Know Your Crystals! A guide of what you didn’t know about minerals (WITH PHOTOS)

What are crystals made off, and where do they come from? The following is a concise list of some of the most popular minerals used in the magical traditions, their chemical makeup and origins.

Agate (Black Zebra)

The zebra rock is a gemstone that sports black and white stripes, much like its animal namesake. … This is a stone that does go by a few other names, including the zebra jasper, zebra agate, and the zebra marble.

Agate (Blue Banded)

Blue Banded Agate or Blue Lace Agate is a very fine grained form of Quartz crystal. It grows within volcanic lava bubbles, also known as geodes. Most of the Blue Banded Agate comes from Brazil. The name Agate comes from the Achetes River in Sicily, where Agates were first found.

Agate (Crazy Lace)

Crazy Lace Agate is a form of Agate found in Mexico and it is known for its lace-like patterns that include forms of swirls, eyes, bands, and zigzags.

Agate (Moss)

Moss Agate is a very fine grained form of Quartz that grows within a volcanic lava bubble (geode) and contains the impurities that are encased when gemstones are formed. Moss Agate comes from Brazil. The name Agate comes from the Achetes River in Sicily, where Agates were first found.

Agate (Turritella)

Turritella Agate is a mineral that contains shells that have been encased when the stone was formed. Agate is a very fine grained form of Quartz that grows within volcanic lava bubbles (geodes). The name Agate comes from the Achetes River in Sicily, where Agates were first found.

Agatised Coral

Agatised coral occurs when silica in the ocean water hardens, replacing the limy corals with a form of quartz known as chalcedony.

Amazonite

Amazonite or Amazon Stone, is a green variety of microcline Feldspar.

Amethyst

Amethyst derives its name from the Greek word “amethystos” meaning “not drunk” or “not intoxicated”. Its colour varies from a see-through lilac to a deep purple. The crystal is formed inside volcanic lava bubbles (geodes).

Aventurine (Green)

Green Aventurine is a form of Quartz known for its translucency and the presence of platy mineral inclusions that give it a shimmering or glistening effect.

Bloodstone

Bloodstone comes from India and it is a variety of deep-green chalcedony flecked with red jasper. It is also known as Heliotrope.

Carnelian

Carnelian is a orange or reddish-brown variety of the Chalcedony family. It is coloured by natural occuring Iron Oxide within the silica, and the colour can vary greatly from pale orange to almost black.

Chalcedony (Blue)

Blue Calcedony is composed of very fine intergrowths of the quartz and moganite minerals. It has a waxy lustre, and may be semitransparent or translucent.

Chalcopyrite

Chalcopyrite, also called Peacock Ore, is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallises in the tetragonal system. It has a brassy golden yellow colour which gives it a unique glistening.

Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase or Chrysophrase, is considered to be the rarest and most valuable stone in the chalcedony quartz group. It is a fibrous form of Quartz that contains small quantities of Nickel. Its colour varies from light apple-green to deep green.

Citrine

Citrine is a golden-yellow variety of Quartz. It is said to help in cases of poor circulation and to strengthen the immune system. Its beautiful golden colour makes it a popular stone for jewellery making, and most Citrine crystals come from Brazil.

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Dumortierite

Dumortierite is a fibrous aluminium borosilicate mineral. It was first described on 1881 in the Rhone-Alps of France by paleontologist Eugene Dumortier.

Fluorite

Fluorite, also known as Fluor-Spar, is a mineral composed of calcium fluoride. It is a mineral that melts easily, derives its name from the Latin word "fluere" meaning "to flow" or "to flux" and refers to its use as a flux in the steel and aluminum smelting process.
Fluorite was originally known as Fluorospar or Fluor Spar and has been called "the most colorful mineral in the world". 

Garnet

Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition.

Hematite

Hematite or Haematite is the mineral form of iron oxide. Its name is derived from the Greek word for blood since raw Hematite can be red, especially when it is powdered. When cut and polished, it displays a bright metallic lustre.

Howlite

Howlite is a white borate mineral with grey marble-like features found in evaporite deposits.

Jade Nephrite

Jade Nephrite is an ornamental stone often used for delicate and highly detailed carvings.

Jasper (Autumn)

Autumn Jasper is a form of chalcedony and it is an opaque rock stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. It is a very powerful healing stone and it helps us move beyond just surviving into making us feel glad we are alive.

Jasper (Brecciated)

Brecciated Jasper is a form of chalcedony stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. It is the stone of Strength and Vitality. The difference with Red Jasper is that Brecciated Jasper contains elements of Hematite and it makes it some sort of Dual-Stone.

