Description
Sedona Sunset Jasper Specimen – 155 Carats (30 grams, 1.1 ounce, longest dimension 2″) with Blue-Green Stratum. From the famed Sedona area of Arizona. See all images.This piece includes a blue green stratum, rare in Sedona jasper, which is series of strata of reds and browns. Sedona Red Jasper (without the replacing descriptor “Sunset”) has fewer strata or none at all, often being just red. The red in Sedona jasper varieties comes from iron included in the matrix.
Jasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color. Blue is rare. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded jasper.
Some mineralogists consider the distinction between the names “jasper” and “agate”, others consider it to be a distinction between degrees of translucency (jasper being completely opaque), and still others consider the distinction to lie in the type of chalcedony microcrystals composing the stone – granular, or elongated fibrous crystals. At this time, the nomenclature continues to evolve. “Chalcedony” is a large family of microcrystalline quartz species, in addition to being the name of one of those species itself, a blue-gray one.
In any case – beautiful for pendants and other forms of ornamentation, and rare in this form and coloration, particularly with the blue green stratum. All Sedona jasper carries with it the strange, arresting spiritualistic appeal of the Sedona area itself. That appeal probably arose from early primal American cultures of the area, their legends, and claimed paranormal sensations and experiences in the environs which continue with unusual frequency to this day.
Among the metaphysical claims for Sedona Sunset Jasper, from those who track that:
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Jasper is often used to facilitate dreaming/dream recall and shamanic journeys. It is a stone of protection, absorbing all types of negative energies.
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Hard to find, in any case, as noted.
SPC1005
