Entry № 057
Blue Barite
Barium Sulphate
Weightless-looking crystals with real weight.
Chakra
Throat · Third Eye
Element
Water
Zodiac
Aquarius
I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Blue barite is worked with as a stone for communication that has to travel further than usual: a difficult letter, an inherited conversation, a message that cannot be repeated in person. Practitioners keep it near the throat during the writing and away from the desk once the words have been sent.
- Chakra
- Throat · Third Eye
- Element
- Water
- Zodiac
- Aquarius
- Keynote
- Weightless-looking crystals with real weight.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Blue barite is a variety of barium sulphate whose colour derives from natural gamma radiation acting on trace impurities within the crystal lattice. The classical blue-blade specimens of Sherman Tunnel in Colorado (the Stoneham locality) set the standard for the trade, though small crystalline groups now come predominantly from the Sidi Lahcen and Mibladen districts of Morocco. Colour is stable in normal display conditions but fades with prolonged bright sunlight.
- Formula
- BaSO₄
- System
- Orthorhombic
- Hardness
- 3 – 3.5 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- Morocco, Romania, USA (Colorado - Stoneham), Peru
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- BaSO₄
- Crystal System
- Orthorhombic
- Mohs Hardness
- 3 – 3.5 (Mohs)
- Density
- 4.48 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.636 – 1.648
- Provenance
- Morocco, Romania, USA (Colorado - Stoneham), Peru
- Color Origin
- Transparent to translucent sky blue in tabular blades
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Blue Calcite
Soft chalk-blue mineral for a tired room.
