Citrine

Citrine

SCIENCE / MINERALOGY
Citrine is the yellow to orange-brown variety of quartz, SiO₂. Natural citrine owes its color to iron-related defects and color centers within the quartz lattice. It crystallizes in the trigonal system and shares quartz's characteristic hardness, conchoidal fracture, and resistance to ordinary weathering.

GEOLOGY & FORMATION
Natural citrine forms in hydrothermal veins and pegmatitic environments where quartz grows under chemical and thermal conditions that create stable yellow coloration. It is much less common than amethyst. A large proportion of commercial 'citrine' is heat-treated amethyst or smoky quartz, producing orange to brown colors that can look different from most natural citrine.

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Citrine is traditionally associated with optimism, confidence, creativity, abundance, and acting on opportunity. Its warm color links it with personal will and the ability to sustain enthusiasm through practical effort. It is often used for goal setting, motivation, and challenging scarcity-focused thinking.

KEY PROPERTIES
Abundance • Confidence • Optimism • Creativity • Motivation • Manifestation • Personal will

CHAKRA: Solar Plexus • Sacral
ELEMENT: Fire
ZODIAC: Leo • Sagittarius
MOHS HARDNESS: 7

ACCURACY / TRADE-NAME NOTE
Quartz variety. Heat-treated amethyst is extremely common in commerce and should not automatically be described as natural citrine.