Lapis Lazuli

Lapis Lazuli

SCIENCE / MINERALOGY
Lapis Lazuli is a metamorphic decorative rock, not a single mineral. Its intense blue component is lazurite, accompanied by variable calcite, pyrite, sodalite-group minerals, diopside, mica, and other phases. Fine lapis shows rich ultramarine blue with limited white calcite and attractive disseminated pyrite.

GEOLOGY & FORMATION
Lapis forms by contact metamorphism and metasomatism of limestone or dolostone near igneous intrusions, where sodium-, sulfur-, and silica-bearing fluids create lazurite and related minerals. The Sar-e-Sang district of Badakhshan, Afghanistan, has supplied lapis for thousands of years; other sources include Chile, Russia, Pakistan, and smaller deposits elsewhere.

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Lapis Lazuli is traditionally associated with wisdom, truth, communication, intuition, dignity, and disciplined self-expression. Its historical use in art, ornament, and pigment gives it symbolism of knowledge that is both valued and intentionally expressed.

KEY PROPERTIES
Wisdom • Truth • Communication • Intuition • Dignity • Clarity • Self-expression

CHAKRA: Throat • Third Eye
ELEMENT: Air • Water
ZODIAC: Sagittarius • Libra
MOHS HARDNESS: Variable; commonly ~5–5.5

ACCURACY / TRADE-NAME NOTE
Multi-mineral rock dominated visually by lazurite; no single chemical formula accurately represents lapis lazuli.