#labradoresence

[sourcefield]

Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 🌈 . Labradorite // Madagascar 🇲🇬 . 5.5” x 4.25” x 2” . $88 // Available . . . #labradorite #labradoresence #sourcefieldshop #sourcefield #source #crystals #vintagejewelry #gemstones #minerals #mineralspecimens #earthtreasures #stones #naturalbeauty #gems #earthdayeveryday #intelligentdesign #healthylifestyle #crystalmagic #resonance #inspirational #beherenow #naturalart #earthart #planetearth #crystalphotography (at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqD6jYJP2zQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cosmic-tuna]

As a Geo student I hope you won't mind me adding my favorite optical property you can find: Labradoresence! It's an iridescent shimmer seen specifically in feldspar minerals, like moonstone and - you guessed it - labradorite! It's caused by light diffracting at a microscopic level due to a unique thing called exsollution lamelle (tiny lines and stripes normally visible at eye level)

It can give rocks an almost glowing, magical effect when examined at a specific angle.

A Workshop for Creating Magical/ Fictional Crystals: A Guide from a Geologist

Hi folks, its me, here to talk about fictional writing again! Today I'm just tackling the idea of magical stones/mana stones by looking at existing minerals today and some neat properties that they have, and how you can apply these things to a fictional world. The goal is mainly to help you if you are stuck trying to come up with a unique magic system, or a unique identification/characteristic of your mineral.

First Things First: Mineral Shapes

I am exhausted, petered out, down-right fatigued by seeing every mineral depicted with having the crystal structure of calcite and quartz. There are soooooo many cooler, more interesting crystal structures, don't you think you would stop and take a look at a perfect cube in nature? It is completely unsettling.

Second: Color

Color within minerals can either be really important, or not important at all! It is your choice to decide if color is going to be something that means something to your mineral. But what are some times when the color is important? Well.... there are some elements that are called chromophores, this classification just indicates that these elements, when present, will determine the color of whatever they are in. So, if you wanted to treat mana like a chromophore, you could say, "Oh everything that contains mana turns green!" This could mean that regardless of the mineral, if that mineral is a specific color, it means it contains mana. This concept is exciting because you can just stop here and use minerals that already exist! You can also use it as an indicator for a magical ore! Chromophores are typically metals, so if you are making a new metal weapon, making the ore of that metal a unique color would make a lot of sense!

However, your mineral can also just be every color of the rainbow like quartz and perhaps that's what makes identifying your mana stones elusive and create an illusion of scarcity that your character can solve.

There are other things that can change the colors of minerals, like radiation damage, and electron exchange, but I think that is beyond what would be helpful! So lets talk about some unique color properties that happen in nature that seem magical in the first place! Maybe you don't need to design a mana stone, but you want a unique gemstone that only the royal family passes down or something (IDK).

The first one is the alexandrite effect! This is where a mineral can change color in natural light vs. incandescent light. (the mineral itself is not changing, but the lights contain different amounts of different colors that then get absorbed by the stone). Even if you don't use electricity in your fictional world, you could have the colors change in the presence of light magic. This could create fun misunderstandings about what the mineral is reacting to!

Pleochroism

Pleochroism is something that most minerals have, it is frequently used to help identify minerals in thin sections, however minerals are usually not pleochroic enough for it to be visible to the naked eye! Pleochroism is just a fancy name to describe the change in how light is absorbed based on the angle of the mineral! So if you scroll up to the first image where I showed a lot of crystal shapes, most of them have angles where they are longer and shorter! This will effect the way light travels in the crystal. Tanzanite is a popular mineral that does this.

Photochromism

This is when a mineral will change color (in a reversible way) when exposed to UV light (or sunlight), I am not going to go too into the details of why this is happening because it would require me to read some research papers and I just don't feel like it. The mineral that is best known for this is Hackmanite!

Alright! These are all the really cool color effects that might inspire you or maybe not, but now I am going to talk about how you might find your minerals within a rock!

When I see a lot of magical caves/mines, typically I see them with some variation of a geode honestly, but most minerals are not found like that! Now I am sure most of you guys have seen a geode, so I will not really talk about those, but I will talk briefly about porphyroblasts which is when the mineral grows larger than the minerals around it, this happens in metamorphic minerals!

sorry random stranger, but this is an image of garnets inside a finer-grained rock at gore mountain in New York!

Another way you might find minerals is in a pegmatite! This is when all minerals are really large! This is a formed from really slow crystalizing magma!

But something else to think about is that your mineral might just be massive, it doesn't have to have distinct crystals, it may be similar to jadeite where small grains grow together which leaves it looking smooth and seamless! A note about all of these is that you would have to mine into the rock to find these, there would not be any natural caves in these rocks! Caves are only ever really formed in limestones and maybe marbles (rocks that react with acid).

How can your characters identify these minerals?

