Crystal · Deep-earth glow
Peridot
- Chakra
- Heart, Solar plexus
- Element
- Earth
- Planet
- Sun
- Tarot
- Nine of Pentacles
Crystal correspondences are traditional; the descriptions are original to this site.
What Peridot means
Olivine is the mineral, peridot the gem, and in Ptolemaic times it was dug on Zabargad, a small Red Sea island where Greek writers placed the gem they called topazos. Pallasite meteorites carry it too, green crystals set in iron that fell from the asteroid belt.
Emotional properties
Bitterness has a way of settling in and staying long after the reason for it has faded, dulling everything it touches. Peridot's bright olive works against that kind of residue, a colour too lively to sit still with old resentment. Worn through the week you finally let something go, it makes the decision feel lighter than you expected. Relief, once it arrives, rarely needs to be dramatic.
Spiritual properties
Most peridot forms in the mantle, far below the crust, and reaches daylight only when an eruption or the slow heave of the crust brings it up, as basalt did at San Carlos in Arizona. Crystals from that depth can arrive bright and unbroken, none the worse for the journey. Something you set aside years ago, a language, an instrument, a way of drawing, could be waiting in the same condition you left it.
Physical properties
Iron is built into peridot's own formula, which is why it comes in green alone, from yellowish lime to deep olive, and never in a spread of other colours. Carried on a long walk, it belongs to the second half, when the legs have found their pace and the best view is still ahead.
Care and cleansing
Sudden heat can fracture peridot, and acids, even sweat over years, can etch its surface; it should never go near steam or an ultrasonic cleaner. After a wash by hand in lukewarm soapy water, it can charge for a day among the leaves of a houseplant before going back to a box compartment of its own.
A question to sit with
Does today's worry still look as large from a little farther away?
Stones that share a chakra
- PrehniteGrape-clustered ease
- PyriteStruck spark
- RhodochrositeRose-banded self-worth
- RhodoniteScar-veined forgiveness
- Rose quartzUnforced gentleness
- RubyHard-won red fire
- Rutilated quartzLight-caught golden threads
- SerpentineMottled snake-skin calm