Description
This Seven Armed Staurolite Cross, weighing 20 grams, or .7 ounces, and measuring 1.5 inches across, is a top quality specimen of the complex Staurolite crystal formation, and comes from Keivy, a city in the Kola Peninsula of far Northern Russia.
This rare Staurolite specimen features a prominent St. Andrew's Cross with two extra arms, creating a unique heptagonal symmetry in a specimen with substantial mineralogical value.
This is a perfectly formed, unblemished, and sparkling example of this gorgeous and energetically powerful mystic mineral, and is the perfect size to carry in your medicine bag, pocket, or purse.
Properties of Staurolite
The staurolite appears as an umber and siena colored cross, with substantial hematite content, embedded in a pale & glittering matrix of muscovite, mica and schist, which create a myriad of tiny sparkling inclusions.
Hematite is a reddish-brown mineral, also known as ferric oxide, an important variety of iron ore. Hematite comes from the Greek words haimatites lithos or bloodlike stone.
Genuine Staurolite crosses are quite rare and expensive, and specimens like this one from Kola, Russia are considered to be among those with the most desirable qualities.
True Staurolite like this specimen easily scratches glass. Staurolite is an extremely hard, insoluble mineral formed from iron magnesium aluminum silicate, naturally occurring as reddish-brown orthorhombic crystals embedded in a matrix of metamorphic rocks high in iron and aluminium. The high hematite content gives Staurolite crystals their characteristic reddish brown color.
Properties of the St. Andrew and St. George Staurolite Cross
The name Staurolite comes from the Greek words stauros (cross) and lithos (stone) meaning stone of the cross.
The name is appropriate because Staurolite crystals often appear in twin cruciform formations, in the shape of a Greek cross, with a 90 degree angle between the arms, or in the shape of a St. Andrew's cross, with a 60 degree angle between the arms.
The Greek Cross is also known as the St. George's Cross, found on the flag of England, and associated with St. George, a Crusader Saint who was said to have protected Richard the Lion Hearted during the Third Crusade.
A saltire, Saint Andrew's Cross, or crux decussat is a heraldic symbol in the geometrical form of the diagonal cross upon which St. Andrew was said to be crucified. Staurolite cruciform twins in the form of the Saint Andrew's Cross have been worn by religious devotees through the ages, and are renowned as sacred natural objects, invested with the power to heal, bring good luck and transform the soul.
Staurolite is known as the Fairy Stone or Fairy Cross, and was said by some to be the crystallized tears of fairies, bereft on hearing the news of Christ's crucifixion and death.
Another legend has it that Staurolite was used to heal Richard the Lionhearted during his Crusades in the Middle East, when he suffered from malaria.
Present day crystal healers have used Staurolite to ground an individual with a tendency to float away from the material world, or to be lost in abstract realms of mental ratiocination. Staurolite has also been used to treat depression, fevers, addictive personality traits and symptoms of stress.
Sacred Geometry of the Seven Pointed Star
The seven pointed star, which derives from the heptagram, has a unique energy signature, which is related to the principles of sacred geometry and expresses the energy signature of unconditional love.
In the Tarot deck, the seventeenth Trump, called The Star, reveals Isis, the Virgin Goddess, pouring forth her cosmic waters from Her transcendent realm into the material Universe, where they manifest as the energy called Shakti, materializing as the Milky Way, the array of stars that illuminate and enliven the entirety of the natural realm.
Her symbol is the seven sided star, visible in the Tarot card on this page, which was designed by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris in the early years of the twentieth century.
The nature of the Virgin Goddess is Total Unconditional Love, unconstrained by factors of time and space. The spiraling forms of liquid light being poured forth from her cups in the Tarot Trump called The Star represent the Universal Life Force Energy which creates and sustains all the forms of Nature we perceive in this Four Dimensional Universe.
The Virgin Goddess infuses that energy from the Source of all Creation into all forms that manifest in this material universe, and also recycles that energy through Source when material manifestation of a particular, given form reaches an end-state.
