Gemstones and Healing: Kunzite

Copyright 2010 Eileen Nauman
All Rights Reserved

Kunzite is a beautiful, calming and uplifting heart chakra stone. Here are the range of colors that it comes in. These faceted gemstones are the ‘high end’ of scale. Most Kunzite is not transparent.

CATALOGING THE GEMS

I evaluate a gemstone in a number of ways. First, it falls into one of these categories: Heart Stone, Grounding Stone, Guard Dog Stone, High Energy Stone, Trauma Stone, Mental Stone, Stress Tone, Luck Stone, Psychic Stone, Money Stone, Arthritis Stone and Master Healer Stone. I created this system over the years because each stone has unique skills. Some, like the Master Stones, are diverse, multi-skilled and affect more than one chakra in our aura. With this blog, we’re going to look at Kunzite. It is a “creativity” and “heart” stone.

CREATIVITY STONE

A Creativity Stone works with the right hemisphere of a person’s brain. This is the location of one’s seat of Creativity. These gemstones inspire ideas, plans and strategies that will help a person blossom into their unique skills and abilities. Kunzite is one such gemstone.

HEART STONE

This these gems that can help support you with problems of a heart and emotional nature. These gems are utilized in situations such as: Grief, breaking up a relationship, a divorce, loss of a loved one, loss of a pet, moving and leaving your friends or family, getting fired from a job, losing your house to a flood/earthquake, are but a few examples. People who, on a more spiritual level who are wanting to work in their heart chakra should consider a “heart stone” helper. These gemstones can open up an emotionally closed down person (repression/suppression). A heart stone can help them be more sensitive to themselves and to others. It moves narcissistic people toward concern and compassion for others, rather than just focused on their own needs. These heart gemstones help us “emote.” For those who have suppressed or repressed wounds that surround love, being loved, or not loved, also fall under this category. Anything to do with our heart; whether it is learning to love ourselves, love others, loving our enemies, learning the difference between pity, sympathy and compassion, these stone helpers can support you. Kunzite does so on a very subtle level, but over time, you will see the changes in your perspective about love and loving.

THE HISTORY OF KUNZITE

This is a very recently discovered gemstone. In fact, it was discovered at the Pala tourmaline mine in northern San Diego County. G.F. Kunz (1856 – 1932), a gemologist, discovered it at the turn of the 20th century. Kunz was a buyer for Tiffany & Co. who first described this gem in 1902. Kunzite, he realized, was the pink-violet family member to yellow-green Hiddenite. Both are from the Spodumene Family. It is a rare stone and we’re fortunate it was discovered here, in the USA!

Kunzite’s chemical composition is LiAlSi206 lithium aluminum silicate. It contains lithium, a well-known calming agent used in traditional medicine. It is a 6.5 to 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness. The crystal system of it is monoclinic, prismatic and tabular, making it highly brittle and easily shattered during shaping and faceting of it.

Kunzite is pleochroic, meaning there is a color intensity variation when the stone is viewed from different directions. The top and bottom are where the deepest colors will be found. Depending on the angle that you move the Kunzite, it can show a strong violet, a light violet and light green as it is moved one way or another. This is pleochroism which indicates a multicolor or hues will be seen in this gemstone.

Kunzite comes in all shades of pink, usually very pale, but in highly expensive end, a nice, healthy pink color. It is also found in all shades of lavender from very pale to almost a violet color. Other colors are yellow, green and clear. Most Kunzite out on the market that will not cost you thousands of dollars is pale pink and pale to medium lavender coloration. One must be warned that if you wear any color Kunzite, that direct, bright sunlight can leach of it of color over time. When you’re not wearing it, be sure to put away from direct sunlight so it will retain its mystical coloration.

Kunzite can be transparent to almost opaque because of all the inclusions found within it. In this case, the inclusions actually bring out the pleochroic levels and it has a delightful inner sheen quality to it. And to facet or in any way shape Kunzite, is tough. Because its cleavage is splintered and fractured, it’s a terrible gem cutter’s challenge to get it shaped. That is why Kunzite beads of any type cost a lot of money. In trying to shape the beads, so much material is lost in the process. One can lose half the gemstone to just trying to cut, shape and polish it.

Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminum inosilicate – LiAl (SiO3)2 – and is a source of lithium, of which Kunzite is one, make up the Pyroene group. Lithium is used as a calming agent in traditional medicine. The Greek word for this is pyr (fire and xeons (stranger). And in Kunzite, when it is shaped, polished or faceted, you can see the silvery inner gloss and that is probably the ‘fire’ that we see in this gemstone.

