RHODONITE

Rhodonite was named after the Greek word for rose, rhodon. It is in fact a Manganese Iron Magnesium Calcium Silicate - (Mn, Fe, Mg, Ca) 5 (SiO 3 ) 5 . Its hardness is 5.5 - 6.5 Moh's Scale, Specific Gravity approx. 3.4 - 3.7 - which means that this material is considerably heavier than quartz. Rhodonite has beautiful pink color, sometimes with spots and patterns of black. Lower quality material could be yellowish or almost brown and often looks like an ordinary jasper.

Rhodonite is mined in Australia, Sweden, Brazil, USA (Massachusetts), and also in Russia , in Ural Mountains. In Russia rhodonite was found in the middle of the XVIII century near the village of Maloe Sidelnikovo which is not far from Ekaterinburg. Local people named it "Orletz" which means "The eagle stone" in Russian. There is a legend that explains to us the meaning of this name. It says that shortly after rhodonite was discovered people noticed that great eagles which inhabited Ural Mountains carried small pieces of rhodonite in their claws and put them into their nestles. People of Urals started then to follow eagle's example and put pieces of rhodonite into their babies cradles, in order to make babies grow as strong as mountain eagles.

Sadly enough, the deposit in Maloe Sidelnikovo, which once was a rich source of the highest quality rhodonite, is now exhausted. What is left to us now is just some occasional lots which were kept by people since the time the mine had worked.

Rhodonite is believed to be a stone for activating love energies. It raises self-worth, gives an aura of elegance, self-confidence and self-esteem. If your wear it, it stimulates and opens the heart chakra and dispels anxiety. It also says to balances yin and yang and soothe nightmares.