Typically when you are out in the field you will look to see what type of rocks the minerals are found in (The overall texture of the rock will tell you how it formed). If you know how the rock formed, it will narrow down the amount of minerals you need to think about by quite a bit! Next, you are going to look closely at it and observe its crystal structure, does it have an obvious crystal? if so what is the general shape? If it is broken, how did it break? Did it fracture like glass or did it break along uniform planes. Some minerals have a thing called cleavage (breaks along planes of weakness). If a mineral exhibits this habit, it will again help narrow this down. Next we can look at color. Color can be misleading, because minerals like quartz can be any color imaginable, but minerals like olivine will always be green! The next thing your character can do is test for hardness, minerals all have a specific hardness that can help identify it as well.

After you go through all of this, your mineral might have some special property! This could be magnetism, fluorescence, reactions to acid, or any of the color changing effects I mentioned above! Other than that, your character can take it back to a lab and do a number of things to identify it, but the most typical thing would be for them to make a thin section (very thin piece of the rock) and observe it under a cross polarized microscope!

On that note folks! I hope this helped in some way in thinking of new magic mineral properties! I have other guides that explore some different fictional worldbuilding issues you might run into, but if you have any topics you would like me to cover please that I haven't mentioned already, let me know!

[boymanmaletheshequel]

Symbolism of Artemis

🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹

The twin sister to Apollo/Apollon, daughter of Leto, Artemis is the sacred goddess of virginity, hunting, foraging, feminism, childhood, and the forest, as well as the lady of the moon and the hearth. A goddess known for her fierce mood swings, strict and convicting chastity, and disdain of traditional and toxic masculinity and human perversion, She is among the three virgin goddesses of Hellenic mythology. She was known to take the appearance of animals, such as boars and deer, often favoring them to her human form, which she almost only ever utilized while hunting or bathing in her sanctuary. Although she is inclined to women, she loves all her followers, including her non binary and male followers such as myself. Let’s go over some of her sacred symbolism:

🌈 colors

* In Hellenic Mythos, Artemis is a goddess of the forest and the woods, as well as a generally nature bound goddess, often depicted wearing or represented by shades of green, brown, and muted blues, all colors often associated with the woods and the earth.

🌸 flowers

* red amaranth: known by its taxonomic name of amarantos, Amaranths are the most commonly associated flower with lady Artemis, seen as a symbol of the immorality and violence of nature, as well as their relation to her name in Latin, meaning “unfading” representing her chaste virginity.

* red Carnation: another major flower iconic of Artemis is the carnation, as in Hellenic mythology, it is said that red carnations sprouted from the ground after she gouged out the eyes of a Shepherd who had dared to gaze upon her naked while she was bathing.

🦌 animals

* Stag/Deer: arguably the most well known animal associated with Artemis, and a creature she was known to assume the form of commonly, is the deer. It is said that some epithets of lady Artemis displayed great horns or antlers upon her head. Deer and their venison were also a major source of hunted food in Ancient Greece amongst the civil class.

* Boar: often associated with Artemis’s animalistic fits of rage, boars are one of her more sacred animals, often seen as a facet of her more violent tendencies. They were also an animal she loved to hunt.

* Bear: in the story of Callisto, a faithful devotee of Artemis who had promised her chastity to her, Callisto is seduced by zeus who causes her to break her chaste, infuriating Artemis who turns her to a bear and cast her into the woods. Later, in a plot by her own son to murder her, Zeus had mercy on them both and cast them amongst the constellations as Callisto to Ursa Major (great bear), and her son to Ursa Minor, (little bear).

💎 Gemstones

* emerald: The beautiful green hues of emerald are iconic of natures infatuation and affinity for the color, and as a goddess of nature incarnate, it is therefore often associated as the primary gemstone or crystal associated with lady Artemis.

* Moss agate: Named for its intricate dendrites that mimic the appearance of wild mosses, moss agate is a stone of nature and mystery, both aspects often referred to Artemis by. This makes it an easy, affordable choice of a stone to dedicate to and associate her with, especially for pagan wishes who may wish to decorate an altar for her!

* Moonstone: The stone of the moon, known for its Labradoresence and beautiful muted tones, it makes since that a stone named for the moon would be heavily associated with Artemis. It is also one of the stones associated with Virgo, the astral sign most widely connected to lady Artemis. (I too am a Virgo!)

🪐 Planets:

* The moon: Artemis is the patron saint of the earths moon, known for her affinity for her sacred night hunts, and has long inspired stories of lunar exploration. In fact, in 2017, NASA began work on the Artemis program, a plan to construct and launch a space shuttle that is to be used to land on the moon, delivering the first female astronaut ever to its surface!, and mark the first time a human being has set foot on the moon since 1972 when it lands there in 2026

🌟 Astrology

* Virgo and Cancer: Artemis, a goddess associated with various characteristics, is most often associated with two signs in traditional astrology, the first is Virgo, due to her inherent connections to the earth and virginity, and the second is cancer, due to her connections to the moon and her unique independence in Olympian society.

