Stone Guide
AGATES
KEY WORDS: Communication, clarity, confidence
ELEMENT: Water
A name used for numerous varieties of banded chalcedony, a mineral of the Quartz group. The name Agate comes from the river Achetes in Sicily, where Agates were found in ancient times. Agates have been discovered with the artifacts of Neolithic people, and the early Egyptians used them before 3000 B.C. The stones were also utilized in jewelry in ancient India. Native Agates were the foundation of a German stonecutting and polishing industry which flourished from the 15th through 19th centuries, and which still exists today.
GREEK AGATE
KEY WORDS: Communication, clarity, confidence
ELEMENT: Water
A name used for numerous varieties of banded chalcedony, a mineral of the Quartz group. The name Agate comes from the river Achetes in Sicily, where Agates were found in ancient times. Agates have been discovered with the artifacts of Neolithic people, and the early Egyptians used them before 3000 B.C. The stones were also utilized in jewelry in ancient India. Native Agates were the foundation of a German stonecutting and polishing industry which flourished from the 15th through 19th centuries, and which still exists today.
FIRE AGATE
KEY WORDS: Vitality, sexuality, creativity, will
ELEMENT: Fire
Fire Agate is the name given to a brilliant multi-colored gemstone that combines a deep brown base hue with flashes of orange, red, green and gold that look like tongues of living flame. The best stones come from Mexico. Fire Agate’s iridescent colors are produced by light interference at thin layers of regularly spaced iron oxide crystals within the chalcedony. A very rare agate found only in southwestern USA and Mexico.
AMETHYST
KEY WORDS: Protection, purification, Divine connection, release of addictions
ELEMENT: Wind
Wind Amethyst is a member of the Quartz family with a trigonal crystal system. Its color, which varies from pale to deep purple, is derived from the combination of trace amounts of iron and aluminum, plus natural or applied irradiation. Amethyst crystals and gem rough are found in numerous locations throughout the world including Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, Africa, Canada, Russia, the USA and Europe. Amethyst has been prized for its beauty and its legendary energies for thousands of years. Neolithic people in Europe used it at least as early as 25,000 B.C. and in ancient Egypt it was made into beads and amulets. Early Greek and Roman societies placed high value on Amethyst, and it has long been viewed as a stone of royalty, utilized in crowns, scepters and the rings of bishops. Amethyst is said to have been the ninth stone in the breastplate of the high priest of Israel, and one of ten stones upon which the names of the tribes of Israel were engraved. Amethyst’s name comes from a Greek word meaning ‘not drunken,’ and an ancient Greek myth explains its derivation: The god Bacchus, angry because of an insult, decreed that the first person he met would be eaten by his tigers. The unfortunate person happened to be Amethyst, on her way to worship at the shrine of Diana. When the tigers sprang, Diana transformed the girl into a clear, transparent crystal. In remorse, Bacchus poured the juice of his grapes over the stone as an offering, thus giving the gem its beautiful purple color. The Greeks believed that Amethyst would prevent intoxication, calm anger and relieve frustrated passion.
JADE
KEY WORDS: Protection, purification, Divine connection, release of addictions
ELEMENT: Wind
Jade is a name shared by two distinctly different minerals – Nephrite, a calcium magnesium silicate, and Jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate. The name Jade is derived, rather accidentally, from the Spanish term piedra de yjada (or lapis nephrictus in Latin), meaning ‘stone of the loin.’ When the term was misprinted in a French translation, it became pierre le jade.
The first Jade arrived in Europe from Mesoamerica, brought back by the conquistadors. During the 17th century, when Jade supplies from the Americas had diminished, Chinese carvings of similar looking stone were labeled Nephrite, from the Latin, and it was later discovered that these were different materials from the original American jade. However, Burmese stones entering the marketplace in the mid-1800s were found to be the same as the original American jade, and both of these were called jadeite. Today both types stone are traded as Jade.
Nephrite generally occurs in three colors – white, deep green and creamy brown. Jadeite can be leafy green, blue-green, emerald green, lavender, greenish black, deep emerald green or black. It is found today in British Columbia, California, Wyoming, Alaska, New Zealand, China, Russia, Taiwan, Poland and India. The main source of Jadeite is Burma, but it can also be found in Guatemala, Russia, California and Japan. Pure Jade is white and prized by the Chinese. Other colored forms either occur naturally in nature or dyed by human hands. Always deal with reputable dealers when purchasing Jades.
