Clear Quartz
quartz
The default specimen of the entire trade, silicon dioxide, geometrically perfect, and so common it is nearly worthless by weight. Its appeal is that it does nothing in particular, which the tradition reads as capacity rather than absence. People carry it for clarity, protection and intuition. Tradition attaches it to the element spirit, the crown, third-eye chakra, Sun.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Mineral facts
Hardness
7 Mohs
Formula
SiO2
Family
quartz
Where it comes from
Brazil (Minas Gerais), Arkansas, USA, Madagascar, Swiss Alps, Tibet, China
What it is
The default specimen of the entire trade, silicon dioxide, geometrically perfect, and so common it is nearly worthless by weight. Its appeal is that it does nothing in particular, which the tradition reads as capacity rather than absence. Every starter kit contains one, usually a point with a chipped tip.
What it is confused with
glass, synthetic-quartz, calcite, selenite, danburite, topaz
Six-sided prism terminating in a six-faced pyramid; three larger rhombohedral faces alternating with three smaller ones is the classic quartz termination. Horizontal striations run across the prism faces, perpendicular to the long axis, never along it. Glassy (vitreous) luster, conchoidal fracture producing curved shell-like chips, no cleavage planes. Interior commonly shows internal fractures with rainbow sheen, veils, and gas/liquid bubbles that are irregular and flat, not spherical. Cold to the touch and stays cold longer than glass or plastic.
How to tell
Scratches window glass (7 vs 5.5) and will not be scratched by a steel knife. Perfectly round air bubbles under 10x loupe mean glass, not quartz. Quartz stays noticeably cool against the lip for several seconds; plastic warms instantly.
Untreated as sold, but be aware hydrothermally grown synthetic quartz exists and is visually near-identical; it is rarely sold in the metaphysical market because natural material is cheaper.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Clear Quartz is a quartz, 7 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.
Clear Quartz for every sign
Aries
You bought it first and you will buy something else first tomorrow.
Silicon dioxide in six-sided prisms, so common it is nearly worthless by weight. Every starter kit contains one, and the tip is usually already chipped, because the tip is the part that breaks. You bought it first and you will buy something else first tomorrow.
Taurus
It does nothing in particular.
Silicon dioxide, geometrically perfect, and so abundant it is nearly worthless by weight. The trade calls it programmable, which is a twentieth-century idea rather than an old one. It does nothing in particular. Tradition reads that as capacity rather than absence, which is a reading you have used on yourself.
Gemini
Mercury rules the empty notebook too.
Silicon dioxide, geometrically perfect, and cheap enough to sell by the kilo. The trade calls it programmable because it has no character of its own to get in the way. Mercury rules the empty notebook too.
Cancer
The Moon does the same trick with borrowed light.
Silicon dioxide, no colour, no cleavage, dug by the tonne out of Arkansas and Minas Gerais. The tradition calls it programmable because it takes on whatever is set with it and keeps hold of it. The Moon does the same trick with borrowed light.
Leo
It gets credited for whatever the room was already doing.
Silicon dioxide, six-sided, cheap by the kilo. The trade sells it as an amplifier, which means it gets credited for whatever the room was already doing. You have met people like this. The chipped tip on the starter-kit point is the honest part.
Virgo
The striations run across the faces, never along them.
Silicon dioxide, hardness 7, and the striations run across the prism faces, never along them. That one detail separates it from glass, along with the bubbles, which are perfectly round in glass and flat and irregular in quartz. The trade calls it an amplifier because it has no character of its own.
Libra
Nothing balances by being identical, only by trading places.
The termination has six faces, three large alternating with three small. That alternation is the whole geometry: nothing balances by being identical, only by trading places. Libra decides the same way, late and by comparison.
Scorpio
You have never once been that agreeable.
Silicon dioxide, six-sided, priced by the kilo because there is so much of it. The trade calls it an amplifier, meaning it takes whatever intention is handed to it and gives the same thing back louder. You have never once been that agreeable.
Sagittarius
The Swiss Alps and Arkansas produce the same crystal.
Silicon dioxide, six-sided, and pulled out of the ground on every continent that has ground. The Swiss Alps and Arkansas produce the same crystal, which is a problem for anyone who thinks distance confers meaning. Yours has a chipped tip.
Capricorn
You will want it to earn its place.
Silicon dioxide in a six-sided prism, striated across the faces and never along them, and nearly worthless by weight. You will want it to earn its place on the desk. It won't.
Aquarius
Capacity reads as absence until it is used.
Six-sided prism, horizontal striations across the faces, chipped tip. The trade sells it as a blank slate, which is what people call anything they cannot immediately categorise. Capacity reads as absence until it is used.
Pisces
It takes the shape of whatever anyone brings to it.
It stays cold against the lip for several seconds, which is how you separate it from glass and from plastic. The trade calls it programmable, meaning it takes the shape of whatever anyone brings to it. Pisces has heard that description before.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
spirit
Planet
Sun
Chakra
crown, third-eye
Signs
aries, leo, capricorn, aquarius
What tradition says
In crystal lore, clear quartz is described as an amplifier and a 'programmable' stone, said to take on and magnify whatever intention is set with it, a role it acquired in the 20th-century Western revival rather than from any older tradition.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Effectively indestructible for household purposes. Warm water and a soft brush. Points chip at the tip if dropped — the tip is the fragile part, not the body.
Common questions
What does clear quartz mean?
Clear Quartz is carried for clarity, protection and intuition. The default specimen of the entire trade, silicon dioxide, geometrically perfect, and so common it is nearly worthless by weight.. Tradition links it to the crown, third-eye chakra.
Is clear quartz real or fake?
Clear Quartz is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Scratches window glass (7 vs 5. 5) and will not be scratched by a steel knife.. Untreated as sold, but be aware hydrothermally grown synthetic quartz exists and is visually near-identical; it is rarely sold in the metaphysical market because natural material is cheaper.
Can clear quartz go in water?
A short rinse is fine for clear quartz, then dry it.
Common · colorless, water-clear, cloudy white at base
Where this leads
This stone belongs to
Related crystals
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works