.
Legends say that Dionysus, Greek god of wine and ecstasy, fell in love with Amethyst. She was a beautiful, pure maiden who rebuffed the god's advances. Dionysus was driven mad with lust and desire, and tried to kill the fair Amethyst. Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunt, turned the maiden into a clear quartz stone, protecting her. Dionysus was distraught, crying over the stone. As he cried, he spilled his wine over the crystal maiden, turning her a lovely lavender color. This is how amethyst stones were created, and why they are purported to help with purity and ward off drunkenness.
.
Also, this parable is a great example of womxn protecting womxn and that f*ckboys are the WORST!
.
Scientifically, amethyst is indeed a mineral quartz, but it's purple due to metal impurities in the quartz, not spilled f*ckboy wine.
.
Interestingly, amethyst and citrine are the exact same chemically, except for the oxidized state of the iron impurities. If treated with heat (e.g. via natural thermal vents or artificially) and/or enough pressure, amethyst will naturally turn into citrine. You can often find the two types of mineral quartz in one stone, called ametrine (a few examples shown here!). Natural pure citrine is rare, so chances are that your citrine jewelry is just heat-treated amethyst (but again, they're both basically the same thing, so no worries!).