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Entry № 051

Black Shiva Lingam

Cryptocrystalline Quartz with Basalt and Iron

River-shaped stone gathered by hand.

Chakra

Root · Sacral · Crown

Element

Water · Earth

Zodiac

Scorpio

Black Shiva Lingam

I. The Metaphysical Reading

How the stone has been held.

Black shiva lingams are gathered and hand-shaped from the Narmada river and are worked with as devotional objects long before they are described as crystals. In modern practice they are held as stones of union, whole-body prayer and the balance of active and receptive forces.

Chakra
Root · Sacral · Crown
Element
Water · Earth
Zodiac
Scorpio
Keynote
River-shaped stone gathered by hand.

II. The Scientific Reading

What the lattice actually does.

Shiva lingams are polished river cobbles from the Narmada in central India, composed of a mixed cryptoquartz and basaltic matrix with veins of iron oxide and clay. The characteristic ovoid form is shaped partly by river tumbling and partly by hand by artisans on the ghats near Omkareshwar and Maheshwar. The stone is culturally significant as the sacred lingam of Shiva; its geological identity is a naturally cemented volcanic sediment of the Deccan trap complex.

Formula
SiO₂ + basalt matrix with iron oxide veins
System
Cryptocrystalline aggregate
Hardness
6 – 7 (Mohs)
Provenance
India (Narmada River, Madhya Pradesh)

References & Sources

Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.

Mineral Profile

Fact Sheet

Chemical Formula
SiO₂ + basalt matrix with iron oxide veins
Crystal System
Cryptocrystalline aggregate
Mohs Hardness
6 – 7 (Mohs)
Density
2.60 – 2.90 g/cm³
Refractive Index
1.530 – 1.540
Provenance
India (Narmada River, Madhya Pradesh)
Color Origin
Dark grey to black ground with russet and cream veins

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Small hard stone that takes no colour but its own.