Monthly Archives: August 2019

Sapphire Stone..

Properties and Virtues of Sapphire | Mineralogical Characteristics of Sapphire

  • August 20, 2019
  • 0 Comments

Marbode, author of a famous lapidary of the middle Ages describes the fascinating brilliance of sapphire, limpid and deep at the same time. Of the four precious stones (diamond, emerald, ruby, sapphire), it is usually quoted last. The most beautiful virtues are nevertheless associated with him: purity, justice and fidelity.

Mineralogical Characteristics of Sapphire

Sapphire is corundum like ruby, its twin brother. Chromium gives the color ruby ​​red while titanium and iron transmits blue to sapphire. Sapphire is more abundant but the great specimens are exceptional.

Classified in the group of oxides, sapphire has no cleavage (natural plans of breakage). Its facies (aspect) can be pyramidal, prismatic, tabular or in a cask. Of a great hardness, 9 on a scale of 10, it lines all the bodies except the diamond.

Sapphire is formed in metamorphic rocks (rocks transformed by a sudden rise in temperature or pressure) or magmatic rocks (rocks from the center of the earth propelled to the surface following volcanic eruptions). It is found in silica-poor rocks: nepheline, marble, basalt…

Most often, sapphires come from small alluvial deposits called secondary deposits  : rivers descend from mountains carrying stones at the foot of torrents and in the plains. The extraction methods are usually artisanal: dug wells or simple washing of sand and gravel using pans, traditionally wicker. Primary deposits involve difficult extraction of rocks at higher altitudes.

A sapphire must have a nice shine. The milky appearance of a sapphire, then called “chalcedon”, is undesirable. Microscopic cracks causing an effect of ice or foam devalue sapphire, dots and grains as well. All these defects risk lowering the sapphire to the rank of “fine stone”. On the contrary, a sapphire of perfect blue beauty can be worth a great price.

The colors of sapphire

The colors of the minerals are determined by the more or less minute presence of certain chemical elements. Chromium, titanium, iron, cobalt, nickel or vanadium combine and color various corundum.

Only red corundum, ruby, and blue corundum, sapphire, are considered gemstones. The others, variously colored, are considered as “fancy sapphires”. Their name “sapphire” must be followed by their color, (yellow sapphire, and green sapphire …). Until the late nineteenth century, their relationship is not clearly established, they are called “Eastern Peridot” (green sapphire), “oriental topaz” (yellow sapphire), “oriental amethyst” (purple sapphire)…

A stone sometimes has several clearly differentiated colors or has reflections such as girasol sapphire. The colorless and transparent corundum is a white sapphire or “leucosaphir”. There is a sapphire with a spectacular coral color. Native to Sri Lanka, this rarity bears the special name of “padparadscha” (lotus flower in Sinhalese).

The color of the sapphires can be perceived differently according to the light sources. Some indigo blue sapphires look almost black in artificial light. Others become purple in the light of the sun. Sapphire also has pleochroic properties: the color varies according to the angle of observation.

Sapphire Size

Traditionally, sapphire is cut with diamond dust. The polishing is carried out using a powdered abrasive based on ordinary corundum and declassified: emery also used in the polishing of optical glasses.

Faceted sizes enhance the sparkle of sapphires. The stones feature notable inclusions like cat’s eye sapphire (forming a vertical line as the cat’s pupil) or the highly sought star sapphire (a six-pointed star) will reveal all their beauty after an old classic size called “in cabochon “.

Deceitful Appellations and Confusions

There are several misleading names:

  • The “sapphire of Brazil” is a blue topaz often irradiated.
  • The “spinel sapphire” is actually a blue spinel.
  • The “water sapphire”, a cordierite.

The saphirine often found in association with corundum, is actually a silicate. It owes only its name to its blue color similar to that of sapphire.

Of producing synthetic sapphire since 1920. They replace natural sapphires in industrial applications. Jewelery also uses them as well as synthetic star sapphires obtained since 1947.

Heat treatments (around 1700 °) and irradiations aim at modifying or correcting the color and the transparency. The use of these methods must be mentioned.

