Galena

That smudge is lead.

Lead sulfide, three times heavier than a quartz of the same size, soft enough to smudge grey onto your fingers. That smudge is lead. Keep it in a labelled box behind glass, never in a pocket and never in water. Wash your hands every time you put it down.

The weight in your hand is the memorable part.

Lead sulfide, specific gravity around 7.4, which means it weighs roughly three times what a quartz of the same size does. The weight in your hand is the memorable part. It is also soft enough to leave lead smudges on your fingers, so it lives behind glass and nowhere else.

Three times heavier than a quartz the same size.

Lead sulfide, roughly three times heavier than a quartz the same size, which is the first thing anyone notices. It cleaves into mirror-bright cubes at exactly ninety degrees and it is soft enough for a coin to mark, so it sheds lead dust onto whatever it touches. Display it behind glass.

It sheds lead onto whatever shares its drawer.

Specific gravity 7.4, about three times a quartz of the same size, and soft enough that a fingernail can mark it. It sheds fine lead dust onto hands and onto whatever shares its drawer, and lead accumulates with no safe level, worst of all in children. This one lives behind glass.

Three times the weight of quartz, and made of lead.

Specific gravity around 7.4, roughly three times a quartz the same size, and the weight in the hand is the first thing anyone notices. The second thing should be that it is lead sulfide. It is soft, and it leaves a grey film on your fingers. Keep it behind glass.

Wash your hands. Do not wash the stone.

Lead sulfide with a specific gravity around 7.4, so a cube the size of a sugar lump weighs roughly three times what quartz would. It is also soft enough for a coin to mark, which means it sheds lead-bearing dust onto whatever holds it. Wash your hands. Do not wash the stone.

Perfect ninety-degree steps, and every one of them is lead.

Lead sulfide, roughly three times the weight of a quartz the same size, cleaving in three directions at exactly ninety degrees so it always breaks into silver steps. It is also soft enough to smudge lead onto your hands. Wash them, and keep it off the shelf with everything else.

Wash your hands. Never wash the stone.

Lead sulfide in perfect mirror-bright cubes, three times heavier than a quartz the same size and soft enough that a coin marks it. Lead is a cumulative neurotoxin and this stone sheds grey smudges onto skin. Wash your hands after handling it and never wash the stone, which just moves lead into the sink.

Do not wash it and do not carry it in a pocket.

Lead sulphide, soft enough to smudge grey onto your fingers and heavy enough that the weight alone identifies it. It was Roman plumbing and Egyptian kohl and a great deal of historical poisoning. Do not wash it and do not carry it in a pocket.

Lore hands it to Saturn. The lead is the problem.

Lead sulfide, about three times the weight of a quartz the same size, cleaving into perfect right-angled silver steps. It is soft enough to leave lead dust on your fingers, so it lives behind glass and never in a pocket. Lore hands it to Saturn, which is the least of its problems.

Store it in a box and wash your hands.

Lead sulfide, and it sheds fine lead-bearing dust onto whatever touches it. Cleavage is perfect in three directions at exactly ninety degrees, so broken pieces come out as little machined-looking steps, and it weighs roughly three times what quartz of the same size does. Store it in a box and wash your hands.

Washing it only moves the lead to the sink.

Lead sulfide, soft enough to smudge onto your fingers, and lead accumulates in a body with no level that counts as safe. The cubes cleave in three directions at exactly ninety degrees, so it breaks into little silver steps. Do not wash it, because that only moves the lead to the sink.

Galena is carried for grounding, shadow work and boundaries. Lead sulfide in perfect silver cubes, the principal ore of lead, the source of Roman plumbing, Egyptian kohl and a great deal of historical poisoning.. Tradition links it to the root chakra.

Galena is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Extreme weight plus perfect right-angle cubic cleavage plus softness (2. 5) is unmistakable.

LEAD sulfide. Handling solid crystals briefly is low-risk, but galena is soft and sheds fine lead-bearing dust and smudges onto hands. Lead is a cumulative neurotoxin with no safe intake, and it is most dangerous to children and during pregnancy. NEVER make an elixir, never place it in drinking water, never grind, sand or tumble it, never keep it loose in a pocket or bag with other stones. Always wash hands after handling. Keep out of reach of children and animals.