Nuummite
gedrite–anthophyllite amphibole rock
An amphibole rock from Nuuk, Greenland, first collected in 1810 and roughly three billion years old, among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes come from lamellae unmixing inside the crystals over geological time. People carry it for protection, shadow work and grounding. Tradition attaches it to the element earth, the root, third-eye chakra, Saturn.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Mineral facts
Hardness
5.5-6 Mohs
Formula
(Mg,Fe)7Si8O22(OH)2 with Al-bearing gedrite
Family
rock (aggregate)
Where it comes from
Greenland (Nuuk / Nuussuaq area), Mauritania (blue-green variety)
What it is
An amphibole rock from Nuuk, Greenland, first collected in 1810 and roughly three billion years old, among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes come from lamellae unmixing inside the crystals over geological time. The Mauritanian deposit found in 2009 flashes blue-green instead.
What it is confused with
astrophyllite, biotite-schist, labradorite, arfvedsonite, goldstone, black-tourmaline
Deep black to charcoal body threaded with fine straight parallel needles and lath-shaped bundles that flash metallic gold, bronze, copper and occasionally blue-green as the stone is tilted, the iridescence comes from exsolution lamellae inside amphibole crystals, so it appears in discrete elongated streaks with hard edges, not as an all-over sheen. Between flashes the stone looks matte black. Often shows small brassy pyrite or pyrrhotite specks. Takes a hard glassy polish.
How to tell
Flashes appear in straight linear needle-shaped domains on a black body, and the stone is genuinely hard (5.5, 6). Astrophyllite is far softer (3, 4) and shows radiating star sprays rather than parallel needles. Goldstone is glass with uniform dense sparkle and bubbles.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Nuummite is a rock (aggregate), 5.5-6 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.
Nuummite for every sign
Aries
Three billion years old, collected at Nuuk in Greenland since 1810.
Three billion years old, collected at Nuuk in Greenland since 1810. The gold flashes are lamellae that unmixed inside the crystals over geological time, so the part you like about it took longer to happen than continents did. Among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone.
Taurus
The part you like about it is the part that took longest.
Three billion years old, from Nuuk in Greenland, and among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes are lamellae that slowly unmixed inside the crystals over geological time. The part you like about it is the part that took longest.
Gemini
Three billion years old and it still flashes gold.
Three billion years old, collected at Nuuk in Greenland since 1810, and older than nearly anything else sold as a gemstone. The gold flashes are lamellae that unmixed inside the crystals over geological time, so they run in straight parallel streaks. A 2009 Mauritanian find flashes blue-green.
Cancer
Between flashes it looks like nothing at all.
Three billion years old, out of the rock around Nuuk in Greenland, first collected in 1810. The gold streaks are lamellae that separated out inside the crystals slowly enough that the process took geological time. Between flashes it looks like nothing at all.
Leo
Three billion years old, and still doing the gold trick.
Three billion years old, which makes it about the oldest thing anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes come from lamellae that unmixed inside the amphibole crystals over geological time, so they read as hard-edged streaks rather than an all-over sheen. Nuuk, Greenland, first collected in 1810.
Virgo
Three billion years of slow unmixing made the gold flash.
Roughly three billion years old, first collected near Nuuk in 1810, and among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes come from lamellae unmixing inside the amphibole crystals across that entire span. Straight parallel needles, never radiating stars, or what you have is astrophyllite.
Libra
Crystals unmixing inside other crystals for three billion years.
An amphibole rock from Nuuk in Greenland, roughly three billion years old, which makes it the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes are exsolution lamellae, crystals slowly unmixing inside other crystals across that entire span. Between flashes it looks like matte black nothing.
Scorpio
The rock predates the reputation by three billion years.
An amphibole rock from Nuuk, roughly three billion years old, among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes are lamellae that unmixed inside the crystals across that span. The trade calls it the sorcerer stone, and the rock predates the reputation by a very long way.
Sagittarius
Roughly three billion years old and sold as a gemstone.
An amphibole rock from Nuuk in Greenland, collected since 1810 and roughly three billion years old, which makes it the oldest material anyone routinely sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes are lamellae that unmixed inside the crystals over geological time. Mauritania's flashes blue-green instead.
Capricorn
Three billion years old. Nothing in the case is older.
Roughly three billion years old, out of Nuuk in Greenland, and among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone. The gold flashes come from lamellae unmixing inside the crystals slowly enough that the process is still legible in the rock. Nothing else in the case has been waiting this long.
Aquarius
The iridescence is a very slow separation caught mid-process.
Roughly three billion years old, which makes it the oldest thing most shops sell. The bronze flashes come from lamellae that unmixed inside the amphibole crystals across that entire span, so the iridescence is a very slow separation caught mid-process. Greenland has almost all of it.
Pisces
Among the oldest material anyone sells.
Three billion years old, from the coast near Nuuk, first collected in 1810 and among the oldest material anyone sells. The gold flashes come from lamellae separating out inside the crystals across that entire span. The Mauritanian find from 2009 flashes blue-green instead.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
earth
Planet
Saturn
Chakra
root, third-eye
Signs
capricorn, scorpio, sagittarius
What tradition says
In crystal lore, nuummite is called the sorcerer's stone and is associated with personal power, shadow work and deep-earth memory; the reputation is a modern one attached to a genuinely ancient rock.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Hard and durable in normal handling. Warm water and a soft cloth; avoid dry abrasive work for dust reasons.
The amphibole minerals anthophyllite and gedrite can occur in asbestiform habit in some deposits. Massive polished nuummite presents no hazard, but do not dry-cut, grind or sand raw material without dust extraction.
Common questions
What does nuummite mean?
Nuummite is carried for protection, shadow work and grounding. An amphibole rock from Nuuk, Greenland, first collected in 1810 and roughly three billion years old, among the oldest material anyone sells as a gemstone.. Tradition links it to the root, third-eye chakra.
Is nuummite real or fake?
Nuummite is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Flashes appear in straight linear needle-shaped domains on a black body, and the stone is genuinely hard (5. 5, 6).
Can nuummite go in water?
A short rinse is fine for nuummite, then dry it.
Arcane · black, charcoal, with gold, bronze, blue and green iridescence
Where this leads
This stone belongs to
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works