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Entry № 242

Hypersthene

(Mg,Fe)SiO₃

Dark pyroxene that flashes bronze in the light.

Chakra

Root · Third Eye

Element

Earth · Storm

Zodiac

Leo · Aquarius

Hypersthene

I. The Metaphysical Reading

How the stone has been held.

Hypersthene is worked with as a stone of decisive stillness, held when someone needs to cut through indecision and act from grounded conviction. The bronze schiller is said to catch inner light in a mind that has gone dark.

Chakra
Root · Third Eye
Element
Earth · Storm
Zodiac
Leo · Aquarius
Keynote
Dark pyroxene that flashes bronze in the light.

II. The Scientific Reading

What the lattice actually does.

Hypersthene is an iron-rich orthopyroxene along the enstatite–ferrosilite series (roughly 30 – 50 % ferrosilite component), though modern mineralogy prefers the compositional names enstatite or ferrosilian enstatite. It occurs in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks such as norite and gabbro, and its characteristic bronze-to-copper schiller ("bronzite" effect) is caused by light reflecting off oriented exsolution lamellae of ilmenite or magnetite within the crystal.

Formula
(Mg,Fe)SiO₃
System
Orthorhombic
Hardness
5 – 6 (Mohs)
Provenance
Canada (Labrador), Greenland, Norway, India, USA

References & Sources

Independent mineralogical references used to verify the scientific details above.

Mineral Profile

Fact Sheet

Chemical Formula
(Mg,Fe)SiO₃
Crystal System
Orthorhombic
Mohs Hardness
5 – 6 (Mohs)
Density
3.4 – 3.5 g/cm³
Refractive Index
1.669 – 1.703
Provenance
Canada (Labrador), Greenland, Norway, India, USA
Color Origin
Dark grey to greenish-black with coppery schiller

Related Crystals

Stones that share this lattice

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Imperial Topaz

Golden-orange topaz once reserved for royalty.