Published April 2016 • Updated November 2024 • Read Time: 6 minutes
Stichtite is a a fabulous purple mineral that is found in a few small deposits around the world. Most of the specimens on the market, however, are from the island of Tasmania, off the coast of Australia. This is also the only known deposit for Atlantisite, a striking combination of rich purple Stichtite and vivid green Seprentine. In it’s pure form, it has one of the most joyful and youthful energies of any healing crystal. It can help us to bounce back after set backs and heal cleanly after emotional trauma. It can help us to forgive and to give other people the benefit of the doubt, and be willing to love again.
Stichtite Healing Energy
Spiritual Healing Properties
Stichtite connects our spiritual lives directly with our hearts, helping us to fully access our Highest Self. It awakens the Kundalini spirit and invites it to rise and bring its power into our Heart and Crown Charkas. It protects us from negative energy and encourages to be more loving and forgiving in our relationships with others, as well as with ourselves. It can also help us to be more childlike and see life with wonder and curiosity, letting go of jaded “adult” perceptions that often do not serve us or the larger world. Working with Stichtite ensures that our spiritual life is infused with laughter and delight.
| Vibrations | Stichtite |
|---|---|
| Chakra | Root, Heart, and Crown |
| Element | Wind |
| Numerology | 5 |
| Zodiac | Virgo |
Emotional Healing Properties
Stichtite is a joyful and friendly stone, encouraging us to be more affectionate and self-confident. It reminds us that life is short, and far too good, to waste time with fear or doubt. Any opportunity to express love should be seized and celebrated! During times of emotional trauma, Stichtite can help us to bounce back, and let go of whatever disappointment, anger, grief, or depression threatens us. It teaches us the importance of interdependence, allowing us to ask for help as needed and to give help as warranted. It stimulates cooperation, unity, and a great love and compassion for mankind as a whole, and individuals in all their imperfect beauty.
Mental Healing Properties
Stichtite helps us to see the other side of situations more easily and to focus on whatever solution is most just. It encourages us to work together with others, finding areas of agreement and similarity, rather than focusing on what separates us. Stichtite reduces our impulse to judge quickly and harshly, instead encouraging us to give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible. It encourages us to think lovingly and logically, seeing the two thinking styles as a single energy rather than as opposed constructs.
Physical Healing Properties
Stichtite is believed to stimulate physical resilience and calm the nervous system. It is said to be particularly useful for helping people to recover from long illnesses or major physical trauma. It is used by metaphysical healers to heal spinal injuries as well as numerous brain degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia. It is also said to be useful for treating tension headaches, hernias, tooth conditions, and to reduce food cravings. It is believed to be very good for the skin, helping us to keep it looking and feeling young and healthy.
Geology of Stichtite
Where does Stichtite come from?
Large deposits of Stichtite have been found in Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Germany, Italy, and the United States. Smaller deposits are also been reported in India, Morocco, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and Zimbabwe.
Mining and Treatments
In most mining operations, Stichtite is a rare secondary stone. One of the more important Stichtite mines is located in Tazmania, Australia. This mine is also the sole producer of Atlantasite, which is a combination of purple Stichtite and green Serpentine.
All Stichtite is natural, enhanced only by tumbling, cutting, and polishing.
Stichtite
Mineral Family
Stichtite is a Carbonate mineral. Carbonates are an important part of the Earth’s crust and are found in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. Carbonates are minerals which contain the carbonate group CO3 as their basic structural unit. They form in a trigonal system with one carbon atom centrally located between 3 oxygen atoms. While there are over 70 types of Carbonate minerals, the most common are Dolomite, Siderite, and Calcite. Stichtite is one of the rarer Carbonite minerals and is primarily composed of Chromium and Magnesium.
Stichtite’s energy works well with its family – other Carbonite minerals. Try it in combination with Aragonite, Azurite, Calcite, Magnesite, Malachite, Rhodochrosite, and Stichtite
Stichtite Formation and Crystal Associates
Stichtite is as an alteration product of Chromite, a silvery Oxide mineral which is one of the primary alloying ingredients used to make stainless steel. Chromite can grow in a variety of different environments, but can only be altered into Stichtite when the Chromite forms within metamorphic Serpentine stones. When bright purple Stichtite forms next to bright green Serpentine, they create another healing crystals, commonly known as Atlantisite.
Stichtite’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment. Try it in combination with Atlantisite and Serpentine
| Mineralogy | Stichtite |
|---|---|
| Chemical Formula | Mg6Cr2CO3(OH)16·4H2O |
| Cleavage | Perfect |
| Color | Purple, pink |
| Crystal System | Triaoanal, Hexagonal |
| Form/Habit | Fiberous |
| Fracture | Unknown |
| Hardness – Mohs Scale | 1.5-2 |
| Luminescence | None |
| Luster | Waxy or resinous |
| Mineral Family | Carbonate |
| Specific Gravity | 2.6 |
| Streak | White to pale purple |
| Transparency | Opaque |
History of Stichtite
Stichtite was discovered in the early 20th century in Tasmania, Australia. It is not included in any early lapidaries, texts that describe gemstones and their powers. It’s metaphysical properties were first described in 1993 by Melody in her book, Love is in the Earth. Shortly afterwards, a beautiful stone composed of purple Stichtite and green Serpentine mined in Tasmania was introduced to the healing stone market under the name Atlantisite. Today, both Stichtite and Atlantsite are artisanally mined in the Sticht mountain range on the western coast of Tasmania.
Stichtite was first documented in Tasmania, Australia in 1910 by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railroad company. The mining company was principally searching for gold, silver, and copper, but along the way discovered many other minerals, including new ones like Stichtite. Stichtite and the Sticht mountains were both named after Robert Carl Sticht (1856-1922), the company’s chief metallurgist and its mine manager for twenty-five years.
Sticht was an American metallurgist who had been educated at the Clausthal Royal Mining Academy in Germany. He started his career at a copper mining company in Colorado where he developed the first successful method for pyritic smelting which recovers gold and silver from ore rocks containing pyrite. When Mount Lyell Mining and Railroad company was formed in Tasmania, the owners wrote to Edward Dyer Peters (1849-1919), an American mining expert, to ask for a recommendation for a metallurgist and mining manager. Peters was also a graduate of the Clausthal Royal Mining Academy and so recommended his former classmate, Sticht.
Sticht brought his method for pyritic smelting to Tasmania and soon became the general manager. His scientific knowledge was coupled with a good sense for business and leadership. Under his direction, Mount Lyell Mine became a technical and financial success. Sticht was a progressive employer by the standards of the early 1900s. He built “betterment” facilities near the mines to improve the lives of his employees. He also helped build a technical school in nearby Queensland to train workers. Unfortunately, pyritic smelting is extremely damaging to the environment, polluting nearby rivers and destroying large parts of the native temperate rainforest.
Mt Lyell Mining remained in active operation until 2014 when it was temporarily closed and placed in a state of care and maintenance. This means the mine is being managed for safety, but is not producing. Sometimes a mine will be reopened after safety updates or when the economy improves. Other times, the mine will eventually be permanently closed so that the land may be reclaimed and restored. In some cases, care and maintenance is a legitimate lifeline to industrial mines, allowing them to regroup and reorganize, but it can also act a loophole, allowing mines to be slowly abandoned without taking the responsibility of reclaiming the land.
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