Calcite (Coloured Varieties)
calcite
The most abundant carbonate on earth in its decorative dress, orange and honey from Mexico, mint green from Pakistan, blue from Madagascar, pink mangano from Peru. All of it is soft, soluble in acid, and much more fragile than its price suggests. People carry it for abundance, self-love and calm.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Natural colours are common, but dyed calcite (especially bright blue, green and purple) is widespread because the mineral is porous and takes dye readily. Look for colour concentrated in cracks and around drill holes.
This one does not go in water. It dissolves.
Mineral facts
Hardness
3 Mohs
Formula
CaCO3
Family
carbonate
Where it comes from
Mexico, Pakistan, Madagascar, Peru, USA, Brazil, Iceland
What it is
The most abundant carbonate on earth in its decorative dress, orange and honey from Mexico, mint green from Pakistan, blue from Madagascar, pink mangano from Peru. All of it is soft, soluble in acid, and much more fragile than its price suggests. If a stone fizzes, it is calcite, and half the shelf does.
What it is confused with
carnelian, aragonite, orange-selenite, fluorite, amber, opalite
Translucent, waxy-to-vitreous, with a soft glow when backlit and colour that is usually banded, cloudy or zoned rather than uniform. Broken and raw pieces show flat rhombohedral cleavage faces at oblique angles that flash like tiny mirrors, three directions of perfect cleavage is the structural signature. Very soft: a steel pin, a copper coin, even a fingernail on some pieces, will mark it. Orange calcite frequently has a chalky white rind. Mangano (pink) calcite often fluoresces bright pink under longwave UV.
Commonly faked · check before you buy
How to tell
A drop of vinegar fizzes on calcite and does nothing on quartz, fluorite or glass. Hardness 3, a copper coin scratches it, unlike carnelian or fluorite. Rhombohedral cleavage flashes on broken faces.
Natural colours are common, but dyed calcite (especially bright blue, green and purple) is widespread because the mineral is porous and takes dye readily. Look for colour concentrated in cracks and around drill holes.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Calcite (Coloured Varieties) is a carbonate, 3 on the Mohs scale, and it is the stone traditionally carried when the problem is proximity rather than intensity.
You know what this one would do for you. You just don't have it.
Calcite (Coloured Varieties) for every sign
Aries
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite.
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite. Half the shelf does. Orange from Mexico, mint from Pakistan, pink mangano from Peru, all soft enough for a copper coin to mark and all ruined by soaking. Wipe it with a dry cloth and stop there.
Taurus
That is the test, and it is also the damage.
Honey from Mexico, mint from Pakistan, pink mangano from Peru. Every one of them is soft enough to mark with a copper coin. A drop of vinegar fizzes. That is the test, and it is also the damage, so never soak it and never salt it.
Gemini
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite.
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite, and half the shelf does. Orange from Mexico, mint from Pakistan, pink mangano from Peru, and a good deal of it dyed, because the mineral is porous and takes colour eagerly. A copper coin scratches the lot.
Cancer
A drop of vinegar fizzes on all of it.
Pink mangano from Peru, honey from Mexico, mint from Pakistan, every one of them soft enough to scratch with a coin. A drop of vinegar fizzes on all of it. The stone is porous and takes dye readily, so look for colour pooled around the drill hole.
Leo
If it fizzes, it is calcite. Half the shelf will.
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite, and roughly half the shelf will. Three directions of perfect cleavage mean it splits into leaning rhombs when dropped, and a fingernail marks some of it. Vivid blue and purple pieces are usually dyed, with the colour pooled in the cracks.
Virgo
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite.
If it fizzes in vinegar it is calcite, and half the shelf does. Hardness 3, three perfect cleavage directions, and porous enough to take dye eagerly, which is why the vivid blues pool colour around drill holes. Never soak it and never salt it. Etched polish stays etched.
Libra
Look at the drill hole before anything else.
It fizzes in acid and gives up in vinegar, so keep it dry. The mineral is porous enough to take dye readily, which is why electric blue and purple calcite exists and why the colour pools in cracks and around the drill hole. Look at the drill hole first.
Scorpio
It fizzes in vinegar. That is the whole test.
It fizzes in vinegar, and that single test rules out half the shelf. Mohs 3, so a copper coin marks it, and porous enough to drink up dye, which is why the electric blues and purples are almost always dyed. Salt and acid both etch the polish and it does not come back.
Sagittarius
Vinegar fizzes on it and does nothing on quartz.
Vinegar fizzes on it and does nothing on quartz, which is how you learn how much of the shelf is calcite. Mexico ships the orange and honey, Pakistan the mint green, Peru the pink mangano. Water and acid take the polish off permanently.
Capricorn
Fizzes in vinegar, which is the test and the warning.
Fizzes in vinegar, which is the test and also the warning. Calcite is Mohs 3, dissolves in acid, and is porous enough that most bright blues and purples are dye sitting in the cracks. Half the shelf is this mineral and it is far more fragile than the price suggests.
Aquarius
If it fizzes, it is calcite, and half the shelf does.
If it fizzes, it is calcite, and half the shelf does. Three directions of perfect cleavage at oblique angles mean broken pieces come out as leaning boxes, and the mineral is porous enough that bright blue and purple stock is almost always dyed. Never soak it.
Pisces
Look for colour pooling in the cracks.
It fizzes in acid, which is the test, and it is porous enough that bright blue and purple pieces are almost always dyed. Look for colour pooling in the cracks and around drill holes. Never soak it, since water and salt both take the polish off permanently.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
fire
Planet
Sun
Chakra
sacral, solar-plexus, heart
Signs
cancer, leo, taurus, libra
What tradition says
In crystal lore, calcite colours are assigned by chakra: orange to the sacral, green to the heart, blue to the throat, pink to emotional healing, a colour-coded modern Western scheme with no older basis.
Care
- Do not put this one in water. It dissolves or spalls. Dust it dry.
- Keep it out of direct sun. The colour goes and does not come back.
- Salt scratches it. Do not bury it in salt.
- Never soak, never use vinegar or acidic cleaners, never salt — all three etch the polish. Some coloured calcites fade in sun. Wipe with a dry or barely damp cloth.
Common questions
What does calcite (coloured varieties) mean?
Calcite (Coloured Varieties) is carried for abundance, self-love and calm. The most abundant carbonate on earth in its decorative dress, orange and honey from Mexico, mint green from Pakistan, blue from Madagascar, pink mangano from Peru.. Tradition links it to the sacral, solar-plexus, heart chakra.
Is calcite (coloured varieties) real or fake?
Natural colours are common, but dyed calcite (especially bright blue, green and purple) is widespread because the mineral is porous and takes dye readily. Look for colour concentrated in cracks and around drill holes.. A drop of vinegar fizzes on calcite and does nothing on quartz, fluorite or glass. Hardness 3, a copper coin scratches it, unlike carnelian or fluorite.. Natural colours are common, but dyed calcite (especially bright blue, green and purple) is widespread because the mineral is porous and takes dye readily.
Can calcite (coloured varieties) go in water?
No. Calcite (Coloured Varieties) dissolves or spalls in water. Dust it dry instead of soaking it, and keep it out of salt.
- Read: the crystals you cannot put in water →
- Read: the crystals that fade in sunlight →
- Read: fake crystals and the four tests that settle it →
Common · orange, honey amber, mint green, powder blue, pale pink, white
Where this leads
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works