Provenances of Sapphire

Sri Lanka

The sapphires of the Ratnapura region have been known since ancient times. Gems are extracted from the mauve (blue forget-me-not), rare star sapphires, and colored sapphires including padparadscha . And even today, almost half of the sapphires come from ancient Ceylon. Among these, some celebrities:

  • Logan 433 carats (more than 85 g). Surrounded by diamonds, it is cut into a cushion. Exceptional purity and brilliance can be admired at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington (below left).
  • The fabulous 563-carat Indian Star (below) and the Midnight Star, 116-carat (above right), astonishing in its violet-purple color. These two wonders are visible at the Museum of Natural History of New York.

Indian cashmere

It is a rare primary deposit unfortunately almost exhausted for forty years. Sapphires, extracted from kaolinite, come directly from the heights of Kashmir at more than 4500 meters of altitude. Deep blue velvety, they are considered the most beautiful of all. The current sapphires supposedly “Kashmir” usually come from Burma.

Myanmar (Burma)

The region of Mogok, cradle of rubies, also contains beautiful sapphires from the pegmatite. In the past, most oriental sapphires came from the independent kingdom of Pegu, located northeast of the current capital Rangoon.

Mineralogical properties of lapis lazuli

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington displays a magnificent Burmese star sapphire: the 330-carat Asian Star, medium dark blue.

Thailand

Extracts of basalt in the Chanthaburi region and the Kanchanaburi region , the sapphires, of good quality, are dark blue or blue-green sometimes starred. There are also colored sapphires.

Australia

Sapphires were quarried from Queensland basalt rocks as early as 1870 and from New South Wales mines since 1918. Their quality is often average but rare rare black specimens have been discovered there.

State of Montana (USA)

The exploitation of the deposits, on the edge of Missouri near the city of Héléna , begins in 1894 then stops in 1920 before taking again sporadically in 1985.

la France

The historic site of Puy-en-Velay in Haute-Loire is exhausted but it would have long provided Europe with sapphires and garnets. Very recently, a discovery of sapphires at the bottom of a river near Issoire in Puy-de-Dôme triggered an exciting scientific investigation. It is a question of retracing the course of the stones to find the primary origin, their place of birth, among the innumerable volcanoes of Auvergne.

Other producing countries include South Africa, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in Africa; Brazil and Colombia in America; Cambodia and China in Asia.

Etymology of the name Sapphire

The word sapphire comes from the Latin sapphirus derived from the Greek sappheiros (“precious stone”) . Hebrew Sapphire and Syriac Saphilah are certainly the oldest origin of the word. We find in archaic languages ​​the term shapar used to designate first “the things of fire”, then “shiny aspect” , and then by extension “beautiful things”.

One of the Bestiary manuscripts written by the monk-poet Philippe de Thaon around 1120/1130 is written in French, the ancestor of French. It meets for the first time the sapphire in its French form: sapphire. Much later, during the Renaissance, Jean Nicot (famous for the introduction of tobacco in France) published in the dictionary “Thresor of the French language” a slightly different form: sapphir.

The adjective sapphire, or rarer sapphire, characterizes everything from the color of sapphire. There used to be a blue eye drop called sapphire water.

Sapphire throughout history

Sapphire in Antiquity

The Old Testament mentions sapphire several times, especially in Exodus. It is often said that the Tablets of the Law would have been sapphire. In reality, sapphire does not refer at all to the material of Tables. It concerns the vision of God by Moses and his companions:

The evocation of the sapphire is more understandable as well and allows noting the antiquity of the symbolism of the stone. The sapphire blue is always associated with celestial power: Indra in India, Zeus or Jupiter among the Greeks and Romans.

Antique sapphire does not always match blue corundum. The sapphires of the Greek scholar Theophrastus (- 300 BC) and the Pliny the Elder sapphires (1st century AD) are perplexing. Their descriptions of golden dots on a blue background rather evoke lapis lazuli. Ceylon corundum, known for at least 800 BC, is more related to cyanus , aeroids of the Romans, or hyakinthos than  to the Greeks.

In ancient times, the intensity of the colors is attributed to the so-called sex of the stones. For example, a dark blue sapphire is considered to be a male, while a little pale yellow sapphire is labeled as female.

There are few antique engraved sapphires. The Department of Antiquities of the National Library retains an Egyptian intaglio (intaglio engraving) of the 2nd century BC representing the curly head of a Ptolemaic queen or princess. We also see an intaglio representing the Roman emperor Pertinax who reigned three months in the year 193.

