There are a ton of reasons why I love fluorite. One, it’s a gorgeous mineral.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fluorite-Quartz-226207.jpg
Two, it comes in rainbow colors. Three, it feels soothing to have it around.
Four, it’s good for your teeth, and five, certain types of fluorite actually glow in the dark!
Can you see the unusual way the light moves through this crystal? Fluorite works with light in a very different way than most other minerals. According to The Beading Gem’s Journal:
Just recently China put on display in Wenchang, Hainan, the world’s largest luminous “pearl”. These are not really pearls as we know them but a rare kind of glow in the dark (phosphorescent) fluorite. The Chinese call them legendary luminous pearls or yemengzhu and believe touching one will bring good luck and fortune. The first yemengzhu fluorite was discovered in a Guangdong tungsten mine back in 1982. Since then, new and larger deposits have allowed several giant pearls to be made. This latest, the largest so far, has been valued at 2.2 billion yuan or about $331 million.
"This giant luminous pearl specimen, which weighs in at 6 tonnes and is 1.6 m (5 feet) high, took 3 years to grind into a sphere! " --from The Beading Gems Journal
Six, apparently it is good luck…and is supposed to aid in the development of intuition and creativity.
Mostly though, I just think it is captivating and I could stare at it for hours…
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Here is a video of the giant luminous pearl. (Yeah, sorry, it’s in Chinese.)
西瓜波值 22 億 唔係 啩 – YouTube
And since they oddly chose not to show the five foot phosphorescent bead actually glowing, here is a very rough approximation of what it would look like. (Wait for it…!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F-JubniQ68
[Laugh all you like, but I dare you to find a better video of glowing fluorite anywhere on the internet. ]
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Are there any particular minerals you seem to have a fondness for?
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Mysterious Artemis 