Entry № 132
Dumortierite
Aluminium Borosilicate
A stone of denim-blue focus and patient study.
Chakra
Third Eye · Throat
Element
Air
Zodiac
Sagittarius · Virgo
I. The Metaphysical Reading
How the stone has been held.
Dumortierite is worked with as a stone of unglamorous focus, kept nearby during exam preparation, technical study and the long stretches of a project that no one else will notice until it is finished. Practitioners hold it as a reminder that concentration is a devotional posture.
- Chakra
- Third Eye · Throat
- Element
- Air
- Zodiac
- Sagittarius · Virgo
- Keynote
- A stone of denim-blue focus and patient study.
II. The Scientific Reading
What the lattice actually does.
Dumortierite is an aluminium borosilicate first described from Chaponost in France in 1881 and named after the palaeontologist Eugène Dumortier. Most commercial material is fibrous, forming intergrowths with quartz that are cut as dumortierite quartz cabochons. Deposits at Almeida in Portugal are mined industrially to make high-temperature porcelain.
- Formula
- Al₇BO₃(SiO₄)₃O₃
- System
- Orthorhombic
- Hardness
- 7 – 8.5 (Mohs)
- Provenance
- France (Chaponost – type locality), Brazil, Madagascar, Namibia, USA, Sri Lanka
References & Sources
Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.
Mineral Profile
Fact Sheet
- Chemical Formula
- Al₇BO₃(SiO₄)₃O₃
- Crystal System
- Orthorhombic
- Mohs Hardness
- 7 – 8.5 (Mohs)
- Density
- 3.26 – 3.41 g/cm³
- Refractive Index
- 1.678 – 1.723
- Provenance
- France (Chaponost – type locality), Brazil, Madagascar, Namibia, USA, Sri Lanka
- Color Origin
- Deep royal blue to violet-blue fibrous or massive material
Related Crystals
Stones that share this lattice
Next in the Atlas
Eilat Stone
King Solomon's stone from the Timna copper mines.
