Tradename(s):

Lapis, Lazurite, Lapis Lazuli

Family:

Description: 

Lapis Lazuli (Arabic & Latin for "blue stone") is composed of several minerals. The most common are Lazurite (blue color), Pyrite (gold/silver metallic color), calcite (white color). Lapis has been found in other countries including Russia, Angola, Burma, Canada, Chile, United States. The most precious of Lapis comes from Afghanistan. The Arab, Istakhri, in the tenth century was the first geographer to record a visit to a Lapis mine in Afghanistan.

Hardness:

5-6

Found:

Afghanistan, Russia, Chile, California/U.S.A.

Healing Properties:

Protection, Insight, Healing. It helps stimulate emotional, mental, and physical purity and clarity. Treatment of disorders of the throat, bone marrow, thymus, and immune system. Stone of total awareness

Astrology:

Sign of Sagittarius

Chakra:

6th-Third-eye Center

Feng Shui:

Opens the third eye and acts like a thought amplifier

Legends and Folklore:

The mines of Badakshan, Afghanistan were visited by Marco Polo in 1217 BC It has been used as a decorative stone as far back as then. It is said that the Sumerians believed carrying the mineral was like carrying the presence of a god. For centuries lapis has been linked to divinity. The Greeks and the Romans used lapis as an award for personal bravery. The stone was being used medicinally in the late 1600's for epilepsy, dementia, spleen disorders, and to stop miscarriages. The practice of using it as a prevention of miscarriages (as an amulet worn) is still occurring today in Macedonia. In the eighteenth century, lapis lazuli cost fifteen times the cost of emeralds because of its popularity and the difficulty in obtaining it.  It was ground into powder used by the Egyptians as face make-up and paint.