Tourmaline: what does it look like, what properties does it have and where is it used?

Talisman of victory, hope, eternal youth and strength - tourmaline was revered in ancient Egypt. Legend has it that the gods, flying from the heart of the Earth to the Sun, circled the rainbow. They collected all its colors and enclosed them in a mineral, calling it a rainbow gem.

This stone is located in the hydrothermal layers of the crust, where there is a natural circulation of hot and cold springs. Accumulated without high pressure oxygen water in narrow crevices tens of hundreds of years freezes, turning into rainbow stones. Tourmaline has a volcanic origin, it is found in granite and granite-like rocks, it is found in the deposits of quartz with beryl, topaz and wolframite.

In Russia, these stones were called sybarites, because their deposit was discovered in the Urals and Transbaikalia. They were used to decorate the salaries of icons and church utensils, and the largest Russian gem weighing 100 grams adorns the Crown of the Russian Empire, made for Catherine I.

In India, this type of mineral is considered the most valuable. The stone has been used for jewelery from time immemorial, but it was later discovered magical and healing properties. Until the 16th century, tourmaline was called lal, like all red jewels.

Tourmaline was brought to Europe by seafarers from the Netherlands, returning from the Indian colonies at the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. The first description of the stone in the catalog of minerals of 1711 was carried out by a physician Paul Hermann practicing in Ceylon.

In those times jewelry made of stone was made only for royals and nobles. Legend has it that Cleopatra gave Caesar this gem in the form of a bunch of grapes. He was named Ruby Caesar.

Then the traces of the mineral are lost in time, but in the XVIII century it falls to the Swedish king Gustav III, who presented it to the autocrat of Russia Catherine II. True, at that time the mineral was ranked as rubies, and only in the last century it turned out that this Burmese pink tourmaline. The jewel is kept in the Russian Diamond Fund.

Some historians believe that the name of the stone comes from the Senegalese phrase tura mali, which means "mixed-color stone". Some believe that the word "tourmales" translates as "precious." Others insist that tourmali is interpreted as "attracting ash." Allegedly, using this property of the mineral, the Dutch colonists took the ashes of tobacco from their pipes with raw tourmaline crystals.

Tourmaline stone has a constant electrical charge of 0.06 microamps, Pierre and Marie Curie revealed this in the last century. They called this stone electric mineral. Tourmaline has the properties of pyro- and piezoelectric.

Mineral is a transparent (turbid specimens are rare), a brilliant prismatic stone with a size of 10 cm or more. Sometimes there are elongated samples with a triangular cut. Color palette - all colors of the rainbow.

Some specimens change color depending on the lighting. Often in one mineral there is a mixture of colors. Color varies from colorless to black.Depending on it and the degree of transparency, crystals are jewelry, decorative and technical. Technical demand in the production of electronic devices in optics and medicine.

The composition of the stone includes 26 chemical elements: iron, manganese, chromium, lithium and other substances, but aluminum silicate and bromine are constant in its base. Hue is determined by the amount of impurities. Depending on the color, the name of tourmaline also changes.

Raspberry - apirite, colorless - achroit, pink or red - rubellite. Some names are misleading. Green tourmaline known as Brazilian Emeraldand people believe that it is really him.

Black or Sherl has a high iron content. Bioenergetics believe that it creates for people an energy field that is impenetrable by electromagnetic radiation or mental damage such as damage. These crystals are energy nuggets, normalizing the work of the body's biofield and providing a powerful healing effect. Tourmaline products improve health by working at the cellular level. The stone is said to emit microcurrents, infrared rays and negative ions.

In many parts of the world, industrial mineral mining is carried out, for example, in Sri Lanka, in India and Afghanistan, in Burma and Madagascar. The extraction of polychrome and red crystals goes in Mozambique. It is mined in Angola, Australia, Italy on Elba Island, in China, in eastern Brazil (Minas Gerais, Bahia and Espiritu Santo), in the USA (Maine and California), in Canada (Ontario), South Africa.

To date, the Ural reserves, located in the vicinity of the villages Lipovka, Murzinka, Shaitanka, Sarapulka and Yuzhakovo, have been depleted. The best stones are mined in Transbaikalia at the Malkhanskoe deposit. On the Kola Peninsula, in the area of ​​Voronykh tundra, there are tourmalines of pink and green colors, as well as black. Sherls are also found in Karelia.

For a long time, healers endowed tourmaline with healing and magical properties and used it as amulet or talisman. Lithotherapists who study the effects of natural materials on the body recommend a crystal for a positive effect on the endocrine and nervous systems. Tourmaline is useful for people to focus and dispel fears. Many believe that it benefits from cancer. It is an indicator of radioactivity and surrounds a person with a protective field.

It has a beneficial effect on the hematopoietic system and helps with liver diseases. Gives a sense of peace and security.

It is assumed that the magical properties of a gem are affected by its color. Astrologers argue that red minerals bestow erotic energy, and green encourage creativity, rejuvenate and promote vitality.

Blue colour helps with insomnia. The black neutralizes the whole negative. Colorless crystals provide mental and physical balance.

