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Rose Quartz's Curious Existence
By Christopher Truksa
When you look at rose quartz, you see a mystery in plain view. Despite its seeming mundanity, despite quartz being the most common mineral in the earth, the rose quartz is still hidden in a cloud of mystery. This is what first caught my attention. On the description of the specimen, it said that the origin of the pink color wasn’t known. This struck me as being so strange that the cause of the defining feature of the specimen was still unknown. Upon further exploration, a far greater sphere of mystery appeared around the specimen. In society the rose quartz has a mystic and metaphysical character, in the sciences its origins and properties are cloudy, and its role in the future of the environment is unclear.
The "La Madonna Rosa" rose quartz
The Mystery of Formation
Rose quartz forms from the cooling of magma and various inclusions due to trapped gases and impurities. No one knows the true cause of the pink color of rose quartz. It was attributed to many things throughout antiquity. Originally it was believed to be caused by titanium or iron ions. Later it was attributed to rutile, which is a titanium oxide, which people also attributed as the cause of asterism in some specimens of rose quartz. In the 1980s this theory was broken when researchers found that it was in fact not rutile, but a borosilicate that closely resembles dumortierite. Even with these new discoveries, researchers haven’t been able to pin-point the exact composition of these fibrous nano-inclusions.
Image from https://www.jewelinfo4u.com/asterism-in-gems
In Culture
From the beginning of time, people have been looking for ways to answer the timeless questions of the world. This pursuit has led to groups like the Tanktriks and the development of astrology. The Tantriks were the first to really develop the use of gems and minerals in their system of belief, which includes the belief that there are seven essential gems that correspond to the seven essential parts of the human body. Each of these gemstones resonates at a particular frequency that aligns with the frequencies of the different parts of the body, offering healing properties if used correctly. As these beliefs have evolved, present culture holds a special place for rose quartz as the gem aligned with the heart chakra, providing emotional healing.