Rhodochrosite
Also Inca rose, Dialogite
Banded rose-pink and white in stalactite slices, or transparent raspberry-red rhombs where it has grown as clear crystals.
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Hardness
- 3.5-4 Mohs
- Handling
- Soft, 3.5-4, and it cleaves perfectly in three directions, so a drop onto a hard floor can split it into rhombs. It is a carbonate, which means acid attacks it: vinegar, lemon juice, household cleaners, even skin oil and perfume will etch the polish. Never soak it, never salt it, and no elixirs. Strong sun can pale the rose. Keep it wrapped in cloth, away from keys and other stones.
- In water
- No
What it is held to be for
The Argentine deposits were worked from old Inca silver mines, which is where the name Inca rose comes from. Banded pink and white, it became the tradition's stone of returning delight, given to people who have grown competent and joyless. The lapidary line is simple enough: it is held to remember what you liked before you learned to be sensible.
Named from Greek rhodokhros, rose-coloured; the Argentine Inca rose
Correspondences
These are the tradition's ascriptions, not properties of the mineral.
- Planet
- Venus, Sun
- Element
- Fire
- Signs
- Leo, Scorpio
- Chinese phase
- Fire
- Year animal
- Horse, Snake
- Centre
- Sacral Svadhisthana
- Sephirah
- Netzach
How it is used
Kept somewhere you rest rather than work: a bedside, a bathroom shelf, a coat pocket for walking. Soft, so it travels wrapped in cloth rather than loose with keys, and never goes through the wash.
Today
Hold the rhodochrosite and name one thing you loved doing at ten years old. Then do fifteen minutes of it today.
A longer working
On a Sunday, take the rhodochrosite and write a list of things that used to give you pleasure and have quietly stopped. Do not judge the list. Pick one that costs nothing and needs nobody else. Put the stone in your pocket, wrapped, and go and do that thing badly for half an hour. Come home and cross it off. Keep the list with the stone, and take another line from it next Sunday.
Works with
- Herb
- Hibiscus
- Incense
- Rose