Seraphinite
clinochlore (chlorite group)
A compact chlorite from the Korshunovskoye iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, marketed since the 1990s under a name taken from the seraphim because the silver fibres look like layered wings. It is beautiful and almost embarrassingly fragile, softer than a fingernail. People carry it for calm, self-love and grief.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
This one does not go in water. It dissolves.
Mineral facts
Hardness
2-2.5 Mohs
Formula
(Mg,Fe)5Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)8
Family
silicate
Where it comes from
Russia (Korshunovskoye deposit, Irkutsk Oblast, Eastern Siberia), sole commercial source
What it is
A compact chlorite from the Korshunovskoye iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, marketed since the 1990s under a name taken from the seraphim because the silver fibres look like layered wings. It is beautiful and almost embarrassingly fragile, softer than a fingernail. Siberia is the only meaningful source.
What it is confused with
moss-agate, nuummite, astrophyllite, chlorite-in-quartz, serpentine
Dark green body crossed by silvery-white feathered plumes that look exactly like bird wings or frost ferns, the silver is a fibrous chatoyant mica-like sheen from aligned chlorite fibres, and it flashes and moves as the stone is rotated. The plumes radiate and overlap in layered fans. Very soft: a fingernail marks it, a coin gouges it. Takes a moderate polish that is easily scuffed. Feels slightly greasy or soapy.
How to tell
Extreme softness (2, 2.5) plus silver feathering distinguishes it, nuummite is much harder (5.5, 6) and shows straight golden-blue needles rather than feathery plumes. Moss agate is 6.5, 7 and the inclusions are dark, not silver.
Occasionally stabilised with resin because the material is so soft.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Seraphinite is a silicate, 2-2.5 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.
Seraphinite for every sign
Aries
Keep it alone in a pouch.
Softer than your fingernail, which means a key or a coin beats it every time. The silver feathering is parallel chlorite fibres from one iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast. Keep it alone in a pouch.
Taurus
A key or a coin beats it every time.
Mohs 2, which means a key or a coin beats it every time. The silver plumes are parallel chlorite fibres from one iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, and a fingernail marks them. Keep it alone in a soft pouch and wipe it dry.
Gemini
Softer than your own fingernail, and named after angels.
Softer than your fingernail. It is a compact chlorite out of one iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, given a seraphim name in the 1990s because the silver fibres fan out like wings. Keys and coins will both scratch it, so keep it alone in a pouch.
Cancer
Keep it alone in a pouch and dry-wipe it.
It scratches against keys, against coins and against other stones, because at 2 on the Mohs scale it is softer than a fingernail. The silver plumes are aligned chlorite fibres fanning out like frost on a window. Keep it alone in a soft pouch and dry-wipe it.
Leo
Softer than your own fingernail. Keep it alone.
Softer than your fingernail. A compact chlorite from one iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, handed a seraph name in the 1990s because the silvery fibre plumes fan out in layers like wings. It scratches against keys, coins and other stones. Keep it in its own pouch and dry-wipe it.
Virgo
A fingernail marks it and a coin gouges it.
It will not survive a pocket with keys in it. Seraphinite is a chlorite at Mohs 2 to 2.5, so a fingernail marks it and a coin gouges it, and the silver plumes are fibres lying in overlapping fans that flash as you rotate the piece. One Siberian deposit supplies all of it.
Libra
A fingernail marks it. A coin gouges it.
Clinochlore from a single Siberian iron skarn, its silver fibres laid in overlapping fans that read convincingly as wings. Mohs 2, so a fingernail marks it and a coin gouges it. Named for the seraphim in the 1990s by someone who needed the material to move.
Scorpio
Beautiful and structurally almost defenceless.
A compact chlorite from an iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, softer than a fingernail, named after the seraphim in the 1990s because the silver fibres fan out like layered wings. It scuffs against keys, coins and other stones in the same pouch. Beautiful and structurally almost defenceless.
Sagittarius
Softer than your fingernail, so keep it away from keys.
A compact chlorite from the Korshunovskoye iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, which is the only meaningful source on earth. The silver plumes are parallel chlorite fibres and they do look like layered wings, hence the 1990s name. It is softer than your fingernail, so keep it away from keys.
Capricorn
Mohs 2, so keys, coins and other stones all win.
Compact chlorite from an iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, and the silver feathering is parallel fibres catching light rather than anything to do with wings. Mohs 2, so keys, coins and other stones all win. One of the softest polished stones sold, and it is sold as jewellery anyway.
Aquarius
Named for the seraphim in the 1990s by someone in sales.
The silver wings are parallel chlorite fibres catching light, layered in fans across a dark green body. It comes from one iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast and is softer than your fingernail, so keys and coins both mark it. Named for the seraphim in the 1990s by someone in sales.
Pisces
Softer than your fingernail, and below everything it touches.
Softer than your fingernail, which puts it below everything it touches, including the other stones in the same pouch. The silver plumes are parallel chlorite fibres flashing in layered fans across dark green. One Siberian iron skarn produces all of it.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
air
Planet
Neptune
Chakra
heart, crown
Signs
sagittarius, pisces, virgo
What tradition says
In crystal lore, seraphinite is associated with angelic contact and with releasing what is held in the body; the name and the attributions both date from the stone's commercial introduction in the late twentieth century.
Care
- Do not put this one in water. It dissolves or spalls. Dust it dry.
- Salt scratches it. Do not bury it in salt.
- One of the softest polished stones sold. It scratches against keys, coins and other stones, and water works into the layered structure. Keep it alone in a soft pouch, dry-wipe only.
Common questions
What does seraphinite mean?
Seraphinite is carried for calm, self-love and grief. A compact chlorite from the Korshunovskoye iron skarn in Irkutsk Oblast, marketed since the 1990s under a name taken from the seraphim because the silver fibres look like layered wings.. Tradition links it to the heart, crown chakra.
Is seraphinite real or fake?
Seraphinite is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Extreme softness (2, 2. 5) plus silver feathering distinguishes it, nuummite is much harder (5.. Occasionally stabilised with resin because the material is so soft.
Can seraphinite go in water?
No. Seraphinite dissolves or spalls in water. Dust it dry instead of soaking it, and keep it out of salt.
Arcane · deep forest green with silver, blackish green, olive with silver plumes
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