In terms of benefits, sapphire relieves headaches and soothes the eyes (virtues often attributed to blue stones). Dioscoride, doctor and pharmacist Greek (1st century AD), precursor lithotherapy, recommends sapphire powder, mixed with milk to heal boils and other infected wounds.

Sapphire in the middle Ages

From the 4th century, the hordes of Franks, Visigoths, and other invaders settle in our country and bring their know-how. They master a complex goldsmith technique already used in Egypt at the time of the pharaohs: cloisonné. This process consists of creating thin compartments using copper or gold to house various colored stones. This technique will persist in Merovingian and Carolingian art. One can admire at the Abbey of Saint-Maurice, in Switzerland, the reliquary box of Teudéric, the ewer said of Charlemagne, and the vase said of Saint-Martin, all adorned with sapphires.

From the twelfth century, medieval medicine confirms the virtues of sapphire recognized since ancient times:

“To be chaste, pure and clean, without any stain on him when one is wearing it “are the conditions required to enjoy these benefits.

Sapphire is also a stone of freedom if the prisoner is lucky enough to have it in his prison.  It suffices then to rub the stone on its irons and on all four sides of the prison. This ancient belief is to be compared to the secret world of alchemists who consider the sapphire as the stone of the air. Does the expression “plays the girl of the air” come from there?

Christendom adopts heavenly sapphire. Symbol of purity, it is frequently associated with the Virgin Mary. The cardinals carry it on the right hand. The pious king of England, Edward the Confessor does the same. According to legend, he would have offered his ring decorated with a beautiful sapphire to a beggar. This poor man would be St. John the Evangelist returned to earth to experience it. In the Holy Land, Saint John entrusts the ring to two pilgrims who bring it back to the English sovereign.

The king is canonized in the 12th century. At the opening of his tomb, the sapphire is removed from him. Enshrined in a Maltese cross, the “Saint Edward’s Sapphire” overcomes since 1838 the imperial crown of Queen Victoria and her successors.

In Italy, the Santa Casa de Loreto (Holy House of Loreto) would be truly the house of Mary. In Nazareth, the place is converted into a chapel since the Apostles. The Crusaders, driven out of Palestine, organize the translation of the house in Italy, by boat, between 1291 and 1294. The three stone walls become a rich basilica and over the centuries, the offerings of the pilgrims constitute a real treasure.

In a story of 1786 for Madame Elizabeth sister of Louis XVI, the Abbot of Binos reports having contemplated a wonderful sapphire. It measured, it seems, a foot and a half high on a base of two feet (pyramid of about 45cm x 60cm). Exaggeration or reality? No one knows because the treasure has totally disappeared today.

The Louvre exhibits a religious work decorated with sapphires dating from the fifteenth century: ”  the Table of the Trinity  .” It is a kind of mounted piece set with precious stones. The sapphires predominate, the largest is intaglio engraved probably effigy of Jeanne de Navarre, Queen of England in 1403. She offers this present to the Duke of Brittany, his son. Anne of Brittany transmits the inheritance to the Royal Treasury of France by her marriage with Charles VIII.

Sapphires adorn jewelry and utilitarian objects. The hanaps (large glass vase-shaped with a lid) are richly provided: golden silver hanap sitting on a fountain-shaped foot garnished with two garnets and eleven sapphires … Hanap Or, with a fretelet (button shaped fruit or flower) trimmed with a rose gold and pearls with a large sapphire in the middle. These sapphires encountered in royal inventories do not all come from the East.

The sapphire of Puy-en-Velay

Many sapphires in the royal courts of Europe come from around Puy-en-Velay. The stream named Riou Pezouilliau near the village of Espaly Saint-Marcel, has been known since at least the 13th century to be full of sapphires and garnets. The kings of France Charles VI and Charles VII regularly frequent the place to stock up. The bishop of Puy, himself a sapphire collector, lodges them at the episcopal palace.

Sapphires are collected when the stream is almost dry. The peasants seek the deepest pools and then wash and sift the gravel. This “miraculous sin” continues for several centuries. A manual of mineralogy tells us that in 1753, there is still a man from the village to practice “the job of looking for hyacinths and sapphires  .”

