What Is Quartz?

Quartz crystal, a master healing stone, should become an important part of everyone’s daily life. With crystals as pale and surreal as a wisp of smoke, as dark and clear as midnight waters, or as warm and rich as a cognac by the fire, this mineral honors its connection with Mother Earth. Quartz is the simplest form of silicon oxide, SiO2, and is the second-most common mineral in the crust. It can be found almost anywhere, but it takes special conditions for the quartz to form into veins and crystals large enough to be of decent quality for use in gemstones and as the beautiful crystals found in stores.

Most quartz veins are formed deep in the earth when hot fluids containing the silicon oxide from magma escapes into cracks in the surrounding, cooler rock. As it cools, quartz begins to line the cracks and eventually fill them in, forming a vein. If a space large enough in the rock is found, and conditions are just right, whole crystals can form in the pocket, creating geodes and the larger crystals that show the distinct hexagonal (six-sided) form of quartz. The mineral itself is formed from a silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, in which four oxygen atoms make a box around the silicon atom.

What Causes the Different Colors?

At Sakura Designs, we offer over 500 different types of healing mala beads made from natural gemstones, many of which are crystal, or silicon dioxide. When the hot fluids from magma escape into the surrounding rock, it carries more than just SiO2! Many other elements and minerals are carried along with it and depending on what else was in the magma, some of those other elements can become caught in the crystal structure as “impurities” and can impart colors other than clear and the milky white color usually associated with most quartz. See some of our designs, for example: Rose quartz is created by the addition of manganese, iron or titanium. The purple of amethyst is formed by a combination of iron and places in the crystal structure that have missing atoms, or holes. Citrine’s yellow is from iron, as it the green of praseolite. Smoky quartz has no “impurities” and is the result of of holes in its crystal structure.

How Does Quartz Become Rutilated?

This is another way in which another mineral becomes combined into the quartz’s crystal as it grows. These can be color variations, fractures, repeating triangles, rainbows or rutiles. In this case, rutile, titanium oxide or TiO2, grows first in the hot fluids, often in thin needles of a lovely golden brown to yellow color. The quartz will then form out of the fluids around the rutile to create beautiful crystals that range from a few delicate lines of rutile to crystals almost black. Folklore has it that the rutile helps integrate the natural power of the healing properties of quartz with the energies around it. It’s like amping up the power of crystal.

Why is Gold Often Associated With Quartz?

Gold can be found in some quartz veins because of the way in which quartz is formed. If the magma the hot fluids came from was rich in rare elements, like gold or silver, those often will be caught up in the fluids as they separate from the magma, concentrating those rare elements in the fluids. When it cools and quartz form, the concentrated gold is caught in that vein, making it much more economical to mine!

What Are the Healing Properties of Quartz?

In the metaphysical tradition, quartz’s phenomenal power lies in its capability to defend and ground one physically and spiritually on this world. They can also to soak up and transmute important amounts of negative energy and releases it into the Earth to be neutralized naturally, allowing positive frequencies to take their place. Use it’s protective energies to block stress and absorb electromagnetic energy given off by power lines and electronic equipment. Keep one lovingly in a bag, a bag in the glove box or near valuables, particularly if left unattended for long time periods. Our crystal mala beads with gold, can help to make one one more powerful, clearer and grounded in these troubled times. Quartz brings assistance in tolerating these difficult moments with equanimity and resolve, and inspires one to be more open and engaged in our world, with love~