Chrysoprase Meaning

Chrysoprase connects us directly to Divine Love. It teaches us to live heart-centered; to both give and receive love in all its many forms. Chrysoprase can be used to attract devas and other earth spirits, and also to connect more deeply with Mother Earth and Gaia energy. Chrysoprase invites us to celebrate beauty and abundance. It also gently asks us to send our own great healing energy out into the world, to be of use to all beings great and small.

Chrysoprase is a wonderful heart-healer and teacher. It is particularly good for helping us to understand and move forward during and after abusive relationships. Chrysoprase reminds us that love is good, kind and gentle, and that anyone who treats us badly isn’t being loving – and that is something worth seeing very clearly! Chrysoprase whispers in our ear – “you deserve to be loved, you deserve to be treated kindly, you are worthy… sweet one, your beautiful heart is priceless!” Chrysoprase offers its own strength, hope, and belief to us and encourages us, quietly but persistently, until we gradually fall deeply in love with our own self. Chrysoprase wants us to live a life that creates joy and peace in our hearts.

Chrysoprase is one of the most powerful stones for exploring our beliefs about love and our own worth. It helps us to look back on our past and find peaceful resolution. It is particularly helpful for helping us become more conscious about our internal self-talk, the voices in our head which can be brutally and unfairly critical of ourselves. Chrysoprase reminds us to be more kind to ourselves and also more practical. Our goal is not perfection, our goal is to live and love to the best of our abilities. Chrysoprase teaches us to be strong, capable of change, and able to survive heartache without becoming hard or jaded. It encourages us to see things clearly for what they are, and to remain heart-centered throughout.

Chryosprase is an excellent stone for general health and keeping the body feeling young and vigorous. It is commonly used as a relaxation aid and to promote peaceful sleep. Metaphysical healers most often use Chrysoprase for recuperation following surgeries or long term illnesses. It is also commonly used for healing the physical heart, especially following heart attacks.

Chrysoprase 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.  Chrysoprase gets its color from tiny inclusions of nickel.

Chrysoprase’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment.  Try it in combination with Clear Quartz and White Opal.

Chrysoprase is apple-green Chalcedony, which is considered the most valuable type of Chalcedony among gemologists. Its name comes from the Greek khryso prasos (or golden green). It has an ancient history and is included in many ancient and medieval lapidaries, texts about gemstones and their powers, but has few legends connected to it.

Chrysoprase was mentioned in the Bible, in the Book of Revelations, as the 10th foundation stone of the New Jerusalem. Later Christian texts, dating back as early as the 7th century, also associate Chrysoprase with the Apostle Thaddeus. In some of the Church writings, the Foundation Stones were described in great detail and reasons were given for why each stone was chosen. Unfortunately, some of these writers were much better versed in spiritual lore than in geology! For example, in the 12th century Aberdeen Bestiary (a text which describes animals, plants, and minerals according to Christian dogma) the author clearly had never seen a Chrysoprase. He described the apple-green stone as, “purple in color and separate small gold marks.”

One of the few non-Christian legends associated with Chrysoprase, connects the stone to Alexander the Great. According to stone lore, the great general wore a Chrysoprase on his belt which he wore into battle. The gem made Alexander invisible to his enemies and so he could slaughter them without fear of injury. When Alexander reached the Euphrates, he took off his belt and a snake bit off the stone and dropped it into a river! From that point onward, Alexander had to rely on luck and skill alone, with no magic to aid him.