THURSDAY 29 SEPTEMBER, 2005 |

A Glossary of Terms

by Mario | post a comment

Technical, Trade, Mineralogical, New Age Terminology

Technical

Natural a crystal or mineral polished or Raw, but untreated by physical or chemical means.

Raw a crystal or mineral as it would be if found in its natural environment.

Cluster a group of crystals bound together by either their natural growth or by a matrix.

Dendritic mineral growths found within a crystal or mineral, often found in the shape of fingers or tree like structures.

Single crystals with only one point or termination.

Terminated

Double crystal found with two points or terminations, one point at each end.

Termination

Twin two crystals of equal length growing and connected side by side.

Enhydro crystals with water inclusions found within the structure.

Faden crystals, usually quartz, with a fine thread like inclusion caused by the breaking of the lattice structure by earthquakes and other tectonic plate movements.

Tumble crystals and minerals which have been polished within a tumbler, or

Polished drum containing some form of abrasive, usually agate sand, which is continually rotated until the stones are smooth.

Cabochon crystals or minerals deliberately cut and polished into a specific shape, flat on one side and slightly domed on the other.

Facet crystals or minerals deliberately cut and polished into a specific shape, usually exhibiting a number of faces or facets.

Fashioned crystals or minerals deliberately cut and polished into a specific shape, of any shape depending upon the maker.

Wand crystals or minerals deliberately cut and polished into a specific shape, usually with a single or double point at one or both of the ends. Wands can includevarious crystals, minerals, metals, woods and other materials, depending upon the makers choices or intentions.

Geode a cave like structure of varying sizes, with crystal formations on the inner walls.

Phantom a crystal which has the echo of a point trapped inside its formation, showing how the crystal once looked at one time during its formation.

Carat a unit of size, used to measure small crystals and minerals.

1 carat = 200 milligrams

Point a natural, carved or polished termination to a crystal or mineral.

Calibrated something which has been measured against a scale.

Sceptre a natural crystal which exhibits a larger point or termination than its growth suggests.

Matrix the material in which a crystal or mineral can be found.

Mine Run the total amount of crystals or minerals released from one particular mine.

Fashioned see fashioned and wand

Wand

Pyramid a crystal or mineral shaped in the form of a pyramid.

Sphere a crystal or mineral shaped in the form of a sphere.

Egg a crystal or mineral shaped in the form of an egg.

Obelisk a crystal or mineral shaped in the form of an obelisk.

Chemistry the chemical composition of a particular mineral or crystal.

Class the type of formation, primary, secondary or tertiary, or igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic.

Group the family into which a crystal or mineral falls, eg. Citrine is part of the Quartz family.

Specimens examples of crystals or minerals.

Colour the colour of a crystal or mineral.

Luster the shininess exhibited by a specimen.

Transparency how much light passes through a specimen.

Crystal the type of crystal structure exhibited.

System

Crystal Habit a description of the shapes and aggregates that a certain mineral is likely to form.

Cleavage a smooth break producing what appears to be a flat crystal face.

Fracture when crystals shear along crystal planes.

Hardness the hardness of a specimen with regard to the mohs scale for hardness.

Specific is a measure of the density of a mineral.

Gravity

Polymorphism denotes the existence of more than one crystal structure of a substance.

Associated are minerals that are found with the mineral you are interested in, these Minerals minerals form in similar environments.

Origin where the specimen has come from.

Igneous see igneous

Sedimentary see sedimentary

Metamorphic see metamorphic

Attunement accessing the enrgies of crystals.

Barnacle a specimen with many small crystals growing around the main specimen.

Bridge a crystal which grows between and joins two crystals.

Cathedral a crystal which has a number of smaller but similar growths at the base of the main crystal.

Cross two crystals which grew through and past each other, forming a cross.

Elestial also known as Jacare and skeletal, they have crystals growing over other crystals and can come in many shapes and colours.

Generator is a specific shape of polished crystal designed to send energy in a particular direction.

Laser Wand is a type of crystal that has a long and thin structure.

Manifesting is a type of crystal which has a fully formed crystal growing inside it.

Record Keeper a crystal with a raised triangle on one or more of the faces of the main point.

Self Healed a crystal which has broken away from the matrix or main cluster and then continued to grow by forming a selection of smaller crystal growths.

There are many terms when considering the crystal world. The scientific terms are used to describe specific formations, families and other geological information.

The New age terminology is very new and tends to describe crystals and minerals from an esoteric and subjective point of view. Many of these new terms are used by one or another school of thought, and often the same formation or mineral can now have a number of different names.

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• How Crystals and Minerals are Formed ?
• How can we Cleanse our Crystals ?
• Mining Implications and Techniques
• What is a Crystal ?

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