The sapphire of Puy called “sapphire of France” is the only European sapphire. It can present a very nice blue and be of beautiful water but often it lacks luster and draws on the greenish. It does not compete with the sapphire of Orient but has the advantage of being less expensive. The sapphires of Puy-en-Velay have become a curiosity and rare are the museums that hold.

Modern Times and Sapphire

The property-named “Grand Saphir” appears in the collections of Louis XIV in 1669. In the absence of written transaction in the records, it is generally considered that it is a gift. This magnificent present, blue velvet color with violet reflections weighs 135 carats and comes from Ceylon. The Grand Saphir comes out a few times from its chest to dazzle prestigious visitors. He is then placed in a gold frame alongside his friend, the blue diamond.

It was long believed that this jewel was a rough stone. In 1801, the mineralogist René-Just Haüy notes that the stone has been the subject of a careful faceting carefully respecting its natural symmetry and its original shape of rhombus. Since its acquisition, Grand Saphir has never undergone other scrap. It is visible at the Museum of Natural Histories of Paris.

The Grand Sapphire is frequently confused with the sapphire of “Ruspoli” but it is about two different gems. The Ruspoli has an almost identical weight, but it is cut differently (cushion-shaped). He also comes from Ceylon where, according to tradition, a poor man, a wooden spooner, would have discovered him. It owes its name to the Italian prince Francesco Ruspoli, one of the first known owners. This sapphire knows an eventful route: sold to a French jeweler, it then successively belongs to the fortunate Harry Hope, to the Royal Treasury of Russia then to the Romanian Crown. Finally sold to an American buyer around 1950, we do not know what has become of him since.

The origin of the famous sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amélie, wife of Louis-Philippe is also full of mystery. Louis-Philippe, still Duke of Orleans, buys these jewels to Queen Hortense, daughter of the Empress Josephine and adopted daughter of Napoleon I. No writing, no portrait has allowed to explain the origin of the ornament visible in the Louvre since 1985.

In 1938, a young boy found in Australia a black stone with a pretty appearance of more than 200 g. The stone stays in the house for years, it is said to be used as a door-lock. The father, minor, will eventually discover that it is a black sapphire.

It will be sold 18,000 dollars to the jeweler Harry Kazandzhan, persuaded that the dark beauty conceals an asterism. A delicate and risky size actually reveals an unsuspected rutile star. The 733-carat Black Star of Queensland becomes the largest star sapphire in the world. It has been admired in various museums during temporary exhibitions. Estimated today at $ 100 million, it has always belonged to wealthy individuals and has not been presented for a long time.

Uses of Saphir in Lithotherapy

Modern lithotherapy attributes to the sapphire an image of truth, wisdom and harmony. It is recommended to calm angry and impatient temperaments, bring serenity, calmness and clairvoyance into the emotions. He intervenes on all the chakras.

The benefits of sapphire against physical wounds

  • Relieves migraines and headaches
  • Soothes rheumatic pains, sciatica
  • Regenerates skin, nails and hair
  • Treats fever and inflammation
  • Strengthens the venous system
  • Regulates blood effusions
  • Relieves sinusitis, bronchitis
  • Improves vision disorders, especially conjunctivitis
  • Stimulates vitality

It is used as an elixir to relieve headaches and ear pain, purify the skin, fight against acne and strengthen the nails and hair.

The Benefits of Sapphire on Psychism and Relational

  • Promotes spiritual elevation, inspiration and meditation
  • Calm mental activity
  • Soothes anger
  • Encourages dynamism
  • Raise fear
  • Stimulates concentration, creativity
  • Soothes depressive states
  • Restores joie de vivre, enthusiasm
  • Develops self-confidence and perseverance
  • Regulates hyper-activity
  • Increase the passions
  • Strengthens the will, the courage
  • Promotes sleep and positive dreams

Purification and Reloading of sapphire

All corundums are purified with salt water, distilled or demineralized. The reloading is done in the sun, under the rays of moon or on a mass of quartz. This stone is also used in Chakra Pendants.

Onyx Stone

Properties and Virtues of Onyx | Mineralogical characteristics of Onyx

  • August 20, 2019
  • 0 Comments

The onyx, the “stone walnut white vain” of the Middle Ages would give to see devils and ghosts. Have these so-called evil powers been inspired by the diaphanous creatures and white faces of the ancient cameos?

