Pietersite is a highly unique crystal that originates from Windhoek, Namibia. Immediately recognizable through its swirling mass of colors and textures, the pietersite stone is often referred to as the “Tempest” for its similarity to a wild desert storm.
A kaleidoscopic squall of golds, browns, blues and blacks, pietersite represents transformation and necessary chaos. Sometimes, life is like a storm, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful. Pietersite reminds us of the beauty to be found in change and transformation.
This uniquely shaded stone was discovered by Sid Pieters in 1962, who named it after his father Louis Pieters.
Read more to find out everything there is to know about the captivating chaos of the pietersite stone.
Jump To a Section Below
- What Is Pietersite?
- What Color Is Pietersite?
- What is the meaning of pietersite?
- Benefits And Healing Properties Of Pietersite
- What Chakra Is Pietersite Good For?
- How To Use Pietersite
- Is It Safe To Wear Pietersite?
- Is Pietersite A Rare Stone?
- Why Is Pietersite So Expensive?
- Is There A Fake Pietersite?
- Is Pietersite The Same As Tiger’s Eye?
What Is Pietersite?
Pietersite is an incredibly rare and enchanting crystal most commonly found in Namibia and China. A member of the quartz family, pietersite is a silicified Riebeckite with traces of Limonite.
Categorized as a chalcedony stone, pietersite is a microcrystalline quartz that can be found in masses of jasper. The distinctive shimmering gold streaks are what makes pietersite so special, and is often accompanied by abstract swirls of color that liken it to an impressionistic oil painting.
What Color Is Pietersite?
Pietersite is a combination of several colors. Most often, it can be found in various shades of midnight blue, grey, gold, and dusty ochre. Blue pietersite is considered amongst the most valuable of its kind, but any combination of the stone’s colors makes for an entrancing appearance. Up close, a polished stone resembles the intricate weather patterns of a planet in outer space.
What is the meaning of pietersite?
The dominant meaning of pietersite is transformation. The shifting colors and swirls that seem to dance in the light make pietersite a powerful symbol for change, allowing us to use it as support for seasons of great adjustment or flux.
Pietersite also represents strength and willpower, allowing us to push through the discomfort of change and find fulfilment on the other side. People that are going through a period of deep personal transformation will often be drawn to this stone.
The pietersite stone is also known to amplify imagination and dreams. Using it as a tool for enhancing your mind’s eye can result in a deeper sense of self-awareness and clarity of mind.
Benefits And Healing Properties Of Pietersite
This powerful chalcedony stone is known to possess many useful benefits that can positively influence the mind, body, and spirit simultaneously.
Firstly, pietersite has been used for many years as a great supporter of the nervous system, allowing those around it to experience decreased light-headedness, dizziness, or headaches. It is also used to heal dull eyesight or eye infections.
The liver and metabolism are also influenced by pietersite. Using the stone in your daily life can result in a better ability to absorb nutrients, and provide women in particular with a sense of balance and stability for hormonal flux.
From an emotional and spiritual standpoint, pietersite can also provide healing. Feelings of low confidence can be transformed into courage, and any lack of inspiration can be uplifted through the regular use of this stone. It may also stimulate strange and prophetic dreams.
Anyone with a desire for greater clarity, inspiration, and bravery for facing difficult life challenges can benefit from the healing properties of pietersite.
What Chakra Is Pietersite Good For?
The pietersite stone is affiliated with two chakras: the solar plexus chakra, and third eye chakra. The solar plexus chakra is all about willpower and self-confidence, two things which pietersite knows how to boost quite naturally.
The third eye chakra represents foresight, intuition and imagination, which blue pietersite is known for enhancing. Using this stone to strengthen the power of these two chakras can bring energetic balance and harmony to your life.
How To Use Pietersite
It is easy to incorporate pietersite into your daily life – and doing so will allow you to absorb its many healing properties. You can hold it close while meditating or place it on your forehead to represent a connection to the third eye chakra.
Pietersite can also be placed in a special corner of your home for an added boost of courage and spiritual strength that filters into your body throughout the day. Do not put pietersite into your water bottle or bath, as it is a very soft stone that will quickly degrade when submerged underwater.
Is It Safe To Wear Pietersite?
It is absolutely safe to wear pietersite. In fact, it makes for an incredibly mesmerizing addition to all jewelry pieces. Many people like to wear pietersite stones on earrings, necklaces or rings for a uniquely stunning physical appearance.
Is Pietersite A Rare Stone?
Yes, pietersite is considered a rare gemstone. Blue pietersite is the most rare, but any form of this precious gem is difficult to find. In fact, there are only two locations in the whole world where it can be mined: Namibia (its place of origin) and parts of China.
Why Is Pietersite So Expensive?
The rarer a gemstone is, the more expensive it usually becomes. Because pietersite is only found in two parts of the world, its value is driven up, resulting in a higher price. However, you can find ochre and rusty gold-colored pietersite at a lower price than the highly prestigious blue pietersite.
Is There A Fake Pietersite?
Unfortunately for lovers of this stone, counterfeit pietersite is fairly common. Because it looks a lot like Tiger’s Eye, some crystal merchants may try to sell the cheaper bronze crystal in place of authentic pietersite.
You should be able to tell whether or not a pietersite stone is authentic through its inclusion of blue or its softer swirling pattern as opposed to the sedimentary structure of Tiger’s Eye.
Is Pietersite The Same As Tiger’s Eye?
Pietersite and Tiger’s Eye are two completely different crystals. Where pietersite is a microcrystalline chalcedony, Tiger’s Eye is a macrocrystalline quartz.
Pietersite is composed of two different materials – tiger’s eye and hawk’s eye, so it is considered a pseudomorph of quartz. This means that pietersite did not originally form as quartz. Instead, it started as the mineral crocidolite.
Over long periods of time, the original crocidolite fibers underwent a mineral replacement process and were entirely substituted with quartz.
So although pietersite now appears as quartz, its original fibrous structure came from the precursor crocidolite mineral. So they are not the same, and each possesses a unique footprint of value, color, benefits, and meaning.
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.