geology

Shungite | The Ultimate Guide and Healing Properties

Shungite came out on the new age stone-lovers scene several years ago and made quite the big splash.

I’m not sure why it suddenly became so popular but it’s not usually listed in the older, more popular crystal property books so people are often left wondering and asking me lots and lots of questions about it.

There are numerous web articles out there that make lots of unfounded claims so I really felt the need to finally get this blog post out there.

Raw Shungite Stone. By Amrith.de (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What is this stone?

Estimated to be about 2 BILLION years old, shungite gets its name from its discovery deposit-site near the Shun’ga village in Karelia, Russia and some say can be up to 98% pure carbon. That’s quite pure.

Location of Shun’ga village, Karelia, Russia. Credit: Google Maps.

Most geologists now agree that the shungite deposit was created by layers upon layers of […]

Hibiscus Moon2020-05-04T09:24:56-04:00193 Comments

Don’t Be Fooled By the Rocks that I Got!…More Crystal Fakes

Ahhh, I get some sort of wacko geo-geek-high from writing these particular blog posts on “fake crystals” in my Fakes Series! Thanks for letting me indulge myself once again. You can catch my previous posts in this series here:

I chose today’s featured fakes b/c these seem to be showing up quite often at the gem shows & in my student forums or in our various Hibiscus Moon Private Facebook Groups. I feel it’s most definitely my duty to keep our community informed on this schist.

Now, if you choose to work with man-made crystals that’s totally fine. No judgements from me on that. I, personally, choose not to.

But, I do think its very important that you know what you’re getting & that you not be fooled & that you KNOW geologically exactly what you’re working with.

BTW, sometimes sellers aren’t looking to purposefully fool anyone…sometimes they themselves have no idea.

So let’s get to it!

Charoite

High grade authentic charoite from Russia on the […]

Hibiscus Moon2019-05-31T15:09:19-04:0032 Comments

How to Grow Your Own Crystal Geodes ~ Step by Step

When I posted a photo on my FB page of 1 of my recent crystal growing specimens, I got a ton of questions asking how, how, how?

So, if you’re one of those who always wanted to know how to grow your own crystals, this is the blog post for you!

You know I love my crystals for their healing props but I feel it’s really important to also get to know them in a different way; to learn how & why they grow, how Mama Earth cooks them up in her kitchen. This FUN activity gives us a little insight into that process. And you end up with some drop-dead gorgeous crystals in the end!

Plus this gives me a good excuse to geek out all the way!!

I know from many years in my old science classroom days that kids, teenagers (& adults!) really enjoy seeing the crystallization MAGIC at work! So, pretty sure you’re gonna eat this up with a spoon!

So first…

What’s a geode?

Basically, geodes are round rocks that have […]

Hibiscus Moon2019-05-31T15:11:58-04:0013 Comments

How to Pick Out Crystal Fakes: Part 5

So this crystal fakes stuffs is getting to be a popular series here on my blog.

And I’m quite enjoying my role in revealing & educating on the gemmy fakes & frauds that have crossed my path.
You can check out the other parts here:

Before I get into the fakes & confusers I want to draw attention to in this blog post, there’s a little sumn’ sumn’ I wanna to discuss.

My aim here is NOT to completely remove the romanticism of stones & crystals. You know I’m all about the sparkly, glittery & spiritual side of them! Who do you know that sings their praises more than me?

But it may be time for a wee dose of reality when it comes to realizing that they may not arrive 100% unaltered in our hungry little hands. I’ve already discussed my stance on the ethics of mining crystals and stones here…different topic.

All righty…let’s get into it.

After stones are removed from Mother Earth, they’re usually given […]

Hibiscus Moon2019-12-19T21:55:35-05:001 Comment