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Almandine:
Neosilicates
(Iron aluminum silicate) Fe32+Al2Si3O12 AKA: Garnet |
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System: Isometric; crystals very common as dodecahedrons and trapezohedrons; also granular, lamellar, compact, disseminated. Appearance: Bright or dark red depending on chemical composition, sometimes with violet or brown tints. Rounded grains, altered on the surface; Vitreous. Physical properties: Hardness: (6.5 - 7.5); Specific gravity; (4.32); Cleavage: None; parting sometimes distinct in six directions; fracture, conchoidal, uneven; brittle; Usually opaque but sometimes transparent with adamantine luster. Colorless streak. Similar species: Apatite is softer than any of the garnets; zircon has a higher gravity and often fluoresces; tourmaline has lower gravity. Occurrence: Almandine occurs in diorite of plutonic rocks, and with andalusite, hornblende and biotite in hornfels and schist of contact and regional metamorphic rocks. Clear, orange-red crystals found in the sands in Sir Lanka, India and Brazil. Outstanding crystals occur in Norway, in Alaska (Sticken River), and the Adirondacks (New York), California, Idaho, South Dakota, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Connecticut (USA), Greenland, Sweden, the Zillertal (Austria), Malagasy Republic and southern Australia. Miscellaneous: A medium-hard abrasive for garnet papers and cloth. Used to some extent in jewelry as an inexpensive gemstone. Almandine is named after Alabanda, a town of ancient Caria (Asia Minor). Conventional Wisdom: This mineral inspires during times of contemplation, engendering peace, and balancing the time allotted for solitude. It represents profound love, stimulates physical vitality, and provides for energizing and opening of the path between the base and crown chakras. It has been used in the treatment of heart disorders, to stimulate the inner cellular structure of the eyes, and to treat the liver and pancreas. It can strengthen the proper functioning of the body to the depths of the cells, and it can promote action toward regeneration. Belongs to the Astrological Signs of Scorpio and Virgo. |