Charoite
Also Lilac stone, Chara stone
Opaque violet in swirled, feathery, fibrous bands, lilac through to deep purple, streaked with white feldspar, orange-brown tinaksite and black aegirine. It has a pearly, almost silky sheen where the fibres catch the light.
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Hardness
- 5-6 Mohs
- Handling
- Soft, and a fibrous aggregate rather than a solid crystal, so it scratches in a pocket with keys and a knock can lift the fibres. Do not soak it and do not make an elixir: the softer minerals in the mix take up water and the polish goes dull. Most pieces are waxed or resin-filled to bring the shine up, and heat or solvent strips that off. If you ever cut or sand it, do so wet and wear a mask, because a fibrous mineral should never be worked dry.
- In water
- No
What it is held to be for
Charoite comes from one place on earth: the Murun massif on the Chara River in Siberia, described in 1978. Sellers like to say the name means enchanting in Russian; the mineralogists say it is the river. There is no old tradition to draw on. What has grown up around it in forty years is a stone for the person who knows the change is coming and is dragging their heels.
Modern lapidary tradition; described 1978
Correspondences
These are the tradition's ascriptions, not properties of the mineral.
- Planet
- Jupiter
- Element
- Water
- Signs
- Scorpio, Sagittarius, Pisces
- Chinese phase
- Wood
- Year animal
- Rabbit, Pig
- Centre
- Crown Sahasrara
How it is used
Kept on a desk or a shelf where the eye lands, rather than worn, because it is soft and the polish marks. Picked up and turned over when a decision has been put off for a long time.
Today
Hold it and say out loud the change you have been putting off, with a date attached. Any date. Then write the date down.
A longer working
Thursday evening, with the charoite and a lamp or a candle stub. List on paper everything that would have to be true before you could make the change. Read the list aloud. Cross off every item that is really only fear wearing a practical coat. Look at what is left, usually two or three things. Put the stone on that shorter list and leave it there until the first item is done. Then start again with the second.
Works with
- Herb
- Valerian
- Incense
- Camphor