Astrophyllite palm stone that weighs 1.1 ounce and measures 1.49 inches by 1.81 inches by 0.36 inch thick.
Astrophyllite is a fairly rare mineral. It is often blackish, but sometimes brown and even golden-brown. It has a nice weight because of its mineral composition and makes a wonderful palm stone to hold during meditation.
Even though it is heavy for its size, it is also somewhat fragile because it crystallizes in the form of blades.
Astrophyllite meaning:
It is named after two Greek words: άστρον or astron for star and φύλλον or phyllon for leaf. This name captures the structure of the crystal in that the blade shapes radiate out from a center like a star and the blades do look like crystal leaves.
It is very shiny because there are little matrices of light - aka felsic (igenous) - in the layers of the stone. It is both opaque and translucent because there are some layers that are transparent.
What would eventually be named Astrophyllite was discovered in Låven, Norway, by the Norwegian mineralogist Paul Christian Weibye (1819 to 1865) in 1844. He described it as a brown mineral with mica.
Ten years later in 1854, it was named Astrophyllite by Carl Johan August Theodor Scheere, a German mineralogist and chemist (1813 to 1875).
It is mined from cavities and fissures of igneous rocks. It is pretty scare, but in addition to Norway, Astrophyllite has been found in Mont-Saint-Hilaire in Quebec, Pikes Peak in Colorado, Narsaruk and Kangerdluarsuk in Greenland, Brevig in Norway and the Kola Peninsula in Russia.
Sometimes Astrophyllite forms when other minerals and/or crystals are present, such as aluminum, calcium, magnesium, niobium, tantalum and/or zirconium.
Astrophyllite astrological qualities:
Astrophyllite has the planetary qualities of Jupiter and Saturn.
Astrophyllite metaphysical properties:
The frequency of the starburst crystalline structures denotes an outpouring of patience, fearlessness, talent, ease, love of adventure and travel, charm and success, especially in literature.