🏹 other iconography

* Bow and Arrow. Ever since I was a little one, I LOVED the idea and character of katniss Everdeen of the hunger games universe, and I would go into the woods and create my own bow and arrows, and set up targets to shoot! I now realize that’s one of the many reasons why I’ve always been drawn to Artemis! She is the ultimate expert with the bow and arrow, her sacred symbol and weapon of hunting.

🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌🏹🦌

What things or moments so you associate with lady Artemis? She is one of the many more intimidating goddesses I’ve come to adore, but as the first god I ever worshipped after leaving Christianity, I’ve found her more forgiving and patient than one might expect!

[whitmanicwares]

A glamor shot of a large quantity of the available stones that I find to be super pretty, with some close up shots of some that have really amazing shines/labradoresence to them! All of these are available (just message me) for wrapping, and I can provide close up pics for any stone upon request.

These are also all available, and give you an idea of what the finished wraps looks like:

[cosmic-tuna]

hmm I'm a simple man...I see geologist on tumblr I click follow. Hi!! ANYWAYS! My go-to question for every geologist online I come across: What is your favorite rock and what is your favorite mineral?

this is your mistake cuz i post about 50 million different thongs, from fandom to geology to random memes and bs

ANYWAYS. FINALLY A GOOD FUCKIGN QUESTION!!!

My favorite mineral is a tie between labradorite(LOVE the labradoresence) and alexandrite(oooo color change AND hot pink under uv light? sign me up). I literally have jewelry of both, though the alexandrite was way more expensive even though it's lab created.

My favorite rock is a little difficult. I wanna say schist immediately because garnet bearing schist is super pretty and fun. Also sparkly. And crumbly.

this area nearby has a LOT of garnet bearing schist, though its easier to see in the unweathered sections!

But I also like rhyolite and sandstone and conglomerates....

[happter-n-friends]

So, I just discovered Labradorite. Easily the coolest rock I’ve ever seen.

It was first discovered on the coast of an island in Labrador, Canada in 1770. A new kind of iridescence was named after it called labradoresence. It’s the peculiar reflection of the light from between sheets of mineral orientated in one direction (rarely in two directions) that are too small to be seen with a normal microscope.

[cosmic-tuna]

Experiment:

Reblog this post and add a poll of your own to the reblog. You can make it a poll about anything. Let's see how far it goes.

[mineralsandsomerocks]

Labradorite

[slangz94]

Amegreen is a lovely stone that makes a lovely addition to a small Amethyst and Rose Quartz "nightstand" grid. Soothing and calming properties from the Amethyst and Rose Quartz complement the properties of the Amegreen that are related to a restful sleep with intuitive dreams. your inner self and wisdom. . . . . . . #gemstonejewelry #gemstones #wiring #crystalhealing #crystallovers #crystallove #stones #crystals #crystal #wirewrappedjewelry #wirewrap #wirewrapping #amegreen #amegreenjewelry #amegreenstone #spiritual #spirituality #labradoresence #gemwraps https://www.instagram.com/p/BpkgwPpHKax/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1afr8vj48q8uz

[sourcefield]

🌈 Feelin the magic . Labradorite // Madagascar 🇲🇬 . 4.5” x 3.375” x 1.5” . $70 // Available . . . #labradorite #madagascarminerals #labradoresence #sourcefieldshop #sourcefield #source #crystals #vintagejewelry #gemstones #minerals #mineralspecimens #earthtreasures #stones #rocks #gems #earthdayeveryday #intelligentdesign #fractalgeometry #crystalline #resonance #energy #nature #naturalart #earthart #planetearth #crystalphotography (at Planet Earth) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChLU2oQvClY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[thecreakingdoor]

I’m in love with this labradorite cabachon which magically reflects different colours depending on the light direction. It sometimes has a peachy hue, silvery grey, peacock blue and almost looks ultraviolet when held up against the light. I’ve created a gothic decorative frame for it in sterling silver and it sits on a chain in a length to suit you. I’ve just listed it in my Etsy shop. . . . #iridescence #iridescentlove #labradorite #labradoresence #gothic #gothicjewellery #witchyvibes #wicca #wiccanjewelry #labradoritejewelry #handmadejewellery #victorianstylejewelry #victoriana (at Harrowby, Lincolnshire) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMUXWaAh-20/?igshid=p4hyxn6axrkx

[minerallus]

Ahhh this mermaid flash Labradorite~

[abstractrain223]

Labradorite from @bekkathyst 😍❤️

[shopbejeweled]

Fabulous labradorite specimen with great schiller! Schiller is the iridescent optical effect that has been called labradoresence. Spell check does not like these terms! New one of a kind from Charles Albert. #schiller #labradoresence #labradoritespecimen #handmadesilverjewelry #bejeweled #theshopsathilltop (at BeJeweled, Virginia Beach, VA) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz-2GjtBwx5/?igshid=108pn2o2duttq

[trivialfeline]

[mineralsandsomerocks]

Labradorite