Mookaite
silicified radiolarite (opaline to chalcedonic)
The silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, from the Windalia Radiolarite in Western Australia. Everything you are looking at was once microscopic and alive. People carry it for grounding, courage and transformation. Tradition attaches it to the element earth, the root, sacral, solar-plexus chakra, Earth.
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Mineral facts
Hardness
6-7 Mohs
Formula
SiO2 (opal-CT and chalcedony) with Fe oxides
Family
chalcedony
Where it comes from
Australia (Mooka Creek, Kennedy Range, Western Australia)
What it is
The silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, from the Windalia Radiolarite in Western Australia. Everything you are looking at was once microscopic and alive. It comes from one region around Mooka Creek and nowhere else.
What it is confused with
picture-jasper, red-jasper, bumblebee-jasper, leopardskin-jasper
Saturated mustard-yellow and deep burgundy-plum swirled and blotched together, often with cream, in irregular cloudy patches with soft feathered boundaries. The colour combination, yellow ochre next to wine purple, is close to unique and is the fastest identifier. Opaque with a smooth waxy-to-porcelain luster. Some pieces are slightly chalky where the material is more opaline; these are softer and take a duller polish.
How to tell
Yellow-plus-burgundy in soft swirls means mookaite. Unlike bumblebee jasper there are no sharp black-bordered neon-yellow bands. Scratches glass; more opaline pieces may scratch less confidently.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Mookaite is a chalcedony, 6-7 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.
Mookaite for every sign
Aries
Every colour in it was once alive.
Every colour in it was once alive. The stone is the silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, from the Windalia Radiolarite around Mooka Creek in Western Australia. Mustard next to wine purple, from one region and nowhere else on earth.
Taurus
Mustard yellow against wine purple.
Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, silicified into rock in the Windalia Radiolarite. It comes from one region around Mooka Creek in Western Australia and nowhere else on earth. Everything in it was microscopic, and it took the Cretaceous to become a palm stone.
Gemini
All of it was once alive and microscopic.
Everything you are holding was once alive and microscopic. Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, packed into the Windalia Radiolarite and silicified where they lay. One region of Western Australia has it, and the mustard-and-plum combination identifies it across a room.
Cancer
Every colour in it is made of shells.
Every colour in it is made of shells. Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton that built skeletons out of glass, settled in their billions in the Windalia Radiolarite and were silicified where they lay. One creek in Western Australia supplies the lot.
Leo
Every ounce of it was once single-celled and alive.
Everything you are holding was once microscopic and alive. Mookaite is the silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton that built glass shells, packed solid and stained mustard and burgundy by iron. One creek in Western Australia, and nowhere else on earth.
Virgo
Silicified plankton skeletons, and every one had a glass shell.
Everything in it was once alive and microscopic. Mookaite is the silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, plankton that built shells out of glass, from the Windalia Radiolarite around Mooka Creek in Western Australia. The mustard and burgundy pairing occurs nowhere else, so identification takes one glance.
Libra
A pairing no designer would approve, and it works anyway.
Every scrap of it was once alive and microscopic: Cretaceous radiolaria with glass shells, packed into the Windalia Radiolarite at Mooka Creek in Western Australia. The mustard yellow sits directly against wine burgundy, a pairing no designer would sign off on, and it works anyway.
Scorpio
All of it was microscopic and alive first.
The colour sits in the silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, from the Windalia Radiolarite around Mooka Creek. Mustard against wine purple is a combination almost nothing else makes. All of it was microscopic and alive first.
Sagittarius
It comes from the country around Mooka Creek and nowhere else.
Every part of this was once alive and microscopic: silicified Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, packed into the Windalia Radiolarite. It comes from the country around Mooka Creek and nowhere else. Mustard next to wine purple is the fastest identification.
Capricorn
Every bit of this was once alive and microscopic.
Every bit of this was once alive and microscopic: Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton that built their shells out of glass, buried and then silicified. It comes from the Windalia Radiolarite around Mooka Creek in Western Australia and nowhere else. The mustard and the burgundy are original.
Aquarius
Every part of it was once alive and microscopic.
Every part of it was once alive and microscopic. Mookaite is the silicified remains of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton that built shells of glass, packed into rock in one region of Western Australia. The mustard and burgundy are iron doing the rest.
Pisces
All of it was once single-celled and suspended in seawater.
Cretaceous plankton with shells of glass, packed and silicified into rock at Mooka Creek in Western Australia and nowhere else. All of it was once single-celled and suspended in seawater. The mustard and burgundy came later, from iron.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
earth
Planet
Earth
Chakra
root, sacral, solar-plexus
Signs
virgo, scorpio, capricorn
What tradition says
In crystal lore, mookaite is associated with vitality, decisiveness and connection to ancestral land, drawing on its Western Australian origin.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Generally durable; more opaline material can be porous and should not be soaked for long periods. Warm water and a soft cloth.
Common questions
What does mookaite mean?
Mookaite is carried for grounding, courage and transformation. The silicified skeletons of Cretaceous radiolaria, single-celled plankton with glass shells, from the Windalia Radiolarite in Western Australia.. Tradition links it to the root, sacral, solar-plexus chakra.
Is mookaite real or fake?
Mookaite is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Yellow-plus-burgundy in soft swirls means mookaite. Unlike bumblebee jasper there are no sharp black-bordered neon-yellow bands.
Can mookaite go in water?
A short rinse is fine for mookaite, then dry it.
Common · mustard yellow, burgundy, plum, cream, brick red, mauve
Where this leads
This stone belongs to
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works