GREEN JADE
KEY WORDS: Health, abundance
ELEMENT: Earth
Green Jade is a stone with a heart of healing, and a stone for healing the heart. The color of these stones is pure heart-chakras green, and the energies are so strong and steady, one feels a flow of well-being and balance almost immediately upon touching them. These are good stones to wear during sleep, both for their harmonious and nourishing vibrations and for their beneficial effect upon one’s dream life. Green Jade is the color of grass and leaves, and it fosters wholesome and steady growth of one’s chi, or life-force energies. It is recommended that one try wearing or carrying Green Jade when hiding, gardening or relaxing out of doors, because it draws upon the Earth’s life force and imbues one’s auric field with that energy.
Green Jade is a classic abundance stone. And is an Earth element stone in all respects, promoting the flow of money, fertility and abundance into one’s life. It represents harmony and happiness in business and family relationships and is an excellent stone to use in one’s office or home environment to promote harmonious energy. It represents mastery of, and joy in, all aspects of the physical world. It teaches one to be master of one’s money, instead of money being one’s master.
PURPLE JADE
KEY WORDS: Humor, spiritual Knowledge and attunement
ELEMENT: Earth
The stone fills one with mirth and happiness. Purple Jade is an excellent stone for purifying one’s aura and dispelling any negative feelings or attitudes that hold one back from experiencing the spontaneous joy of life. There is a lot of humor evoked by this gemstone, and it also enhances one’s appreciation of the perfection of Divine order in all things.
Purple Jades frequency speaks of spiritual knowledge and the soul’s riches. It aids in maintaining one’s fortitude in the pursuit of one’s spiritual path, so one doesn’t become disheartened or bored with spiritual practice. It is a stone of discernment. It can assist in perceiving what information, teachings, people and situations are aligned with one’s truth – and which are not.
BLACK JADE
KEY WORDS: Protections, Clearing negativity
ELEMENT: Earth
Black Jade is a stone that acts like an etheric “bodyguard” when it is worn or carried, emanating strong energies that clear one’s aura of any vulnerability to attachments by negative forces or entities. It can also shield one from fields of negative energy, such as the fear and violence projected through the media. It is an especially helpful ally in times of war or world crisis, when one wishes not to be swept up in the negative mass consciousness.
Black Jade is an important stone of purification and protection on the spiritual and the physical levels. It helps one honestly assess where one’s own limitations lie.
RED JADE
KEY WORDS: Courage, action
ELEMENT: Earth
For gentle souls who have difficulty asserting themselves, Red Jade brings forward the energy of the warrior. It is a stone of individual power and will, helping one put aside fear, worry, doubt and the ‘anxiety of the threshold.’ This last malady is like the hesitation one might feel at the top of the diving board or the doorway of the office of one’s boss. Red Jade dispels the fear that holds one back.
Red Jade, fortunately, also emanates a balancing vibration of wisdom which helps keep one from acting rashly. Its mode is that of the active solution, not one of quiet waiting.
RAINFOREST JASPER
KEY WORDS: Earth-healing, connection with Nature, joy in life
ELEMENT: Earth
Rainforest Jasper offers a key to work toward planetary healing. It awakens the awareness that we as creatures are not separated from the world of animals and plants – or minerals, for that matter. With this awareness comes a delicious sense of joy – the joy of the winged bird in flight, the joy of the sunflower following its Beloved across the sky. Many people have lost the organic enjoyment of existence in this technological age, but wearing a piece of Rainforest Jasper can help one reawaken to it. Once this joy has been kindled, an awareness of the precarious position of life on Earth comes at the same time. And these two experiences together, – the understanding of the incredibly precious gift of life and the realization that it is all in danger – work together to help one commit to action on behalf of the preservation and support of life.
Rainforest Jasper is a doorway to the realms of natural power and wisdom.
MOOK JASPER
KEY WORDS: Slowing the aging process, intergenerational genetic healing, and perception of Earth energies.
