Hematite: meaning, properties and lore

The mineral

Hematite is a heavy and relatively hard oxide mineral, and it is the anhydrous sesquioxide form of iron ore, as distinguished from the hydrosesquioxide limonite. Its chemical formula is Fe2O3, and it is one of the most important iron ores in mineralogy. Encyclopaedia Britannica gives its iron content as about 70 percent, which explains why it is the most important iron ore because of that content and its abundance.⁷²⁸

Hematite crystallizes in the trigonal system, and its platelets show triangular growth steps that reveal the mineral's underlying symmetry. Thin plates reveal a deep red colour in transmitted light. Its density is given as 5.26 gm/cm3, which is greater than that of magnetite at 5.18 gm/cm3.⁴⁹

Hematite is usually dark in colour, showing shades of grey, brown and red, and it shows a red streak when abraded. Powdered hematite is red. Hematite in implements is generally composed of ferric oxide mixed with more or less silica. Its specular varieties have a metallic luster, and high-grade specular hematite shows dark-bluish or purplish hues.⁵²⁸

Hematite forms several named varieties. Steel-gray crystals and coarse-grained forms are known as specular iron ore, thin scaly types are called micaceous hematite, and soft earthy material is red ochre or ruddle. Compact forms with a reniform surface are kidney ore, and fibrous hematite is pencil ore. Two kinds are distinguished, the red and the brown, and brown hematite is the hydrated peroxide of iron.⁷¹⁰

The hardness of hematite is given as about 5.5 to 6 on the Mohs scale. Measured specimens from Missouri and Illinois have hardness values of 5.5, and a Ohio specimen varies from 3 to 5.³⁵⁹

The world's largest hematite production comes from a sedimentary deposit in the Lake Superior district in North America. Other important deposits occur at Minas Gerais in Brazil, at Cerro Bolívar in Venezuela, and in Labrador and Quebec in Canada. Hematite is found as an accessory mineral in many igneous rocks and commonly forms as a weathering product of siderite and magnetite. In the United States it is found in the Iron Mountain district of Missouri, the Marquette region of Michigan and in California localities such as Santa Rosa.⁷⁵³

History and lore

The name hematite comes from the Greek word for blood, alluding to its red colour. Hematite is described in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones as a red oxide of iron.⁷⁸¹⁰

Azchalias of Babylon, in a gem-treatise written for Mithridates the Great, praised the virtues of hematite. Azchalias, as cited by Pliny, asserted that hematite used as a talisman procured the wearer a favorable hearing of petitions addressed to kings and a fortunate issue of lawsuits. Ancient writers considered hematite to help warriors on the battlefield if they rubbed their body with it, and De Boot stated that hematite, with carnelian and jasper, checks hemorrhage when applied to the body.⁸

Hematite was used in ancient Egypt for head-rest pillow amulets, which were generally made of hematite, and for the carpenter's square amulet and heart amulets. Babylonian and Assyrian cylinder seals were made of hematite from 2500 B.C. to 500 B.C. A Pueblo Bonito hematite cylinder was finely inlaid with turquoise in the form of a bird, probably an amulet.⁸

Edward Lartet and Henry Christy, in Reliquiae Aquitanicae (1860 to about 1871), recorded soft red hematite pieces from French caverns covered with scratches, indicating that a red powder was scraped off for personal adornment. Early in the first decade of the twentieth century, miners opening an iron mine near Leslie, Missouri found traces of ancient excavations in the hematite ore. Over 1,000 rude stone implements were gathered from the old Missouri hematite excavations, and W. H. Holmes reported in 1903 on this evidence of ancient aboriginal mining.⁵²

The solid hematite was in much demand among the aborigines for implements, and axes, celts, plummets and cones of hematite are found throughout the middle Mississippi Valley. Professor W. H. Holmes, in the Handbook of American Indians, recorded that hematite was much used by native tribes for implements, ornaments and small objects, and as paint.²⁵

The term turgite was coined by German mineralogist Rudolph Hermann in 1844 for iron hydroxide specimens near the Turginsk River in the Ural Mountains. Turgite was discredited as a distinct mineral name in the 1920s and identified as mixtures of microcrystalline hematite and goethite or amorphous Fe hydroxide.⁹

Mineral dealer Rock Currier first visited the Andrade mine outcrop in 1991 and shipped about 15 tons of rainbow hematite to the United States. Rainbow hematite was then marketed at Tucson shows as a metaphysical jewelry item after Currier's initial sales attempt by the barrel had little success.⁹

Birthstone and chakra links

In a modern modern modern planetary-hour table of gems, hematite is assigned to the second hour of the night.⁸

Modern crystal practitioners associate hematite with the root chakra, and they consider it an ideal stone for linking the body and spirit to the Earth's energies. This chakra link is a modern practitioner link, not an ancient one.

What crystal practitioners say

Red ochre is used as a paint pigment, and a purified form called rouge is used to polish plate glass. Crocus or rouge, which is finely divided hematite, gives rock-crystal balls a lustrous final polish. These are workshop uses of the mineral rather than practitioner views.⁷⁸

Sellers at Tucson promoted rainbow hematite as the latest and greatest metaphysical jewelry item. Crystal practitioners and the sellers who followed them described the stone within that metaphysical trade.⁹

Crystal practitioners describe hematite as a grounding stone said to help people stay anchored and focused on their path. Practitioners claim it enhances focus, concentration and mental clarity. Some practitioners suggest carrying it in a pocket or placing it on a desk to recharge and rebalance during daily activities.

For protection, some practitioners use hematite to create protective crystal grids around their homes or property. Crystal practitioners also say hematite absorbs negative energies and transmutes them into positive ones.

For cleansing, crystal practitioners recommend rinsing hematite under running water or smudging it with sage or palo santo. They then recommend charging it in sunlight or moonlight.

According to The Healing Crystals First Aid Book, a necklace or pendant worn against the skin, or a gem essence taken orally, is recommended as a remedy. The same book advises carrying a drilled tumbled stone in a travel kit.¹¹

What testing has found

Edzard Ernst concluded in his analysis of complementary and alternative treatments that there are no rigorous trials testing the therapeutic value of crystal healing. Ernst also wrote that a scientific proof of any positive effect of crystal healing beyond a placebo effect does not exist.¹²

A 2001 study by British psychologist Christopher French challenged 80 volunteers to differentiate between real and fake crystals after holding them and meditating. Six people felt nothing at all, while the rest reported feeling some energy. Both groups reported similar impressions, and Science-Based Medicine reported that participants could not tell real from fake crystals, indicating a placebo effect only.¹²¹³

Euronews reported that participants given genuine crystals and those given fake plastic ones were both as likely to report the sensations described to them. French's scientists concluded that crystals were not what helped people, but the power of suggestion. Some researchers say crystals likely do not directly act on physical and psychological woes, though they may have indirect benefits explained by the placebo effect.¹⁴

Ted Kaptchuk, a Harvard Medical School professor, says discarding placebo effects diminishes knowledge of important dimensions of health care. Crystal healer Permutt says there is no proven link between crystals and the body, yet believes every person completing a course gets benefits.¹⁴