Multicolor bring optimism. They are recommended to be used daily as decorations. It can be pendants or rings on the index finger of the right hand or on the middle finger of the left.

Jewelers appreciate a diverse palette of colors of stone, thanks to which it is used to create pendants, brooches, earrings or rings. The mineral is ideal for grinding, it is quite easy to cut compared to other gems. Besides, products from tourmaline can be given the most incredible forms.

Price per carat of the elite tourmaline paraibawhich has a neon-blue color, glowing at dusk, mined in the same state of Brazil, reaches tens of thousands of dollars. There are also semi-precious stones that are cheap.

Conquistadors who returned from America brought green stones to the Old World in the middle of the 16th century, dubbed Brazilian emeralds. Karl Faberge himself loved this beautiful stone and often used in his works. Only two centuries later, mineralogists, having studied it, recognized that it is an independent mineral - tourmaline. Its color causes a high content of chromium and iron.

• The most famous stone from the tourmaline group is verdelite. Its shades can be pinkish, yellowish-green, sometimes turning into blue. It is believed that the stone delays the arrival of old age, relieves headaches, clears blood vessels, eliminates neurosis, helps the heart. Improves the condition of the skin and circulatory system.

• One of the varieties of a valuable stone is a polychrome, called watermelon. The mineral is really similar to watermelon: a dark green crust covers the red ripe flesh, reaching the yellow core of the stone. Mineral strengthens the nervous system, helps with communication.

• Tsilaizit is characterized by a palette of yellow-brown shades. Rare purple patterns that are considered magical. The stone is characterized by a high content of magnesium and potassium, which give a yellow color. It is rarely found in nature, therefore it is not so popular among jewelers, although the best examples are classified as precious stones. The price for them is quite high.

• Grounding brown mineral (dravit) contributes to emancipation. It gives confidence to the person, strengthens family ties. The main purpose - the fight against diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Restores functions of the pancreas, spleen, liver and gallbladder. In the early stages it fights cancer.

• A variation of this mineral is the pink-colored rubellite or Burmese tourmaline. It is characterized by reflections of garnet and dark red shades. It is brought from Burma, where it is mined. Mineral improves tone, cleans blood vessels. It helps to stop chronic illnesses, increases the level of immunity.

• One type of crimson-colored rubellite, in high demand, is mined in Russia (Siberia, the Urals) and is called Siberite.

• Coloring polychromic minerals (elbaitov) It is a real rainbow in which colors replace each other, creating a fancy pattern. They are used by jewelers to make jewelry that creates the illusion of a rainbow. The stones have several varieties, one of which (“the head of a Turk”) has a light edging and a red core. The other ("head of the Moor") has a dark brown or black center, framed in a lighter color. Such tourmalines help to know oneself.

• Stone of white color (ahroit) something like a diamond, but does not have a brilliant shine. Deprived of color or has a barely visible pale green haze. The deposit is available only on Elba Island, therefore the stone is considered to be an elite, precious, energy carrying Yin. A positive effect on the immune system and the endocrine system. It is argued that achroit attracts good luck and protects from negative, helps to unleash creative potential, activates brain activity.

• One of the semi-precious species is indigolite, having a rare blue tint, turning into a purple, reminiscent of the endless waters of the ocean. Indigolite is often confused with a precious stone, therefore it is called Ural, Brazilian, and Siberian sapphire. The crystals have a clearly defined parallel shading and refract light, create brilliance. The mineral carries positive energy, protects against stress and neurosis, normalizes the production of thyroid hormones and adrenal glands. Emotional people recommend saturated blue shades, and depressive ones - green.

• The closest in hue and pattern to emerald is a variety of chromtourmalin. The only difference is that tourmaline shines less than emerald itself.

• One of the most interesting and unusual varieties of tourmaline is chameleonite. Such a stone seems rather inconspicuous, swamp hue, but when it gets into the shadow, it changes its color to red-brown. Pay attention to the difference in shades of the mineral day and night, and you will understand why he is wearing such a "talking" name.

Since ancient times it was believed that this stone has a healing effect on humans. It is effective as a whole mineral, and in the form of dust. Grinding of crystals does not violate its electromagnetic properties, on the contrary, it forces to release energy more actively.

Pillows from this fiber relieve insomnia, tissue dressings help with osteochondrosis, and men's pants treat prostatitis. Permanent wearing such underwear speeds up the metabolism, rejuvenates and heals, and products do not lose their properties until full wear.

The electric micron currents emitted by the gem, negative ions and infrared rays improve human health, stimulate blood circulation, expand the capillaries, activate metabolism at the cellular level.

Negative ions increase the vitality of the cells, relieve fatigue, calm nerves, strengthen the immune system and improve the air in the room. It is this property of the stone that was used to create special medical chandeliers. As you know, the emergence of positive ions contribute to high-voltage cables, cell phone radiation and many other modern inventions of mankind. Negative ions generated by tourmaline are needed to compensate for the damage caused by positive particles. The mineral can create protection from electromagnetic radiation and neutralize susceptibility in geopathogenic zones.

In medicine, most often used yellow crystals with their constant magnetic field. With their help, they fight against pathologies in the body without the use of drugs. Knee pads and elbow pads, socks, insoles, radiculitis belts, eye patches, scarves and gloves are made from their fibers.

Although some doctors and physiotherapists are skeptical of such products, the popularity of products is growing. The use of products has no side effects and contraindications., but it is worth being careful of pregnant and lactating mothers, people with high blood pressure and prone to bleeding, as well as cancer patients. When using a pacemaker, after a stroke, fever and allergies consultation with a doctor is necessary.

The healing properties of this gem are mentioned in Ayurveda and in Chinese medicine. It has been used since antiquity as an adsorbent for poisoning. He helped remove metals from the body. It was by studying the properties of tourmaline that static electricity was discovered.

Large crystals are used in radio engineering, creating high-precision instruments. Mineral is used to cover household items. Claim that stones are indicators of radioactivity, having elements that have a different impact on a particular person.

The intensity and direction of the impact of this healing mineral on humans depends on its color, which is determined by the content of various chemical elements:

• strengthen the immune system, inhibit aging, improve blood circulation, treat heart, liver and kidney pathologies with green stones;
• eliminate hormonal imbalance, maintain immunity - blue;
• paraiba will help to restore the reproductive function of the stronger sex;
• lung diseases and various dermatitis treat pink and pink-red crystals;
• reassure - yellow;
• If you put a coat on the affected area, the patient's condition will immediately improve.

As already mentioned several times above, the healing and magical properties of tourmaline determine its color. The strongest effect on the body is considered a stone. black color, which removes negative emotions, finds vulnerable organs and systems, treats them, protecting the host. Green pacifies passions, and red acts as an activator of the senses.

Tourmaline will develop creativity, inspire and help find the right way through life.

Minerals are often used for rites, they decorated the clothes of priests and church symbols.

In addition, having a strong energy, tourmaline will protect from the "evil eye" anyone who wears it. In India and China stone attributed to the ability to develop dedication, determination, faith in yourself. If you constantly use jewelry from tourmaline, there will be a combination of all energy centers, and the energies of Yin and Yang will balance. The feeling of internal exhaustion and nervous tension will disappear.

What else is strong tourmaline?

• Restore the human biofield, to revive faded love, to achieve harmony in the family under the power of reddish and pink pebbles.
• Accumulate and embody extraordinary ideas helps to wear the gem of green shades.
• Clear the mind from the negative and to achieve spiritual peace will help the stones, devoid of color.
• To establish contact with higher forces use blue crystals. They can help in meditation.

With constant wear, throw off unnecessary energy and black energy by washing the product under running water.

Different types of crystals affect zodiacal signs in different ways, but the stone is most suitable for Pisces, Libra, Gemini. Gems are good for Cancer, Capricorn, Virgin. People born in September-October are in the clouds. Their tourmaline returns to reality. Scorpio categorically contraindicated this stone.

But there is no consensus about zodiac compatibility with the mineral. Some believe that for Aries and Leo It also fits, especially pink and green shades. Mineral will remove quick temper in a person, obstinacy and calm. Aquarius and Sagittarius blue gamma of tourmaline will relieve from the choking emotions. Well, black calms the nerves, relieves irritability Scorpio. For people under 35 years of age, bright transparent crystals complete with alexandrite and ruby ​​are ideal.

It is also necessary to match the color of the gem with the character and profession of the owner. Red gives creative people inspiration, stabilizes the relationship of lovers. A good acquisition would be a pair of rings with this red stone.

Green and blue soothe the psyche and allow you to find inner balance. Mineral is shown to those who are disappointed in their loved one watermelon colorin which red and green shades are combined. Schorl develops the gift of foresight and is considered a witchstone.

• Natural stone is colored unevenlyand fake is always perfect. Imitation is made of glass, painted in the desired color, or even plastic.
• The original can not be compared with glass in hardness and strength, it is much stronger.
• Since the stone has the properties of piezoelectric, It is able to attract small pieces of paper or hair.
• In nature, large stones are rarely found. If they offer jewelry with a large crystal, then this is an imitation.
• The original breed is very clean and transparent without any inclusions.
• Artificial stones differ from natural absolutely no defects.
• Coloring natural stone with artificial lighting is poorly expressed, and the color of the fake plays with highlights. Natural stones refract and decompose transmitted light into two beams.

The technology of obtaining synthetic tourmaline by dosed bombardment of silicon billet atoms. The billet under pressure and high temperature is charged with atoms of boron, sodium, potassium and aluminum. This technology is expensive and the resulting stones, too, so this production has no practical sense.

Caring for products with tourmaline is easy. This requires water, soap and a soft sponge, but you should not experiment with steam, abrasive particles and heating. The stone does not tolerate purification brush or ultrasound.

Over time, the stone is magically depleted, so it is necessary to feed it with sunlight. A couple of times a week is necessary place the mineral under running waterand then try to transfer your energy to him with your own hands. You can use the moonlight.

Pink, blue, green and red gems should not be placed in the open sun. Though they are charged with energy, they also fade. Dark minerals (indigolite and sherl) charge very well in the sun.

More information about the properties of tourmaline will tell the following video.