Morganite
Also Pink beryl, Vorobyevite
Transparent pale pink to peach or salmon, the colour often faint enough that stones are cut deep to hold it.
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Hardness
- 7.5-8 Mohs
- Handling
- Hard and safe in water; a quick wash does it no harm. Most morganite on the market has been heated to shift peach towards pink, and years of strong sun can pale it again, so keep it out of a bright window. Faceted stones chip at the girdle, and a piece with visible fractures should stay out of an ultrasonic cleaner.
- In water
- Safe
What it is held to be for
Morganite is pink beryl, named in 1911 by the gemmologist George Kunz for the banker J. P. Morgan, whose mineral collection he had bought. It is the youngest stone in this part of the library, and its tradition is correspondingly plain: the clarity of the beryl family turned towards tenderness. Practice gives it for patience with people, including yourself.
Named by G. F. Kunz, 1911, for J. P. Morgan
Correspondences
These are the tradition's ascriptions, not properties of the mineral.
- Planet
- Venus, Moon
- Element
- Water
- Signs
- Libra, Taurus, Pisces
- Chinese phase
- Earth
- Year animal
- Goat, Dog
- Centre
- Heart Anahata
- Sephirah
- Netzach
How it is used
Worn where it will be seen and touched, a ring or a pendant at the breastbone, and used as a reminder rather than a charm. Kept out of long strong sunlight so the pink holds.
Today
Touch the morganite and think of whoever is annoying you most. Give them one more chance than you meant to give.
A longer working
On a Friday evening, hold the morganite and think of someone you have lost patience with: a parent, a colleague, an earlier version of yourself. Say aloud one thing that is genuinely hard about their life. Then say one thing you have got wrong in the same matter. Do not resolve anything tonight. Put the stone under a lamp rather than in the sun and leave it. In the morning, do one small kindness for them without mentioning it.
Works with
- Herb
- Meadowsweet
- Incense
- Orris root