Chrysocolla has been a hugely popular crystal throughout human history. There are stories that Cleopatra herself carried it with her to help inspire her. Nero, the famed Roman Emperor, is said to have ground the stone up into a powder and sprinkled it around the arenas where his people raced chariots in order to bring more energy to the races.
With such an auspicious history it’s now wonder that chrysocolla stone still captivates us to this day.
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What Is Chrysocolla?
The chrysocolla stone is characterised by its vibrant blue and green colors. It comes in a range of forms, from balls and bubbly plates to stalactites in massive form. Many think of it as a crystal but the actual mineral structure of chrysocolla is amorphous and it doesn’t form visible crystals.
You’ll often find chrysocolla where you find copper deposits. This stone is actually a copper ore. You’ll also regularly find it alongside deposits of malachite and blue azurite. These are considered cousin minerals.
What Is The Meaning Of Chrysocolla?
The earliest record of the name dates back to 315 BC. Botanist and philosopher Theophrastus from Ancient Greece used the name. It comes from chrysos, which means gold, and kolla, which means glue. This is because the stone was used in the soldering process when working with gold.
The name then disappeared from use and was brought back André-Jean-François-Marie Brochant de Villiers. He was a mineralogist from the early 1800s.
Benefits And Healing Properties Of Chrysocolla
Chrysocolla crystal is referred to as the stone of the Goddess.
It provides both gentleness and power to your energies; a dichotomy that can be seen so easily in the bright colors of the stone. It can bring fluidity to your life, allowing you to move through your emotions and giving you grace and poise. This also gives you a great sense of empathy towards others around you.
Chrysocolla is linked to sound, and is often used to enhance how we experience sound when we make it, and when we hear it. If you are giving a talk or a performance, this is the perfect stone to have with you. It is also closely linked to the throat chakra, helping you to let words flow out of you so that they resonate with others.
When it comes to chakras, chrysocolla stones can link your base chakra to your throat and heart chakras. Using this stone allows you to gain a new appreciation for your own body, its mechanics and the power that comes from within you. It’s all about connecting your physical energies with your mental energies.
This connection allows you to be more active and be more open to inspiration. Chrysocolla crystal is known to promote spontaneity in life, encouraging people to say yes to more things more often. This will hopefully reignite your passions in life and build your self-esteem, allowing you to laugh more often and more freely.
How To Use Chrysocolla?
As chrysocolla stones are so closely linked to the throat chakra and the concept of communication, it is most effective when worn close to the throat. It works well as a pendant on a necklace or choker, and the colors of the stone make it a beautiful piece of jewelry anyway.
To enhance the impact of chrysocolla, you can pair it with its cousin crystals of malachite and blue azurite. This combination will amplify the stones’ effects on your body, allowing for greater self-understanding and the ability to communicate this better. You can also pair chrysocolla with phenacite, which is known to give you greater inner vision.
How To Clean And Cleanse Chrysocolla?
Chrysocolla is a soft stone and needs to be treated with care. The best method for cleaning it is with warm, soapy water and a soft cloth that has nothing abrasive on the surface. Even if your gemstone is covered in resin to protect it, you should still take care with cleaning it. It’s also good to keep it away from things like steam or harsh chemical cleaners.
As the stone is so soft, it’s also important to ensure that you store it carefully. If you have any chrysocolla jewelry, it should be kept apart from your other jewelry because the metals or stronger stones could easily scratch it. The same goes for your crystals. Any stronger or harder crystals should be kept separately.
Is Chrysocolla Expensive?
Chrysocolla is not expensive compared to other crystals in the same range, its cousin stones. The larger the piece of chrysocolla that you purchase, the more expensive it will be. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that you must always look for impurities and structural damage in the stone.
Larger pieces of chrysocolla crystal are likely to have structural damage because the stone is so soft and can crumble easily. It’s always important to examine the stone before you purchase it and to ensure that it is properly secure when you are transporting it.
How Can You Tell Fake Chrysocolla From Real Stones?
In the last decade, scientists have started creating simulated chrysocolla crystals quite easily. Now, it can be difficult to spot the difference between the genuine article and chalcedony that’s dyed to look like chrysocolla. A simulation like this even won a GIA award back in 2008.
The best way to ensure that you are getting the real deal is to go to a dealer who is reputable and can give you a certified gemstone. This usually is more expensive but at least you know you have actual chrysocolla at the end of the day.
You should also pay close attention to the colors of the gemstone if you are shopping elsewhere. The veins of green and blue in this stone are so vibrant, but they also include patches of other colors – yellow, black and red are most common. It should never be just a pure green gemstone or a pure blue gemstone.
The softness of the chrysocolla stone is also a good indicator. If you can scratch the surface with a copper coin, it is likely to be the real deal. However, the inclusion of quartz or other minerals in the stone could make a genuine gemstone harder.
If you want to feel as powerful as Cleopatra or as legendary as Nero, this is the stone for you! Chrysocolla really is the stone of the goddess, energy, and gentleness all rolled into one.
Chermaine’s journey into the world of gemstones and crystals began as a child, collecting shimmering stones on family vacations. Today, she’s a certified gemologist and spiritual healer, intertwining the physical beauty of jewels with their metaphysical properties.
Chermaine has traveled to mines in Africa, marketplaces in India, and spiritual retreats in Bali, always seeking to deepen her understanding.