Ancient civilizations were able to reveal all the sober beauty of onyx and sardonyx by engraving them with infinite delicacy and their knowledge has never been equaled.

Mineralogical characteristics of Onyx

Onyx is included in the broad group of silicates and in the subclass of tectosilicates. It integrates the large family of varied agates and chalcedonies, such as carnelian, sardoine, chrysoprase, plasma or heliotrope.

Onyx, of essentially siliceous composition, has a vitreous luster, an important hardness of 7/10. It is formed at low temperatures and occurs in massive aggregates or nodular sometimes flattened by the movement of water.

The great feature of onyx is the alternation of black bands, or very brown, with white bands. Other chalcedonies can mingle with onyx by forming layers of different colors. The names of these varieties evoke their associations:

  • Sardonyx (sardoine and onyx)
  • Agatonyx (agate and onyx)
  • Jasponyx (jasper and onyx)

These semi-precious stones with colored layers are called “banded”.

Confusions and Deceitful Appellations

The true black and white striped onyx sometimes takes the name of onyx “arabic or arabica” or “oriental onyx”. But there are many misleading names and confusions. For example:

  • Black onyx is often called black monochrome chalcedony.
  • The “onyx of Peru” is actually a pale pink stone from the group of carbonates called manganocalcite.
  • The onyx-marble also called “onyx limestone” or “onyx-marble” consists of a mixture of calcite and aragonite, its composition has nothing to do with that of onyx. No more than the spurious “Mexican onyx” which is also similar to the marbles?

The onyx becomes scarce hence the temptation to produce it artificially. Solutions of ammonium chloride and cobalt are used to obtain a dark color, often unstable over time, on a chalcedony or a uniform agate. A regular clear coat is then removed by removing the excess shade with hydrochloric acid.

The diapers of Onyx

The most common onyx has two parallel layers. Nicolino, nicollino or nichetto (from Italian onicolo) are called small onyxes with a thin black or bluish upper layer. Three-layer onyx is in great demand and rarities at four, five or even six layers, even more so.

Provenances of Onyx

  • South Africa
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • United States
  • India
  • Iran
  • Italy
  • Madagascar
  • Mexico
  • Siberia
  • Turkey
  • Uruguay

Etymology of the word “Onyx”

Onyx means “nail” or “claw “in Greek (onux in Latin). Formed on the same basis, “onychophagia” means for example the compulsive habit of eating and eating one’s nails.

In ancient times, several minerals, and even shells, more or less resembling nails are called onyx. It seems nevertheless that the Greek word onychion and the Latin expression gemma onyche used by Pliny (1st century AD) particularly designate a variety of agate corresponding to the modern onyx.

As Buffon explains, “the Greeks formed an elegant and mythological origin with onyx”. Thus, the legend tells that the little god of love Eros (the Cupid of the Romans) uses one of his arrows to cut the nails of his sleeping mother, Venus. The mischievous flies off and drops the trimmings on the shore of India. The Parques, three sister goddesses responsible for presiding over destinies, collect them and transform them into stones called since “onyx”.

From the Middle Ages, one finds indifferently the forms: onisse , onice , onix or onyce .

Onyx through History

In ancient times

Onyx comes from India or Arabia. The most beautiful ones would come from the Shibam Mountain near Mareb, capital of the prestigious kingdom of Saba (today under the sands of Yemen in the region of Hadramout). The large size of onyx blocks used always amaze historians and scientists.

All the peoples of antiquity skilfully use onyx.  In Abydos, Egypt, a large number of plates, vases and large onyx jars were discovered. Onyx earrings are frequently found in funerary temples. The Romans make signet rings engraved with various symbols.

The Cabinet of Medals retains a Phoenician seal dating from 780 BC representing with great finesse the child-sun god Nefertoum among lotus flowers.

Tourmaline Stone Benefits

According to the Greek historian Appian, Mithridates the Great, King of the Bridge around 100 BC (northern Turkey today), possessed two thousand gold vases and onyx. After his victory, Pompey will bring to Rome the precious vases, the number of which may have been exaggerated. Their material is not known with certainty because onyx also means alabastrite, a kind of veined white marble. This oriental alabaster is used to make containers used to store precious ointments and scented balms such as benzoin or myrrh. This odoriferous resin is said to be at the origin of murrhin or onyx murrheus vases frequently mentioned in ancient stories.