ELEMENT: Earth
Mook Jasper assists one in reclaiming one’s latent capacity to feel electromagnetic energy currents of the Earth and to use them in conjunction with one’s own energies to maximize the effects of one’s will and personal power. Mook Jasper reawakens the ability to simply ‘know’ the right direction to take, in physical or non-physical travel. It emanates the energy of instinct, and it allows one to find the threads of one’s own instinctual capacities.
Mook Jasper is a powerful reminder of the ageless spirit. The processes of physical aging can be greatly slowed by raising the vibration of ones body and thoughts. It helps one maintain both a ‘young at heart’ attitude and a vibrant physical vehicle.
FANCY JASPER
KEY WORDS: Grounding mental energies, discipline and perseverance, slow steady healing.
ELEMENT: Earth
Fancy Jasper performs the task of helping one attend to the mundane details of life with efficiency and good humor. It grounds one firmly in the body and focuses the mental energies on dealing with whatever issues and duties are most significant at the time. It helps prevent procrastination and assists one in making coherent plans for the future. It encourages one’s outlook on life by cutting difficulties and fears down to size. Fancy Jasper is a stone that helps one to ‘just deal with it.’ Whatever ‘it’ may be.
UNAKITE JASPER
KEY WORDS: Healing, balance, release of bad habits, higher attunement, patient persistence
ELEMENT: Earth
Unakite embodies Jasper’s quality of slow-moving beneficial influence. It facilitates the gradual elimination of bad habits, especially those of overeating and over-consumption of alcohol. It helps one unearth and release the bonds of old emotional wounds in a way that avoids shock and trauma. It supports the purging, over a period of one to two years, of many toxic energies and substances from the cellular level of the body. Unakite teaches patience and persistence and reminds one that anything worth having is worth waiting for.
Unakite’s energy stimulates the healing of disease brought on by the repression of emotions, particularly anger and resentment. These emotions are fairly low frequency and often are ego-based.
Unakite’s Jasper supports healthy tissues in general. It is particularly useful for promoting the physical health of the heart and lungs. Unakite is ideal for children’s sensitive emotional bodies. It supports the emotional resilience of children and helps them to bounce back from sorrow, grief or disappointment.
HERKIMER QUARTZ ‘DIAMOND’
KEY WORDS: Dreams, visions, purification, spiritualization of physical life
ELEMENT: Storm
Herkimer Quartz ‘Diamonds’ is a variety of Quartz crystal found in and around Herkimer, NY, USA. Their crystal system is hexagonal. Herkimers are formed in a hard rock matrix. And are so named because of their form – the short, small, stubby double terminated shapes and the glossy surfaces make them superficially resemble Diamond crystals. Herkimers can be clear or included. Inclusions are often black carbon deposits. Some Herkimers are Smoky rather than colorless and larger crystals frequently exhibit skeletal Quartz formations.
These crystals, beyond almost all others, are manifestations of pure, solidified spiritual Light. They emanate a high, harmonious energy that positively sings on the upper levels of the Quartz vibrational spectrum.
HEMATITE
KEY WORD: Grounding, manifestation, making the spiritual physical
ELEMENT: Earth
Hematite is an iron oxide mineral. Its crystal system is hexagonal. Its name is derived from the Greek word for blood, a reference to the color of this mineral in powdered form. Crystals are uncommon, but mostly tabular when they do occur. Occasionally they form as rosettes. Most Hematite can occur as an inclusion in Quartz crystals, sometimes with Ajoite, displaying a reddish brown color. Fine grades of Hematite are found in a number of locations in Brazil. Specular Hematite, which reflects light in remarkable sparkling patterns, is found in Michigan, USA.
It is the most effective of all stones for grounding oneself in the physical world. It can counteract spaciness and confusion, helping one to see practical concerns and move forward with useful action.
SPECULAR HEMATITE OR BLACK HEMATITE
KEY WORD: Grounding, manifestation, making the spiritual physical
ELEMENT: Earth
Specular Hematite, sometimes known as Black Hematite, is Hematite in tabular crystals with a distinct metallic luster. Some of the best specimens of Specular Hematite come from Michigan, USA.
Black Hematite brings grounding and high energy at the same time. It allows one to see the operation of the Divine in the events of everyday life, and it aids one in attaining the ability to comprehend multiple levels of reality simultaneously.
Specular Hematite harmonizes well with Moldavite, Azeztulite, Phenacite, Danburite, Petalite, Prophecy Stone, Herderite and other high-frequency stones, helping to ground their energies.
MOONSTONE
KEY WORDS: Mystery, self discovery, intuition, insight, dreams, the goddess
ELEMENT: Wind
Moonstone is a feldspar mineral. Its crystal system is monoclinic and prismatic. Moonstone was names after its blue-white sheen, which is caused by its lamellar structure. It is found in Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Burma, Australia, India and the United States.
Moonstone was used in Roman jewelry almost two thousand years ago, and even long ago in the Orient. Moonstone has always been a sacred stone with special significance for lovers. In Europe, Moonstone was said to reconcile estranged lovers, and to cure sleeplessness.
Moonstone is a talisman for the inward journey, and meditation with it can take one deep into the self. It is an excellent stone to wear during past –life regression sessions.
CAT’S EYE MOONSTONE
Cat’s Eye Moonstone promotes clarity of the mind and inner vision. It helps one remain focused while in a meditative or altered state of awareness. Cat’s Eye Moonstone assists one in perceiving the emotional lessons and implications underlying current life experiences. It is excellent for those who desire deeper insight into the emotional patterns of themselves or others.
PEACH MOONSTONE
Peach Moonstone’s gentle, loving energy supports the heart as it stimulates the mind. It allows one to perceive the positive, loving existence of the Divine in all situations. It can help sooth worry or anxiety while assisting one in celebrating the positive experiences in one’s life. Peach Moonstone carries a soothing energy for the emotional body and is excellent for use by intuitive or sensitive children.
WHITE MOONSTONE
White Moonstone represents the energy of the full moon at the height of its power. It stimulates all aspects of psychic perception and can enhance vision and dream work. Just like the full moon, White Moonstone can magnify one’s emotions. It has always been considered a lucky stone. There are many beliefs in the power of moonstone to bring about positivity in one’s life. The stone is regarded as a great gift for lovers as it supposedly arouses love and passion. It has also been said to cure epilepsy, nervousness, and fever and is believed to ward off cancer, and to protect travelers.
ONYX
KEY WORDS: Inner strength, focused attention, willpower, self mastery, discipline, reason
ELEMENT: Earth
Onyx is a member of the Quartz family and is a variety of Chalcedony. This banded Onyx is frequently used in carving cameos, sine the layered colors allow the necessary contrast of background with foreground. Dying gray Chalcedony in various ways most often makes Black Onyx.
Onyx is a stone of inner strength. It enhances one’s endurance and persistence, enabling one to carry even difficult and dreary tasks trough to completion. It increases one’s ability to maintain focus, allowing one to learn challenging new material and use well all that one has mastered. It energetically boosts the retention of memory and encourages attention to detail. These traits make Onyx a helpful tool for students, teachers, business owners, accountants, lawyers, software and computer technicians and all those whose work calls for high levels of focus, perseverance and discipline.
OPAL
Opal is composed of submicroscopic silica spheres that are bonded together with water and additional silica. Sometimes the water in Opal can evaporate, creating cracks in the stone. Some, but not all Opals exhibit the play of colors known as ‘fire’. This is caused by the Opal’s minute silica spheres being packed in a formation regular enough to cause light diffraction.
The name Opal is derived from the Latin opalus and the Sanskrit upala, meaning ‘precious stone.’ Precious Opals were mined in the former Czechoslovakia at least as long ago as the 14th century. Mexican Fire Opal was used by the Aztecs and was brought to Europe by the Conquistadors. In 19th century Europe, Opal’s popularity declined because of an association with bad luck, but it rebounded in the 20th century and it remains on the most popular gems.
COMMON OPAL
KEY WORDS: White/Purification: Pink/emotional healing; Blue/Calming the mind; Brown and Black/ emotional protection
ELEMENT: Earth, Water
Common Opal may be any of several different colors, but it is generally opaque and does not show any of the ‘fire’ exhibited by precious Opal. Common Opal is found in many locations, but good white and brown/black stones come from Oregon and the best Pink and Blue specimens are found in Peru.
