Published August 2018 • Updated August 2024 • Read Time: 6 minutes
Chrome Chalcedony is a green Chalcedony that is mined in Zimbabwe. It gets its vivid green coloring from Chromium, which is mined intensely in northern Zimbabwe. It is sometimes sold as a Green Aventurine, but generally lacks the characteristic sparkle and its energy feels more peaceful. Chrome Chalcedony is a stone of balance and harmony. It helps us to stay calm during stressful situations and to work well with other people. It encourages us to always look for the win-win solution, making it an excellent choice for problem-solving and diplomacy. Chrome Chalcedony is also a delightful choice for anyone who wishes to speak to fairies and other playful spirits.
Chrome Chalcedony Healing Energy
Spiritual Healing Properties
Chrome Chalcedony has a sweet nurturing energy that encourages us to get along and help each other. It gently reveals our Highest Purpose and shows us how we to make the biggest and most positive difference in the world. Chrome Chalcedony nudges us into alignment with our gifts and priorities. It helps us to root deeply there and to grow up strong and vibrant. Chrome Chalcedony dissolves negative energy and calms disturbances in our auric field. It also increases our powers of telepathy, including communication between humans and non-human entities, such as animals and fairy spirits.
Vibrations | Chrome Chalcedony |
---|---|
Chakra | Heart |
Element | Earth |
Numerology | 9 |
Zodiac | Cancer and Sagittarius |
Emotional Healing Properties
Chrome Chalcedony encourages balance and harmony within groups. It reduces feelings of hostility and irritability. It helps us remember that when other people are acting thoughtlessly, that doesn’t mean they are consciously trying to annoy or endanger us. Chrome Chalcedony helps us to calmly respond to stressful situations and not get overwhelmed or over-react. It helps us find the right words and actions to teach and/or remind others to be more thoughtful. Chrome Chalcedony inspires feelings of generosity and benevolence. It encourages us to give more to others, but also to be generously receptive to receiving love and kindness.
Mental Healing Properties
Chrome Chalcedony encourages logical and compassionate thinking. It inspires us to find win-win solutions and to use healthy coping mechanisms when we need support. Chrome Chalcedony encourages positive and constructive self-reflection. It dissolves negativing thoughts and reduces nightmares.
Physical Healing Properties
Chrome Chalcedony is used by metaphysical healers to keep open sores and wounds clean from infection and to speed up the healing process. It is also believed to help the body better assimilate minerals and keep the circulatory system clean and clear. Chrome Chalcedony is said to be good for healing conditions related to the gallbladder.
Geology of Chrome Chalcedony
Where does Chrome Chalcedony come from?
Chalcedony is found all over the world and in every shade of the rainbow. Green Chalcedony is found in various locations, but the variety known as Chrome Chalcedony comes from Zimbabwe.
Mining and Treatments
Chalcedony is a common mineral that is 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. It is typically mined from primary deposits which still have their original relationship with the host rock, usually in small-scale artisanal mining environments. In the case of Chrome Chalcedony, the purpose of the mining is to extract chrome and asbestos for industrial use.
All Chalcedony may be considered fully natural, enhanced only by cutting, tumbling, and polishing.
Zimbabwe
Mineral Family
Chrome Chalcedony is a a green Chalcedony and 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.
Chrome Chalcedony’s energy works well with its family – other Chalcedony minerals. Try it in combination with Blue Chalcedony, Carnelian, Chrysoprase, Onyx, Pink Chalcedony, and Snow Quartz
Chrome Chalcedony Formation and Crystal Associates
Chalcedony 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. The rocks also shift and break, creating empty cracks, fissures and other hollows. Chalcedony are formed long afterwards, when silica-bearing water permeates the rocks and begins to fill these hollow spaces. As the space fills, the water evaporates leaving the silica behind to harden into a Chalcedony. The silica-water may have picked up trace minerals along the way, which result in different colors and patterns in the new stone. Green Chalcedony may be created by inclusions of Chromium, Iron, or Manganese. Chrome Chalcedony is colored by Chromium.
Chrome Chalcedony’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment. Try it in combination with Black Tourmaline, Chrysocolla. Dragon’s Blood Jasper, and Outback Jasper
Mineralogy | Chrome Chalcedony |
---|---|
Chemical Formula | SiO2 |
Cleavage | None |
Color | Green |
Crystal System | Hexagonal/triagonal |
Form/Habit | Microcrystalline |
Fracture | Uneven |
Hardness – Mohs Scale | 7 |
Luminescence | Greenish-white (long wave) / Green (short wave) |
Luster | Vitreous |
Mineral Family | Tectosilicate |
Specific Gravity | 2.7 |
Streak | White |
Transparency | Opaque |
History of Chrome Chalcedony
Chalcedony is a large mineral family that includes all of the Agates and Jaspers as well as opaque Quartz in every color of the rainbow. But, in antiquity, the name Chalcedony referred to a specific translucent mineral whose color ranged from milky-white to pale blue. The name Chalcedony is believed to come from the ancient seaport of Chacedon, which today is a district in modern Istanbul, Turkey.
The earliest reference to Chalcedony is found in De Virtutibus Lapidum (The Virtue of Stones) by Damigeron (2nd century CE). It states, “The stone Chalcedony is bored in iron: he who wears it conquers.” A thousand years later, Chalcedony was included in the Aberdeen Bestiary (12th century), “it signifies the charity which is within us, hidden in the heart… Anyone who carry it will, it is said, be successful in lawsuits.” In the 14th century, the Lapidaire of Chevalier Jean de Mandeville reveals that Chalcedony offers protection from storms, both natural and those found in the heat of battle.
Medieval medical texts, including Speculum Lapidum (The Mirror of Stones) prescribed Chalcedony to strengthen the eyes and treat eye diseases, to increase lactation in new mothers, as well as a cure for depression. It was specifically suggested that Chalcedony be worn as a bead and strung on donkey’s hair for best results, regardless of what specific protection, healing or good luck, was desired from the stone! When studying Chalcedony, it is beneficial to also explore donkey as a totem animal. Donkeys are hardworking, intelligent, and patient. They can be stubborn and resistant to change, but they are willing to serve others and work for the greater good. They thrive when offered kindness and humbly keep their faith in a better tomorrow.
Green Chalcedony was used in jewelry and seals in the Roman Empire. According to Pliny the Elder, the mineral came from India. However, it is more likely to have come from Turkey. Green Chalcedony largely disappeared in the 2nd century, only to be re-discovered in 1955 in Mtorochaga, Zimbabwe. This modern deposit is often called Chrome Chalcedony or Mtorodite.
Additional References:
- Aberdeen Manuscript, Folio 97
- Camillus Leonardus. Speculum Lapidum: The Mirror of Stones. (Venice, 1502), p.81
- Damigeron. De Virtutibus Lapidum. Translated by Patricia Tahil. (Seattle: Ars Obscura, 1989), p.48
- Jean de Mandeville. Le Lapidaire. (France, 1371), in Gems in Myth, Legend and Lore. Bruce Knuth (Parachute, CO: Jewelers Press, 2007) p.63
- Knuth, Bruce G. Gems in Myth, Legend, and Lore (Parachute, CO: Jewelers Press, 2007), p.62-64
- Mindat.org, “Chalcedony“
- Mindat.org, “Mtorodite“
- Pliny the Elder, Historia Naturalis, 37:37
- What’s My Spirit Animal, “Donkey“
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