Published May 2014  •  Updated February 2024  •  Read Time: 7 minutes
Botswana Agate can appear in a wide array of colors, from rich deep brown to warm pinks and oranges, and soothing purplish-grays.  It forms lovely bands and whirls, and can be opaque or translucent.  It is a wonderful talisman for artists who want to keep their muse nearby and make sure that projects are started AND finished.  Botswana Agate is also a great talisman for anyone who wants to quit smoking or other addictions.  It can be carried in a pocket and fiddled with whenever addiction calls out to us.  Botswana is home to one of the oldest continuous cultures, and these Agates can remind us what we actually need to be a happy and healthy human.

Botswana Agate botswana agate meaning

Botswana Agate Meaning

Spiritual Healing Properties

Botswana Agate is a stone for exploring the unknown. It provides us with courage to embark on spiritual journeys and to seek truth in all its myriad forms. Botswana Agate energizes the auric body and helps us to recognize that Love is the great constant of the universe. It is a stone that encourages spiritual maturity, moving us beyond dogma and into a more full and rich personal experience of the Divine.

Metaphysical Properties Botswana Agate
Chakra Heart, Throat, and Crown
Element Fire
Numerology 3 and 7
Zodiac Gemini and Scorpio

Emotional Healing Properties

Botswana Agate helps us to overcome feelings of repression – especially in terms of artistic expression. It recalls our childlike wonder of the world, that time when we felt (or wanted to feel) that everything was possible and we could do anything we put our minds to. At the same time, Botswana Agate has a soothing energy that is extremely grounding and helps us to see things from their proper perspective. It is a wonderful stone for anyone who has a dream and wants to see it come to fruition. It is also very helpful for anyone who is actively seeking new friends or a new romantic relationship. It encourages us to act conscientiously and lovingly towards ourselves and others, and to be both confident and happy.

Mental Healing Properties

Botswana Agate inspires creativity, both artistically and when seeking solutions to vexing problems. It encourages us to think “outside of the box” and helps us to remain emotionally detached so that we can use our logic and intuition more fully. Botswana Agate encourages us to stay alert and attentive to details. This is a stone for patience, helping us remain calm and focused even during stressful times. It is also a wonderful stone for self-analysis since it’s energy is gentle yet also very honest, a combination which can help us to build self-confidence and self-acceptance.

Physical Healing Properties

Botswana Agate is also a very good choice for anyone involved in art therapy. It reminds us that there are many ways to understand our emotions and to solve our problems, and to be open to exploring these different paths until we find one that suits us well.  Botswana Agate is also a good crystal friend when it’s time to quit smoking.  It reminds us that we’re the only one who can give this gift of health (and money) to ourselves and that we can do it! It helps us to find ways to satisfy the craving without giving in to the old habit.  It is a lovely talisman for health conditions affecting the lungs, throat, or eyes.

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Botswana Agate Mineralogy

Where does Botswana Agate come from?

Agates are found all over the world.  Unsurprisingly, Botswana Agates come from Botswana and often have a hint of orange, pink or purple in their color tone.

Mining and Treatments

Botswana Agate is mined in it’s primary deposit in association with the igneous rock in which it formed.  Agates are common minerals that not valuable enough to be the primary focus of any large-scale mining operation.  It is however commonly mined in tandem with other precious metals and minerals in small-scale and artisanal mines, especially if the stones are particularly colorful or distinctive.  Agates are usually ball or almond-shaped nodules ranging in size from a fraction of an inch to several yards in diameter.  If the Agate fills the entire hollow space left by the gas bubble, it is called an Agate Almond.  If a hollow remains in the center, it is called an Agate Geode.

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Botswana

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Mineral Family

Botswana Agate is a silicate mineral.  Silicates are minerals which contain the elements Silicon (a light gray shiny metal) and Oxygen (a colorless gas). There are six main groups of Silicate minerals, and these main groups are further subdivided into secondary subdivisions, such as Quartz and Feldspar. Quartz is divided into two main groups, macrocrystalline and microcrystalline.  Macrocrystalline quartz has well-formed crystals that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye, for example, Amethyst or Clear Quartz.  Microcrystalline quartz has crystals so small they can only be seen through a microscope.  These are typically grouped together under the name Chalcedony, or it’s subcategories Agate and Jasper.  Microcrystalline quartz can be colorless or appear in every shade of the rainbow.

