Entry № 035
Autunite
Hydrated Calcium Uranyl Phosphate
The green fire that must be watched from a distance.
Chakra
Solar Plexus · Third Eye
Element
Fire
Zodiac
Leo · Scorpio

I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Autunite is regarded as a stone of intense but disciplined attention, worked with only in specimen form and at a respectful distance. Practitioners speak of it as a marker of transformative knowledge, the kind that must be handled carefully because it changes whoever comes close to it.
- Chakra
- Solar Plexus · Third Eye
- Element
- Fire
- Zodiac
- Leo · Scorpio
- Keynote
- The green fire that must be watched from a distance.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Autunite is a secondary uranium mineral that forms as bright yellow-green tabular crystals in the oxidised zone of uranium deposits, named for its type locality at Autun in France. It fluoresces vivid green under ultraviolet light thanks to the uranyl ion, and dehydrates in dry air to a less-hydrated relative called meta-autunite. Because it is radioactive, specimens are stored in sealed containers and displayed rather than handled.
- Formula
- Ca(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·10–12H₂O
- System
- Orthorhombic (tetragonal pseudosymmetry)
- Hardness
- 2 – 2.5 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- France (Autun), Portugal, USA (Washington - Daybreak Mine), Australia
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- Ca(UO₂)₂(PO₄)₂·10–12H₂O
- Crystal System
- Orthorhombic (tetragonal pseudosymmetry)
- Mohs Hardness
- 2 – 2.5 (Mohs)
- Density
- 3.05 – 3.20 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.553 – 1.577
- Provenance
- France (Autun), Portugal, USA (Washington - Daybreak Mine), Australia
- Color Origin
- Lemon to apple-green tabular crystals, fluoresces bright green under UV
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Axinite
The wedge-crystal that turns the light.




