Sodalite, a deep blue veined with white, seduced by its\nappearance of soft snowy night but it is often considered with a little\ncondescension: it often passes for a poor relative of the magnificent lapis\nlazuli whose ancient history amazes us. However, sodalite, it is true more\ndiscreet, can surprise us and sometimes hides wonderful powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mineralogical\nCharacteristics of Sodalite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the great group of silicates, sodalite ranks in\nfeldspathoid tectosilicates. It is a subgroup close to feldspars but with\ndifferent physical and chemical properties: their low silica content makes them\nmuch less dense minerals. Aluminum comes into abundance in their composition,\nhence the scientific designation “aluminosilicate”. In addition,\nsodalite is characterized by a very high sodium content accompanied by\nchlorine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite enters the family of “outremers”. This\nname evokes the Mediterranean origin of lapis lazuli. Lapis lazuli is a\ncombination of several minerals. There is mainly lazurite, also classified in\noverseas, sometimes accompanied by other similar minerals: ha\u00fcyne and sodalite.\nCalcite and pyrite also enter into its composition. Pyrite, which gives golden\nreflections to lapis lazuli, is very rarely present in sodalite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite is found in rocky, silica-poor environments that\narise from volcanic activity: in magmatic rocks such as syenite or in ejections\nfrom volcanoes during eruptions. It is also present in meteorites. It occurs\nmost often in grains isolated in the rock or in massive aggregates, quite\nrarely in the form of separate crystals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The colors\nof Sodalite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ornamental stones, statuettes and cabochon or faceted\ngemstones are usually pale blue to midnight blue, often veined with white\nlimestone giving a cloudy or filamentous appearance. Sodalites can also be\nwhite, pink, yellowish, greenish or reddish, more rarely colorless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wholesale Gemstone Angels<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nProvenances of Sodalite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are\nquarries in these different countries and regions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nDarkness of Sodalite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite has a rare luminescence phenomenon called darkness\nor reversible photochromism. This characteristic can be seen even more in a\npink variety called hackmanite , named after the Finnish mineralogist Victor\nHackmann. Afghanistan’s hackmanite is pale pink in ordinary light, but becomes\nintense pink in bright sunlight or under an ultraviolet lamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Placed in the dark, it keeps the same luster for a few\nmoments or a few days thanks to the phenomenon of phosphorescence. Then, it\nloses its spectacular color like a rose that fades. The process is repeated at\neach experiment on the same specimen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The opposite phenomenon is observed with the hackmanite of\nMont Saint-Hilaire in Canada: its beautiful pink turns greenish under the UV some\nsodalites coming from India or Burma turn orange and take mauve reflections to\nthe extinction of the lamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The atoms of the mineral absorb the ultraviolet rays and then\nsend them back in this surprising way. This phenomenon, almost magical, is very\nrandom, it can be observed in some sodalites while others appearing identical\nand coming from the same place will not produce it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other\nSodalites<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Etymology\nof the word “Sodalite”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1811 Thomas Thomson of the Royal Society of Edinburgh gave\nhis name to Sodalite and published his scientific memoir:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name Sodalite is thus composed of \u201csoda\u201d\n(“soda” in English) and ” lite” (of lithos , Greek word\ndesignating the rock or the rock). The English word soda comes from the same\nmedieval Latin word soda , itself derived from the Arabic surwad designating a\nplant whose ash was used to make soda. The soda, a soft drink, is for its part,\nand for the record, the abbreviation of ” soda-water ” (“water\nof soda”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite\nthrough history<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite in ancient times<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite was discovered and described in the early nineteenth\ncentury. But that does not mean she was unknown before. The lapis lazuli of\nantiquity, used in abundance by Egyptians and other Mediterranean\ncivilizations, comes from the Badakshan mines in Afghanistan from where\nsodalite is still extracted today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One may think that sodalite is not particularly sought after\nbecause ancient texts do not speak about it. Pliny the Elder thus describes\nonly two blue stones: on the one hand, the sapphirus with small golden spots\nwhich certainly relates to lapis lazuli with its inclusions of pyrite. On the\nother hand, cyanus mimicking the blue sky that would be the sapphire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the Romans knew very well a variety of sodalite but\nthis one is not of a remarkable blue color. Often greyish or greenish; it can\nsometimes show great clarity. This is the sodalite of Vesuvius. 17,000 years\nago the volcano “mother” Somma collapses and gives birth to Vesuvius.\nThe sodalite present in the lava rejected by Vesuvius is the result of this\ngreat reshuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The eruption of 79 CE Vesuvius that buried Pompeii and\nHerculaneum was fatal to Pliny the Elder. The naturalist writer, victim of his\nindefatigable curiosity, perished for approaching the volcano too closely and\nshared the fate of thousands of victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 19th century, grained sodalites, identical to those of\nVesuvius, were discovered on the shores of Lake Albano, near Rome. The mountain\nthat encloses this lake is certainly an old volcano. Taquin le Superbe, the\nlast king of Rome had a temple dedicated to Jupiter built at 500 BC. There are\nstill some remains but the mountain of Albano also keeps other memories: the\nplace is covered with volcanic minerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Livy, Roman historian of the 1st century AD, reports an event\nthat would have occurred long before him and that seems to evoke the sodalite: \u201cthe\nearth opened at this place forming a horrible pit. From the sky there fell\nstones in the form of rain, the lake flooded all the countryside …\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sodalite in\nPre-Columbian Civilizations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2000 BC JC, the civilization of Caral in the north of Peru\nuses sodalite in its rituals. On the archaeological site, offerings were found\ncomposed of fragments of sodalite, quartz and uncooked clay figurines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much later (1st to 800 AD), the Mochica civilization left\namazing gold jewelry where sodalite, turquoise and chrysocolla make up tiny\nmosaics. At the Larco Museum in Lima, you can see earrings depicting warrior\nbirds on a shade of blue. Others are adorned with alternating tiny lizards of\ngold and sodalite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n