Common Opal in all of its colors is a stone of gentle energies It is well suited for sensitive people who are easily overwhelmed by more powerful stones, or for those who are overburdened with stress and need stones that will help them relax. Each color, of course, offers a somewhat different emphasis.
White Precious Opal
KEY WORDS: White/Purification: Pink/emotional healing; Blue/Calming the mind; Brown and Black/ emotional protection
ELEMENT: Earth, Water
Provides purification of one’s energy field, cleansing and rebalancing the chakras of the etheric body and support for their connection to one’s physical self.
The fever that lures men from the comforts of the cities to burrow for opals in the soft red rock of Australia’s hinterland is a chronic malady – a fever that a man never gets out of his system. The opal miner is a solitary, silent, figure, forever in the grip of the fascination cast over him by the flashing rainbow colors of the gem the “cupid stone” to the ancient Romans who fell under its spell. His life is often one of hardship and privation. Bitter cold, intense heat and inadequate supplies and facilities are tolerated in the hope that his ceaseless efforts will eventually be rewarded.
Pink Opal
KEY WORDS: White/Purification: Pink/emotional healing; Blue/Calming the mind; Brown and Black/ emotional protection
ELEMENT: Earth, Water
A lovely stone for healing the emotions especially those connected with subconsciously held pain. The opal is said to be many things including the most powerful of healing stones, the stone of hope, the stone of great achievement and even the “stone of the Gods”. Ancient Romans associated opal with hope and good luck.
Blue Opal
This is an antidote to restless thoughts. If one tends to wake up at night with the mind racing, rehashing the past or anticipating the future, a Blue Opal in the pillowcase will help one sleep more peacefully. As a bonus, it can enhance the recollection of one’s dreams and even bring about more pleasant dream experiences. It assist one in sharing one’s feelings and communicating about emotional issues
Brown/Black Opals
Are gentle catalysts to the physical healing process, through their support of one’s emotional body. They can aid in lifting depression, not through ‘cheering you up,’ but through moderating the sense of isolation.
FIRE OPAL
KEY WORDS: Passion, creativity
ELEMENT: Fire
CHAKRAS: Sexual/Creative (2nd)
Fire Opal is named after its vivid orange color. It does not usually opalesce, but it is sometimes clear enough to make into faceted gems and these can be strikingly beautiful. The most significant sources of Fire opal are in Mexico, but deposits have also been found in Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Turkey, Australia and the US.
Fire Opal is an awakener of passion. One’s passion can be channeled in many directions, from the bodily desires to the spiritually sublime: Whatever one’s choice. Fire Opal will enhance the intensity and the pleasure of the experience in matters of sexuality, the Opal connection to the emotional body will help blend more love into the experience and allow for greater enjoyment and less self-consciousness. Fire Opal carries a frequency of ecstasy
OWYHEE BLUE OPAL
KEY WORDS: Quiet strength, calm confidence, decisiveness, inner exploration, amplification of positive emotions, psychic protection
ELEMENT: Water
Owyhee (pronounced Oh-WAH-HEE) Blue Opal is a new variety of Opal, discovered in eastern Oregon in 2003. It is characterized by a rich blue color, similar in shade to fine Blue Chalcedony. Its name is derived from the location where it was found – near the sacred Indian springs of Owyhee, Oregon. Owyhee Blue Opal is often translucent when it is first removed from the ground, but it can gradually turn opaque when it is exposed to air and the water within it begins to evaporate.
These stones are an antidote to indecisiveness, shyness, fear, powerlessness, confusion, inarticulateness and many other expressions of blocked energies. Yet the power they awaken within us is not arrogant or confrontational. It is imbued with the softness that comes from certainty, wherein there is no need for bluster or insistence. Owyhee Blue opals are stones of calm, quiet strength, allowing one to choose words, action or non-action as the best means of achieving one’s purpose.
PROPHECY STONE
KEY WORDS: Grounding spiritual Light in the physical self and the world, seeing prophetic visions
ELEMENT: Earth
Prophecy Stone is a rare and odd stone found in the desert of Libya. It appears to be a concretion or a pseudomorph, though it displays a color and outer texture that is reminiscent of Meteorite. (Incidentally, it comes from the same area where Libyan Gold Tektites and some types of Meteorite are found.) The man who discovered them named them prophecy Stones because he experienced what he termed ‘a prophetic vision’ while meditating with one of them.
