Category Archives: About Stones

About Stones: Cowrie Shell

Astrological Sign: Pisces

Chakra: Sacral

Lore: The cowrie shell is an ancient symbol for creation, birth, and re-birth. It can help us actualize a spiritual re-awakening. Used for manifestation, it will bring good fortune and affluence. The cowrie can inspire the creativity of excellence. They are a favorite element of female adornment in the African culture, and are a symbol of power in the Fiji and Solomon Islands.

Biology: Cowries are snails in the family Cypraeidae. There are over 250 known living species.

Locality: Warm seas

About Stones: Copper

Astrological Sign: Taurus, Sagittarius

Chakra: Root, Sacral

Lore: Copper stimulates initiative, optimism, diplomacy, and independence. It can magnify the transfer of energy from other minerals or from a healer due to its ability to conduct electrical impulses. It is reputed to bring luck, especially in the recovery of property.

Geology: Copper is a native element forming in volcanic rocks and sulfide deposits. The usual habits are dendritic and massive, rarely crystaline in the form of cubes and octahedrons. Michigan’s native copper is used to form these interesting sculptures which are man made on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Molten copper at 2200 degrees Fahrenheit is poured into straw which is immersed in water. The straw is burned away and the copper solidifies. On New Years day, according to custom, early miners used lead in the same process as a method of fortune telling. Good or bad luck for the year to follow was determined by the shape and size of the sculpture formed.

Localities: Michigan, Arizona, Germany

About Stones: Chrysocolla

Astrological Sign: Gemini, Virgo, Taurus

Chakra: Throat, Heart

Lore: Chrysocolla eases emotional heartache and increases our capacity to love. Native American tribes used it as a healing stone for calming upset feelings. It helps re-build relationships and is purifying to the home and the environment.

Geology: Chrysocolla is formed in the oxidation zone of copper ore minerals where surface water containing acid dissolves copper out of the rock. A type of chrysocolla mined in Israel, called Eilat stone, is intergrown with turquoise and malachite.

Localities: Peru, Chile, Arizona, Nevada, Israel

About Stones: Chiastolite

Astrological Sign: Libra

Chakra: Throat, Heart

Lore: Chiastolite gives us persistance in realizing our identity and our life’s task. It enhances conscious awareness and is used as a sign of devotion. Chiastolite calms fears, nervousness, and feelings of guilt.

Geology: Chiastolite is a form of andalusite occuring in the shape of long prisms within carbonaceous clay slates. Growth occurs in layers with carbon deposited along the crystal edges as diagonal cruciform shapes are formed. It is also known as cross-stone.

Localities: Massachusetts, China

About Stones: Charoite

Astrological Sign: Sagittarius, Scorpio

Chakra: Heart, Crown

Lore: Charoite brings spiritual truths to dispell illusions and worst fears. It helps us to cope with profound changes.

Geology: Charoite originates from Siberia where it was first discovered in 1978. Occurring as violet masses, charoite is formed in the zone of contact between magmatic and metamorphic rocks from the combination of alkaline magmatic solutions with mineral-forming substances of the surrounding rocks.

Locality: Russia

About Stones: Carborundum

Astrological Sign: Capricorn

Chakra: All

Lore: The silicon content in laboratory produced carborundum has similar properties to that of natural quartz. It has been employed for memory enhancement and to improve manual dexterity. Use to amplify positive feelings.

Geology: Carborundum, or silicon carbide is a man-made mineral invented in Pennsylvania by Edward Goodrich Acheson in 1890. The result of a failed attempt to create diamonds, carborundum was formed from electrically fusing a mixture of clay and carbon. Carborundum, used as an industrial abrasive, is hard enough to scratch glass. More recently it has been employed as a semiconductor. Silicon carbide, found in Arizona within a Canyon Diablo meteorite by Dr. Ferdinand Henri Moissan, has been named Moissanite. With a tetrahedral crystalline structure and an appearance similar to diamond, naturally occurring moissanite is rare. Gem quality moissanite is being manufactured and sold as a low cost alternative to natural diamonds.

Locality: Man made in Poland

About Stones: Boulder Opal

Astrological Sign: Scorpio

Chakra: Brow

Lore: Boulder opal enhances mental clarity, emotional security and physical well-being. Connecting us to the stars, it facilitates extra-terrestrial communication.

Geology: Boulder opal or matrix opal is host rock containing opal-filled cavities. Opal is non-crystalline hydrous silicon dioxide. It has the same chemical composition as quartz but contains water and is not crystallized. the most highly prized varieties contain internal iridescence due to light diffraction.

Localities: Australia, Mexico

About Stones: Bronzite

Astrological Sign: Leo

Chakra: Solar Plexus

Lore: Bronzite is the stone of courtesy. It is helpful in all facets related to service and assistance. It stimulates decisiveness and courage.

Geology: Bronzite, or ferroan enstatite, is a magnesium iron silicate. It forms stubby prismatic crystals and, more commonly, greenish-brown or bronze-brown compact masses with a submetallic luster. A member of the pyroxene group, its associated minerals are serpentine, magnetite, enstatite and olivine.

Localities: Germany, Austria, North Carolina, Arizona

About Stones: Botswana Agate

Astrological Sign: Scorpio

Chakra: Heart

Lore: Botswana agate encourages love. It stimulates exploration of the unknown, helps to release repressed emotions, and enhances creativity.

Geology: Botswanna agate is composed of layers of finely fibrous quartz. It is found in the form of nodules, its thin parallel bands following the contour of the cavity where the silica gel solidified. The name is derived from the African country in which it is found.

Locality: Botswana, Africa

About Stones: Blue Lace Agate

Astrological Sign: Pisces

Chakra: Throat, Heart, Brow, Crown

Lore: Blue lace agate is a highly inspirational influence when used for inner attunement. Use to reach high spiritual spaces and enter into high-frequency states of awareness. Blue lace agate helps build confidence in public speaking by encouraging focus and calm centeredness.

Geology: A variegated form of chalcedony or microcrystalline quartz, blue lace agate displays a blue and white lace pattern.

Localities: Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico