Hibiscus Moon's Blog, page 31

VLOG: Bisbee

This is SPECIAL exclusive content here on my blog just for those of you on my email list who let me know that you were interested in seeing our fun little side trip to Bisbee, AZ. We always like to do an offshoot side trip while out in Arizona for the annual gem show to take advantage of our time there by seeing something unique and different each year.

Sorry, it took 6 weeks to get this ready for you. I spent a bit of time editing this up. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Bisbee Turquoise Mining District

Here are a few links in case you ever decide to head out there... which I HIGHLY recommend!:

Copper Queen Mine Tour
Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum
Old Bisbee Brewing Co. Restaurant 
Old Bisbee Ghost Tour
Bisbee Turquoise Hunt - you get to mine for turquoise in April!
Bisbee Gem and Mineral Show - held each May

Thanks for joining Frankie and me! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and/or hit me up with any questions you may have.

Crystal Blessings,

 

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! VLOG: Bisbee

New Crystals Fakes, Misrepresentations and Frauds to Watch Out For

Well, I think we're a bit overdue for another "fakes" blog post to add to my series.

There's an entire series of blog posts I've written over the years as fakes have popped up more and more. If you want to read up on all the fakes that I've reported on, we've gathered them all up into my Free Crystal Fakes Reference Guide, which includes all the previous blog posts in the fakes series.  Good to have on hand when crystal shopping! 

Now, on my annual trips to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show I get to view a lot of what's hot on the market and also spot some of these fakes first-hand. I also like to attend some of the lectures they have at the Convention Center so I can stay up-to-the-minute and knowledgeable about what's going on in the mineral world. Last year I audited a lecture on Fake Minerals. This year my favorite lecture was: Crystal Faces and Forms. 

Heaven, I tell you!

Seriously. Crystal-topic academic lectures while hanging out at the biggest most glittery gem show in the world??! If you didn't already know, I'm a HUGE Geo-Geek and yes, this is my idea of a GOOD-FLIPPIN'-TIME!

One thing that's evident from these gemmy trips is that unfortunately, the artificial mineral/ gemstone market is on the rise.

Several years ago I noticed that there seemed to be a bit of an info-gap in our crystal community on some good solid easy-to-understand data regarding this sort of thing.

Informing our community on this topic has become a passion of mine. Being a former science department head, having studied geology at the Masters level + being an author and the founder of a Crystal Healing Academy with a relatively large following gives me a good platform to shout about crystal fakes. Right? So, I feel it's my duty and I’m honored to be given the opportunity and privilege to serve in this way.

My goal is to educate our crystal community on what’s currently on the market so we can make intelligent buying decisions when adding special new crystal specimens to our sacred collections. If you feel passionate about this too, please share this post in any way you prefer. (There are some handy-dandy “SHARE” buttons you can use at the bottom of this post).

Keep this in mind: Always use your common sense.  The best protection from crystal fakes is to be well-informed yourself.

Real vs. Fake Jade

Most jade is a beautiful soft green color (although it does come in other colors like purple, red, yellow and white). Metaphysically, it's a gentle stone that's perfect for abundance work and also for assisting mothers to be and for fertility-work. There are many different types of jade such as jadeite, Mountain jade, British Columbia jade and Nephrite.

Jade is also a wonderful stone full of healing energy and a favorite to use alongside beauty regimes as it's great for the skin and hair.

However, due to its HUGE popularity in Asia... we now have jade-fakes to contend with.

So, what to do?

Here are two quick ways to check if it's the real deal …

Look for the fibers. Fibers mean it's real.

First thing to do is be sure you go shopping with a jeweler’s loupe (10x magnification is what I find to be the most useful for me) and look at the piece you’re considering purchasing under some natural sunlight or really good lighting.

What you’re looking for are little asbestos-like hairy fibers.

Sometimes chrysoprase is sold off as jade and it won’t have those little teeny fibers because of its microcrystalline structure making it look all the same with no fibers at all under the jeweler’s loupe.

Temperature

Jade will be cold or cool to the touch and won’t warm up right away in your hand.

I'll also be sharing some other easy to use methods to id a fake jade from the real thing in an upcoming live class! More on that below.

Red Malachite

I first heard of this one from one of my students early last year.

I was like, "huh"?

My confusions stemmed from my knowledge that malachite is a copper-derived stone and anything copper-derived will always be blue or green. Malachite is always a rich vibrant green color like these pieces here:

[caption id="attachment_1960" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Smoothed & polished malachite[/caption]

So, I knew something was up.

Then a few more students asked me again about this red "malachite" more recently. 

This one really caught my curiosity. What is this stuff?! I had to know. 

I got a hold of some and tested it out for myself.

So I discovered it ain't no jasper, agate or malachite. It's a carbonate; probably a red travertine (limestone with calcite). I can show you how to do easy at-home tests like this yourself... more on that below. 

