Reading Room · Metaphysical Practices
The crystal library
Crystals one at a time: the mineral, the old lore, the modern birthstone and chakra links, what practitioners say, and what testing has found.
Crystals in the library
- AmethystAmethyst is a purple variety of quartz, a crystalline form of silicon dioxide prized as a gemstone since antiquity.
- DiamondDiamond is a mineral made of pure carbon, the hardest natural mineral on earth, valued as a clear, colourless gem.
- CitrineCitrine, a transparent yellow to orange variety of quartz (SiO₂), owes its colour to traces of iron.
- SeleniteSelenite is a native crystalline form of gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulphate, and its clear, glassy crystals have been known since antiquity.
- Clear quartzClear quartz is the colourless, transparent variety of the mineral quartz, a silicon dioxide (SiO2) crystal.
- MoldaviteMoldavite is a natural tektite, a silica-rich impact glass rather than a crystalline mineral, found in the Czech Republic and linked to the Ries impact in Germany.
- BismuthBismuth is a native element mineral, Bi, a brittle metallic element that occurs in nature in elemental form.
- FluoriteFluorite is a mineral of calcium fluoride, CaF2, that forms cubic crystals and occurs in many colours.
- Rose quartzRose quartz is a pink, massive variety of the mineral quartz, chemically SiO₂.
- PyritePyrite is an iron sulfide, FeS2, a cubic mineral often called fool's gold for its brassy metallic lustre.
- LabradoriteLabradorite is a calcic plagioclase feldspar, a member of the feldspar group of minerals, prized for its flashes of colour called labradorescence.
- MoonstoneMoonstone is a gem variety of the feldspar-group mineral orthoclase, prized for adularescence, a moving sheen caused by light scattering between microscopic feldspar layers.
- MalachiteMalachite is a green copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, Cu2(CO3)(OH)2, that has been prized as a pigment and ornamental stone since antiquity.
- SodaliteSodalite is a blue sodium aluminium silicate mineral of the feldspathoid group, prized for its deep blue colour and often mistaken for lapis lazuli.
- ObsidianObsidian is a natural volcanic glass, formed when silica-rich lava cools too fast for crystals to grow, and it is sometimes classed as a mineraloid.
- EmeraldEmerald is the bluish green to green variety of the mineral beryl, with the chemical formula Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈ and a Mohs hardness of 7.5 to 8.
Coming to the library
The crystals people search for most, in order of demand.
- Black tourmaline
- Carnelian
- Tiger's eye
- Jade
- Opal
- Aquamarine
- Lapis lazuli
- Smoky quartz
- Ruby
- Aventurine
- Sapphire
- Amazonite
- Sunstone
- Garnet
- Hematite
- Lepidolite
- Rhodonite
- Apatite
- Jasper
- Turquoise
- Tourmaline
- Onyx
- Agate
- Peridot
- Serpentine
- Prehnite
- Aragonite
- Shungite
- Amber
- Rhodochrosite
- Chrysocolla
- Larimar
- Pearl
- Zircon
Down the midway
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