Sodalite is a beautiful deep royal blue color and usually contains white or grayish colored inclusions of Calcite. It has been likened to Lapis Lazuli and Lazurite but Sodalite is a slightly different color blue and rarely contains Pyrite common in Lapis, making it easier to tell them apart. While most often blue, Sodalite can also be found in gray, green, yellow or pink, and all frequently mottled with white Calcite veins. Its poor cleavage in six directions is apparent by the common occurrence of cracks seen running through the stone. A rare and highly sought after transparent variety of Sodalite is found in Namibia and in the lava beds of Mt. Vesuvius, Italy.
An unusual variety of Sodalite, called Hackmanite, when first quarried is a violet to red color that will gradually fade in sunlight to a white or green. This is called tenebrescence. Tenebrescence is a reversible photochromism, meaning the mineral exhibits the ability to turn a different color when exposed to the Sun and may be brought back to its original color when kept in the dark - behaving similarly to the self-adjusting sunglass lens that darkens in sunlight. Hackmanite will return to its violet or red color if placed in the dark for a period of time. The most notable occurrence of Hackmanite is in Greenland which produces a green variety nicknamed "Chameleon Sodalite".
The name Sodalite reflects this mineral's Sodium content and was named by a Glasgow chemist, Professor Thomas Thomson, who had been hired by the British to identify the stone after they had captured a shipment of it being sent from Greenland to Denmark during the Napoleonic Wars. Although first discovered and recorded in 1806 in Greenland, it took until 1891 for this attractive deep blue stone to become important in the world of ornamental stones.
It was then that it was found in vast deposits in Ontario, Canada, by Frank D. Adams, during the Geological Survey of Canada. Later, as it was chosen as an interior decoration for the Marlborough House in England by Princess Patricia who had been visiting Ontario at the time and who had fallen in love with the stone, many began to refer to it as "Princess Blue". Sodalite has also been called "Canadian Blue Stone" or simply "Bluestone".
This mineral provides for the ability to arrive at logical conclusions via rational mental processes. It is also an excellent stone to use in groups, providing for the fellowship, solidarity and commonality of goal and purpose, within the group. Sodalite can be used to enhance truthfulness in emotions as well as facilitate the manifestation of the qualities of companionship and mutual dependence.
It is said that sodalite can provide on with access to the sacred laws of the universe; calmly presenting the ides, stimulating thought, and allowing the subtle feelings to permeate the center of ones being. The "knowing" comes without the "work " .
(Astrological Sign of Sagittarius)
Vibrates to the number 1
Sodalite has been used in the treatment of gland metabolism, and can be used in the treatment of digestive disorders, as a purifying agent for the body, to dispel insomnia and aid in disorders of calcium deficiency.
