Published May 2018  •  Updated February 2024  •  Read Time: 5 minutes
Pietersite is a rare multicolored crystal closely related to Tigers Eye.  Both stones get their coloring when a naturally blue stone is exposed to the air, and the iron inside oxidizes red and then eventually transforms into a golden stone.  For Tigers Eye, this process is smooth and creates straight stripes in a single color.  Pietersite is created when a geological disturbance causes the stone to be folded, fractured, and woven back together.  Instead of monochromatic stirpes, a kaleidoscope of shifting colors appears.  Pietersite is a stone of new beginnings.  Its energy helps us feel steady during times of chaos, conflict, and change.

Pietersite

Pietersite Meaning

Spiritual Healing Properties

Pietersite gives us the power and intensity of spirit needed to handle chaos and transformation. It connects us to the greatest vibrations in the universe, allowing us to harness that potent energy and use it like a true champion. Pietersite reminds us that we are spiritual beings on an earthly journey and so is everyone we encounter. It celebrates the brotherhood of all humanity and reminds us that heaven can be here on earth, and that all things are possible where there is love and respect. It removes the illusion of separateness and helps us dismantle the mental blocks that keep us from moving forward. It helps us find our center and discard false beliefs and negative conditioning. Pietersite helps us to actualize our faith, rather than blinding following dogma. It invites us to deeply understanding and live the full glory of our principles, with compassion and intelligence. Pietersite sings of new beginnings and the chance to start again. It is an excellent talisman when deep, systematic change is needed. It invites us to act as is needed without hesitation and to speak out about the most important subjects of our time. It is also useful for focusing vision questions and deepening spiritual practices like meditation and yoga.

Metaphysical Properties Pietersite
Chakra Solar Plexus and Third Eye
Element Storm
Numerology 9
Zodiac Leo

Emotional Healing Properties

Pietersite helps us to process negative experiences properly so that they don’t become traumas trapped in our subconscious. It shines a light on suppressed feelings and helps us to break up inner conflicts. It releases us from false beliefs, wrong conclusions and promises that don’t serve the higher good. Pietersite gives us tough love and practical insights. It inspires self-confidence, courage, tenacity and emotional awareness. Pietersite insists that we treat ourselves and others with more kindness and dignity. As we transition through different stages of life, Pietersite helps us to find the beauty in each season of life and not to mourn the past or fear the future. Pietersite wants to help us change our life for the better. It gives us a sense of fearlessness and hopefulness that moves us past indecision and into positive action.

Mental Healing Properties

Pietersite softens us when we are being stubborn or just plain ornery. It helps us to be more open and to thoroughly process new information and impressions. Pietersite gives us clear vision to see what’s on the horizon and to correctly read the writing on the wall. It helps us to make smart plans to better support ourselves and other people. Pietersite helps us to recognize truth when it is spoken and not be confused by lies or propaganda. It encourages us to question authority figures and the rules they impose, to ensure that they serve the higher good. Pietersite activates the imagination and drives us into action. It helps us to calculate probabilities and to understand the difference between causation, correlation and coincidence. It is an excellent tool for students, researchers, and activists.

Physical Healing Properties

Pietersite is used by metaphysical healers to treat mysterious illnesses that baffle other doctors. It is said to help reveal the root cause of the illness and the most effective treatment. It is said to be especially good for illness affecting the respiratory tract and those characterized by deep exhaustion. Pietersite is said to stimulated the pineal gland, pituitary glands and the brain in general. Pietersite has a soothing and very pleasant energy to be around when we are exhausted after giving a great deal of ourselves to any important cause.

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Pietersite Mineralogy

Where does Pietersite come from?

Pietersite deposits have been found in only two locations, the Hopewell Farm in Namibia and in Nanyang, China.

Mining and Treatments

Pietersite is mined from primary deposits, which are located in metamorphic rock. In Namibia it is mined in an open pit setting, since it is found directly under the soil. In China, it is more likely a byproduct of gold mining or industrial metal mining.

All Pietersites on the market are natural, enhanced only by tumbling, cutting, and polishing.

Pietersite Placeholder
Pietersite

The Environmental & Social Impact of Crystals

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

Mineral Family

Pietersite is a rare Silicate mineral.  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 Feldspar. Pietersite is a multi-colored semi-precious variety of Quartz which has Amphibole and/or Crocidolite inclusions. Both Amphibole and Crocidolite are varieties of Asbestos.

Pietersite’s energy works well with its family – other asbestos minerals.  Try it in combination with Hawks Eye, Serpentine, and Tigers Eye

Pietersite Formation and Crystal Associates

Pietersite is a formed when Quartz replaces Amphibole and/or Crocidolite. As the asbestos mineral decomposes, Iron is exposed and oxidized which transforms it into Limonite. Normally this process goes smoothly and the color gradually shifts from blue, to golden-brown to red. But in the case of Pietersite, there was a geological disruption during its growth that caused the stone to fold, fracture and then be glued back together as a multicolored brecciated stone with swirling patterns.

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

Mineralogy Pietersite
Chemical Formula SiO2
Cleavage None
Color Yellow, red and blue
Crystal System Hexagonal/Trigonal
Form/Habit Fibrous
Fracture Fibrous
Hardness – Mohs Scale 6.5-7
Luminescence None
Luster Silky
Mineral Family Tectosilicate
Specific Gravity 2.58-2.64
Streak White, yellow-brown
Transparency Opaque

History of Pietersite

Pietersite is a relatively new stone and so was not included in early lapidaries, texts which describe gemstones and their powers. It is a trade name for a rare brecciated chalcedony.

Pietersite was discovered by Sid Pieters (1920-2003), a Namibian prospector and gem-dealer who dealt primarily in Tourmaline. In 1962, while searching for a new Tourmaline deposit, he stumbled upon a deposit of gorgeous semi-precious chalcedony which he named after his family. The stone became popular after he began attending the Tucson Gem Show in 1977. Twenty years later, a second Pietersite deposit was found in Nanyang, China.

The Nambian Pietersite is mainly Amphiobole with a little bit of Crocidolite. The Chinese Pietersite is mainly Crocidolite, making it more closely related to Tigers Eye and Hawks Eye. Both deposits share the same swirling colors and chaotic patterns.

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