Botswana Agate’s energy works well with its family – other Agates.  Try it in combination with Apricot AgateBlue Lace Agate, Crazy Lace Agate, Dendritic Agate, Fire AgateGray AgateMoss AgateSardonyx, and Tree Agate.

Botswana Agate Formation and Crystal Associates

Agates are created after a volcanic explosion has transformed magma and lava into igneous rock. During the cooling down period, various gases form bubbles, which then become hollow spaces in the igneous rock.  Agates are formed long afterwards, when silica-bearing water permeates the rocks and begins to fill the hollow spaces.  Sometimes the hollow fills quickly and the resulting Agate is a solid color or has a random scattering of trace inclusions.  Depending on which inclusions are added, the Agate will take on a variety of different colors, patterns and transparency levels.  Banded Agates are formed more slowly, with one layer of silica-water solidifying, before another layer is deposited on top.  This sequence is repeated over and over until the hollow is filled.  Some of the layers will have picked up different trace elements or different quantities of the same element, resulting in bands of different colors.

Botswana Agate’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment.  Try it in combination with Carnelian and Snow Quartz

Mineralogy Botswana Agate
Chemical Formula SiO2
Cleavage None
Color Brown, Gray, Pink, Orange, Purple
Crystal System Hexagonal/trigonal
Form/Habit Cryptocrystalline
Fracture Conchoidal
Hardness – Mohs Scale 7
Luminescence Green (long wave) / Yellowish-white (short wave)
Luster Vitreous
Mineral Family Tectosilicate
Specific Gravity 2.
Streak White
Transparency Translucent to opaque

History of Botswana Agate

Agate has one of the oldest historical traditions of any healing stone. It is included in virtually every known lapidary, texts which describe gemstones and their powers. Archaeological evidence amply shows that Agates have been treasured since the very earliest times. Agates have been found in many Stone Age graves and appear to have been kept either for their beauty or, perhaps, for their energetic power. Early lapidaries, dating as far back as 3000 BCE, referenced seals, rings, beads, and other ornaments which were carved out of Agate. The Sumerians were the first to describe the power of stones, and their texts state that wearing Agate gave a person special favor with the gods.

The name “Agate” was first used by the Greek writer Theophrastus (372-287 BCE). He wrote that all Agates came from a Sicilian river then called the Achates River, and today known as the Dirillo River. Agates are still found along this river today. In the 1st century, Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) repeated Theophrastus’ claim and further stated that looking at Agate rested the eyes and that sucking on a piece of Agate could quench thirst. As a result of these beliefs, Agate was still being prescribed by druggists for treating eye conditions as recently as the early 20th century.

Botswana Agate is mined in the Kahalari Desert, the traditional lands of semi-nomadic tribes known collectively as the San or Basarwa (often better known as “Bushman,” a derogatory term that comes from the Dutch word “bossiesman” meaning “outlaw.”)  The San people live throughout southern Africa, but the largest modern population is in Botswana.  Their culture is among the oldest continuous cultures on earth, having remained largely unchanged for tens of thousands of years, prior to the 20th century.

The San people traditionally follow a shamanistic faith that is closely linked to the natural world.   Among their pantheon of deities is the trickster-god and folk hero, IKaggen.  Sometimes IKaggen appears as ordinary man, but he can also shapeshift into different animals such as a praying mantis.  In some stores, he is wise and helpful, while in others the trickster-god is foolish and troublesome.  Shamans are both the spiritual leaders and healers of the community, who can treat both physical illnesses as well as “star sickness” a negative energy that causes fights, jealousy, and stingy behavior.

The San people have few physical possessions.  The few decorative and/or symbolic objects seem to be limited to eggshell jewelry and animal bones or antlers.  Stones are used for arrowheads and other practical objects.  But the San people are famous for their rock art, which depict animals, humans, and half-human hybrids that are shamans in the midst of a trance dance.  Some of the more recent rock art, shows sailing ships, wagon wheels and other signs of modern civilization.

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