Entry № 086
Carnelian
Chalcedony (SiO₂)
The old red stone of the working hand.
Chakra
Sacral · Root
Element
Fire
Zodiac
Leo · Virgo · Taurus
I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Carnelian is one of the oldest continuously worn stones in the human record, carried since predynastic Egypt for courage, steady work and the fair completion of what has been started. Practitioners work with it during job changes, creative launches and any transition that asks for warm, honest energy rather than force.
- Chakra
- Sacral · Root
- Element
- Fire
- Zodiac
- Leo · Virgo · Taurus
- Keynote
- The old red stone of the working hand.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Carnelian is the red-orange variety of chalcedony, coloured by finely dispersed iron oxide within its microcrystalline quartz matrix. Ancient Indian and Arabic craftsmen sometimes deepened its colour by prolonged sun exposure and mild heating, a treatment that continues today. The finest historic material came from the mines of Rajpipla in Gujarat, India, worked continuously for over four thousand years.
- Formula
- SiO₂ with iron oxide inclusions
- System
- Trigonal (microcrystalline)
- Hardness
- 6.5 – 7 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- India, Brazil, Uruguay, Madagascar, Botswana
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- SiO₂ with iron oxide inclusions
- Crystal System
- Trigonal (microcrystalline)
- Mohs Hardness
- 6.5 – 7 (Mohs)
- Density
- 2.58 – 2.64 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.530 – 1.539
- Provenance
- India, Brazil, Uruguay, Madagascar, Botswana
- Color Origin
- Translucent orange to deep blood-red chalcedony
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Carnotite
The yellow crust that lit the atomic age.