John Michell, in his Dimensions of Paradise says, "The 'Lamb in the midst of the throne,' in Revelation 5:6 has 'seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God.' The geometer's image of this creature is the heptagram with seven horns and seven triangles containing eyes. The eyed triangle of the heptagon, which has a base angle (51 degrees 26 minutes) nearly the same as that of the Great Pyramid of Egypt (51 degrees 51 minutes), may be the origin of the mystic symbol of the eye in the pyramid."
A Great Heptagram
Seven is of course the number of colors in the rainbow, the number of notes in our Western musical scale, the number of endocrine glands in the human body, and the number of major chakras in the body.
The seventh, most elevated chakra is the crown chakra, which is associated with the colors violet, white or gold, and with the Higher Mind, Christ Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness or Krishna Consciousness.
Seven is also the number of the seven stages of inner transformation through sustained spiritual practice that enable the yogi to raise the kundalini to each succeeding chakra center, to pierce each center, and to remain centered and balanced as this immensely powerful energy continues to elevate the yogi's consciousness over time.
In the yogic tradition, when, through arduous spiritual practices, the spiritual aspirant awakens the kundalini energy, which normally lies asleep, coiled in a spiral in the lowest chakra, near the perineum, the kundalini rises up the spine, slowly piercing each of the seven chakras until it reaches the crown chakra. When the spiritual aspirant succeeds in raising the kundalini to the crown, this is said to be the marriage of Shiva and Shakti, and confers enlightenment upon the yogi, who has now achieved adeptship.
Shiva-Shakti in Meditation at Home in the Himalayas
The energy of the seventh chakra thus represents the marriage of the male and female principles in an alchemical union, and also constitutes the fusion of the lower self with the Higher Self, the attainment of Unity consciousness.
The sacred geometry of the seven-sided star resonates with the healing, elevating energy of the transcendent Creatrix, whose "sacred marriage" with the energy of the transcendent Creator, takes place in the seventh, crown chakra of the adept at the moment of Enlightenment.
The sacred geometry of the seven pointed star is designed to resonate with the extremely elevated energy signature of the awakened and enlightened seventh chakra.
The number seven is associated with the transcendent Virgin Goddess because seven is considered a "virgin" number. No number less than seven can be divided into it evenly, and no number can be multiplied by seven to produce another number, a "child", within the Holy Decad, considered to be the parameters of the original creation.
Every one of the ten numbers in the Decad can be divided evenly into 360, the number of degrees in a circle -- except for seven.
Construction of a Heptagon
The heptagon consists of seven literally unmeasurable, thus virginal, angles, and another elusive, virginal angle from its center to its corners. Thus the ever-virginal heptagon cannot be captured or constructed by the Cosmic Geometer. The regular heptagon is the smallest polygon that cannot be constructed using only the three tools of the geometer, the compass, the straightedge and the pencil.
Thus the heptagon is associated with the transcendent aspect of the Great Virgin Goddess known to the Greeks as Pallas Athena (or as Minerva to the Romans), who was said not to have been born from the womb, as other gods and goddesses, but rather to have sprung from Zeus' brow. When the numerological values of the letters of Pallas Athena's title "Pallas" or "Maiden" are added together, they total 343, which equals 7 X 7 X 7, the volume of a cube whose sides are seven units long. The cube is considered to be symbolic of material creation, so the role of the transcendent Creatrix is alluded to in the sacred geometry of her very title.
The seven sided star resonates with the very highest frequency of energy associated with the Great Goddess in her role as creatrix and sustainer of the Universe. The seven-sided star is associated with the transcendent energy signature of the Goddess Isis or Nuith, the Egyptian Goddess of the Night Sky, who is associated with divinely ordained synchronicities, the bliss of unconditional love blessed by harmonious constellations of stars, and the "mystico unio" of adepts on the path of meditation.
The seven sided star is sacred to lovers everywhere, because the seven sided star symbolizes the eternal yearning of the soul for Unity with the Source of all Creation, the unending desire of the incarnated Being for the Virgin Goddess who resides beyond this Space-Time continuum.
