Gemstones
Gemstones – Prehnite
Magical Crystal and Metaphysical Qualities of Prehnite
This is a stone that will do many useful things simultaneously, and it is often quite under-rated. Green Prehnite is both a heart chakra and solar plexus chakra stone. From my personal perspective I can say I do believe in the powers of Prehnite! It seems to have a calming effect, and when you are working with it making jewelry it makes me feel more joyful every time.
To help you to do the things that you want to achieve, from a heart based perspective, use Green Prehnite. The solar plexus or power chakra is the seat of the will, and this green stone’s action links your heart with your will, and brings you peace and joy, and will help to relieve worry.
Prehnite improves intuition and brings the ability to recognize the truth in our everyday life. It helps us harmonize our will for action with our heart, so that our deeds are always coordinated with the highest and most noble goals of our true nature. Prehnite is said to “heal the Healer,” and can be used to revitalize your personal healing environment.
Prehnite Color and Chemical Properties
Prehnite occurs in a range of green colors, including pale green to dark green and yellow to brown green. Prehnite may also occur gray, blue, orange, white and colorless. A soft apple green color is most desirable, while blue, pink, colorless, white and orange are considered the rarest occurrences and are highly sought after by mineral collectors.
| Hardness: | 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale |
| Refractive Index: | 1.611 to 1.669 |
| Density: | 2.82 to 2.94 |
| Cleavage: | Good |
| Transparency: | Transparent to translucent |
| Double Refraction or Birefringence: | 0.021 to 0.039 |
| Luster: | Vitreous to pearly |
| Fluorescence: | None |
Where Does Prehnite Come From?
This crystal has been found in many countries, predominantly in South Africa, India, China, Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA.
Large and exceptional delicate masses of Prehnite epimorphs after Laumontite come from the Kandivali Quarry, Mumbai, India. Several new deposits of gemmy Prehnite have been found in China. In Australia, good Prehnite has come from Prospect and Mullaley, New South Wales.
Africa contains many outstanding sources of Prehnite. The most extensive and exploited are in the Kayes Region of Mali, where the Prehnite can be found in perfect thick and translucent formations associated with sharp dark Epidote.
Europe has only a few notable occurrences of mineral. These include Bourg d’Oisans, Isère, France; and the Oficarsa Quarry, Carchelejo, Spain. A form of Prehnite totally different from all others was found in the the Jeffrey Quarry in Asbestos, Quebec, Canada, in the form of large, individual dipyarimdal and flattened dipyramidal crystals and clusters.
In the U.S., the most famous and well-known Prehnite localities are in northwestern New Jersey. Some of the finest examples of this mineral in all forms, especially botryoidal, hemispherical blobs, fingers and snakeheads, were found in the Upper and Lower New Street Quarries, Paterson, Passaic Co.; as well as Prospect Park, Passaic Co. Large rounded balls, sometimes with a yellowish hue, were found in the Millington Quarry, Somerset Co.; and triagular clusters of exceptional Glauberite casts came from Fanwood, Somerset Co.
Connecticut has good Prehnite in many of the basalt quarries, especially the O & G Quarry in Southbury, New Haven Co. (including rare white Prehnite); the O & G Quarry in Woodbury, Litchfield Co.; and the Roncari quarry, East Granby, Hartford Co. In Massachusetts, Prehnite associated with sharp black Babingtonite was found in the Lane Quarry, Westfield, Hampden Co.; and pale green tabular crystals were found in the Foote Lithium Mine, Cleveland Co., North Carolina.