Kunzite is found in the USA, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma and Madagascar. A common treatment to Kunzite rough is to heat treat it to 300F to improve its color. The most famous Kunzite is a 47 carat ring that President J.F. Kennedy purchased for his wife, Jackie. He never had a chance to give it to her, sadly and it sold for more than $410,000 at a Sotheby’s auction after her death.

Historically, there really is no antiquity on this stone. It really wasn’t known or recognized.

THE ASTROLOGY OF KUNZITE

Kunzite is ruled by Venus, the Goddess of Love. Lest we take this the wrong way, we’re taking the higher vibration of Neptune to move to the sphere of Compassion. Venus rules all kinds of love. Whether it is love of self or others or at the highest value, that of compassion. And this is where Kunzite works is in this heady realm of the refined spiritual energy.

And from another perspective, the Venusian traits of enjoying, appreciating and being grateful for the life we have, is a part of its expression, too. When a person finds inner peace, it is because they’ve climbed through the lower three chakras and reside in the heart chakra. This, in itself, is a huge step forward in that individual’s spiritual path.

ASTROLOGY TRANSITS AND PROGRESSIONS WITH KUNZITE

Venus retrograde will bring out all our problems concerning love and liking another–or ourselves, as the case may be. This is when divorces occur, break ups with the significant other or friendships dissolve. Wearing Kunzite can help mediate and create better communication between you and your partner. With good communication, each person will be heard fully and no assumption being made. When you can honestly talk it out, there’s a lot less likelihood of splitting up.

WEST DIRECTION

The West is the element water, dying and transforming. This is also the position of the Wounded Healer archetype; wounding and then working through the emotional trauma to come out the other side of the gauntlet to turn around and show others how to heal from similar trauma. It is about our EMOTIONS. And it is our emotions where we so often get stuck and refuse to change when we really ought to be. The West is about surrendering over to a higher power, letting go, releasing and having faith in the unknown that you will survive this and get through it. This is the position of “grace” to accept one’s Fate and yet, try to improve upon one’s attitude toward it in a positive and graceful way.

It is our emotions that get us into trouble. We are incarnated into a human form with a certain set of emotions that are shaped by our first eighteen years of life. Those who come from a dysfunctional family background or a war torn country while growing up, have taken on some very deep and serious wounding. Only by getting in touch with these wounds can we open them up and allow the toxicity to drain out of them so we can finally heal up. This direction helps us to focus on just this. It’s a direction of a great deal of emotional pain as we work through that wounding a second time around, but the good news is, this time it will discharge. And then, true healing can begin and you can move on to a higher evolution spiritually. Plus, your compassion and understanding by taking on this wound is profoundly increased. There is a silver lining to this, after all.

Kunzite’s job is to help transform lower forms of our emotions and refine them into something higher and more healthy for us. Jealousy and envy are low forms of love; although it’s to be argued that it really has nothing to do with real love. People who are caught in these traps can do well to wear Kunzite in order to “lift” their vibration and move into a far more healthy perspective.

HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF KUNZITE

When our emotions become tangled with our heart, this is when we need Kunzite in our life. The heart chakra is green when seen clairvoyantly. The color pink has always been symbolically associated with the heart. Either color of Kunzite can work to lift the person’s love issues into a higher vibration. By doing so, it frees the person from the lower energy entanglement (be it grief, loss, sadness of a loved one) and work to show you a new and healthier perspective on that person.

Grief and loss, when not expressed, are suppressed or repressed by ourselves. Kunzite can aid in dredging up all this hurt and loss so that you can discharge it. It is when we ‘sit’ on our heart related emotions that they become toxic and poisonous to us over time. That’s why heart attacks occur. Kunzite works to dig out all this old, toxic stuff so it can be ‘aired’ and released, once and for all.

From a central nervous system perspective, Kunzite (in any color) is about soothing them. Because it contains lithium, a well-known calming agent, Kunzite can work in this sphere as well. The anxiety of taking an exam, going for a job interview or asking for a raise, or asking someone to marry you, fall into Kunzite’s realm to calm so you can think through your emotional lens.

And it is said that Kunzite helps to relieve one’s Depression, although I have no experience along this line to validate it one way or another. From a logic standpoint, because it contains lithium and it is known to ‘lift’ Depression, may be the reason why. I do know that the sense of quiet, calm and peace that radiates from Kunzite is powerful and transforming. I see no reason why it might not help someone in Depression.

WHO SHOULD WEAR KUNZITE?

People who follow the Buddhist tradition of developing detachment can do a lot with the gemstone because it truly works on compassion issues. And compassion is the level where we all need to go sooner or later. Or people who aren’t of this tradition but are trying to work from their heart chakra, qualify too.

Others who are on any other spiritual path who are TRYING to learn detachment will find Kunzite of help. Anyone who is grieving for any reason, Kunzite can act as a support to discharge this emotional energy instead of it being repressed and stuck within you.

