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Epidote:
Sorosilicates (Basic calcium, aluminum iron silicate) Ca2Al2FeOSiO4Si2O7(OH) AKA: Zoisite |
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System: Monoclinic; usually in long, slender, grooved prismatic crystals that are frequently terminated by two sloping faces; also thick tabular crystals; massive, columnar, divergent, acicular, granular. Appearance: Yellowish green to brownish black; vitreous; streak colorless to gray. Physical Properties: Hardness: (6.0 - 7.0); Specific gravity: (3.3 - 3.6). Cleavage: perfect, one direction, lengthwise; fracture, uneven; transparent to translucent; brittle. Similar species: Tourmaline has no cleavage, and actinolite has perfect cleavage in two directions. Occurrence: Epidote forms in many environments. It occurs with albite in granite pegmatites; with calcite in cavities in basalt of volcanic rocks; with actinolite in hornfels and greenstone of contact metamorphic rocks; and with hornblende and actinolite in blue schist of regional metamorphic rocks. Crystals of epidote have been found in Alaska, Colorado and California. Miscellaneous: The name "epidote" is from the Greek epi "over", and didonai, "to give", and was intended to describe the enlargement of one side of the crystal in some specimens. The name epidote is also used with reference to a group of related minerals (zoisite, clinozoisite, epidote, piemontite and allanite) of extremely complex structure. Epidote is occasionally used as a gemstone. Conventional Wisdom: Strengthens over all health, heart, well-being and energy. Helps take good care of one's self (food, rest, etc.). This mineral can provide for increase in which one attunes it. This short but clear statement shows that epidote is truly a stone to experience in all aspects of life. Belongs to the Astrological Sign of Gemini. |