Selenite: meaning, properties and lore

The mineral

Selenite is a native crystalline hydrated sulphate of lime, and it is a transparent, colourless, crystalline variety of gypsum. Gypsum has the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O, a hydrous calcium sulfate, and in its pure form it consists of calcium sulfate dihydrate. Gypsum has the same chemical composition as anhydrite but contains water in its structure, which anhydrite lacks.^123491012136

Gypsum has a Mohs hardness of 2, which is very soft on the scale, and it can be scratched by a fingernail. Its specific gravity is 2.3, so it feels rather light. Because of its low hardness, satin spar and alabaster have limited durability for ornamental use.^52811674

Selenite is coloured by its impurities rather than by its mineral composition. White is the most common colour of selenite, which can also be found in gold, peach, and rose hues. Gypsum forms white or colorless prismatic crystals, and impurities possibly add grayish, reddish, yellowish, bluish, or brownish tints.⁶²¹¹⁴

Selenite crystallises in the monoclinic system, commonly as tabular crystals with a rhombus shaped outline. The most common crystal form is an oblique rectangular prism with ten rhomboidal faces, two of which are much larger than the rest. Gypsum has good cleavage in one direction and only fair cleavage in two others, breaking into thin rhombic fragments.⁴⁷⁸¹⁶

Selenite is usually split into thin laminae parallel to its lateral faces, each film about one-twentieth to one-sixtieth of an inch thick. The colour produced by a selenite film depends on the thickness of the film, so a film of irregular thickness shows different colours. The best selenite film for the microscope is the one that gives blue, with its complementary colour yellow.¹

Selenite forms when calcium-rich salt water evaporates, and gypsum almost exclusively forms in sedimentary settings where seawater evaporates or dissolved ions precipitate from groundwater. Great deposits of gypsum were laid down in England, Poland, and Germany by evaporation of water in lakes. Selenite is found in large deposits and beds in sedimentary rock, especially limestone, and in clay deposits and dry caves.^1161432

Selenite gypsum from Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico is an illustrated example of selenite. A fibrous variety called satin-gypsum is found in Derbyshire, and selenite crystals occur in Cretaceous-aged clays in central and western Minnesota. Extensive gypsum deposits are found in the United States, Great Britain, Thailand, Iran, Canada, China, France, and Australia.⁵¹⁶²⁴

History and lore

The name selenite comes from Ancient Greek selḗnē, meaning moon, with the suffix -ite, according to Wiktionary.¹⁰⁶¹¹

The Anglo-Norman First Prose Lapidary, in its chapter on Selenitis, says men call it a holy stone because it grows with the moon and wanes with it. The same lapidary says selenite gives love and is good for the body, and states that it is born in Persia. Its editorial notes suggest the chapter is a rather distorted translation made directly from Marbode's chapter on the stone.¹⁵

The editorial notes on the Anglo-Norman lapidaries say the selenite account is shorter and different from the account in the Trinity-era Latin-derived Liber Lapidum version F.F.V. The glossary entry records the Old French word silenite, a name for selenitis, a stone. In Italian, selenite was an obsolete mineralogy term for moonstone, and Latin speculāris lapis is given as a translation of selenite.¹⁵¹⁰

Selenite was believed to have been used to keep evil spirits out of sickrooms, and priests would crush it into a paste to paint onto doors of a house when someone was ill, according to Healthline. Assyrians sculpted alabaster, a pure massive form of gypsum, into ornaments and figurines. The Chinese, Assyrians, and Greeks made decorative carvings from gypsum.¹¹⁶²

Sir David Brewster discovered experimentally the polarising angle law, which applies to reflecting substances generally. The late Mr. Darker constructed a selenite stage for microscope use, with three superimposed films that can show all colours of the spectrum, as recorded in The Microscope, Its History, Construction, and Application.¹

In 1898 H.G. Wells, in The War of the Worlds, used selenite for a paper-weight on a writing-table. In 1994 Stewart Brand, in How Buildings Learn, wrote that glass windows replaced the old tiny windows of selenite, which were crystallized gypsum. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus (371-287 B.C.E.) wrote of burning gypsum to create plaster.¹⁰²

Birthstone, zodiac and chakra links

Selenite is not one of the traditional birthstones in most modern birthstone lists, according to crystal practitioners. Practitioners often associate selenite with the zodiac sign Taurus, a link that is modern and comes from crystal practice rather than from ancient astrology.¹⁶¹⁷

Selenite is said to be associated with the Crown Chakra, a link that crystal practitioners make in modern chakra-based practice.¹⁶¹¹

What crystal practitioners say

Practitioners link selenite with the mind and clear thinking. Believers hold that it can bring mental clarity and a fresher view of one's life, and they say it may sharpen intuition and psychic ability. Crystal healer Samantha Jayne adds that selenite carries an energy of peace and calm, and it is thought to open a channel to higher guidance and wisdom.¹⁶¹⁷¹¹

Crystal practitioners use selenite as a protective stone. Practitioners believe selenite absorbs energy blocks and dispels negative energies, and believers say it can help connect users with spirit guides, guardian angels, and ascended masters. Selenite is said to act as a bridge between the individual and the divine, and believers hold that it has a powerful connection to the divine.¹⁶¹⁷

Practitioners use selenite in homes and during meditation, clearing negative energy from rooms, meditation spaces, and other crystals. Crystal practitioners regard it as a powerful cleansing stone that removes negative energy from a space and from the body. Crystal healers say it clears heavy, blocked energy and recharges people, spaces, and crystals alike.¹⁶¹⁷¹¹

Crystal healers say selenite is used to cleanse and charge other crystals, and it is said to be a wonderful conductor of energy, making it a healing wand and charging plate. Crystal practitioners use selenite wands to clear blocks in the auric field, meridians and physical body, and lay a selenite rod down the spine to align energy centres.¹⁷

Crystal practitioners associate selenite with a symbol of purity and the lunar goddess, and selenite is regarded as a symbol of purity and the lunar goddess by its users. Placing selenite on the body's chakras is believed to harmonize and align these energy centers, according to practitioners who work with the chakras.¹⁶

Grace says selenite should be cleansed even though it has a high vibration, and suggests cleansing it with smoke, dry salt, sound, or sunlight and moonlight. The mineral claims say that gypsum dissolves in water and that sunlight and heat can fade it, so practitioners' outdoor methods should be weighed against that.¹¹¹⁷¹⁸

What testing has found

Crystal practitioners claim that selenite and other crystals work on the body, but controlled tests have not supported that claim. Christopher French's 2001 double-blind study tested crystal healing with 80 participants who meditated with either a real quartz crystal or a fake glass crystal. Participants reported warmth, tingling, or well-being that they were primed to expect, and they could not tell real crystals from fake ones.¹⁹²⁰

Rigorous scientific research into crystal therapy is lacking, and few studies have compared it to other therapies.²¹

Ernst attributes pleasant feelings reported with crystal healing to the strong placebo effect and to cognitive bias among believers, and considers crystal healing generally regarded as harmless and without toxicity. Ted Kaptchuk, a Harvard Medical School professor, says placebo effects from unconventional medicine can be dramatic and compelling to patients.²⁰²¹

There is no scientific evidence to support the healing properties claimed for selenite. Jarry explains that people who improve after using crystals may testify publicly, creating the illusion that crystals work.¹¹²⁰