Early autumn in this place is violet and gold, bright spangles arrayed against a blanket of slowly fading green. The yellows assume pride of place — wild sunflowers, chamisa, brittle brush, ragweed, goldenrod — but their omnipresence throws the shades of the purple asters and remnant sage blossoms into stark bold relief.
They are the colors of the light itself, the glittery golden rays of day interspersed with dusk’s soft plum glow.
They are also the color of the earth, manifest in rare jewels, stones and flowers alike.
Our stone today is the purple of desert asters and Pueblo twilight. It’s called sugilite.
In reading up on today’s featured gemstone, I learned almost immediately that I was very, very wrong about one aspect of it: its name. Like so many stones (and other objects), it was named for the person who first (as far as modern society knows or cares, at least) “discovered” or “described” it. In this case, it’s the latter term that applies, and the label is a bit more accurate than usual, since it’s probably likely that the person for whom the stone is named was apparently the first person to describe it in chemical and mineralogical terms.
His name was Ken-Ichi Sugi, and I knew immediately that the word is universally mispronounced. In the gem and jewelry business, everyone calls it SEW-jih-lite (where “sew” rhymes with “crew”). But in Japanese, this scientist’s name would be pronounced SOO-ghee, with a hard “g” (and a shorter, sharper vowel sound in the first syllable, without the obvious touch of a “w” sound at the end) And so, henceforth in this household, it shall be accorded its proper pronunciation of SOO-ghee-lite.
So what is sugilite?
In some places, it is known as lavulite, but sugilite is now the stone’s commonly accepted proper name. Sugilite’s chemical composition is complex, composed of numerous elements in varying quantities: potassium, sodium, lithium, titanium, manganese, aluminum, iron, silicon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The transcription of its chemical formula is thus unusually long, rendered as KNa2(Fe,Mn,Al)2Li3Si12O30.
Sugilite is generally regarded as a rare mineral, in its purple gem form (there are less colorful forms of sugilite that manifest in earth tones that are used for industrial applications). It’s what’s known as a cyclosilicate mineral, meaning that it is a rock-forming mineral that manifests in rings of linked tetrahedra (i.e., pyramidal-shaped) crystals. Images diagramming the crystal patterns are shown at the link. It generally appears in large masses, so that the individual crystal structure is not apparent to the naked eye, and while it is possible to find translucent crystals of sugilite (at least with the help of powerful miscroscopy; you can see examples at the top of the page at this link), it usually manifests in the opaque form shown here.
In its
gemstone, form, it appears on a color spectrum that ranges from a magenta-infused deep pink to the deepest shades of violet and plum, and everything in between. It’s not uncommon tofind it in mulberry-ish shades that combine light purple with a bit of maroon, in hues the color of lilac and thistle, and in deep dark royal purples of incredible intensity. It often has a marbled look, created by matrix patterns in shades subtly lighter or darker than the main part of the stone itself. The purple horse fetish at right in the image tot he left is an example of the mulberry color, one that resembles the darker shades of dolomite, another stone often used in Native fetish carving. The ring shown in the photo at the top of this post contains sugilite cabochons in perhaps its most common range of shades, from an intense lilac color to classic purple, and without much in the way of matrix inclusions.
One of the most spectacular examples of sugilite that I’ve seen, however, appeared in this ring Wings created some seven years ago or so:
This stone was, truly, what is known colloquially as “royal purple”: deep, rich, intense, brilliant. It was also sugilite at its finest: brilliant shades of thistle and violet and plum swirled and shaded together, backlit by the tiniest hints of gold within the stone. (It’s not uncommon for sugilite to appear, especially in its lighter forms, with bits of swirled white matrix, but in the darker hues, the matrix often ranges from yellow-gold to golden-brown, making for a starkly beautiful contrast.)
The photo immediately above shows off the darker whorls int he stone to great effect. The one immediately below provides a better look at the differential nature of the cab’s matrix:
Sugilite in this form is found in several parts of the world, but its appearance is by no means universal. At the time that Ken-Ichi Sugi described its mineralogical qualities in 1944, it was already known in its duller, browner form in South Africa, where it was being mined for industrial use. In that year, it was found in a region of southwest Japan known as Iwagi Islet, a part of Ehime Prefecture.
In this brilliant purple form, it also occurs naturally on Japan’s Shikoku Island; in a couple of areas of New South Wales in Australia; in manganese fields in the Kalahari and in a couple of other areas of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province; in one mountain range in Tajikistan; and in both Liguria and Tuscany in Italy. Here in what is now called North America, there is only one known deposit of which I am aware: in one set of quarries in the Mont Saint-Hilaire region of Quebec, in Canada.
It’s been several years wince Wings has worked with sugilite in any significant way; at the moment, to my knowledge, he has only one four individual beads of this stone in his inventory. Done carefully, lapidary work can sometimes turn drilled beads into cabochons, and that is likely true of the large disc bead shown here (and possibly the smaller round spherical beads, as well, although they are more likely to be subject to breakage). These are all spectacularly beautiful, deep plum with swirling matrices in pale lacy white and delicate lilac warm coppery brown tones. If it’s a stone that speaks to your spirit, he can make a unique piece all your own, either with one (or more) of the beads shown here or by ordering new cabochons; simply inquire via the Contact form at left.
Since it is not a stone indigenous to this area, sugilite has no particular significance to its indigenous peoples beyond the artistic (and that it probably true for most, if not all, of our peoples, at least on this side of the border with Quebec). Those who participate in New Age “crystal traditions,” however, have imputed various forms of symbolism to it: they associate it with the heart chakra, with love of all kinds, with healing in myriad forms. Some sources promote it as a “balancing” agent, as a clearer of “blocked energies,” as a stone useful for those with disorders of the hormonal glands and for those fighting cancer. Others consider a purifying agent for the blood and lymph systems, an aid for problems with motor skills, and even a substance to help with dyslexia. [Note that we do not endorse any such “remedies.”] Metaphysically, it’s said to promote spiritual healing from “disordered thoughts,” forgiveness, and universal love.
For us, it is, as usual, simply a beautiful stone, one that manifests in the colors of the desert earth and sky at this season: a stone of desert asters and autumn twilight.
~ Aji
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