Shungite
shungite (carbonaceous rock / pyrobitumen)
A roughly two-billion-year-old carbon rock from the Lake Onega region of Karelia, containing genuine fullerenes, the only significant natural source of them. Peter the Great built a spa on the deposit. People carry it for protection, grounding and boundaries. Tradition attaches it to the element earth, the root chakra, Saturn.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
Mineral facts
Hardness
3.5-4 Mohs
Formula
C (with fullerenes, silicates and pyrite in lower grades)
Family
organic
Where it comes from
Russia (Zazhoginskoye, Lake Onega, Karelia), effectively the sole source
What it is
A roughly two-billion-year-old carbon rock from the Lake Onega region of Karelia, containing genuine fullerenes, the only significant natural source of them. Peter the Great built a spa on the deposit. The modern EMF-and-water-purification marketing around it vastly exceeds anything demonstrated, and the app should say so.
What it is confused with
black-obsidian, jet, black-tourmaline, coal, anthracite, black-onyx
Two very different looks. Common shungite (30, 60% carbon) is a dull matte-black rock that takes a soft satin polish and leaves a faint grey-black smudge on paper or skin, like graphite. Elite or noble shungite (over 90% carbon) occurs as thin lustrous silvery-black nodules and flakes with a bright submetallic sheen, conchoidal fracture and sharp brittle edges, and is never carved. Both are noticeably light for their size. Often shows brassy pyrite specks.
How to tell
Shungite is conductive: a multimeter across a piece of good material shows continuity, which no other black stone in a shop will do. It also marks paper grey-black and is soft (3.5, 4). Obsidian is glassy and glows brown at thin edges; jet is warmer and streaks brown.
Untreated, but heavily counterfeited: black-painted stone, resin composites and ordinary black shale are sold as shungite. The conductivity test catches most fakes.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Shungite is a organic, 3.5-4 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.
Shungite for every sign
Aries
It conducts electricity, which no other black stone in a shop does.
It conducts electricity, which no other black stone in a shop does. A multimeter is therefore the fastest fake test in the trade. It is two-billion-year-old carbon rock from Lake Onega with genuine fullerenes in it, and the purification claims stacked on top go past anything demonstrated.
Taurus
Peter the Great built a spa on the deposit.
Two billion years old, from Lake Onega in Karelia, and the only significant natural source of fullerenes. Peter the Great built a spa on the deposit. The EMF and water-purification marketing built on top of it goes far past anything that has ever been demonstrated.
Gemini
It conducts electricity, which no other black stone does.
Put a multimeter across it. Good shungite conducts, which nothing else black in the shop does, and that single test catches most of the painted fakes. The fullerenes are genuinely there and the EMF claims are genuinely marketing.
Cancer
It will blacken your sink for the first few rinses.
Peter the Great built a spa on the deposit at Lake Onega, and water claims have been attached to it ever since without being demonstrated. The rock is roughly two billion years old and contains real fullerenes, which is the genuinely unusual part. It will blacken your sink for the first few rinses.
Leo
The claims around it go far past anything demonstrated.
It leaves a grey-black mark on paper like graphite, and a conductivity test catches most of the fakes. A roughly two-billion-year-old carbon rock from Karelia, and the only meaningful natural source of fullerenes. The purification and radiation claims around it go well past anything demonstrated.
Virgo
Put a multimeter across it. Good shungite conducts.
Put a multimeter across it. Good shungite conducts, and no other black stone in a shop will, which catches the painted rock and the resin composite on the spot. Two billion years old, out of Lake Onega, and it genuinely contains fullerenes. The claims stacked on top of that are marketing.
Libra
The rock never asked for the marketing.
Roughly two billion years of carbon from Lake Onega in Karelia, and the only significant natural source of fullerenes. Peter the Great built a spa on the deposit. The EMF and water-purification marketing wrapped around it goes well past anything demonstrated, and the rock never asked for it.
Scorpio
The marketing runs far ahead of anything demonstrated.
A two-billion-year-old carbon rock from Lake Onega in Karelia, and the only significant natural source of fullerenes. It conducts electricity, which is a test no other black stone in a shop passes. The water-purification and radiation marketing around it runs far ahead of anything demonstrated.
Sagittarius
Peter the Great built a spa on it.
A two-billion-year-old carbon rock from the Zazhoginskoye deposit by Lake Onega in Karelia, and the only significant natural source of fullerenes. Peter the Great built a spa on it. The water-purification and EMF marketing around it goes far past anything demonstrated.
Capricorn
A multimeter tells you at once whether yours is real.
A two-billion-year-old carbon rock from Karelia containing genuine fullerenes, which is the only unusual claim it has and a good one. It is conductive, so a multimeter tells you at once whether yours is real. The electromagnetic and water-purification marketing goes far past anything demonstrated.
Aquarius
The EMF claims are marketing rather than evidence.
Genuine fullerenes, which is the one remarkable thing about it and the only significant natural source of them on earth. It is roughly two billion years old and comes from one deposit near Lake Onega. The EMF claims are marketing rather than evidence.
Pisces
The marketing runs far ahead of anything shown.
It will leave black on your hands and in the sink for the first several rinses, because it is largely a carbon rock and behaves like one. It contains genuine fullerenes and is the only significant natural source of them. The marketing runs far ahead of anything shown.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
earth
Planet
Saturn
Chakra
root
Signs
capricorn, scorpio, cancer
What tradition says
In crystal lore, shungite is associated with grounding and shielding; the widespread claims about electromagnetic protection and water purification are commercial rather than established, and must not be presented as fact.
Care
- Water is fine. Dry it afterwards.
- Salt scratches it. Do not bury it in salt.
- Water-safe, though it will leave black residue for the first several rinses and can stain fabric and light surfaces. Soft enough to scratch. Wash separately.
Carbon-rich rock. Fine dust is a respiratory irritant like any carbon dust; do not dry-grind. Marketed heavily for water purification and 'EMF protection', the app should not repeat health or radiation claims.
Common questions
What does shungite mean?
Shungite is carried for protection, grounding and boundaries. A roughly two-billion-year-old carbon rock from the Lake Onega region of Karelia, containing genuine fullerenes, the only significant natural source of them.. Tradition links it to the root chakra.
Is shungite real or fake?
Shungite is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Shungite is conductive: a multimeter across a piece of good material shows continuity, which no other black stone in a shop will do. It also marks paper grey-black and is soft (3.. Untreated, but heavily counterfeited: black-painted stone, resin composites and ordinary black shale are sold as shungite.
Can shungite go in water?
A short rinse is fine for shungite, then dry it.
Uncommon · matte black, silvery black, graphite grey
Where this leads
This stone belongs to
Related crystals
From the Grimoire
FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works