Blue Chalcanthite is a triclinic crystal. It has a hardness of 2.5 on the Moh scale.
The name Chalcanthite derives from the Greek for a copper flower.
It is easy to grow in a laboratory, which means many of the specimens available to purchase are probably not natural in origin. In fact, it is very fragile, and so any natural occurring crystal would be hard to harvest and transport anyway.
This colour of Chalcanthite is blue, but it works in a white way.
But what does that mean in practical terms?
If you are reading this on a computer, laptop or tablet connected to the internet then, from time to time, you will receive messages from your various bits of software that they need an update, or an upgrade, so that the software remains relevant, issues and bugs are fixed, and it can continue to function as expected, and you are protected from people who would want to hack into your system for malicious purposes.
It’s part of our modern life.
But what is interesting is that many modern people go through their life without ever once underdoing a major upgrade of the mental software stored in their unconscious mind.
From cradle to grave, they go through their life, blindly assuming that the ideas, thoughts, and beliefs which they ‘acquired’ during their early childhood are 100% correct, and accurately describe the world around them… and these ideas, beliefs, and mental concepts may stretch back through generation after generation, across thousands of years… originating in a culture/society that is so very different to our own, and back then they could never conceive of the situations and issues which we struggle with today.
This failure to “think about thinking” is the source of many of our problems, individually and globally.
Why is that?
Because the world around us is continually changing, and the ideas in our, head are not always the best fit for the new world we suddenly find ourselves in. Well, it’s mostly because there isn’t a big server in the sky, connecting automatically to our brains, and giving easy access to the mental fixes we require.
Later, in the human world, we need to first identify that we have an issue, then hunt out where the mental fix/upgrade can be found, and then find a way to download it into our own system, debugging our mental code as we go…
And if we DON’T believe we have a problem, then the process never gets started.
Often, it’s only when our mental beliefs cause us such extreme pain in the present that we start to question them, and start the search for something better.
But it is also because human beings are not good at dealing with the UNCERTAINTY, the mental gap, which is created when an old belief leaves and the new and better belief gets installed in its place.
That gap is sometimes referred to as the VOID SPACE and can feel/appear as the state of confusion and uncertainty because for a time we lack a mental map of what is going on… we just don’t know… which is why some people prefer to desperately hold on to the old belief, rather than reach out for something better, new, because they hate the feeling of uncertainty, a mental void, confusion, of not knowing, which can give rise to extreme anxiety.
But we need to visit these spaces if we are ever to grow and expand… letting go of an old belief, one which is not working for the world we find ourselves in, and a period of uncertainty, no matter how brief, is essential to the process of installing a new and much-improved belief.
In her book Crystal Shaman, Jane Ann Dow describes how Blue Chalcanthite can be a powerful ally at such times because for the mental body it not only speeds up the process of releasing the old and installing the new but somehow it eases the sense of mental unease that goes along with this process. Chalcanthite makes the feeling of unease and not knowing BEARABLE.
Because the colour of Chalcanthite is blue it works on the mental body, and with a hardness of 2.5, it is very soft and gentle in the way it works.
However, as a triclinic ‘white’ crystal, its vibration helps the individual to first be aware of a whole spectrum of possibilities and then assists them in tuning into the one which is the most beneficial for them at that time.
IMPORTANT: As the 21st Century speeds up, the ability to let go of outdated beliefs, and respond and embrace the new world which is rapidly emerging will not just be an important skill to have… but for many… a question of survival even.
IMPORTANT: As a mineral, Chalcanthite contains a high degree of copper, and so needs to be handled with care as it is potentially toxic.
(c) Brian Parsons, 2022