Aquamarine Meaning, Properties and Care
Aquamarine explained: a blue beryl, March birthstone and Colorado's state gem. Its traditional meaning for clear speech and calm, throat chakra use, care, treatments and how to spot...
Ruby Meaning: Properties, Chakras and How to Spot Real
Ruby is red corundum and the July birthstone. What the tradition says about it, where it comes from, and how to tell real from filled or glass.
Aura Quartz: How It's Made, Types and How to Spot It
Aura quartz glows like a rainbow on an oil slick, yet it is ordinary rock crystal with a breath of gold or titanium on its skin. How the...
Kunzite: Why It Fades, and How to Spot the Real Thing
Kunzite and hiddenite are the two faces of spodumene — one discovered in California, one in North Carolina. Why the pink one loses its color, why cutters dread...
Functional Mushrooms and Adaptogens: An Honest Guide
Reishi, chaga, cordyceps, lion's mane, maitake and ashwagandha - where they come from, how to read a label, how US supplement rules actually work, and what nobody is...
How to Choose a Meditation Cushion: Zafu or Bolster
Zafu, bolster, pranayama cushion or bench - and the one test question that decides the height. Fills compared, four steps to sitting well, and the honest limits of...
Moonstone vs Rainbow Moonstone: Difference and Care
It is one of the most common mix-ups in the crystal trade, and it sits in almost every product description: that rainbow moonstone is a particularly beautiful grade...
Gold Spiritual Meaning: Sun Metal, Karats and Care
Gold is the sun metal. Where silver was given to the moon, almost every tradition that worked gold gave it to the sun — and to whatever the...
Silver Spiritual Meaning: Moon Metal, Sterling, Care
Silver is the metal of the moon. Almost every culture that worked it gave it to the night sky, and in the United States it carries a second,...
Sardonyx: August's Banded Stone, and Spotting Dye
Sardonyx is the stone the Romans cut in layers: red underneath, white above, and out of the white a profile that floats over the dark ground. Today it...
Mohs Hardness: Which Crystal Can Go in a Ring
What the Mohs scale measures, why 7 is the threshold, a hardness table for the stones people own, and a scratch test with a nail, a penny and...
Moldavite: Real or Fake, and What It Actually Is
Moldavite is a tektite, natural glass formed when the Ries impact in Bavaria melted surface rock about 15 million years ago and flung it east into what is...