Turns out "red malachite" is simply a new marketing term that some sellers have chosen to adopt in order to sell off some red-banded carbonate stones with no transparency. See, without the catchy new name this stuff used to just sit around. No one thought it was worth polishing/tumbling. Usually, this sort of stone would be considered "low-grade" material. :/

But, I actually think it's quite pretty myself. It would probably sell just fine without the misleading name attached to it. What do you think?

When this kind of misinformation happens it ends up causing a lot of confusion in our crystal community. Not to mention falsely drives up prices.

So this "red malachite" has NOTHING to do with real malachite, not geologically and not energetically. Personally, I won't be calling it "red malachite" (to try to eliminate confusion) but will call it as it is; red carbonate. It seems to have all the same energetic properties as, say, a red jasper; an ideal grounding and stabilizing root chakra stone that invites us to become physically stronger or more fearless. Good stuff!

Fake Opal

I'm not talking about opalite here as we've discussed that before.

Now we have yet another sort of fake-opal to concern ourselves with; a new synthetic sort that's made to fool even the experts.

It looks very much like black precious opal.

Black precious opal is known for:

its motivating quality
ability to release psychic wounds
ability to pull someone out of depression

The photo below is the real deal:

The color flashes and iridescence or "fire" in the fake stuff is what they call "non-directional", meaning that it can be cut any which way while still maintaining the same exact flash of color. That's just not the case with real opal.

This is what the synthetic opal looks like:

Unfortunately, I don't have any handy tips for you to use to help ID this bad-boy. Black opal is expensive anyways so it's always best to have an appraiser check out your opal for authenticity.

Frustrated?

Yeah. This fake stuff is starting to wear on me a bit too, but the good news is; the more informed we are as a community the less it's going to affect us.

Please remember, I always say, if you choose to work with man-made crystals and you enjoy them that's just fine and a name is just a name. You can call a stone anything you like.  If it’s been working for you…“keep on ‘truckin’”. Don’t change a thing!

I just want all of us to have the geo-knowledge first. Then you can make an INFORMED decision regarding how you choose to use these stones in your practice.

And as always, the moral of the story here is… 

Buyer Beware: Who are you buying from? Are they reputable? Do they know what they’re talking about? Are you doing your own due diligence and research? The best way to protect yourself is education.

If you didn't already know this stuff, now you're armed with a bit more information. :) We all love the beautiful crystals and minerals that Mama Earth creates and the truth is, you don’t know what you don’t know… until you know it.

**Please SHARE this info with other Crystal Lovers so that we all stay in-the-know and well-informed. No duping us with FAKES!**

Have you seen any of these specimens I've mentioned here or any new fakes or misrepresentations recently?  I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Now, again, if this topic rings your bell and you'd like to become confident in identifying fakes and misrepresentations in the marketplace then you might be interested in my upcoming Live Class- Crystal Savvy; Crystals + Mineral Identification. Registration is open now for my LIVE 3 class elective for a very short time and closes this Friday at midnight ET.  Click here for all the details and to register.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! New Crystals Fakes, Misrepresentations and Frauds to Watch Out For at Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy | Crystal Healing | Crystal Healer | Crystal Therapy | Certified Crystal Healer | Crystal Grids | Crystal Healing Course

Crystals for the Color of the Year | 2018 | Ultraviolet

Today I want to talk to you about Pantone's Color of the Year and my crystal matchup for 2018.

I started doing this Color of the Year Crystal matchup a few years ago... starting in 2013 with the color Emerald.  It's always fun to do this; allows me to get a little creative, digging around and finding a cool match up for it.

Here are the links to the past five years in case you'd like to check those out too:

Color of the Year 2013: Emerald
Color of the Year 2014:  Radiant Orchid
Color of the Year 2015:  Marsala
Color of the Year 2016: Serenity and Rose Quartz
Color of the Year 2017:  Greenery

Ultraviolet ...That's a Color?

Pantone's color choice for 2018 is the color "Ultraviolet".  And I put that in quotes because ultraviolet ain't no color. It's technically a particular type of frequency on the electromagnetic spectrum, just beyond and slightly higher frequency than the visible light spectrum. Of course, leave it to me to get geeky about it, but it's not really a color. ;)

However, Pantone has interpreted it as a color, as most people probably do, because of the word "violet" being included in "ultraviolet", as a VIOLET-PURPLEY color.

 

I just want to share a little bit of their specific description:

"We are living in a time that requires inventiveness and imagination. It is this kind of creative inspiration that is indigenous to Pantone UltraViolet, a blue-based purple that takes our awareness and potential to a higher level."

Do you sense and feel the mysticism that they're pulling into this description here?

This goes along with the whole idea of mysticism, spirituality, and crystals, and how they all kind of interplay with each other. Seems to be a popular trend for 2018 and Pantone jumped on the bandwagon, or maybe they helped spur the bandwagon forward. Anyhow, they present Ultraviolet very cosmically, don't they?

