Pink Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a member of the silicate group - a large classification of minerals, which includes familiar gemstones, such as garnet, aquamarine, emerald, opal, amethyst, topaz and peridot. It is most closely related to quartz and opal. The name Tourmaline (from the Singhalese turmali or "mixed") represents a subgroup of minerals in this group with similar physical characteristics and chemical properties. All tourmalines share the same crystal form and molecular structure.

Chemically, tourmaline is one of the most complex of all minerals, which accounts for its extraordinary range of colors. Different varieties occur in black, clear, green, pink, red, blue, yellow, brown, orange, purple and white, sometimes with two or more colors sharing the same crystal.

Tourmaline crystals are hexoganal (six-sided) and usually elongated (longer than they are wide), striated (marked by many thin, parallel grooves) and prismatic (sides are similar in length and width). The typical shape can best be described as pencil-shaped crystals of varying length.

Tourmaline has a vitreous (glassy) luster, and a hardness of between 7 and 7.5 on the Moh's scale, making it slightly more resistant to scratches than Amethyst and Citrine, but a little more scratch-prone than Topaz. Tourmaline's average specific gravity is 3.15, making it moderate in weight for its size.

The most common tourmaline colors are pink and the less-exotic shades of green.   Tourmaline is found throughout the world. Significant sources for the mining of gem quality tourmaline are Brazil, Africa (Madagascar, Namibia, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Tanzania), Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The United States (particularly southern California and Maine), Italy, Myanmar, Nepal and the USSR are also notable sources of gem deposits. 

Pink tourmaline symbolizes friendship, compassion, transformation and humanitarianism. It's the modern birthstone for October and the gemstone for the 8th wedding anniversary. It is sometimes considered an alternate gemstone for the 5th anniversary.

The name Tourmaline comes from a Sinhalese (Sri Lankan) word turamali - loosly translated as "mixed" and used to describe assortments of multicolored gemstone pebbles found in local regions where sand and sediment were once deposited by running water.

Probably the most unusual qualities of tourmaline are its electrical properties. Due to its atomic structure, tourmaline can generate an electric charge when heated (pyroelectricity) or when subjected to friction (piezoelectricity). These characteristics were first mentioned in an anonymous document published in 1707 and were a subject of fascination among notable scientists of the 18th century, including France's M. Louis Lemery, German physicist Franz Aepinus, and even Benjamin Franklin! Carl Linnaeus, the famous Swedish botanist and the father of modern taxonomy, dubbed tourmaline "The Electrical Stone."  

Tourmaline's wide ranges of colors have intrigued people for centuries. In ancient Egypt, legend had it that tourmaline acquired it's many colors by traveling along a rainbow in a journey from the earth to the sun. Other civilizations thought that thought wearing tourmaline could help one become more artistic and aesthetically inclined.

In Holland, tourmaline was once known as Aschentrekker or "ash attractor" . A charming tale has it that this name was coined by Dutch children, who saw tourmaline crystals in the marketplace displays of Dutch traders and noticed that the stone attracted ashes and dust. It's more likely that the term was given by Dutch jewelers, who would have been testing this new gem by applying heat to the stone around the time this moniker first came into use. 

Pink tourmaline is a gentle stone that directly touches the heart! The color varies widely from pale pink to deep red.

Created by Karen Kroha $100

Relaxing and nurturing, pink tourmaline is associated with feminine energies. It vibrates a deep resonance with the heart chakra. It has the potential to heal emotional wounds with its soft, soothinig energy to bring feelings of comfort and safety.

Pink Tourmaline opens your ability to surrender to love!

Created by Karen Kroha $80

• Emotional balancer and cleanser
• Alleviates stress and obsessive behaviour
• Assists in changing patterns to better align with spiritual growth
• Radiates kindness, tolerance

Combine pink tourmaline with these stones:

• Use with Rose Quartz, Morganite, Kunzite, Rhodonite, Rhodochrosite, Malachite, Dioptase to restore love
• Use with Black Tourmaline to relieve stress, worry or obsessive behavior

Labdorite

Labradorite is truly a fascinatingly beautiful mineral. Its a mineral whose charm is not fully noticed and may be overlooked if not viewed from the proper position. Generally a dull, dark looking mineral with no special virtue until the colorful shiller is observed glowing on the surface. Labradorite can produce a colorful play of light across cleavage planes and in sliced sections called labradorescence. The usually intense colors range from the typical blues and violets through greens, yellows and oranges. Some rare specimens display all these colors simultaneously.