Courtesy Wikimedia, Public Domain
When a human being enters into a love relationship with another human being, whether that be a relationship based upon mutual receptivity and affinity, karma, or an unwavering desire for a partnership designed to accelerate the spiritual development of both parties, there is a magical moment when the Universe seems to signal its approval of the Union.
Lovers could tell a million stories about the crazy chain of coincidences that brought them together in this life. The synchronicities that manifest in the outer world to bring the two lovers together are a reflection of the pure inner desire for Unconditional Love that burns in the hearts of the two lovers.
Spiritual students around the world could tell a million stories about the amazing string of unusual events that brought them to their beloved Spiritual Teachers. It is quite common for the student to be guided to the Teacher when the time is right. "When the student is ready, the Teacher will come," as they say.
This type of synchronistic meeting is also the reflection in the outer world of a pure desire for Divine Love and accelerated spiritual advancement.
So whether you desire a pure and uplifting love relationship or accelerated spiritual development in your life, the Virgin Goddess will oversee your efforts and respond to your desire -- if it is pure and free of the lust of result. In other words, you must be willing to accept the Design of the Universe, and in asking for the Grace of the Virgin Goddess, you must be willing to accept her Guidance, even if it leads you to Realms far removed from what you picture in your mind's eye as an answer to your prayers.
If you desire a Greater Love in your life, lift your eyes unto the Night Sky and sing the praises of She who Illuminates the Night and Gives Life Upon the Earth, for she is also your Mother and She loves you dearly.
Staurolite and the Archangel Michael Connection
Metaphysical rock collectors, crystal healers, and Lightworkers who are conscious of their connection to the Angelic Hierarchy may especially prize Staurolite's strong connection to Archangel Michael. Because of Staurolite's high hematite content and its characteristic reddish-brown color, Staurolite has a natural affinity with Archangel Michael.
Esoteric Christianity makes a link between hematite and Archangel Michael, and a crystal containing hematite can provide the bearer with a powerful connection to Michael, providing access to the Archangel's loving wisdom and power to dissolve illusion through the activity of his famous sword, the sword of Ultimate Truth.
During the Libran month, in the northern hemisphere, fall meteor showers will be visible. At this time of year, when sensational meteor showers, largely composed of iron, traditionally streak across the night sky, Esoteric Christian philosopher Rudolph Steiner's clairvoyant vision saw the traditional flashing iron sword of Michael.
The meteoric sword of Michael was thought to cleanse the Earth's atmosphere of summer's sulfurous influences, allowing the Higher Self to emerge and guide the initiate along the path of Spirit toward the birth of the Inner Christ Light, an event which takes place in December, during the festival of Christmas.
For more information on Michaelmas, see our article entitled Libra Festivals: Michaelmas, Rosh Hoshanah, Ramadan and Navratri.
Archangel Michael is known to crystal healers and Lightworkers as the dispeller of all negativity, the strong sword and shield of the Heavenly Hosts, and the Angelic protector of humanity, endowed the ability to banish all dark spirits.
Michael's stone of strength, hematite assists in the transformation of any and all negativity held in body, mind or heart into the purity of the universal light of love.
Put this Staurolite Cross in your medicine bag, on your altar, on your night table, or on your desk at work to establish an energetic zone of protection and call in the presence of Archangel Michael to bless your space during meditation, healing sessions, sleep and dreamtime and throughout working hours.
This crystal has been cleaned with Universal Life Force Energy, and given an energy attunement using Reiki, a Japanese technique of energy healing, so it will continue to receive and transmit Universal Life Force Energy direct from the Source of Creation.
Read more about quartz and other types of crystals and gemstones at the Crystalpedia. Check out our FREE e-book Spirits of Stone: A Lightworker's Guide to Crystals and Gemstones for Healing and Meditation for an overview of the metaphysical and mineralogical properties of quartz, and a step-by-step guide explaining how to cleanse, charge, and program quartz crystals for healing, meditation and other spiritual purposes.
Actual Weight is 20 grams, or .7 ounces.