Picture Jasper

Jasper is derived from the Greek for “spotted stone”. Jasper is loosely considered a chalcedony, but technically is a separate group because of its grainy structure. Finely grained, dense jasper contains up to twenty percent other materials that create its many colors and appearance. Solid colored jasper is rare, it usually is multi-colored with stripes, spots or other patterns. Some look like pictures from nature.

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Product Description

FOUND IN: AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CANADA, EGYPT, INDIA, KAZAKHSTAN, MADAGASCAR, RUSSIA, URUGUAY & USA.

Jasper is an opaque and fine grained variety of Chalcedony. It is found in all colors including: red, brown, pink, yellow, green, grey/white and shades of blue and purple.

It often contains organic material and mineral oxides which give it interesting patterns, bands and colors. Many of these patterns resemble landscapes with mountains and valleys, thus the name “picture” is part of the name of many well know jaspers.

Jasper was a favorite gem in ancient times and is referenced in Greek, Hebrew, Assyrian and Latin literature.

Found worldwide, a wide variety of named jaspers is found in the western areas of the Unites States; California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Washington.

Picture jasper is a petrified or silicated mud that dripped into gas pockets in molten lava. It became superheated and then solidified forming the unusual banded patterns which are typical of this stone.

METAPHYSICAL:
Picture Jasper encourages ecological awareness, bringing stability and balance.  It contains a message and/or “picture” from the past.  Picture Jasper is a stone of proportion and harmony and stimulates creative visualisation.  It helps to bring hidden thoughts and feelings – griefs, fears, guilt, envy, love, hope – to the surface, to be released.  Brings comfort and alleviates fear.  Picture Jasper stimulates the immune system and helps treat disorders of the skin and kidneys.

Jaspers of all kinds have long been attributed magical powers in just about every culture known to man.

SCIENTIFIC:
Color: All colors, mostly stripped or spotted
Color of streak: White, Yellow, Brown, Red
Moh’s hardness: 6½-7
Specific gravity: 2.58-2.91
Cleavage: None
Fracture: Splintery
Crystal system: Hexagonal (Trigonal), Microcrystalline, Grainy Aggregates
Chemical composition: SiO2 Silicon Dioxide
Transparency: Opaque
Refractive index: About 1.54
Double refraction: None
Dispersion: None
Pleochroism: None
Absorption spectrum: Not usable
Fluorescence: None

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