 The color display is from lamellar intergrowths inside the crystal. These intergrowths result from compatible chemistries at high temperatures becoming incompatible at lower temperatures and thus a separating and layering of these two phases. A ray of light entering a layer and being refracted back and forth by deeper layers causes the resulting color effect. This refracted ray is slowed by the extra travel through the layers and mixes with other ray to produce a light ray coming out that has a different wavelength than when it went in. The wavelength could correspond to the wavelength of a particular color, such as blue. The effect depends on the thickness and orientation of the layers. If the layers are too thick or too thin no color shiller is seen. Also if the viewer does not observe from the precise angle or if light is not supplied from the proper angle then no color shiller is seen. The labradorescence is truly a one of a kind mineralogical experience and must be observed in person in order to truly appreciate its beauty.

Labradorite is a member of the plagioclase series of minerals. The plagioclase series comprises felspars that range in chemical composition from pure NaAlSi3 O8 to pure CaAl2 Si2 O8 . Labradorite is defined at approximately the 50% to 70% CaAl2 Si2 O8 . Labradorite by definition must contain 50-70% calcium to 50-30% sodium in the sodium/calcium position of the crystal structure. All members of the plagioclase series usually display lamellar twinning called "Albite Twinning". The twinning is caused by an error in the crystal structure during its growth.

Gemstone varieties of labradorite exhibiting a high degree of labradorescence are called spectrolite; moonstone and sunstone are also commonly used terms, and high-quality samples with good qualities are desired for jewelry.

Crystal Habits include blocky crystals that rarely form free of the host rock and therefore do not usually show their full crystal forms. In sliced sections of rock, the labradorite appears as blocky chunks with a predominance of near right angled corners. Twinning is common and pervasive so that in labradorite it produces a layered or stacked effect. The twin layers are typically only fractions of millimeters to several millimeters thick. Crystals of labradorite are found imbedded in gabbros and other mafic igneous rocks of low silica content. In anorthosites, labradorite is a main constituent.

Labradorite was discovered in Canada at the end of the eighteenth century on the Canadian peninsula of Labrador after which it was named. A Finnish variety known as spectrolite was discovered in the twentieth century. It is also found in Finland, USA, Madagascar, Australia, Mexico and former Soviet Union. Soon Labradorite became a sought after gemstone because of its intense play of colors. It also has very good healing properties.

According to an Eskimo legend, the Northern Lights were once imprisoned in the rocks along the coast of Labrador.  It is told that a wandering Eskimo warrior found them and was able to free most of the lights with a mighty blow of his spear. Some of the lights were still trapped within the stone, and thus we have today the beautiful mineral known as labradorite.

Traditionally, labradorite is thought to bring good luck.

Labradorite is said to provide quick relief from anxiety, hopelessness and depression, replacing them with enthusiasm, self-confidence and inspiration. It is said to dispel negativity and to bring clear understanding by enhancing clarity of thought and improving one's ability to cooperate with others in harmony. 

Labradorite is also said to give perseverance, strength and enhanced intuition when one is experiencing times of conflict and change. Labradorite is told to be helpful in treating eye and brain disorders, and to help regulate metabolism and the digestive process. 

Labradorite is particularly effective in alleviating bone issues, disorders of the spinal column and the wear and tear of the joints. Rheumatism and arthritis may also benefit from this stone's healing powers.   Psychologically, labradorite has a calming and harmonizing effect, so it is a wonderful stone for irascible people.  It improves intuition and clarifies the possessor's own views and objectives.  In its elixir form, Labradorite purges negativity, bringing well being to you, it also has pain killing properties. It is quite a balancing harmonious energy, it helps ones intuition, especially the timing of things.

When intended for healing purposes, labradorite should be carried as a touchstone tumbled or in jewelry, and then cleansed under running water.  If it's surface becomes cloudy, it should be put in mineral water in placed in the sun for a few days to regenerate and refresh.

A sister to moonstone, labradorite links to the "darker" Crone aspects of the Goddess, and grants inner knowing of Mystery. It enhances intuition and psychic perception; just like the cord-cutting Crone, it helps the bearer to release judgment, and understand their destiny. Use it to bring Light to the shadowed realms of the self and to connect with the power of the waning Moon.