisive action. All of these traits are signs of savvy leadership skills so for those who want to climb the corporate or creative ladder, keep the Ruby close at hand and let it work its magic to manifest bigger things.

It’s worth remembering that the Ruby is a stone of energy, sunshine, warmth and fire. This may be too much for spaces and times when you need different elemental energy to rest and recoup. 

How to cleanse 

Like all crystals, Ruby can work at the highest of its powers when it has been cleansed and charged. Keeping your gemstones cleansed and charged on a regular basis is the best way of removing any stagnant energy and keeping your stone open and ready to program with your intention. 

As Ruby is so precious you may feel as though you need to be really delicate with keeping it cleansed. All stones benefit from a delicate hand and fortunately, Ruby is a hard stone on the Mohs scale so won’t scratch easily. The best way of keeping your Ruby clean is to use lukewarm water to rinse it and if it feels truly full, then you can use a very soft brush to give it a deeper clean. If you don’t want to introduce your stone to water, then you can also cleanse and charge it up using smudging techniques with sage or using sound baths. Ruby is all about warmth and fire, so it will charge beautifully if you leave it in sunlight for a few hours. You can also call on cleansing crystals like Clear Quartz or the serene dream that is Amethyst to help mop up any unwanted vibrations and energies from your Ruby stone. 

Geological Properties

Final thoughts 

Ruby is all about love, passion, and personal power. For those who crave warmth and joy and the spark that could ignite their inner fire, you can’t get better than the vibrant pleasure of this red bold hearted stone. Sure, awakening our chi, learning to love wholeheartedly, and putting ourselves out there may seem scary and vulnerable, but with the Ruby onside, you feel wrapped in a cocoon of fearless finery. The Ruby gem may be precious when it comes to monetary value, but it brings far more precious gifts to your soul.

What are your thoughts on the protective stone of Ruby? Does it spark fire and joy in your soul or do you prefer a crystal with calmer lighter energy instead? Share all your thoughts with us in the comments.