Astrologers say tourmaline is especially useful to wear in winter. And besides, this stone heals hearts broken by unrequited love.
Many collectors dream of having tourmaline in their exposition. This semi-precious mineral is considered one of the most mysterious stones.
The word “tourmali” is translated from one of the eastern dialects as “attracting ash”. The ancient Egyptians, fascinated by the color scheme of the gem, translated this word as "magic multi-colored stone". In Egypt it was also called the rainbow stone.
Tourmaline earrings or rings can be multi-colored.
The first detailed descriptions of the properties of the mineral were preserved in the written sources of Ancient Rome. In the XII century, its properties were carefully studied in Ancient Byzantium. Tourmaline was brought to Europe by Dutch merchants from Ceylon at the beginning of the 18th century.
Unfortunately, due to the predatory extraction of the mineral, its deposits on the island were quickly depleted.
The philosophers of the Middle Ages considered tourmaline to be the philosopher's stone. The reason for this was the inability of the alchemists to explain the magnetic properties of the stone, its ability to become electrified. Tourmaline is charged by compression, friction and heating. In this case, one end of the stone is always charged positively, and the other negatively. Not finding scientific explanations, the scientists of that time referred to magic.
However, tourmaline is still used by many religious cults. Orthodox and Catholic priests decorate churches with icons with tourmaline frames, from this stone they make vessels for sacred wine - chalice and panagia. In the chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, there is a chalice of gold with tourmaline, made in 1598 at the request of Irina Godunova for the Archangel Cathedral.
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Tourmaline was highly valued by many royalty. For example, Mikhail Romanov's crown was decorated with tourmalines. Empress Anna Ioannovna, who conceived to make a royal head pattern according to Western patterns, in 1730 ordered to decorate her crown with tourmalines.
The most famous of the tourmalines is kept in the Diamond Fund of Russia - rubellite - "Grape bunch", presented in the 18th century to Empress Catherine II by the Swedish king Gustav VIII. According to legend, once upon a time, the queen of Egypt presented this mineral to Caesar himself. For a long time this stone was considered a ruby and was even called "Caesar's Ruby", but then it turned out that this red tourmaline is rubellite from Burma.
But the most famous green tourmaline in history, which is called the "Jolly Green Giant" - Jolly Green Giant - is kept in the New York State Museum.
Mineral tourmaline is a rather complex silicate of aluminum, boron, magnesium, sodium, iron, calcium, lithium, manganese, silicon and other minerals.
Depending on the nuances of the composition of the stone, tourmaline is divided into different types.
The color of tourmaline just depends on this composition of impurities and can be from transparent, colorless to black. Almost colorless tourmalines are called. Achroites. Red - rubellites, purple - sibirigami. The green ones are verdelites. Brown - Dravites, blue - Indegolites. Two-colored minerals, light below are called "heads of the Moors" and "Turks".
Minerals with a red core and a green periphery - watermelon tourmalines. But the most expensive of the tourmalines is a stone that changes color depending on the color spectrum - chameleonite.
Tourmalines are also divided into jewelry, semi-precious or technical stones.
Transparent pure minerals are used in jewelry. Lower quality in medicine. As a powerful energy storage device, tourmaline was known to such doctors of the past as Ibn Sina, Paracelsus, Biruni, and Slavic healers also used its healing properties.
Less valuable stones are used today in industrial production.
Tourmaline crystals are long prisms with a triangular cross-section.
Tourmalines are mined from limestone slates and granite veins, they fall out of the thermal waters, piercing the channels underground. Or from gaseous substances escaping from the depths of magma. When a liquid or other substance that has risen to the surface of the earth cools, it partially crystallizes.
Large deposits of tourmaline are found in Brazil in the state of Minas Gerais, Sri Lanka. In addition, tourmalines are mined in Madagascar, North America, South Africa, Afghanistan and China.
Ancient deposits of tourmaline also exist in Russia, in Transbaikalia, in the Urals, where the Sarapulka mines were discovered in the 18th century, on the Kola Peninsula, brown-green tourmalines have been mined from about the same time in the Berezovsky district of the Khanty-Mansiysk district near the village of Shaitanka. The rarest rainbow gems are also found there.
In the Middle Urals, in the Lipovka mines, small but very beautiful gems are mined. And at the end of the 19th century, two more deposits were discovered in the Middle Urals - Shabrovskoye and Berezovskoye, where the rarest chrome tourmaline, which has a rich grassy color, is mined.
Radiant tourmalines, in which thin lines extend from the center to the periphery and resemble the Sun, are called solar tourmalines and are mined in the Chelyabinsk region at the Karabash mines. Jewelers make all kinds of jewelry from tourmaline - earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces.
In the Middle Ages, and later, tourmalines were set only in gold, but nowadays jewelers are actively using white metals, including silver.
And only in India, honoring tradition, tourmalines are still set in gold.
In the old days, smoking pipes were cleaned with heated lotions of tourmaline, since the gem, when heated, attracted particles of ash and ash that had settled in the smoking pipe.
Tourmalines of any size have been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times.
Official medicine uses tourmaline devices to ionize the air in hospital wards and operating rooms. Tourmaline heaters are used in the treatment of joints, osteochondrosis and other back diseases.
Tourmaline has a beneficial effect on the blood circulation process, expanding blood vessels and increasing blood flow, accelerates the regeneration of tissues and cells, normalizes metabolism, stabilizes pressure, strengthens the nervous system, and increases immunity.
In Japan, various diseases of the joints and spine are treated with belts, knee pads and fabrics based on gem fibers.
With fractures, the fastest bone fusion and restoration of cartilage tissue occurs.
Tourmaline is also used in the treatment of inflammatory processes in the abdominal cavity, the pelvic region, the genitourinary system and prostatitis.
Sorcerers believe that the stone protects from all dark, intangible entities and the hostile influence of enemies.
Tourmaline attracts good luck, helps to find peace of mind and find the joy of life.
This mineral is a reliable companion of creative people, it will help to restore inspiration and self-confidence.
Black tourmaline set in cast iron helps entrepreneurs get rich and develop their business.
In Holland, tourmaline is given to children so that they can sleep peacefully and have good dreams.
And in the countries of Scandinavia, rings with tourmalines are worn by hunters and warriors.
Tourmaline should not be worn at elevated body temperature, thyroid problems, bleeding, strokes, people with pacemakers, allergy sufferers, during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Astrologers say that most of all azure tourmalines help those born under the signs of water, green signs of air, red signs of fire. But all this applies only to natural tourmalines.
To distinguish a real stone from glass, it is enough to hold it in your hands and rub it, and then bring small pieces of paper to it. A real stone will attract them. In addition, a real tourmaline, unlike a fake, cannot be scratched.
Taking care of your tourmaline is easy. Experts recommend washing the stone under warm running water once every two months.
Do not allow him to come into contact with cosmetics, perfumes and other things.
Tourmaline is charged with positive energy from the sun and serves a caring owner for a long time.
Author: Natalia N. Antonova