February 24, 2023

all about thulite

Thulite is a rare stone with a beautiful reddish pink color. It was first discovered in 1820 in Sauland in Telemark, Norway. Thulite is named after the mythical island "Thule".

Geology

Thulite, sometimes known as rosaline, is a pink variety of the mineral zoisite, a sorosillicate mineral. Thulite is given its unique pink color due to manganese in the crystal structure. The thulite we see on the market can be a combination of thulite, piemontite, quartz, calcite, and other minerals such as mica.

Piemontite is another manganese rich mineral that is often found in combination with thulite or can be mistaken for it. Piemontite is very similar to thulite; they are both manganese included silicates, though thulite is a zoisite and piemontite is a clinozoisite. This means they have the same chemical composition, but different crystal structures. Piemontite within thulite can be identified though its sparkly affect, as it contains more mica due to metamorphism. It appears as a dark red/brown mineral within thulite. Potentially much of the thulite on the market actually has a high amount of piemontite!

Localities

The vast majority of thulite is found and mined in Norway, though there are small amounts found in other places such as the US, New Zealand and Namibia. Thulite from Norway is located in a remote area that can only be accessed by hiking to it or by helicopter.

It was believed that there was thulite coming out of North Carolina, however it is actually clinothulite, which is a type of clinozoisite. Thulite and clinothulite vary only by their crystal structure and have the same chemical composition, so it's safe to call this material thulite as well even though it is slightly different. Thulite from the US can be identified by having a lighter color than the typical material from Norway.

Safety & care

Thulite is safe to be cleansed in water, but as always I advise against drinking water that has been directly infused with crystals. It is recommended to keep your crystal out of the sun to preserve its vibrant pink color. Thulite has a hardness level of 6-6.5 on the Moh's scale, so it does pretty well in jewelry. It can still be scratched by harder minerals such as quartzes, so still be sure to be careful with it.

Fakes

I haven’t seen any fakes of thulite on the market, but take note that thulite is quite pricey due to its rarity and difficulty to mine. Anything that looks too good to be true price wise may be a fake. Thulite can vary from very light in color, to peachy pink, to dark red. There isn't much variation in the appearance of thulite in regards to high vs low quality. Higher quality thulite will be more pink, whereas lower quality might have a more dull red color with a significant amount of inclusions.

Metaphysical properties

Thulite is associated mostly with the heart and third eye chakras. Thulite is a stone of love, joy, and reminds us that we deserve happiness. It promotes creativity, self expression, spontaneity and adventure. Working with thulite helps you to express yourself articulately and is great for social events or giving presentations. You may find yourself feeling more optimistic and passionate about life after working with this stone. Connected with the heart chakra, thulite helps us to heal our emotional wounds. It can cause negative past experiences and emotions to come to the surface so we can deal with and overcome them once and for all. It is a great stone for healing and overcoming our inner demons. Thulite can bring great peace through understanding our past actions and why things unfolded in certain ways. This allows us to understand ourselves and life on a deeper level.