PYRITE
KEY WORDS: Masculine energy, manifestation, action, vitality, willpower, creativity, confidence
ELEMENT: Earth
The name Pyrite is derived from the Greek word for fire, because striking two pieces against one another can produce sparks. Pyrite’s shiny yellow metallic appearance has earned it the nickname ‘fool’s gold.’ The ancient Incas used Pyrite as mirrors. It is found all over the world, but important deposits are in Italy, Spain and Peru.
TIBETAN BLACK QUARTZ
KEY WORDS: Spiritual protection and purification enhancement of meditation, balancing the chakras and meridians, clearing and energizing the aura
ELEMENTS: Storm
Tibetan Black Quartz have crystals that are nearly all double-terminated, and many (though not all) contain black inclusions of an unidentified mineral. Thus the word ‘black’ in the name is not a literal description of all crystals in this group, since even the majority of stones, which contain black material, are not completely black, and some are nearly clear. Tibetan Black Quartz is found in the Himalaya Mountains of Tibet and Nepal is are among the most sacred areas of the Earth.
Tibetan Black Quartz double terminated crystals are among the most powerful stones of spiritual protection ever found. Carrying or wearing one creates a ‘bubble of Light’ around the body, allowing only positive vibrations to penetrate the auric field. Keeping one or more of these stones in one’s living space can purify and cleanse the area of any native influences. It is even recommended to put one on top of the television or computer screen to counteract the disharmonies these might emanate.
Very effective in meditation to those who feel an affinity for Tibetan Buddhism.
TOPAZ
KEY WORDS: Spiritual protection and purification enhancement of meditation, balancing the chakras and meridians, clearing and energizing the aura
ELEMENTS: Storm
WHITE TOPAZ (Colorless Topaz)
KEY WORDS: Manifestation of personal intention, will and desires
ELEMENT: Fire
GOLDEN TOPAZ (Imperial Topaz)
KEY WORDS: Manifestation of personal intention, will and desires
ELEMENT: Fire
BLUE TOPAZ
Topaz has a crystal structure that is orthorhombic, and it frequently forms prismatic crystals, often, often eight-sided with striations along the length. Many have diamond shaped cross sections and pyramidal terminations. Topaz is found in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Russia, Burma, Australia, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, Africa and the USA. Natural colors for Topaz include gold, blue, pink, brown, orange, colorless and a few other rare shades such as pale green and red. Colorless Topaz is sometimes irradiated artificially to create various shades of blue. Topaz crystals of up to 220 pounds have been found, and Topaz gems weighing thousands of carats are in Smithsonian Institution’s collection.
The name Topaz may derive from Topazos, a word meaning ‘to seek,’ which was also the name of an obscure, difficult to locate island in the Red Sea. However, the gemstone found on that island is actually Peridot. The other possible derivation of the gemstone’s name is the Sanskrit word tapaz, which means ‘fire.’ Topaz was used in ancient Egypt and Rome and in the jewelry of 18th century French and Spanish royalty.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, Topaz was believed to enhance mental powers and prevent insanity. It was also said to improve poor vision, promote favor with kings and civil authorities, increase wisdom and soothe anger.
TOURMALINE
KEY WORDS: Enhancement of mind and communication
ELEMENT: Fire
Tourmaline is one of the most significant mineral groups for metaphysical use, and it includes a wide variety of different forms, colors and energy spectrums. Although Tourmaline can be found on every continent, fine crystal specimens and gems are still considered rare and often command high prices. Tourmaline made its entry into the commercial world of gems in 1876 when George Kunz sold a Green Tourmaline gem from Maine to Tiffany and Co. In the ensuing years, Tourmaline gained great popularity as a gemstone, and more recently its subtle energy properties have made it a favorite of metaphysical collectors and practitioners. No other gemstone has such wide variations in colors. Tourmalines can be red, pink, yellow, brown, black and various shades of green, blue lilac and violet. Often the colors vary sometimes widely, within a single specimen. Crystals with a pink center surrounded by an outer layer of green are called Watermelon Tourmaline.
