universecannon said:
not mine but dam this is a cool rock!
Word, brother. Malachite is fascinating and a very healing mineral to spend one's experience with. A copper ore mineral, like it's closely related, metamorphic twin azurite. Malachite is also copper-cousin to chrysocolla, cuprite and turquoise. They can and do grow together, which is a rush to behold.
Technically, it is a mineral and not a rock, as rocks are groups of co-existing minerals, en masse. Lapis Lazuli is a rock, as is granite. But I often use the same word when I talk affectionately about gemstones and mineral specimens. Earthen jewels totally
ROCK!!! :thumb_up:
This mineral often grows in a botryoidal crystallization mode, although they can also form blades and distinct, angular crystals. Still they frequently crystallize in multiples of raised spheres, displaying myriad sizes of spheroids.
Picture a plop of soap bubbles, if you will. Thousands upon thousands of spheres coexisting as one mass, exhibiting parallel geometry. But not empty like gas bubbles... more like onions, with concentric rings.
In many mineral forms, we see such circular symmetry, at it's very finest. That is botryoidalism in action. The vivid bulls-eyes wildly evident on this cluster are due to the effect of a lapidary application. The multiple "bubbles" have been expertly hollow-ground, keenly sanded and highly-polished into a bonafide gemstone.
The specimen in your pic once resembled a dull, mat-finish mass of green suds. Bubbular expansion, in it's crystallized dimension. The concave surfaces of where the spheres once protruded, where ground down to reveal the concentric rings of it's incremental growth cycle. Thus, revealing the mind-bending hidden beauty within the structure of it's mesmerizing external form (much like humanoids).
This specimen is undoubtedly from Africa. Either Kenya or Zaire, where tons and tons of malachite are mined annually. In fact, to legally export many African mineral resources, especially in places like Kenya, they must be worked into some kind of utilitarian or sculptural form to be exported to other countries. In other words, to qualify for legal export status, they must be crafted within the host nation.
Why so? Because this brings revenue to African artisans, who while they make absurdly low wages for such difficult and dangerous for of employment , this allows for the country to benefit from the exportation, through taxation and the export fees. I've no problem with this, except for the health risks involved (yes, malachite dust is very toxic to humans). Reality can sometimes stink up the place but please, but don't let me kill the buzz. :thumb_dow
And as bizarre as it may sound,
Rising Spirit is actually a "scientist" of sorts. Well, insofar as being a trained gemologist, jeweler, lapidary and life-long rock-hound... which as disciplined realms of study go, are as bound by succinct quantification, procedure and logic, as any other field of contemporary science. Despite not having a doctorate in crystallography, I do have a some small understanding of these mineral life forms. Since I could scarcely wobble upright, I have been chasing the magikal, shiny things.
As a side note... Edger Cayce, "the sleeping prophet", was quite fond of malachite. He referred to it as Lapis Liguris. A book of his impressions,
Gems and Stones, is an interesting take on all things related to meditation and healing/attunement to special rocks. I have my own ideas... but I like Edger's unique spin. I take much of it with a grain of salt (also a crystalline manifestation).
But more than anything else, I see Sacred energy, color and light... when I encounter our mineral kingdom family members. They are alive and the embodiment of a greater intelligence, even as we are. 8)
