Burn from the sun going through a crystal.

I was going to make my first ever blog post be about the journey of creating the new website and saying goodbye to the old one. But something happened yesterday that is putting the original plan on hold.

I was making an elixir with a few stones (herkimer diamond, faceted heliodor and clear quartz,) surrounded by some beautiful old Miller Mt. crystals and a big selenite crystal. I placed them in the sun on a green silk pashmina. I wanted the healing of the green to enhance the elixir. Sounds good, right? Well, about an hour later I went to check on everything. I saw something weird on the pashmina. Was it a bug? Was it a “blessing” from a passing bird? Nope. It was a burn mark. Yes, I almost set my pashmina on fire!

I have been around stones a long time. I have seen many clear crystal spheres burn a hole in whatever was unfortunate enough to be behind it when the sun shone through it. A friend was standing on our lanai when we were in Hawaii, holding a sphere in his hands that were rested against his belly. It didn’t take long and he yelped! When he looked down, his shirt was sporting a perfect little burn mark and his belly had one that matched.

I thought this was an important subject to bring up. Many stones look so beautiful when the sun shines through them, or on them. But stones and the sun don’t always mix well. For one, like what happened to my pashmina, very concentrated light can occur just like with a magnifying glass, and it can cause a burn or fire. Second, the sun can drain a stone of it’s color in a matter of a few days. Fluorite and amethyst are two that are particularly vulnerable to the suns rays. That must be why mother nature grows them underground!

So keep yourself, and your stones, safe and beautiful. Be aware of the potential problems with the sun. Feel free to share any sun and stones stories you have!

The good news is, the elixir turned out great!

UPDATE: I did it again! Check out this blog post: https://www.earthgallery.com/sun-crystals-and-the-risk-of-fire