Published January 2015  •  Updated February 2024  •  Read Time: 6 minutes
Dendritic Agate is a common crystal found in many locations around the world.  They are most often white, gray, or brown with organic-looking black or green inclusions.  These inclusions are called dendrites, a scientific word used in geology and biology that meaning “to branch like a tree.”  Appropriately, Dendritic Agate’s energy is linked to plant medicine.  It is highly recommended for gardens and farms, and even for potted plants.  It has a gentle and sensible energy that helps us to distinguish between what is true in reality vs. what we wish was true.  It is a wonderful prosperity stone for cultivating our real net worth instead of the outer trappings of pseudo-affluence.

Dendritic Agate

Dendritic Agate Meaning

Spiritual Healing Properties

Dendritic Agate brings a spiritual awareness to everyday life. It helps us to see our place within the Divine Plan and to walk our spiritual path with joy and courage. Dendritic Agate helps us stay grounded, balanced and connected to our own natural world as well as the larger universe. It is a stone of abundance and gratitude.

Metaphysical Properties Dendritic Agate
Chakra Root
Element Earth
Numerology 3 and 7
Zodiac Gemini

Emotional Healing Properties

Dendritic Agate is a gentle stone which can show us how to best use our energy, especially when dealing with stressful or complicated situations. It also helps us to release addictions and obsessions which do not serve us. Dendritic Agate reveals the truth of who we are to ourselves, thus allowing us to let go of shame, envy, guilt, victim mentality and other negative emotions. Where these negative beliefs used to be, Dendritic Agate helps us to develop a healthy sense of our true worth and value. It can also helps us better connect to our family and other loved ones.

Mental Healing Properties

Dendritic Agate unites logic with intuition, allowing us to walk through life with grace and prosperity. It help us to see more clearly the line between what is actually true, and what we simply fear or want to believe is true. Dendritic Agate is a particularly good stone for anyone working in agriculture or botany as it helps us to clearly communicate with plants and nature spirits.

Physical Healing Properties

Dendritic Agate is most often used by metaphysical healers to reduce physical tension and pain caused by stress and infections. It is said to be particularly good for back/shoulder muscles and for the skeletal system. It is also believed to help keep the capillaries, fine blood vessels, in good working order. Dendritic Agate is also used to treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

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Dendritic Agate Mineralogy

Where does Dendritic Agate come from?

Agates are found all over the world.  Varieties with dendritic patterns can be found in many locations, including Botswana, India, Turkey, and the United States.  If the pattern is black, these Agates may be called Dendritic Agate, but when the pattern is green, they are called Moss Agate (if translucent) and Tree Agate (if opaque).

Mining and Treatments

Dendritic 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 also found in alluvial deposits, sometimes completely loose loose and already naturally polished in rivers and on beaches.  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.

Dendritic Agate Placeholder
Dendritic Agate

The Environmental & Social Impact of Crystals

Your crystals should have a healing energy that is clean, powerful, & makes a positive difference.

Mineral Family

Dendritic 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.

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

Dendritic 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.  Dendritic Agate has organic-looking branches, which are typically black but can be any color.  Manganese is typically the inclusion if the pattern is black.

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

Mineralogy Dendritic Agate
Chemical Formula SiO2
Cleavage None
Color White, brown and black
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 Dendritic 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.

Dirillo River, Agate

Dirillo River, Sicily

Technically opaque Dendritic Agate should be classified as a Chalcedony, rather than an Agate.  Common practice among wholesalers, retailers and authors has resulted in the names “Agate” and “Jasper” being attached to many stones inaccurately.  Dendritic Agate, Moss Agate and Tree Agate are all variations of the same stone.  Moss Agate and Tree Agate have green dendrites, while Dendritic Agate typically has black or brown hues, although other colors are also possible. The word “dendritic” is a scientific term meaning “to branch like trees.”  It is used in geology and biology, for example dendritic cells are activated by our immune system to fight allergies.  If our dendritic cells get altered, we can develop auto-immune disorders like Chron’s Disease and Lupus.

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