Chalcedony
Description: Chalcedony is either transparent, translucent, or opaque and is considered to be a member of the quartz family. It is the head of a family that includes Agate, Carnelian, Jasper, Tiger’s Eye, and Onyx. It occurs in many forms including in the lining of rock cavities, as stalactites, and in botryoidal form. It can be blue, pink, or gold.
Location: It is found in the United States, Sri Lanka, Russia, Mexico, and Brazil.
Astrological Sign: Cancer and Sagittarius
Spiritual Uses: Chalcedony helps one to ease self-doubts and banishes fear, hysteria, depression, mental illness, and sadness. It is cleansing in nature and is useful in improving the assimilation of minerals and to help dissipate negative energy and build-up of materials in the veins. It is a stone symbolizing benevolence and good will, the benevolence stemming from the nurturing energy the stone carries. It enhances such good qualities as generosity, responsiveness, and receptivity and alleviates hostility, irritability, and melancholy. Chalcedony promotes calm and peaceful feelings when worn as a pendant or held in the hand. It makes its user more reflective, bringing on an enthusiastic perspective and open personality.
Physical Uses: Chalcedony is a protective stone, guarding its bearer during times of political unrest and while traveling. Its protection further extends to the psychic realm, warding off psychic attack and negative magic. It is also used to drive away nightmares, night visions, and fear of the darkness; the user puts the stone under the pillow or wears it on the body. For good luck, an arrowhead made of Chalcedony can be worn or carried. The stone is said to foster the maternal instinct and aid in lactation. It is also said to cure varying forms of dementia, to increase mental stability, and to rectify senility. Being cleansing by nature, Chalcedony will promote healing of open sores, and the crystal needn’t be cleansed afterwards because of the cleansing qualities it holds in itself. It absorbs and dissipates negative energy, not allowing it to be passed on. The stone is said to ease bad dreams and all eye-related problems, gall bladder problems, and diseases of the bones, spleen, blood, and circulatory organs.
History: In the 16th century, the stone was prescribed by practitioners of magic to dissolve illusions and fantasies and for this purpose, it was pierced and hung around one’s neck. Chalcedony was engraved with the figure of a man with his right hand upraised and this was worn as a necklace for success in legal matters and for general health and safety in Renaissance times. It was also used in ancient times in the construction of chalices, which would be lined with silver, and the two minerals together would protect the liquid from contamination, an important quality to exert in times when poisoning was a common way to get rid of someone. It was said by a man named Gonelli in 1702 that the alkaline quality of the stone dissipated the evil humors of the eye, removing the diseased condition causing the apparitions; Chalcedony was said to have the ability to “drive away phantoms and visions of the night.”
Different Types: Chalcedony sometimes contains a small amount of opal.