Published June 2016  •  Updated August 2024  •  Read Time: 5 minutes
Most of the time, when people think of Garnet they imagine an Almandine or Pyrope Garnet – a dark red jewel.  Grossular Garnets are never red, they’re usually green! They can also be orange, pink, yellow or even white.  While the garnet family is named after red pomegranates seeds, Grossular’s name comes from its resemblance to yellow-green Gooseberries.  Depending on the color or location of the gem, it may be known by another name, such as Hessonite Garnet (orange) or Tsarosite Garnet (dark green).  Grossularite Garnet is a stone of abundance and prosperity, which can be in the form of money but also in such intangible as friendship and joy.

Close up of tumbled Grossular Garnet

Grossular Garnet Healing Energy

Spiritual Healing Properties

Grossular Garnet is a powerful stone of abundance and manifestation, teaching us to be open to receiving the many bountiful gifts of the Universe. Such abundance can take the form of financial wealth, but can also come to us as an abundance of love and friendship, a plethora of positive opportunities, or the simple pleasure of being showered with spiritual gifts and a personal connection to the Divine. Grossular Garnet is a very joyful stone, showing us the incredible beauty of this world and reminding us how truly fortunate we are. It gives us courage and hope, helping us to see challenges as adventures and teaching us to move with both passion and serenity. Grossular Garnet encourages us to be more generous and to spread positive energy wherever we go.

Vibrations Grossular Garnet
Chakra Root, Solar Plexus, and Heart
Element Earth
Numerology 2 and 6
Zodiac Leo, Virgo, Cancer, Capricorn and Aquarius.

Emotional Healing Properties

Grossular Garnet guides us to a place where we can feel emotionally free and peaceful.  It gives courage to our hearts and strips away inhibitions, and feelings of shame and unworthiness.  It helps reduce anxiety, particularly when it is related to love or money scarcity, and reminds us that ultimately all of our needs will be provided for. Grossular Garnet is a profoundly sensible stone. It counsels us to follow a wise path, balancing our fiery passions with earthy common sense. This same balance can be applied to financial matters, helping us to earn, save and spend our money in a way that feels good. Grossular Garnet encourages us to be of service to other people, seeing it as an honor to help another, rather than a duty. It likewise inspires cooperation in groups and loyalty to good people and causes.

Mental Healing Properties

Grossular Garnet helps us to release old ideas, beliefs, and patterns, whenever they no longer accurately represent our level of knowledge or our actual lifestyle. It is a stone of new beginnings and freedom, shaking us out of whatever rut we are in, and challenging us to come alive intellectually and creatively. Grossular Garnet is a powerful crystal ally to carry during lawsuits and other legal challenges, and helps us to stay calm and focused on the facts, rather than being upset by turbulent emotions.

Physical Healing Properties

Grossular Garnet is a phenomenal stone for physical health, and is said to stimulate the metabolism and immune system, as well as fortifying the circulatory system. It is most often used by metaphysical healers to help the body regenerate cells after traumatic injuries or illness. Grossular Garnet is also said to fortify the kidneys and prevent rheumatism and arthritis.

Geology of Grossular Garnet

Where does Grossular Garnet come from?

Garnets are found worldwide. Notable Grossular Garnet deposits are in Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mali, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, and the United States.

Mining and Treatments

Garnets may be mined in open pits or in secondary alluvial deposits. They are occasionally found as inclusions in Diamonds. Garnets are mined for use as abrasives as well as for fine gemstones.

Lab-created Garnets exist and are occasionally used in fine jewelry. But the majority of Garnets are natural, enhanced only by cutting and polishing.

Grossular Garnet Placeholder
Grossular Garnet

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Mineral Family

The Garnet Family is a group of 15 silicate minerals.  Silicates are minerals which contain the elements Silicon (a light gray shiny metal) and Oxygen (a colorless gas). Together, these two elements form a tetrahedron – a shape similar to a pyramid – with a Silicon atom in the center and Oxygen atoms at each of the four corners. These tetrahedra connect with other chemical structures, in six different ways, to form various minerals and rocks. There are six main groups of Silicate minerals, and these main groups are further subdivided into secondary subdivisions, such as Quartz and Garnet.

Grossular Garnet’s energy works well with its family – other garnets.  Try it in combination with Almandine, Andradite, PyropeSpessartine and Uvarovite.

Grossular Garnet Formation and Crystal Associates

Garnets can be formed in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.  Grossular Garnet is formed in contact metamorphized limestones.  Most of the time, when people think of garnet, they are imagining a dark red Almandine Garnet.  Grossular Garnets are more likely to be green!  Sometimes they are orange, at which point they are often called Hessonite Garnet.  On occasion, Grossular can also be pink, yellow or white.

Grossular Garnet’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment.  Try it in combination with Diopside, Prehnite, and Vesuvianite

Mineralogy Grossular Garnet
Chemical Formula Ca3Al2(SiO4)3
Cleavage None
Color Green, orange, pink, yellow, white
Crystal System Cubic
Form/Habit Dodecahedral, trapezohedral
Fracture Conchoidal, brittle
Hardness – Mohs Scale 6.5-7.5
Luminescence None
Luster Vitreous
Mineral Family Garnet Group
Specific Gravity 3.6-4.3
Streak White
Transparency Transparent to opaque

History of Grossular Garnet

Garnet has one of the oldest and most detailed historical traditions of any healing stone. It is included in virtually every known lapidary, texts which describe gemstones and their powers. Originally, the term “Garnet” was only used for the reddish varieties, Almandine and Pyrope and did not include orange and green Garnets.  For most of history, Red Garnets, Rubies, and other glowing red stones such as Spinal and Tourmaline were thought to belong to the same mineral family, called “Carbuncle” – a name which means “little spark.” It wasn’t until the 19th century that these stones were correctly divided into separate mineral families.

The name Garnet comes from the Latin words granum or granitus, meaning grain or seeds. These words in turn have an even older origin, coming from the Phonecian punica granatum, meaning “pomegranate seeds.” The reference refers to more than just the glowing red color and common shape of Almandine and Pyrope Garnets. Interestingly, when found in matrix, Garnets often cluster much like pomegranate seeds do.  The name Grossular comes from the botanical name for the gooseberry, or grossularia, which has the same yellow-green shade as the Grossular Garnets found in Siberia.

In the 1967 a new deposit of particularly fine Grossular Garnets were discovered by the Scottish-born, Kenyan geologist and prospector, Campbell R. B ridges (1937-2009). The original deposit of transparent, vivid green Garnets was found in north-eastern Tanzania. The Tanzanian government refused to provide Bridges with the necessary permits to mine and export the gemstones. However, the deposit was found to extend into the neighboring country of Kenya, which was more willing to allow mining. In 1974, Tiffany and Co. launched a large marketing campaign aimed at promoting the new gemstone, whose bright coloring made it a rival for Emerald. They named it Tsarovite, in honor of the Tsavo East National Park, a massive wildlife part in Kenya located near the Garnet mine.

Herd of giraffes in a green savannah in Kenya

Giraffes in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya

Grossular Garnet offers Peaceful Prosperity

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