Crystal · Sacred ultramarine
Lapis lazuli
- Chakra
- Third eye, Throat
- Element
- Water
- Planet
- Jupiter
- Signs
- Libra, Sagittarius
Crystal correspondences are traditional; the descriptions are original to this site.
What Lapis lazuli means
Six thousand years of mining in Afghanistan have not exhausted lapis lazuli, a deep blue rock built mostly from lazurite, with white calcite and gold pyrite threaded through it. Ground into ultramarine, it once cost more than gold, prized for painting only the most sacred figures in a scene.
Emotional properties
You said you would, so you will: lapis lazuli is for the promise that has become inconvenient to keep. Unlike labradorite, it has no flash that comes and goes with the angle; its blue looks the same from any side. Tell the person who is counting on you exactly when it will be done, then do it on that day.
Spiritual properties
Tutankhamun's gold mask outlines its eyes and brows in lapis lazuli, blue set around the part of the face that sees. A question aimed at what is sacred to you specifically, not a borrowed answer, is the one worth bringing to it. Say whatever answer comes out loud, even if only to an empty room, before it has a chance to turn back into a private thought.
Physical properties
Medieval painters kneaded powdered lapis lazuli into a dough of wax and resin for hours to draw the ultramarine out of it. The same patience serves any long job done by hand, and a piece on the bench beside you keeps its deep blue in view while your hands settle into a rhythm they can hold.
Care and cleansing
Soft, porous and often dyed, lapis lazuli should stay out of long soaks and harsh cleaners, since both can dull its blue or lift the dye. Dust it with a dry cloth, pass it through a little sage smoke to charge it, then wrap it before it goes back in the drawer.
A question to sit with
Would you spend your most valuable effort on what actually deserves it?
Stones that share a chakra
- LarimarTidal composure
- LepidoliteLayered calm
- MoldaviteFallen from the sky
- MoonstoneGlow that shifts
- OpalCaptured light
- Peacock oreBorrowed brilliance
- Picture jasperPainted horizon
- SapphirePatient blue counsel