Entry № 036
Axinite
Calcium Aluminium Boro-Silicate
The wedge-crystal that turns the light.
Chakra
Root · Sacral
Element
Earth
Zodiac
Taurus · Capricorn
I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Axinite is carried as a grounding stone for practitioners whose work keeps them in their head, a companion that returns attention to the body and to the practical next task. Its wedge-shaped crystals are read as a reminder that pressure applied at the right angle can move what will not otherwise shift.
- Chakra
- Root · Sacral
- Element
- Earth
- Zodiac
- Taurus · Capricorn
- Keynote
- The wedge-crystal that turns the light.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Axinite is a boro-silicate that crystallises in sharp wedge-shaped triclinic crystals, an unusual habit that gave the mineral its name from the Greek axine, an axe. It is strongly pleochroic, shifting between clove brown, violet and honey as the crystal is turned. The finest historical specimens came from Bourg d'Oisans in the French Dauphiné; large gem-grade crystals are still recovered from Baja California and from the Piedmontese Alps.
- Formula
- Ca₂(Fe,Mn,Mg)Al₂BSi₄O₁₅(OH)
- System
- Triclinic
- Hardness
- 6.5 – 7 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- France (Dauphiné), Russia, USA (California), Mexico, Tasmania
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- Ca₂(Fe,Mn,Mg)Al₂BSi₄O₁₅(OH)
- Crystal System
- Triclinic
- Mohs Hardness
- 6.5 – 7 (Mohs)
- Density
- 3.18 – 3.37 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.674 – 1.704
- Provenance
- France (Dauphiné), Russia, USA (California), Mexico, Tasmania
- Color Origin
- Clove brown to violet, honey or plum with strong pleochroism
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Azurite
The pigment the old painters kept blue with.
