Avalonite

NOTE: Trademarked Avalonite™ 
Avalonite™  is not to be confused with a common gray/blue form of agate. Avalonite™ is closly related to the gemstone Thulite. 
Avalonite™  and Thulite are in the Zoisite family of minerals.

Avalonite™ Is a semi translucent massive stone displaying banded peachy coral and green colors, sometimes mottled with black hornblende. Avalonite™ is a recently discovered new gemstone, a variety of the mineral group zoisite. Avalonite™ occurs as veins and lenses within a small defined area of the metamorphic outcrops in the North central portion of Washington State, USA. The Avalonite™ deposit is located in Okanogan County near Riverside Washington.  Avalonite™ was initially discovered and recognized in 1996 by field mineral collector and master lapidariest William T. (Bill) Conn as a potentially new variety of zoisite. Avalonite™ is used as a gemstone and carving material in the manufacture of jewelry and ornamental objects. It's also considered by some to have metaphysical healing properties. Avalonite™ is closely related to Thulite, the massive pink variety of zoisite. The name Avalonite™ is a trade name coined by Bill and wife Kellie Conn (G.G.) in 1998. North Central Washington is the only known world occurrence of Avalonite™. Commercial mining of Avalonite™ is currently prohibited because of it's location on private land.

 

Zoisite is a calcium aluminium hydroxy sorosilicate belonging to the epidote group of minerals. The zoisite family of minerals includes: Tanzanite, Thulite, Avalonite™, Clinozoisite.

Chemical Composition: Hydrous calcium iron aluminum. Ca2Al3Si3O12(OH) 
Moes Hardness: 6.0 
Crystal Group: Orthorhombic 
Toughness: Near Extreme 
Polish: Very Good 
Fracture: Uneven/Granular

 

To start the year off with a bang, I have decided to share with you a new healing stone which we have named Avalonite™~Stone of Love & Wisdom.  Avalonite™ is the sister stone to Thulite which I brought to you in the August 98' newsletter.  I have been working with both of these stones and am now ready to share the results.  First off I would like to tell you the story of thulite and avalonite™ and how they came to be in my possession.  I then will then share with you the healing properties.

My husband Bill and I have been heavily into collecting crystals and gemstones out in the field now for many years.  A few years ago we read in an old geology journal about Zoisite, particularly the variety called Thulite being found in Eastern Washington State, USA.  This article peaked our curiosity so much that we decided to start searching on our own.  We both grew up in Eastern Washington and knew many of the locals, so we started asking if anyone had ever heard of this Thulite material.  Soon enough my Mom gave us a call to tell us that we may have a lead.  An old cattle rancher in the area who owns hundreds of acres of land and who just happens to be an old schoolmate of my Mom's said that this 'pink rock' (Thulite) is in a deposit on his property!  However he has not allowed anyone to collect this material for over 30 years.  Being that we are friends of the family he was kind enough to grant us permission to collect this curious stone that is deposited on his property.

 

The geology in this area is very diverse, although most of the stone formation is metamorphic.  Using our intuition we began prospecting up one of the canyons.  Lucky for us it did not take long before we discovered a nice deposit to dig into.  Much to our surprise this little deposit had the finest pink color of Thulite we had ever seen!  After a few hours of hard work we had our back packs full!  With much of the day still ahead of us we thought we would do some more prospecting.  We did find other small deposits of it, however it would be very hard to extract it out of the solid metamorphic rock.

In one of these small deposits we found an unique looking stone that was a peachy/coral color with white and green banding.  Not really giving it much thought we assumed it also to be some form of the Zoisite/Thulite.  We only collected a few pieces.  At this point we had no idea that this would be a new gemstone that we would eventually name Avalonite™.

 

Arriving home we unloaded our pack packs into one of our many rock piles where the peachy stone (avalonite™) sat virtually untouched for a several years. One day while digging through our rock pile the peachy material/avalonite™ was rediscovered!  It was at this time that Bill who is a stone cutter/lapidariest decided to cut and polish a piece to see how it would look as a finished gem.  After slicing into a pretty good sized chunk of Avalonite,  its true beauty was exposed displaying its beautiful coral, white and green bands of color.  It was at this point that we became excited and Bill eagerly began cutting, shaping, and polishing a stone. While cutting the stone Bill mentioned that it's lapidary characteristics seemed different from the Thulite, it seemed a bit harder and took on a more uniform polish.

 

So being of a scientific mind, I began to have questions about what exactly this new stone was. We have never seen anything like it. Bill and I both agreed that this stone should be tested to try and determine its mineralogical composition.  Being a G.I.A graduate gemologist I have a gem lab in which I have instruments to test gemstones.  After running many tests including; refractive index, hardness, spectrum, specific gravity, fluorescence, etc. it was inconclusive to me as to exactly what this stone is. This began to excite us even more. We decided to send a sample stone off to the school I graduated from; The Gemological Institute of America, (GIA) for further testing. GIA sets the worlds standards in gem testing, identification, and grading.  The report I have received concludes that this stone is a complex combination of minerals, similar to Zoisite. They also have concluded that this is a 'never reported to be found in any other location'.  So with this we have decided to name it Avalonite™~ Stone of Love/Wisdom.

 

Properties of Avalonite™~ Stone of Eternal Love and Wisdom

Avalonite™ is a naturally occurring stone which is from a deposit in Washington State. Because Avalonite™ is a new stone it may exhibit other healing qualities yet to be discovered.  Here are my impressions to date: It is a rare combination of minerals brought together in this specific location.  We have not been able to identify all of the minerals composing Avalonite but we do know it contains feldspar, hornblende, mica, calcium, silica, and various others.  Its uniqueness is in the minerals all coming together to aid in a common purpose and its manifestation in the color of peachy/coral.

2nd and 4th chakras.  Avalonite's basic function is to deal with issues relating to fear of love.  Fear and fear of love keeps us from finding our life path,  Avalonite™ aids in healing this fear so you can discover your true path..  It does this by allowing you to trust your intuition through letting go of fear; fear of all love related issues, fear of being wrong, and/or fear of failure. Avalonite™ brings love and wisdom to help you discover your true self AND then you may start 'living your truth'.

Wisdom and clarity; being clear about who you are.  Helps you to become conscious; or aware of areas in your life that need healing.  Aids feelings of loneliness by making you realize that you are apart of the Universe, you are never alone. Aids in decision making.  Wisdom, Joy and happiness.  Love integrating to wisdom or emotional to mental.

Physically Avalonite™ balances the hormones, eases premenstrual and menopausal symptoms.  Healing of birth trauma and shock. Eases the process of healing dependency and co-dependency by working on the aspect relating to fears associated with love. Growth on all levels.  This stone is an excellent choice for those just starting their healing journey, it helps to heal and clear karma, which is the first step to healing and growth.