Crystal
Carnelian
Chakras: Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus
Zodiac: Aries, Virgo
Planets: Mars
Elements: Fire, Earth
Summary
Carnelian is associated with the Root, Sacral and Solar Plexus Chakras and brings an influx of sexual and creative energies. It encourages confidence, passion and zest for life, facilitates mental and emotional vitality, and supports focused concentration.
Keywords
creative energies, confidence, passion, zest for life, mental vitality, emotional vitality
Spiritual meaning
In crystal tradition: Brings an influx of creative energy and passion, and supports focused concentration.
Emotional meaning
Encourages confidence, passion and zest for life, with mental and emotional vitality.
Fun facts
Napoleon Bonaparte picked up an octagonal carnelian seal inscribed with Arabic script during his Egyptian campaign and carried it for the rest of his life. It passed to his nephew Napoleon III and then to the Prince Imperial, who wore it to the Zulu War, where he was killed in a skirmish in 1879, and the talisman was never seen again. The Prophet Muhammad was said to wear a silver ring set with carnelian on his right hand, a tradition so influential that wearing carnelian remains a practice in some Islamic communities 1,400 years later. Hot wax does not stick to carnelian, which made it the preferred stone for ancient Roman signet rings: a practical accident that turned it into a symbol of authority across the ancient world.
History and lore
In history and lore: In the old medical lore Kunz gathered, red stones such as carnelian were trusted above all others to stop bleeding of every kind, chosen for their blood-red color. An early belief held that carnelian, worn at the neck or on the finger, cooled and calmed the blood and so stilled all angry passions. The thirteenth-century Arab writer al-Tifashi likewise listed carnelian among his stones, writing that a deep red one worn at the neck calmed fear in anger.
About the sources
- George Frederick Kunz (1856 to 1932), Tiffany & Co.'s chief gemologist and author of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913) and The Magic of Jewels and Charms (1915).
- Ahmad al-Tifashi, thirteenth-century Arab writer on precious stones; his book, Fior di pensieri sulle pietre preziose, was printed in Arabic with an Italian translation by Antonio Raineri (Florence, 1818).