Those who work in hospitals, social work, hospice can all do well to wear this gemstone. It helps to create the loving detachment one needs to be of service to people who are suffering or dying.

Those who have a tragic love situation, either the partner died or they divorced, can utilize this wonderful gemstone to help start their healing process to deal with the grief and loss.

SPIRITUAL CONSIDERATIONS OF KUNZITE

Imagine your worst nightmare scenario where anxiety and stress were applied to you in some life experience. Kunzite has the inner strength to take on these big jobs in our lives. But it does it quietly and subtly. You may wear Kunzite and not feel a thing, yet, when you turn around the look at the time you were wearing it, you were calmer, more centered and at peace than if you hadn’t wore it. Kunzite treads softly but carries a big stick of calm in the middle of our life storms.

It is ruled by our Heart Chakra, the seat of our Compassion. And it is in the heart where we stop being a narcissistic individual and understand that we must be aware and care by choice, for others. Selfishness dwells in the lower three chakras. It does not survive long in the Heart Chakra. Kunzite can bring out our best and most healthy self when we wear it. We are given to acts of kindness and generosity without doing it for selfish reasons. True acts of humanity dwell within Kunzite.

Kunzite, when found in lavender to violet coloration, is going to stimulate the Heart Chakra and the Brow Chakra. Our Third Eye is about perceptions, seeing other people and situations more deeply than usual. It also aligns the energy of this chakra so that you may see aura colors around a person, or hear/see things you aren’t normally aware of. The lavender color stimulates two chakras.

Kunzite when found in yellow color will stimulate the Solar Plexus Chakra located in our stomach region. This will support your striving for being an individual and following your own path, instead of others telling you what to do with your life. It still stimulates the heart chakra, but you are getting two chakras being triggered instead of one.

HOW TO WEAR KUNZITE

Any time you want to challenge yourself to come from a Compassionate foundation rather than the one you were taught as a child, wear Kunzite.

If you are in a situation where people are working with their lower chakras, then Kunzite can help you with detachment from these teachers of yours.

IN SUMMATION….

The Chinese goddess, Kwan Yin, sits upon the Moon pouring out the waters of Compassion. Water and the Moon symbolize our emotions, which is where ground zero is for all of us in a given life time. Kunzite resonates powerfully with the seat of our Compassion, the Heart Chakra and will help us get our emotional house in healthy order.

People drawn to this stone should know they are being called by a higher power within their Soul. And they will draw to them people and experiences that retrain your heart to the higher vibration. You find many people who work in social work, hospice and medical facilities are learning this exact lesson. And you will too, no matter what your career calling is. We can treat people with respect, a smile, kindness and understanding instead of being repelled by them for whatever our own injuries and wounds that we project and live our lives through. Kunzite levels the playing field of the heart in this fashion.

As we talk of the heart we also talk about love. Love has many, many different levels and expressions. The most important love that must first be laid as a foundation for our growth is loving ourselves. And so many children’s self-esteem is destroyed early on by their unthinking or uneducated parents. When we lose our confidence and esteem, we spiral down into self-hate. If our parents don’t love us, we are unlovable we think. And so, self-hate, self-loathing and being so bad that we know no one can love us, takes hold. A very unhealthy, stained and toxic pattern takes hold of us, instead.

Kunzite is about helping us arrive at a place in our lives to understand that we ARE lovable. And are deserving of love and especially, self-love. When I say self-love let me define this. If you love yourself, you possess a healthy survival model. You care enough about yourself to save yourself. People who have self-loathing have no sense of self survival. They simply de-evolve into the toxic family pattern and never see a way out of it. As an example, if you meet a new group of people and they disrespect you, the self-love person will see it instantly and walk away; never to connect with this group again. The self-loathing person will not see this, has always been disrespected, and joins thinking that he or she can finally be respected and of course, that will not happen.

Kunzite builds its base energy from the Heart Chakra. Our strength to live our life by our morals and values is key here. When one engages Heart Chakra energy, you can no longer be selfish, alone or always doing something for the wrong reasons and expecting a return on it. Kunzite lifts us into heart energy and then you choose whether or not you want to transform or not. As always, it’s free will choice. If you take on the challenge of wearing Kunzite, then you are on the path that Kwan Yin treads. That of Compassion.

IMAGES:

http://www.gemselect.com/kunzite/kunzite-267977.php
purple faceted kunzite
http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/kunzite.html
rough, natural kunzite pinkish purple
http://favouritestone.com/KnowledgeManual/Images/Stones/Kunzite/Kunzite1.jpg
Kwan Yin
http://www.goddessgift.net/images/goddess-moon-kwan-yin-mini-SO-MSMY.jpg