Heating and cooling, or rubbing a Tourmaline crystal can cause it to become electrically charged. With one end negative and the other positive. When charged, the crystal will attract dust particles or bits of paper. This property of pyroelectricity (from heat) or piezoelectricity (from pressure or rubbing) was known to Dutch traders who used the crystals to pull ashes from their meerschaum pipes and they called them aschentrekkers of ‘ash pullers.’
Tourmaline can be found in Brazil (the largest), the USA, Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Russia.
BLACK TOURMALINE
KEY WORDS: Purification, protection
ELEMENT: EARTH
Black Tourmaline crystal is a powerful stone for protection against negative energy of all kinds… as well as being a strong spiritual grounding stone.
This is one of the most popular crystals to be used for metaphysical purposes. Many people believe this is the best protection stone that you can use.
It encourages positive attitudes, good luck and happiness, regardless of the circumstances that you find yourself in. They are wonderful aids to both the professional healer and the average person who wants a stone that will be a positive force for good in your life… as it creates a positive attitude and mindset.
PINK TOURMALINE
KEY WORDS: Love, emotional healing
ELEMENT: WATER
RUBELLITE (Red Tourmaline)
KEY WORDS: Alignment of the individual and Universal heart, healing the heart and the emotions, rekindling one’s passion for life
ELEMENT: Water Earth
GREEN TOURMALINE
KEY WORDS: Healing, strength, vitality, wholeness
ELEMENT: Water
WATERMELON TOURMALINE
KEY WORDS: Calm, joy
ELEMENT: Water
BLUE TOURMALINE (Indicolite)
KEY WORDS: Alignment of the individual and Universal heart, healing the heart and the emotions, rekindling one’s passion for life
ELEMENT: Water Earth
GOLDEN TOURMALINE
KEY WORDS: Healing, strength, vitality, wholeness
ELEMENT: Water
DRAVITE (Brown Tourmaline)
KEY WORDS: Self-acceptance, self-healing, bringing the shadow self to consciousness, self-love
ELEMENT: Earth, Storm
TOURMALINED QUARTZ
KEY WORDS: Purification, recovery from negative influences
ELEMENTS: Storm
TURQUOISE
KEY WORDS: Wholesomeness, communication and spiritual expansion
ELEMENT: Storm
Copper causes turquoise striking blue color, and the greenish shades are because of iron. Its crystal structure is triclinic, and it is usually composed of submicroscopic crystals making the stone opaque. The name Turquoise is derived from the French pierre turquoise, meaning ‘Turkish stone.’ This is because the trade routes through which Turquoise reached Europe from the mines in central Asia went through Turkey, and Venetian merchants often bought the stone in Turkish bazaars.
Turquoise may be the longest used of all gemstones. Beads dating back to 5000 B.C. have been found in Iraq. The Egyptians were mining Turquoise in the Sinai in 3200 B.C. Throughout history, Turquoise has been fashioned into jewelry and decorations for a host of objects, from weapons to amulets. Turquoise is the national gemstone of Iran, and it has been the most valued gem in Tibet for many centuries. About 1,000 years ago, Native Americans began to mine and fashion Turquoise, and the gem has been found in burial sites from Argentina to New Mexico. In current times , the best quality Turquoise stones come from Iran, Afghanistan, Australia, Tibet and the southwestern USA.
Turquoise is not only a stone for finding wholeness and truth; it is also an aid in the communication and manifestation of those qualities. Wearing Turquoise can empower those who are shy about sharing their understanding and it can help one realize that, in speaking from the wholeness of our being we each have something important to contribute to the collective.
CHRYSOPRASE
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
Chrysoprase is a green Chalcedony, a member of the Quartz group. Its crystal system is hexagonal. It is one of the rarest and most valuable of the Chalcedonies. Its green color comes from nickel, and it often occurs as nodules or in crevices in nickel deposits. Chrysoprase was used as a gemstone in ancient Greece as far back as 400 B.C. and was mined in Poland since the 14th century. Current important deposits of Chrysoprase are in Australia, Brazil, Madagascar, South Africa and Russia.
Chrysoprase is a lovely stone of the pure Green Ray and as such it is a stone of the heart. Its color speaks of its strong healing energy and its connection to the domain of Nature. Wearing or meditating with these stones can facilitate a deep connection with the Earth Mother. Chrysoprase can help provide the courage to face difficult or threatening situations with steadfast resolve and truth-centered compassion.
