Selenite
Also Gypsum, Satin spar
Crystalline gypsum, soft enough to scratch with a fingernail, grown to eleven metres.
- Family
- Gypsum
- Formula
- CaSO₄·2H₂O
- Mohs
- 2
- System
- Monoclinic
Drag to turn
Science
Selenite is transparent gypsum in blades and 'fishtail' twins; satin spar is the fibrous form sold as wands. It grows from evaporating water. In the Naica mine, Mexico, crystals up to eleven metres grew in a flooded cave at 58 °C over half a million years, found in 2000 when the water was pumped out.
- Mineral
- Gypsum (variety)
- Formula
- CaSO₄·2H₂O
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Mohs hardness
- 2
- Specific gravity
- 2.32
- Refractive index
- 1.520 to 1.530
- Lustre
- Pearly to silky
- Colours
- Colourless, White, Peach
Composition
CaSO₄·2H₂O. Made of Calcium, Sulfur, Oxygen, Hydrogen.
Origin
- MexicoNaica, Cave of the Crystals
- Moroccosatin spar wands
- United StatesUtah, Oklahoma
- Australia
- Brazil
Filled dots are primary sources
Rarity
Gypsum is everywhere; plaster is made from it. Clear selenite blades and satin spar are cheap.
- 1 Abundant
- 2 Common
- 3 Uncommon
- 4 Rare
- 5 Exceptional
Hardness
Selenite sits at 2 on the Mohs scale. A steel knife will scratch it; it suits pendants and display more than rings.
Energy
Associations from crystal-healing tradition, recorded here as folklore. They are not medical claims.
Chakras
- Crown
Element
- Air
Zodiac
- Taurus
- Cancer
Planets
- Moon
Properties
- Cleansing
- Clarity
- Peace
- Charging other stones
Lore
Named for Selene, the moon goddess, for its pale glow. Thin sheets glazed windows in ancient Rome and medieval churches, where it is still called 'Mary's glass'.
In modern practice it is the stone that cleanses everything else, placed under other crystals; it dissolves in water and must be kept dry.
- NaicaThe largest crystals on Earth, in a cave now re-flooded.
- WaterSlightly soluble; never soak selenite.