It’s all about light… and perspective. At first this gemstone may not reveal much magic, but what if you look at it from a slightly different angle? You will be immediately spellbound by rich flashes of colour, coming from inside as if the stone was lit from within. It will take your breath away and leave you wondering...
How did this magical “Aurora Borealis” get inside the crystal?
High-quality Labradorite gemstone is a truly captivating miracle of light. It hypnotises with a remarkable play-of-colour. It invites you to look inside — layer after layer — revealing magic that is hidden somewhere deeper — in the crystal, inside of you or in the entirety of the universe.
Labradorite is a beautiful variety of feldspar named for the Canadian province of Labrador, where it was first identified in 1770.
The Eskimo Inuit and the Native Americans Innu were familiar with this gemstone long before the European settlers. They believed that Labradorite “originated” from the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights and now you can see why…
Labradorite optical phenomena — iridescence or technically called schiller — is so unique to this gemstone that it has been termed “labradorescence”. It occurs due to diffraction of light. While travelling through the layers in the crystal structure light rays are being mirrored back and forth. That is why the stone looks as if it was lit from inside.
These layers in the crystal structure – submicroscopical planes oriented in one direction – act as diffraction gratings, separating light into its component colours. Labradorite may exhibit fascinating flashes of blue, yellow, orange, violet or green colour when the gemstone exposed to bright light and viewed from different angles. The colour that we see is determined by the thickness of the layers of crystal structure.
The base colour we see in Labradorite varies from dark grey and even black to earthy-brown or colorless. It’s the movement of light and the structure of the crystal that creates the magic and radiates this fascinating labradorescence from the very depth of the gemstone.
Not all Labradorite gemstones are valued equally. The more prominent a play of vivid colours, the higher gemstone value for jewellery.
High quality Labradorite from Finland is sometimes called spectrolite and may definitely compete with Black Opals in colourful iridescence. Spectrolites display a richer range of colours and high labradorescence.
Labradorite with the spectrolite effect also found in Madagascar. However, Finnish gemstones display a much stronger colourfulness representing a full spectrum caused by the black base colour of the crystal. That is why the name spectrolite is mostly used for Labradorite mined in Finland.
The jewellery market value formula:
The darker the base colour of the crystal and the richer the play-of-colour effect, the higher priced the stone.
Labradorites with lighter base colours, usually grey or earthy, still have this beautiful whimsical charm but with less striking flashes of blue. Although, these crystals are priced lower and usually used to make beads, they still carry the same magical vibe.
Labradorite is the gemstone of Light by all possible means, from physical to metaphysical.
It teaches you how to initiate the magic of self-exploration. It invites you to go inwards, layer after layer opening up to the light. It helps you connect to your intuition and gain trust in yourself while shattering self-doubts and self-judgement.
Labradorite reminds that You hold all keys to all doors – they are inside of You. Ultimately – You are the Key.
Labradorite is also regarded as the Stone of Transformation – in order to initiate desirable changes in your life you need to get in touch with your hidden potential. For that you must become transparent for the Light or Divine or whatever you prefer to call it...
When you have enough courage to open up the most hidden and vulnerable parts of yourself, the Light can reach out to heal, transform and inspire. What is waiting for you there, can be unexpected, even overwhelming, but definitely magnificent enough to change the way you see, feel, think, act and move through your life.
So far Labradorite has been taking us deeper and deeper inside… Now I invite you to go higher to the world of planetary archetypes and see what we can find about Labradorite up there.
Everything is relative! Our perception depends on the angle we take to look at things.
Go a bit deeper and change the angle… what looked grey before may suddenly explode with an “Aurora Borealis” luminance simply because you allowed the light to penetrate the surface.
That’s what Labradorite gemstone is all about — lightness and relativity of perception! Let’s follow this optical phenomena – back to the source — to the world of planetary energies.
The synergy of the two celestial planetary archetypes — Mercury and the Moon — is perfectly captured by Labradorite down here on Earth. Therefore you can facilitate the connection with these transformative energies in your life by working with this gemstone.
Mercury is a multicoloured planet, it establishes bridges between polarities and understands both sides of an equation. It’s related to the Air element and acts as a communicator between spiritual and physical worlds.
Mercury is quick, playful and ever changing – the Messenger, the God of Communication.
On a personal level, Mercury knows how to facilitate the flow between your hidden potential and your awareness so that things make sense to you. Mercury wisdom helps develop adaptability, activating the inquisitive mind. It questions everything and brings the value of relativity to your awareness.
The Moon archetype is of a reflective, multiplying and intuitive nature that works well with Mercurial agility and flexibility.
By manifesting the Mercury-Moon dialectic Labradorite helps to realise your divine origin and potentiality. It brings you a message from deep-inside-of-you so you can reconnect with the celestial abode. You can see and be more…
…and always remember that everything is relative and depends on your perspective.
Let the Light in – allow it to heal, protect and transform, revealing magical colours of your hidden potential.
That’s the most valuable lesson we can learn from Labradorite – the Stone of Inner Truth, Light and Intuition.
Meditating with Labradorite, carrying it in your pocket or wearing a piece of jewellery with this mesmerising gemstone will help awaken your awareness of different levels of energy around and inside of you, facilitating communication between the spiritual and physical worlds.
Explore yourself with the guidance received from Labradorite and bring up your inner Light!
Show the world your magical “labradorescence”!
Dancing Orbit necklace with Labradorite gemstone by Gems In Style Jewellery will help you stay connected with Your Inner Light.
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I’m really glad I passed something special about Labradorite and it resonated with you, Anna. Thank you so much for your comment.
Really liked this article, Beautifull discover about Labeadorites- definitely going to live with mine in a different way from now on. Thankyou full of LIGTH.
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Lara Gems
Author
Gemstone Strategist and Founder of Gems In Style Jewellery