The vessels of Mithridates were perhaps in alabaster. The same confusion occurs today with the “marble-onyx”.

Onyx but more frequently sardonyx, is frequently called memphite. Around 200 BC, General Scipio the African would have brought to Rome the first sardonyx much sought after.

Antiquity excels in the art of glyptics (cameos and intaglios). The Greeks and Romans preferably use stones with straight and parallel layers. The more layers there are, the more complex the work. Some colors are enhanced to enhance the final rendering. There are many antique works in museums onyx or sardonyx.

Among the most famous, we can see admire two at the Cabinet of Medals of Paris, dating from the first century AD:

– Apotheosis of Augustus or cameo of the Sainte-Chapelle. It is the largest known cameo in the world (31 x 26 cm), it dates from the 1st century AD We see Augustus and all his lineage to the Roman emperor Tiberius, or 24 characters:

The middle Ages, by mistake, gave a Christian interpretation to this representation. King St. Louis acquired it and deposited it as a relic to the Sainte-Chapelle.

– The cup of Ptolemy, said vase of Saint-Denis. Carved in a single block of sardonyx, the canthar, dedicated to Bacchus or Dionysus, has two handles in the form of vines. We see, executed with incomparable precision, festive scenes where many characters and animals evolve among ornaments and plants.

The cup would have belonged to the Carolingian king Charles the Simple. The addition of a base adorned with precious stones, disappeared during the Revolution, transformed it into a chalice that would have been used for the ceremony of the coronation of the queens of France.

The glyptic disappears in the West at the time of the barbarian invasions. In the first centuries of the Middle Ages, Roman cameos were rediscovered, enriching royal treasures and churches. Clumsy imitations are made on glass, easier to work.

In the Middle Ages

In medieval texts, the term onice frequently designates all agate intaglios.  The animal intestines on certain animals have a good reputation, so the deer and the snake transmit courage.

To wear the night onyx in necklace or in ring is disadvised:  “it gives to see the devils and gives a lot of fentosmes to sleep”. In the best case, onyx allows you to converse during your sleep with a missing loved one and to keep the memory when you wake up.

The onyx, especially the black, would have other negative influences: It makes the mood difficult, arouses the sadness, salivates excessively the children and multiplies the processes.

Bishop Marbode said in the twelfth century: “If you have Sardinian with you, the onyx cannot harm you”. The Sardinian or Sardoine takes its name from the ancient city of Sardis, located today in Turkey. Sardinian brings sweetness and temperance to onyx.

In Modern Times

The rich collections of antique cameos are in fashion in the Renaissance. Isabella d’Este, wife of the Duke de Gonzague, has some very beautiful ones in Mantua. The most famous is known today as the Gonzague cameo or Malmaison cameo. This large cameo of 16 x 12 cm has traveled a lot and known other prestigious owners as the Empress Josephine and Tsar Alexander I.

It dates from the 3rd century BC and comes from Alexandria. He represents Ptolemy II and his sister-wife Arsinoe. (Visible at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg).

Onyx frequently enters into the composition of art objects made by contemporary goldsmiths. Austria keeps onyxkanne (the onyx ewer) at the Vienna Museum of Art History.

This spectacular vase made of onyx and gold, enriched with precious stones, 28 cm high is an achievement of the French artist Richard Toutain. King Charles IX of France offers it, during his union with Elizabeth of Austria in 1570, the Tyrolean prince representing him at the marriage by proxy. The onyx ewer contributes to the influence of French art in Europe and brings a striking touch to the dark reign of the penultimate Valois.

Onyx remains popular in the time of the Bourbons. We learn that the beautiful Gabrielle d’Estrée, favorite of Henry IV, has ” a pendant of an onice in which is engraved the figure of the king “.

Louis XIV enriched his collections by buying a sumptuous mirror made of rock crystal, adorned with onyx, sardoine, jasper and precious stones. Directed by Venetian artists during the Renaissance, this mirror, said of Marie de Medici, would never have belonged to the grandmother of the king.

