Sunstone Meaning

Sunstone is a joyful stone which encourages us to be true to ourselves. It is a stone of great hope, helping us to believe in our own good luck and ability to live happily ever after. Sunstone is a stone of abundance and can be use to manifest financial prosperity as well as spiritual riches. As it’s name indicates, it represents solar energy and brings gifts of Light and Energy.

Sunstone may be formed through igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic processes. Its most famous feature is an orange or golden iridescence. This shimmer is called the “schiller effect” and is caused by a tiny layers of various Feldspar minerals (most notably Albite) which are laid down during the crystallization process.

Sunstone’s energy works well with its “friends” – crystal associates formed in the same geological environment.  Try it in combination with Iolite and Sodalite.  Or explore how it’s energy feels when fused with a friend: Sunstone Iolite and Sunset Sodalite

Sunstone and Moonstone are popular names that can be ascribed to a variety of Feldspar minerals.   Most Moonstones are white or creamy off-white, but some are black, green or even light orange.  The orange ones are called Peach Moonstone.  So what’s the difference between a Sunstone and a Peach Moonstone?  Generally speaking, the only difference is the color of the iridescence.  If the stone glows orange, gold, or shows a full rainbow it’s likely to be called Sunstone.  If the stone has a silvery-white iridescence it will generally be called Peach Moonstone.

Unlike most healing stones, Sunstone isn’t a single mineral or a rock, but rather the title given to a variety of Feldspars that show a shimmering warm iridescence. Sunstones range from bright orange to golden-brown and has been closely associated with the sun and sun gods since antiquity. Until relatively recently it was far more rare than its well-known “sister-stone” Moonstone.

According to ancient lapidaries, texts which describe gemstones and their powers, the earliest known Sunstones hailed from India. In its native country, Sunstone was linked to Surya, the sun god, and was believed to protect its carrier from the dark forces of the spiritual realm.  Surya rides his sun chariot pulled by seven horses, with each horse representing the seven colors of visible light and the seven colors of the chakra.  In ancient Greece, the gem represented the sun gods Apollo and/or Helios and was believe to bring good fortune to anyone who carried a piece in their pocket. It was also believed to give physical vitality and strength and to act as an antidote to poison.

Surya, Hindu Solar God

While large deposits of iridescent feldspar minerals are in fact located in Norway, this stone can not possibly be the legendary “Sunstone” or Viking Compass, which helped Viking mariners navigate the oceans. Celebrated in the Nordic Sagas, the Viking Sunstone allowed navigators to locate the sun when it is hidden by fog, using the mineral’s natural polarizing optical properties. Today, historians and geologists alike believe that this mysterious compass was actually either an Iceland Spar (a type of Clear Calcite) or the blue gemstone Iolite.

Sunstone is also found in North America, both in Canada and the United States. The First Nation tribes in Eastern Canada used the gem in the center of medicine wheels. It was reported that when the spirit guides were successfully contacted, that the Sunstone would begin to glow with a golden light. In Oregon, the Native American tribes believed that Sunstone’s shimmery color was due to the dripping blood of a great warrior who had been wounded by an arrow during one of his adventures. The blood carried his warrior spirit and infused the stones’ with his courage and power.