Published January 2015  •  Updated February 2024  •  Read Time: 6 minutes
Prasiolite is a rare green Quartz that is often sold under the name “Green Amethyst.”  It is typically a pastel yellowish-green, rather than a bright green like an Emerald.  Most of the Prasiolite on the market comes from Brazil and has been heat-treated.  It is one of the least-known Quartz varieties, only serious collectors and crystal healers are likely to be familiar with it.  But Prasiolite is a very sweet heart chakra stone that is well worth seeking out.  It’s energy is very personal, concerned more with matters of romance and self-love, rather than universal love.  It is a great stone to take to therapy, since it encourages both self-compassion and self-awareness.

Prasiolite

Prasiolite Meaning

Spiritual Healing Properties

Prasiolite is a beautiful stone which inspires love and compassion. It helps us ground into the physical Earth while also connecting us with the magnificence of Divine Love. For anyone seeking a more authentic spiritual experience, Prasiolite can help us to open ourselves to the Mystery. It increases intuition whenever we are in alignment with Love and all that is Good. Prasiolite is a stone of transformation, inviting us to become more of what we truly are. Prasiolite is attuned to the Solar Plexus, Third Eye, Crown, and Heart Chakras and linked to the astrological signs of Virgo, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. It is connected to the element of Earth and vibrates to the number 3.

Metaphysical Properties Prasiolite
Chakra Solar Plexus, Heart Third Eye, and Crown
Element Earth
Numerology 3
Zodiac  Virgo, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces

Emotional Healing Properties

Prasiolite is a stone of compassion, particularly for one’s self. It helps us to accept ourselves and see our own inherent beauty and dignity. Prasiolite reminds us that to share love with ourselves and others is the greatest gift we can give. It is particularly good for anyone who struggles with self-esteem issues or is struggling to free one’s self from an emotionally abusive relationship. Prasiolite shows us that when we act out of True Love we act for the Highest Good, (and that can mean staying or going, changing or accepting). It reminds us that whatever decision brings us authentic peace is the right choice.

Mental Healing Properties

Prasiolite is a stone that unites logic and love. With it we can explore complex questions about love. For example, if love is kind how do we respond to people (including ourselves) who are not kind? Prasiolite teaches us that love is not just an emotion or a spiritual ideal, instead it is a conscious decision. We can choose to be kinder and more loving. We can choose to be with those people who respect and honor us. We can choose to do our personal work and grow as an individual. Prasiolite shows us the logical path to joy and prosperity.

Physical Healing Properties

Prasiolite is said to be a good stone for healing the physical heart as well as for healing the endocrine glands that help the body to stay balanced. It is commonly used to treat eating disorders and digestion.

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Prasiolite Mineralogy

Where does Prasiolite come from?

Quartz is a relatively common mineral found throughout the world.  Green Quartz, or Prasiolite, is one of the rarer varieties.  It is naturally found in small quantities mixed with Amethyst in Canada, Poland, Namibia, and in California, United States.

Most of the stones on the market are heat-treated from Montezuma, Minas Giras, Brazil.  It is likely that natural Prasiolite is also found in Montezuma, but the deposit may have played out.  There are also mines in Arizona that have also produced heat-treated Prasiolite.

Mining and Treatments

Quartz is found all over the world and is usually a secondary or tertiary mineral in a mining operation, rather than the primary focus.  Prasiolite is usually mined in tandem with Amethyst and Smoky Quartz.  It is mined in its primary location still associated with the igneous rock matrix.

Prasiolite Placeholder
Prasiolite

Heat-treatments are common for Amethyst, Citrine, Prasiolite and Smoky Quartz.  Heat-treatments mimic natural processes, by heating the quartz to a high temperature much as might happen if the Quartz was near a geothermal source.  As the quartz heats, trace impurities begin to alter on an atomic level, with ions gaining and losing electrons, and the result is a change in color.  By controlling the temperature, a low-grade Amethyst can be transformed into high grade Amethyst, Citrine or Prasiolite.  All three of these crystals have iron impurities, the only difference is the heat level. In most deposits, the stones can only change from purple to yellow.  In a few deposits, most notably in Montezuma, Brazil, it is possible to create a yellowish-green color because of some unknown variable.  Prasiolite is sometimes sold as “Green Amethyst”, which may be seen as a marketing strategy since Amethyst is more well-known.  But in some cases it may also be a relatively accurate description from a scientific perspective.

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Mineral Family

Prasiolite is a type of Quartz and a Silicate mineral.  Silicate minerals are the largest family of minerals, including more than 25% of all known minerals and 40% of all common minerals. In addition to being a major part of the Earth’s crust, silicate minerals have also been found on the moon and in meteorites. Silicates are minerals which contain the elements silicon (a light gray shiny metal) and oxygen (a colorless gas). Together, these two elements form a tetrahedra – a shape similar to a pyramid – with a silicon atom in the center and oxygen atoms at each of the three corners. These tetrahedra connect with other chemical structures, in six different ways, to form a wide variety of 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.  The Quartz family has two main main groups, macr0-crystalline and micro-crystalline.  The macro-crystalline minerals form large well-shaped crystals that are often transparent, while the micro-crystalline only form microscopic crystals and are always opaque.  Citrine is the golden-yellow variety of macro-crystalline Quartz.

Citrine’s energy works well with its family – other macrocrystalline Quartz minerals.  Try it in combination with AmethystAmetrine, Citrine, Clear Quartz, Rose Quartz, and Smoky Quartz.

Prasiolite Formation and Crystal Associates

Prasiolite is created when liquid magma from a volcanic eruption cools down and transforms into igneous rocks. During this cooling down period, silica acid bubbles shift from being a gas/liquid into a solid compound. The bubble becomes a hollow space in the igneous rock and the silica acid becomes Quartz crystals.  Once the Quartz has formed, a large hollow is often called a “druze,” while a smaller hollow is a “geode.”  These druze and geodes can be removed from the host rock and then split open to revel the crystals inside.

If no trace elements are present to change its color, the silica acid becomes Clear Quartz.  If trace minerals are present, then the color changes.  For example, Amethyst, Citrine, and Prasiolite all get their coloring from trace particles of iron heated to different temperatures.

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

Mineralogy Prasiolite
Chemical Formula SiO2
Cleavage None
Color Green
Crystal System Hexagonal/trigonal
Form/Habit Prismatic
Fracture Conchoidal
Hardness – Mohs Scale 7
Luminescence Pale yellow, white, or blue (short and long wave)
Luster Vitreous
Mineral Family Tectosilicate
Specific Gravity 2.7
Streak White
Transparency Translucent to opaque

History of Prasiolite

Quartz comes in every shade of the rainbow.  Many of these varieties are considered “essential crystals” or “beginner crystals” in the modern metaphysical world.  While some colors of Quartz, like purple Amethyst, have long historical traditions, others like pink Rose Quartz or green Prasiolite were barely mentioned prior to the last few decades.  This is partially because their primary deposits weren’t found until relatively recently and also because these semi-precious gems don’t have the same monetary value as their more expensive cousins. During the 20th century, the metaphysical properties of each shade of Quartz was explored by crystal intuitives who wrote down their impressions in modern lapidaries.  Rose Quartz underwent the greatest transformation, going from a barely known pink mineral to one of the most important healing crystal of our time.  Prasiolite is the least well-known, in part because it is often sold as “Green Amethyst” rather than unders its own name.

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