If you were born in June, your birthstone is the pearl, which happens to be the only gemstone formed by a living creature, Van Doren notes. These lustrous gems are made of calcium carbonite, just like the shells of the mollusks from which they come.

“Pearls are luminous reminders that it’s often the most difficult things in life that transform us the most beautifully,” she explains, adding, “But just as it takes a mollusk much time and effort to transform a grain of sand into a pearl, it also takes us a lot of time and dedicated soul work to transform our greatest challenges into priceless radiance.”

This is a great stone for the two astrological signs of June: Gemini and Cancer. For Geminis, Van Doren notes, pearls can help calm the tendency to get easily distracted. And for Cancer, pearls can help soothe nerves.

Leavy explains that pearls also have a strong association with the moon (which rules Cancer, btw). “This association makes sense because it literally looks like a tiny moon—it’s brilliant, and shining, and lustrous,” she says, adding, “the ancient Greeks and Romans believed this stone was actually formed from the light of the moon.”