Alabaster and Selenite - Bearing and meaning

Alabaster and selenite can be valuable companions at this time of year when there is much life and busyness around us. Disturbances and distractions from the outside can be shielded, so that we remain completely in control, resting in ourselves. Tensions that may arise are reduced, also because we can recognize and dissolve the patterns that lie within us. The view is directed inward, we reflect on our abilities and actual tasks.

Selenite and Alabaster - just Gypsum?!

Gypsum is a material known mainly from the hardware store, which is used as a base material for plasters, screeds and fillers, as well as used for plasterboard and as a filler. When mixed with lime, it produces gypsum lime, which is used primarily for elaborate stucco work is used.

In mineralogy, Gypsum or gypsum spar is a hydrous calcium sulfate with the chemical formula Ca[SO₄]-2H₂O from the mineral class of sulfates. Behind this sober definition are hidden especially two popular minerals: alabaster and selenite. Alabaster is the microcrystalline variety of Gypsum, so it consists of very small grains (10^-7-10^-4 cm). Alabaster is rock-forming and can grow to several meters in size. Selenite (Fibre Gypsum) are gypsum crystals whose typical elongated structures are striking at first glance. By the professional association of German geoscientists e.V. Gypsum was chosen as rock of the year 2022.

More information on Alabaster and its usage

Mineralogical profile Selenite

Chemical formula: CaSO₄ . 2 H₂O + Al,Fe,C

Mineral Class: Sulfate

Formation: 200 - 300 million years ago secondary to evaporation of salt lakes; often also by water absorption from Anhydrite.

Color: mostly white, sometimes grayish, reddish or brownish

Gloss: vitreous luster

Crystal system: monoclinic

Mohs hardness: 1.5 to 2

Cleavaability: Excellent cleavability

Localities, main supplying countries: worldwide; pieces in trade mostly from Morocco

Appearance: meter-sized, prismatic crystals; fibrous and radiating aggregates

Use: Selenite is a popular decorative stone, for exampl as a lamp or tea light.

For retailer only: Selenite lamps, tumbled stones, decorative item

Historical facts about Selenite

The Romans called the mineral selenite "lapis specularis," meaning "mirror stone." In Roman baths and the houses of wealthy citizens, window panes composed of several selenite panes were found. Because of its cleavability, Selenite could be worked well even at that time; Glass could not be made as flat and transparent at that time as it is today. In the encyclopedia "Naturalis historia", the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder (23 - 79) described the mining and use of selenite after visiting a selenite deposit in Spain.

Origin of the name Selenite and synonyms

The name "selenite" is derived from "Selene", the Greek goddess of the moon. The name was introduced by the Swedish chemist and mineralogist Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (1709-1785); he first used it for transparent Gypsum. In giving the name, Wallerius was probably inspired by the iridescent surface, which is reminiscent of moonlight. A legend assumes that the name selenite is due to the fact that particularly much selenite is found in moonlight,

Particularly transparent and flat selenite crystals are also called Marienglas or women's glass, since these were placed earlier instead of expensive glass panes for protection against images of Mary and other representations of saints. Other names for selenite, some of which are obsolete, are foliated gypsum, women's ice, gypsum glass, gypsum spar and late gypsum, and silk spar.

Selenite massage stones, tumbled stones, decorative items and more articles at wholesale prices

Use of Selenite

Selenite is due to its attractive appearance and good processing a popular stone for the production of decorative items, such as lamps or tea lights. These fascinate by the optical contrast of warm light and cool stone. In Feng Shui, selenite is partly used as protection from water veins.

Jewelry made of or with selenite hardly exists, because the material is too soft and too easily cleaved, for example, to be cut as a cabochon or drilled as a ball. For the production of gemstone water by putting the stones directly into the water, selenite is not suitable, because the mineral dissolves in the water. However, with the help of the initiation method, gemstone water can still be produced.

Historical records of the use of selenite in stone healing do not exist. Nowadays, the columnar shape makes selenite a popular stone for aligning the chakras along the body axis, as a support for meditation and for Reiki applications. Due to the neutral white color and the directionality of the fibers, selenite is sometimes used like Rock Crystal-Doppelender, for example, when laying a stone circle.

The well-known healer and author Ewald Kliegel recommends elongated massage stones of selenite to shield against external influences. When "outside" everything becomes too much, selenite can support to withdraw and (again) come to rest.