Keywords:
Emotional balance, intuition
Affirmation:
I am extremely intuitive and perceptive. As I awaken my consciousness, I become more aware of what thoughts, people, and/or situations need to be shifted or realigned in my life.
Birthstone:
Moonstone, along with Pearl, is the birthstone of June.
Zodiac Sign:
Moonstone is the Zodiac gemstone for Cancer (June 21 to July 22)
Wedding Anniversary:
Moonstone is the gemstone to celebrate the 13th wedding anniversary
Moonstone is the stone of new beginnings. It is strongly connected to the moon and to the intuition. The stone is reflectiveand re-minds us that, as the moon waxes and wanes, so everything is part of a cycle of change. Its most powerful effect is that of calming the emotions. Moonstone makes conscious the unconscious and promotes intuition and empathy. It encourages lucid dreaming, especially at the time of the full moon.
Moonstone is the most well-known gemstone variety of orthoclase feldspar, a potassium aluminum silicate. It is a transparent to opaque oligoclase, a variety of plagioclase albite and sheet mica. Moonstone is known to exhibit a distinct sheen under certain lighting conditions, and it is the sheen which renders moonstone one of the most remarkable gemstones available today. In fact, its name is owed to the almost magical, bluish white shimmer it exhibits, which closely resembles that of the moon. Gemologists refer to the shimmering optical phenomena as ‘adularescence’.
The optical effect of adularescence is a result of moonstone’s unique structural pattern. Tiny inclusions of albite, a sodium aluminum silicate are intermixed with host rock layers of orthoclase, a potassium aluminum silicate. The alternating layers of different feldspars form a lamellar (scaly) structure which causes the interference of light as it enters the stone. Thin layers of alternating silicates tend to refract more attractive and colorful sheens, whereas thick layers of silicates produce less attractive, white to colorless sheens. As light enters the stone, it is refracted and scattered, producing an extremely unique and attractive play of both color and light. With moonstone, the aura of light actually appears to glow from deep within the surface of the stone
Moonstone was extremely popular in the times of “Art Nouveau”, which took place more than 100 years ago. It was used to decorate a striking amount of pieces of gemstone jewelry created by the famous French Master-Goldsmith, René Lalique, as well as many of his contemporaries. His rare pieces are typically only found in museums or in well-guarded private collections.
Testing for hardness is often one of the easiest methods for distinguishing moonstone from other materials. Other similar gems, such as opal, chalcedony or ammolite, are significantly harder or softer than moonstone. Top quality moonstone can show an incredible “three-dimensional” depth of color, which no other gemstone can replicate, making moonstone almost unmistakable.
Moonstone deposits are often found as constituents in feldspar-rich granitic and syenitic pegmatites all over the world. The most important moonstone deposits are from Sri Lanka and India. Other notable sources include Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Myanmar (Burma), Madagascar, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Tanzania, and the United States. Sri Lankan moonstone is most famous for its attractive blue colored material, but blue moonstone is becoming increasingly rare. India is known for producing fine ‘rainbow moonstone’. Switzerland’s Adula Mountains possess the most historically interesting moonstone mines.