BROWN BRAZILIAN AGATE
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
This type of agate is Brazilian agate, which is found as sizable geodes of layered nodules. These occur in brownish tones interlayered with white and gray. Quartz forms within these nodules, creating a striking specimen when cut opposite the layered growth axis. It is often dyed in various colors for ornamental purposes.
Certain stones, when examined in thin sections by transmitted light, show a diffraction spectrum due to the extreme delicacy of the successive bands, whence they are termed rainbow agates. Often agate coexists with layers or masses of opal, jasper or crystalline quartz due to ambient variations during the formation process.
Industry uses agates chiefly to make ornaments such as pins, brooches, paper knives, inkstands, marbles and seals. Agate is also still used today for decorative displays, cabochons, beads, carvings and Intarsia art as well as face-polished and tumble-polished specimens of varying size and origin. Because of its hardness and ability to resist acids, agate is used to make mortars and pestles to crush and mix chemicals. Because of the high polish possible with agate it has been used for centuries for leather burnishing tools. Idar-Oberstein was one of the centers that made use of agate on an industrial scale. Where in the beginning locally found agates were used to make all types of objects for the European market, this became a globalized business around the turn of the 20th century: Idar-Oberstein imported large quantities of agate from Brazil, as ship’s ballast. Making use of a variety of proprietary chemical processes, they produced colored beads that were sold around the globe. Agates have long been used in arts and crafts. The sanctuary of a Presbyterian church in Yachats, Oregon, has six windows with panes made of agates collected from the local beaches
QUARTZ
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
Quartz is an abundant mineral in the Earth’s continental crust. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygentetrahedra, with oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Throughout the world, varieties of quartz have been, since antiquity, the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings.
Quartz belongs to the trigonal crystal system. The ideal crystal shape is a six-sided prism terminating with six-sided pyramids at each end. In nature quartz crystals are often twinned, distorted, or so intergrown with adjacent crystals of quartz or other minerals as to only show part of this shape, or to lack obvious crystal faces altogether and appear massive. Well-formed crystals typically form in a ‘bed’ that has unconstrained growth into a void, but because the crystals must be attached at the other end to a matrix, only one termination pyramid is present. There are exceptions as doubly terminated crystals do occur. An occurrence in Herkimer County, New York is noted for these Herkimer diamonds with terminations at both ends. A quartz geode is such a situation where the void is approximately spherical in shape, lined with a bed of crystals pointing inward.
Naturally occurring quartz crystals of extremely high purity, necessary for the crucibles and other equipment used for growing silicon wafers in the semiconductor industry, are expensive and rare. A major mining location for high purity quartz is the Spruce Pine Gem Mine in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, United States.
Rose quartz
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
Rose quartz crystals, Minas Gerais
Rose quartz is a type of quartz that exhibits a pale pink to rose red hue. The color is usually considered as due to trace amounts of titanium, iron, or manganese, in the massive material. Some types of quartz contain microscopic rutile needles that produce an asterismin transmitted light. Recent X-ray diffraction studies suggest that the color is due to thin microscopic fibers of possibly dumortierite within the massive quartz.
In crystal form (rarely found) it is called pink quartz and its color is thought to be caused by trace amounts of phosphate or aluminum. The color in crystals is apparently photosensitive and subject to fading. The first crystals were found in a pegmatite found near Rumford, Maine, US, but most crystals on the market come from Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Smoky quartz
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
Smoky quartz is a gray, translucent version of quartz. It ranges in clarity from almost complete transparency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque.
Milky quartz
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
Milky quartz may be the most common variety of crystalline quartz and can be found almost anywhere. The white color may be caused by minute fluid inclusions of gas, liquid, or both, trapped during the crystal formation. The cloudiness caused by the inclusions effectively bars its use in most optical and quality gemstone applications.
Coarsely crystalline varieties
KEY WORDS: Growth, compassion, connection with Nature, forgiveness, altruism
ELEMENT: Water
Pure quartz, traditionally called rock crystal (sometimes called clear quartz), is colorless and transparent or translucent. Common colored varieties include citrine, rose quartz, amethyst, smoky quartz and milky quartz.