Back from the grave! (It’s that time of the year, right?)

I first made this post in May, back when I first started this blog. (Seriously, it was my third post!) It’s an oldie-but-goody, so I wanted to republish and hopefully breathe some life back into it.

Crystals and minerals are an integral part of the story in the Records of the Ohanzee series. I have been an admirer and collector of mineral specimens for years. As a scientist, I find the relationship between a mineral’s chemical composition and appearance/crystal structure to be fascinating. (The fact that minerals are sparkly and brightly colored certainly doesn’t reduce my interest either. ^_-)

These are some of the minerals from my personal collection, labeled with their actual name and chemical composition. Below the real-life labels, I’ve also identified their type using the naming convention from Renatus. I hope that these images can serve as a visual guide for some of the crystals described in the books!

Celestite (SrSO4), Water-Fire

Calcite (CaCO3), Earth-Earth

Rose Quartz (SiO2), Air-Earth

Pyrite on Quartz, Air/Metal-Fire/Metal This is an example of a crystal that would be considered to have 3 elements.

Chalcanthite (CuSO4·5H2O), Water-FireNote:Mineral is naturally occurring but my specimen is man-made.

Sulfur (S), Fire-Earth

Pyrite (FeS2), Metal-Metal

Quartz (SiO2), Air-Fire

Quartz (SiO2), Spirit

Enhydro Agate (SiO2), Air-Water This piece of agate is hollow with water and an air bubble trapped inside. If you hold a flashlight to the stone you can see the water slosh around, but it doesn’t photograph well.

Amethyst (SiO2), Water-Fire

Below is a guide to the crystal naming convention used in Renatus:

(Note: crystals are named first by color, then by type.)

Color
Shape


Fire: Red/Yellow/Orange
Fire: Pointed/Jagged


Water: Blue/Purple
Water: Smooth/rounded


Earth: Brown/Green/Black
Earth: Smooth/flat


Metal: Metallic
Metal: Geometric/90 deg angles


Air: White/Grey/Pastels
Air: Fluffy/Cotton-like appearance


Spirit: Clear/Transparent
Spirit: Spirit crystals are determined solely by color