Louis XV has a stamp with the motto “love assembles” made of two-layer onyx, carnelian and gold. We can see the delicate profile of Madame de Pompadour protected by a pretty lid decorated with foliage and red fruits.

The Marquise devotes herself to the art of cameos. She receives in her small workshop of the castle of Versailles, the courses of Jacques Guay, famous engraver. A touching testimony of the “creative leisure” of the favorite has survived: a charming onyx nicolo on a blue background representing, according to a drawing by Boucher, a small musician god winged and chubby.

François de Gillet-Laumont, mining inspector and brilliant mineralogist discovers onyx in the Paris region around 1795. The hill of Champigny-sur-Marne, already exploited for the extraction of carbonaceous lime conceals, among siliceous infiltrations, pink chalcedony and three-layer onyx. Two layers have a reddish-brown color separated by the third from a bluish-white semi-transparent. The dough lacks a bit of finesse but the engraver of fine stones Romain-Vincent Jeuffroy makes very beautiful cameos.

Imperial Topaz stone Benefits

The deposit is unfortunately depleted very quickly and the onyx of Champigny becomes a rarity. During the 19th century, most European onyx came from Scotland or Germany.

The Virtues of Onyx Lithotherapy

It was once mistrustful of its dream powers but modern lithotherapy recognizes many virtues to the onyx. He embodies strength and self-control.

The Benefits of Onyx against Physical Injuries

  • Fortifies bone marrow, nails, teeth, hair
  • Attenuates tinnitus and tinnitus
  • Strengthens the circulatory system
  • Improves cholesterol and triglyceride levels
  • Relieves feet (in elixir)

The Benefits of Onyx on Psychism and Relational

  • Gives confidence in the future
  • Promotes weighting , control of emotions and passions
  • Soothes hypochondria
  • Encourages sense of responsibility
  • Stimulates the search for truth
  • Keep away from nightmares  and bad dreams
  • Reduces worries and bad memories
  • Provides support in difficult times, mourning

Precautions in the use of Onyx Lithotherapy

Extended wear is not recommended for depressed people, children and during pregnancy because it can bring sadness.

Purification and Reloading of Onyx

The onyx is purified frequently. Distilled water or slightly soapy water followed by rinsing will be best for it. Avoid other substances that are too aggressive. The recharging will be indifferently in a cluster of quartz, or in sunlight or lunar.

Apatite stone

The properties and virtues of Apatite | A beneficial stone for bones and joints

  • August 16, 2019
  • 0 Comments

In this article, we will talk about apatite, a stone with multiple properties and powers. It is known to foster union with the inner self in order to draw healing, communication, balance and knowledge. It is also one of the stones used to lose weight: it is well known that recognition is the first step of change and this statement is even truer when it comes to overweight people.

A stone of lithotherapy to lose weight

Apatite is effective for weight loss because it not only reduces appetite but also allows you to look inward to discover the truth. This incursion is often necessary in the fight against the overweight because thanks to it, you will be able to determine the source of the problem, the reason for which you make excesses food.

In this context, you can use it during a meditation and introspection session, and carry it on you permanently, for example in the form of a pendant, in the solar plexus chakra, which is linked to the stomach and digestive system.

The apatite is also the gemstone suitable for any of the chakras as it can both invigorate you in case of sagging and restore balance in case of stiffness. In addition, it eliminates clutter.

A beneficial stone for bones and joints

Apatite is also recommended for fast bone repair and strengthening. It helps your body absorb calcium from the foods you eat, helping to keep your bones and teeth strong.

To treat arthritis, wrap the inflamed joint in an elastic bandage that can hold several pebbles by holding them against the affected area. Apatite relieves pain and heals the joint faster.

Make an elixir of apatite by placing one or more stones in a glass container containing water. Leave the mixture outdoors overnight, preferably under a full moon. This elixir can help strengthen, heal bones and prevent joint pain.

Apatite, a balancing stone

To calm hypertension, wear an apatite close to the heart. The medallion pendant will do the trick. Otherwise, pin it inside your shirt.

If you tend to let yourself be dominated by your emotions, especially in emergency situations, apatite may be the answer. Thanks to this stone, calm will prevail in a crisis situation and logic will always be your watchword.

How and why to use amethyst?

Wear one or more apatite crystals during any creative process. It helps you to come into osmosis with the source of your originality and creativity and to produce spectacular works.