Jasper (Leopardskin)

Leopardskin Jasper is a form of chalcedony stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash. It is a stone that is very connected with Shamanism.

Jasper (New Banded)

New Banded Jasper is a form of chalcedony stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments or ash.

Jasper (Picture)

Picture Jasper is an opaque rock stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments of ash.

Jasper (Red)

Red Jasper is an opaque stone stemming from the mineral content of the original sediments of ash.

Labradorite

Labradorite is a member of the Feldspar family and is treasured for its remarkable play of color, known as labradorescence. The stone, usually gray-green, dark gray, black or grayish-white, is composed in aggregate layers that refract light as iridescent flashes of peacock blue, gold, pale green, or coppery red.

Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli is a stone with one of the longest traditions of being used as a gem with a history stretching back to 5000BC. It is deep blue in colour and opaque, a gemstone highly prised by the pharaos of Ancient Egypt.

Moonstone

Moonstone is a beautiful iridescent form of Feldspar and since the ancient times there are claims that it promotes long life, happines, and loyalty to the wearer.

Obsidian (Black)

Black Obsidian is a dark glass-like crystal that it is very well knows for its protective propeties.

Obsidian (Blue)

Blue Obsidian is a soft pale blue (or greenish blue) type of Obsidian, a silica rich volcanic rock, glassy in appearance and is rare in its natural form.

Obsidian (Snowflake)

Snowflake Obsidian is a naturally occuring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive ingeous rock. It is produced when felsic lava is extruded from a volcano and cools rapidly without crystal growth.

Onyx (Black)

Black Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of Quartz.

Opalite

Opalite, also known as Opalised Fluorite or Tiffany Stone.

Prasiolite

Prasiolite is a green variety of quartz, a silicate mineral chemically silicon dioxide. Since 1950, almost all natural prasiolite has come from a small Brazilian mine, but it has also been mined in Lower Silesia in Poland. Naturally occurring prasiolite has also been found in the Thunder Bay area of Canada.

Petrified Wood

Petrified Wood is formed when a hot, silica rich solution, permeates the wood and perfectly preserves the wood grain. This Petrified Wood is from the Triassic Period, 230 Million Years ago, and was discovered in Madagascar.

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Quartz (Clear)

Clear Quartz, traditionally called Rock Crystal or Pure Quartz, is a colourless and transparent mineral. Quartz is the most common mineral found on the face of the earth and occurs in all environments and all rock types.

Quartz (Green)

Green Quartz is a form of silica with a vast variety of different types of it in the earth’s crust.

Quartz (Rose)

Rose Quartz is a beautiful pink variety of the Quartz Crystal. Its colour comes from traces of Manganese that are infused with the stone.

Quartz (Smoky)

Smoky Quartz is a form of silica. Even though White Quartz is the most common mineral in the earth’s crust, Smoky (or Smokey) Quartz or Cairngorm is very rare. The name Cairngorm comes from the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland where its crystals were once found and once prevalent.

Sodalite

Sodalite is a rich royal blue sodium aluminium silicate mineral that was discovered in Greenland in 1806. The name Sodalite reflects this mineral’s Sodium content and was named by a Glasgow chemist, Professor Thomas Thomson, who had been hired by the British to identify the stone after they had captured a shipment of it being sent from Greenland to Denmark during the Napoleonic Wars.

Tiger’s Eye

Variegated Tiger Eye is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock that is golden to red-brown colour with a silky lustre. The contrasting bands of colour and lustre make it a popular gemstone and a distinctive member of the Quartz family.

Tiger’s Eye (Red)

Red Tiger’s Eye is a chatoyant gemstone that is usually a metamorphic rock. It is golden to red-brown colour with a silky lustre. The contrasting bands of colour and lustre make it a popular member of the Quartz group.

Tiger Iron

Tiger Iron is a combination of Red Jasper. Hematite, and Golden Brown Tiger Eye. A beautiful stone that exhibits red, golden, and black stripes. It is primarily found in Australia.

Unakite

Unakite is a metamorphic rock that forms when granite (an igneous rock) is altered by hydrothermal activity. During metamorphism, plagioclase in the granite is replaced by epidote to produce a rock composed primarily of green epidote, pink orthoclase, and clear to bluish-gray quartz.

You can also find all the minerals mentioned in this post by clicking on the following link:

https://www.witchcraftemporium.co.uk/crystals-stones

Credit of the photos: @WitchcraftEmporium

This article was made under collaboration with Witchcraft Emporium for the copywrite of the new content.

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