Crystal · Mottled snake-skin calm
Serpentine
- Chakra
- Heart, Root
- Element
- Earth
- Planet
- Mercury
- Tarot
- Ace of Wands, Judgement
Crystal correspondences are traditional; the descriptions are original to this site.
What Serpentine means
Mottled like a snake's skin, serpentine is named for the serpent in Latin, though the word covers a whole group of minerals. Country people in early twentieth-century Italy trusted its green pebbles to ward off the bites of venomous creatures.
Emotional properties
Serpentine forms when dark rock from deep under the ocean floor meets seawater and turns softer and greener than it began. People change the same way in new surroundings, and the family that still hands you the part you played at fifteen has simply not caught up. The person you are now is allowed to answer, whatever part they offer.
Spiritual properties
Soil weathered from serpentine is so short of calcium and so rich in nickel that most plants fail on it, yet some wildflowers grow nowhere else. A hard start can be the very ground a particular life needs. Name one condition you have always counted against yourself, and ask what has grown in it that would not have grown anywhere easier.
Physical properties
Gemini, one of serpentine's signs, rules the arms and hands in traditional astrology, and this soft, waxy stone suits hands about to do something nimble. Before sitting down to a piano, a guitar or a fiddly repair, pass a polished piece through the fingers of one hand and then the other, thumb to little finger and back. Its faintly soapy surface slides rather than grips, so every finger gets its share of the work.
Care and cleansing
Some serpentine grows as chrysotile, the fibrous mineral known as white asbestos, so never sand, cut or grind a raw piece; a polished stone is safe to handle and wear. A damp cloth cleans it, though a long soak can dull its waxy lustre. Your closed hand recharges it, and a cloth bag stores it.
A question to sit with
For whom are you still playing a part you have outgrown?
Stones that share a chakra
- ShungiteCarbon from deep time
- Smoky quartzGrounded and unhurried
- Snowflake obsidianPattern in the glass
- SpinelQuiet, true fire
- StilbiteSheaf of soft light
- Tiger's eyeGolden vigilance
- Tourmalinated quartzThreaded opposites
- TourmalineLive current