Published June 2017 • Updated August 2024 • Read Time: 6 minutes
When people think of Garnet they typically imagine an Almandine or Pyrope Garnet – a dark red jewel. Hessonite Garnets are always a vivid orange! They are actually a type of Grossular Garnet, a variety which is usually green but can come in other colors. Hessonite is sometimes called “Cinnamon Stone” because of its color and its spicy energy. Hessonite Garnet has a sassy and joyful vibration, that reminds us that life is short and so we should do our best to make it sweet. It helps us to release misplaced shame and guilt, and helps to strip away inhibitions. If we need to question the beliefs that we were raised with, Hessonite makes the process easier.
Hessonite Garnet Healing Energy
Spiritual Healing Properties
Hessonite Garnet is a powerful talisman for spiritual warriors and a wonderful tool for manifesting abundance. It encourages us to be open to receiving and growing, and not to allow ourselves to become stiff and closed off. On a practical level, it invites us to closely examine our thoughts and habits, and to change them as needed so that we can continually become a better version of ourselves. Hessonite Garnet reminds us to not waste time feeling guilty or ashamed of areas where we need to do some personal work. Instead, it cheerfully encourages us to simply get to work and start anew! Hessonite Garnet is a very joyful stone, reminding us that life is a beautiful adventure and we are blessed to be on it and lucky to be able to help others. It can also be used to strengthen our intuition and psychic abilities and keep us safe on spiritual journeys.
| Vibrations | Hessonite Garnet |
|---|---|
| Chakra | Root |
| Element | Earth |
| Numerology | 6 |
| Zodiac | Aries |
Emotional Healing Properties
Hessonite Garnet strengthens our sense of self-respect and helps us to make choices that we will be proud of. It asks us to dismiss any feelings of inferiority and instead do our best and know that it will be sufficient. Hessonite Garnet gives courage to our hearts, daring us to love boldly and openly. It strips away inhibitions, and feelings of shame and unworthiness, allowing us to truly embrace sensuality and sexuality. Hessonite Garnet is also an excellent ally during breakups and heartache. It helps us to better enjoy our own solitary company and to engage in activities with make us feel loved and cared for.
Mental Healing Properties
Hessonite Garnet encourages us to rise up to new challenges and expand our mental horizons. It 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. It encourages us to trust our gut instincts and to be willing to take the occasional leap of faith. It also helps us to resist the urge to identify too closely with our beliefs. Having that little bit of distance makes it easier for us to examine our beliefs critically, be open to new information, and evolve as necessary. Hessonite Garnet invites us to use our intellectual capabilities in service to the world and to find clever ways to be more generous.
Physical Healing Properties
Hessonite Garnet is recommended for anyone who is suffering from issues related to hormones, infertility, impotence, or a reproductive system that simply isn’t working the way we might wish. When this part of our body is acting weird, it can make us feel very awkward and we might be uncomfortable or scared of talking to a doctor. Hessonite Garnet helps us to be brave and be curious, and to strongly value self-care. As a talisman, Hessonite Garnet can help us feel hopeful when trying to get pregnant or is pregnant, especially if we’re feeling spooked because of past fertility problems. It is also a delightful talisman for anyone interested in improving our sense of smell, whether for purely physical reasons or to improve our instincts in general. Does a situation “smell right”? Does it “smell wrong”? Hessonite Garnet helps us to trust our bodies’ instincts.
Geology of Hessonite Garnet
Where does Hessonite Garnet come from?
Garnets are found worldwide. Notable Hessonite Garnet deposits are in Canada, Italy, Pakistan, and Peru.
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.
Hessonite Garnet
Mineral Family
Hessonite is the orange variety of Grossular Garnet. 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.
Hessonite Garnet’s energy works well with its family – other garnets. Try it in combination with Almandine, Andradite, Grossular, Pyrope, Spessartine and Uvarovite.
Hessonite Garnet Formation and Crystal Associates
Garnets can be formed in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. Hessonite Garnet is formed in contact metamorphized limestones. Most of the time, when people think of garnet, they are imagining a dark red Almandine Garnet. Hessonite Garnet is always orange.
Hessonite Garnet’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment. Try it in combination with Chlorite, Diopside, Prehnite, and Vesuvianite
| Mineralogy | Hessonite Garnet |
|---|---|
| Chemical Formula | Ca3Al2(SiO4)3 |
| Cleavage | None |
| Color | Orange |
| 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 Hessonite 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.
Hessonite Garnet is an orange variety of Grossular. Its name comes from the Greek, hesson, meaning inferior. This is due to its lower hardness and density, as compared to other varieties of Garnet. Most Garnets have a Moh’s hardness of 7.5, while Hessonite is only 7. This gem is sometimes nicknamed “cinnamon stone” because of its pretty color.
Most myths associated with Garnet are about the red varieties, but one story from medieval Indonesia may be about Hessonite. According to legend, when the ruler of one of the islands was just a child his mother left him in a hammock stretched between two trees. A serpent slithered near the child and dropped a stone onto the prince’s body. When the parents realized what had happened, they correctly realized the serpent had given their child a wonderful gift, and in gratitude fed and cared for the serpent. The stone glowed golden-red and could light a room at night. Hessonite Garnets are occasionally found in Indonesia, and “golden-red” would seem to indicate an orange shade, rather than a pure red or reddish-purple.
Hessonite Garnet is one of Navaratna, or “Nine Gems” in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. They are often worn together as jewelry talismans for health and wellbeing. The traditional design has a Ruby (the sun) in the center, and the other eight gems are the celestial bodies that encircle it. Hessonite Garnet is associated with Vedic Astrology with the “shadow planet” of Rahu which is responsible for solar eclipses and acts as the lunar north node. In astrology, our north node points to our soul’s mission. It reveals our natural talents and shows us where we have the most potential for positive growth.
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