Well, spirituality, mysticism, crystals all of it; this is the stuff we've been talking about for years! What we love and talk about has hit the mainstream now, full force, in 2018. And here it is now represented in the Color of the Year.

My Crystal Pick

Instead of going for... well, I was going to say "a literal translation of ultraviolet" (but as I said, it isn't a translation of the color ultraviolet because there's no such thing)... I'm going to go to the scientific explanation of what ultraviolet technically is and chose the minerals and crystals that actually, physically have the capacity to glow under ultraviolet light; the fluorescent specimens.

How about that? So let's get into it!

Fluorescence

Some minerals actually have the characteristic of being fluorescent under ultraviolet light. Out of approximately 4500 minerals that we know of on planet Earth, about 500 of them have this characteristic. This characteristic is actually a really useful one for easily identifying minerals from others that closely resemble them.

[caption id="attachment_21085" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Fluorescent opal[/caption]

Sir George Stokes was the physicist and mathematician who first realized that some minerals have the ability to fluoresce under ultraviolet light.  He first discovered it with the mineral fluorite, which he noted was actually able to glow; emit this powerful vibrancy under ultraviolet light. So, he called this characteristic; the ability for a mineral to do this, "fluorescence", naming it after the mineral he first noted it in.

He then tested many others and realized that fluorite wasn't the only mineral that could do this.

It's amazing to see these minerals that do have this property of fluorescence, to glow under ultraviolet light, because they look completely different from how they look under regular light to our eyes!

The Science

There are actually different wavelengths of ultraviolet light:

shortwave
medium-wave
long-wave

All of these waves are a higher frequency than visible light wavelengths, so just a step above the colors that we can see on the electromagnetic spectrum.

These higher-frequency waves are just outside of what we're able to detect and measure with our eyes, but we can measure and see their effects on certain minerals; the ones that fluoresce. What might appear as a dull, gray rock might actually vibrantly glow in all kinds of beautiful, bright, vibrant colors under ultraviolet light.

 

[caption id="attachment_21086" align="aligncenter" width="800"] By (Hgrobe 06:16, 26 April 2006 (UTC)) - credit: Hannes Grobe/AWI (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]You might remember back in science class when you started learning about chemistry. What happens is the ultraviolet frequency will cause some electrons in some of the electron shells of the atoms that make up the mineral to temporarily gather up some extra energy from the ultraviolet higher frequency and they'll actually jump up to the next higher electron shell... and then fall back down. When the electron falls back to its original electron shell, it actually leaves behind an energetic imprint.

Remember that energy can never be created nor destroyed, only transformed from one form to another; AKA First Law of Thermodynamics AKA Law of Conservation fo Energy!

So that atom leaves behind some energy in that higher electron shell. Some of that leftover energy is what's actually giving off this light that we're able to see! Pretty cool, right?

Also, the different wavelengths of ultraviolet, the short, the medium, or the long-waves will affect minerals differently as far as what colors they fluoresce. The reason is that the various wavelengths will cause different electrons to excite in different ways.

If you have a UV light or black light you can witness this for yourself.

A Metaphysical Side to This?

I do feel that there's a special energetic property inherent to minerals that fluoresce under ultraviolet light that we can tap into on a metaphysical level because they possess this special characteristic that not all minerals do.

What do you think?

You may be wondering what crystals in your collection have this property. Well, I've prepared a handy download for you with the ten most common fluorescent minerals and their energetic properties for you to download. Check it out: 

I encourage you to start working with fluorescent crystals and see if you notice any unique metaphysical properties about these minerals because I would like to share that in our community and see if we can collectively come up with some meaningful data on that.

Let's experience this together and see what we can come up with. Please jump in and share your findings or comments below.

Crystal Blessings,

 

 

 

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! Crystals for the Color of the Year | 2018 | Ultraviolet at Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy | Crystal Healing | Crystal Healer | Crystal Therapy | Certified Crystal Healer | Crystal Grids | Crystal Healing Course

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was

What was

For those of you that don't know ... the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show is the crystal lover's mecca, an annual get-together, like a crystal convention of sorts, in Tucson Arizona.  There are other gem shows around the USA, but this is the one, the one!

Every year, I go to the show and it seems like there's something that stands out; something that a lot of vendors are talking about, that there's a lot of buzz around.  So, what was HOT at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this year?  Pink Amethyst and Sacred Geometry. It was the hot topic and so let's jump in and take a look.  Just click play to watch my video :)

You can also choose to take this show on the road (so to speak ;) and download the audio mp3 to listen to this anytime.

Plus we also have this Vlog transcript pdf that you can download right here.

Did you attend the Tucson Gem Show this year? Did you notice the Sacred Geo talks?  Have you seen Pink Amethyst before?  Have you worked with it?  Share in the comments below.  

Crystal Blessings,

Please stop by my website & leave me a comment to this blog post! What was