Does shyness or lack of trust prevent you from having fun at parties and other mundane parties? Apatite gives you the confidence to go to others. It also gives you the security you need to be to your advantage.

Need motivation to complete your tasks? Holding a red or gold apatite during meditation allows you to stay focused on the work and thus gives you the urge to continue to the end.

12 Point Healing Stars

In addition, the apatite crystal helps the development of psychic powers and the adaptation of the mind, body and soul to the spiritual forces that traverse the universe. Apatite is particularly renowned for developing the capacity to receive visions of the future. With this in mind, meditate with apatite stuck on your chakras 3 e eye (slightly above between the eyebrows). Blue or purple apatites are best for this exercise.

Purification and reloading of apatite

With apatite, you can follow 3 of the 4 methods of stone purification described in the article on the purification of stones and crystals, namely: water, incense and burial. The simplest method is, as with many other minerals, to soak your stone in a bowl or glass of water overnight. To reload the apatite, you can place it in sunlight, in an amethyst geode or on a cluster of quartz.

Labradorite

Properties and virtues of Labradorite | Mineralogical properties of labradorite

  • August 16, 2019
  • 0 Comments

During a survey on our Facebook page dedicated to Lithotherapy, to the question “What is your favorite stone?” It was labradorite that came in first place, in front of the amethyst. To be sure, the “Labrador Stone” is highly appreciated by mineralogists and lithotherapy enthusiasts.

This popularity is due, among other things, to the beauty of labradorite, with its play of colors in metallic luster dominated by blue, green and gold. But beyond its aesthetics, it is a crystal with many qualities from the point of view of therapeutic practice. Let’s discover in this article the properties and virtues of this powerful healing stone…

Mineralogical properties of labradorite

Labradorite is a mineral from the group of silicates, a subgroup of tectosilicates, of the plagioclase feldspar family. It is found primarily in Canada, but also in the United States, Finland, France, Madagascar, Russia and Ukraine. Its crystalline system is triclinic.

Etymology and meaning of the name “labradorite”

The name Labradorite comes from the name of the area where it was discovered in 1770: Labrador, Canada. Romé de L’Isle describes it as “Labrador Stone” in 1783, which is the very meaning of “labradorite”, the suffix ” -ite ” from ancient Greek -itês, “mineral” and labrador indicating the origin of this mineral.

The virtues of labradorite against physical ailments

Labradorite is used to balance disorders related to the digestive system, as well as hormonal and menstrual disorders. It is also effective in stimulating the muscular system and blood circulation, as well as in the treatment of certain inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatism or gout.

Great fatigue

By the energy it brings, labradorite can recover from fatigue, whether physical or intellectual.Take the stone in hand and focus on the energy it gives you to regain strength and tone. If you suffer from chronic fatigue, wear a labradorite.

Emphysema

If you have emphysema, carry a labradorite on your chest.

Migraines and headaches

To lessen the headaches, you can gently rub a labradorite on your forehead and aching areas, while refreshing the stone in a bowl of water if you notice that it is heating up.

Warts

You can use labradorite to help you get rid of warts by gently rubbing the stone on the affected parts.

Psychic and psychological virtues of labradorite

Stabilizer of the mood

Against the swings of mood, labradorite is all advised. It is a stone that brings balance and consistency in feelings. It helps to overcome stress and feelings of anxiety, and promotes intellect, inspiration and intuition.

For healing by laying on of hands

Labradorite is a powerful stone, intimately linked to the chakra of the hand that allows deep activation.For this reason; healers who heal with their hands should use it daily to activate their chakra with their hands.

Protection stone

Labradorite is an excellent protective stone against psychic energies and negative thoughts. It forms a barrier of protection against mental pollution.

Mental sharpness, creativity and problem solving

By allowing us to preserve ourselves from mental pollution, labradorite promotes clarity of thought and mental acuity.   It is a beneficial stone for helping professionals, but also for artists by stimulating inspiration.

Gemotherapy and Its Effects

It allows you to find original solutions to a problem and make the right decisions. You can use it by placing it under your pillow and thinking about the problem you want to solve.

Care and cleaning of labradorite

The maintenance of labradorite is simple: unload it in a large container of water overnight, and recharge it in the sun.

How to use crystal quartz?