Crystals: they taste good. Especially when used in magic. CRUMCH.
So do rocks. So do minerals. Just so deliciously spiritual. Y'know?
But they don't all taste good on your soul in the same way, because these words don't mean the same thing. GEM and STONE and CRYSTAL aren't synonyms, though their definitions sometimes overlap. In a casual setting it's fine to fart these words around interchangeably. I just wouldn't do it in any serious capacity.
🔮 YO WHY DOES THIS MATTER
🐻 In short: it'll make your spells more powerful.
🐻 In long...
To start getting into these lovely crunchy snacks, dear humans, you're going to have to know at least a little of the science. And if you're groaning right now, you're not ready to be a practitioner of any ding-dang metaphysical thing. You have to understand a touch of the natural world before working with it.
For instance: if you need fiery passion in your life, are you going to use something in your spell that comes out of a mollusk (a pearl) or from a volcano (obsidian)? If you need structure, is it better to use an object that's chemically a blobby mess (an opal) or orderly and neat (quartz)?
Unless you have prior associations with these objects, the basic science is all very crucial.
Still, I'm not gonna bore you. Let me just lay on you what you need to know to start with. You can go scurry off and read more as you please.
🔮 WHAT IS A CRYSTAL?
A crystal is a homogeneous solid substance with a repeating symmetrical structure. This structure is called a crystal lattice.
— Crystal Basics: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 200 Gemstones by Nicholas Pearson
What the hickety heck does that mean? Basically:
A crystal is a solid. OK.
Its internal chemical or molecular structure is homogeneous. All its parts are the same.
Its internal chemical or molecular structure is symmetrical, meaning its parts, on an axis, are the same. Mirrored. Think a butterfly, a snowflake, etc.
Its internal chemical structure also repeats. So you have the same chemicals or molecules repeating.
Its internal chemical structure is called a crystal lattice.
SALT is a crystal. It looks like this, way down on a teeny-weeny level:
Those are the elements sodium and chloride in a crystal lattice.
🐻 As an overview...
✨ USUALLY CRYSTALS: minerals
✨ SOMETIMES CRYSTALS: gemstones, stones
✨ USUALLY NOT CRYSTALS: mineraloids
✨ USUALLY NOT CRYSTALS, BUT MADE OF MINERALS: rocks
✨ DEFINITELY NOT A CRYSTAL: eggs, sadness, your mom
🔮 WHAT IS A MINERAL (AND MINERALOID)?
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic crystal. That means that minerals must be formed by nature, from nonliving sources, and exhibit homogeneous compositions and symmetrically repetitive structures.
— Crystal Basics: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 200 Gemstones by Nicholas Pearson
Let's break this down again.
A mineral is naturally occurring, which means it forms in nature.
But it's also inorganic. Animals don't make them. Plants don't make them. Things that are alive can't make them. It's gotta come from the earth. (Which is alive in a spiritual sense but not in a scientific sense. It's not, like, an organism. You know what I mean?)
They have homogeneous compositions. This means they're made up of the same thing throughout their entire structure.
They also have symmetrically repetitive structures. Their composite parts mirror on an axis, again like a snowflake, and the patterns of their molecules, elements etc repeat.
Labradorite is a mineral. It comes out of igneous (magma-formed) rock and it has a repeating chemical mixture of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, and sodium.
🐻 On the other paw...
When a substance meets some, but not all, of the criteria of a mineral...it is called a mineraloid.
— Crystal Basics: The Energetic, Healing, and Spiritual Power of 200 Gemstones by Nicholas Pearson
If you have yourself a substance that's real close to a MINERAL but doesn't check off all the boxes, it's a mineraloid.
Obsidian is a mineraloid. It comes from lava, so it's non-organic. But its structure is amorphous, meaning it's not arranged in a crystal lattice.
🐻 So: a MINERAL is a CRYSTAL. A MINERALOID is generally not a CRYSTAL.
🔮 WHAT IS A ROCK?
This one's so easy I don't have to pull out a book for it: basically, a ROCK is made up of one or more MINERALS or MINERALOIDS.
Marble is a rock. It's composed of the MINERALS calcite and/or dolomite.
Limestone is a rock. Its parents are (generally) the MINERALS calcite and/or aragonite. I'm sure they're proud.
🔮 WHAT IS A STONE?
Not an official scientific term, as far as I know. This is one that's gonna vary depending on your dialect, your background, etc. I use STONE as a synonym for ROCK, but wouldn't use it for just any old MINERAL or MINERALOID. (Like, a piece of obsidian is not always a STONE to me.)
Your mileage may vary.
🔮 WHAT IS A GEMSTONE?
Also not an official scientific term, as far as I know. Like STONE, this will vary based on your background, dialect, etc. Generally, GEMSTONE refers to any MINERAL, MINERALOID, or ROCK that you humans have used to decorate yourselves over the years. Think jade (ROCK) or ruby (MINERAL) or opals (MINERALOID).
🔮 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
There's way more scientific rocky rockiness to be talked about. For instance:
The rock cycle (how rocks are formed)
Crystal structures (based on the shape of their lattices)
Color, hardness, etc
...not to mention the METAPHYSICAL properties involved here. But this post is already long and to be honest I'm tired of speaking Human. More later.
Blessings, cubs!
(Typed up by my wife Mate-chan. Thank you, baby.)
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who are your BotBot OC's? any amphibious ones?
None specifically designed to be amphibious, beyond the usual “inanimate object robots that dont seem to be affected by taking a dunk” like you see in the show. I set out to draw from my mineralogy special interest and oops now I have ten OCs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The first five are a squad called the Rockhounds, brought to life in a gem and mineral shop. They are: the leader Dogtooth, a big specimen of phantom dogtooth calcite with wolframite and energon crystal inclusions; Poodlidot, a wire and peridot pebble bonsai; Chakra Spaniel, a chakra stone obelisk; Geo Fetch, a smokey quartz geode; and Ruff Round-the-Rosie, a cluster of desert rose selenite who I haven’t drawn yet.
BUT! They were not the only squad to awaken in the gem and mineral shop! The rival team is called the Curio Cats, and I am still struggling with names for them, but they’ll come soonish. The two squads constantly squabble, and it’s very stupid since they’re all some kind of tchotchke you’d find in a shop like this but each side insists they’re the better squad.
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I’m sitting here waiting for my Mom to get out of surgery. Not something I want to get into at the moment, as it’s been a pretty stressful last few months living at doctors offices between myself, Jake and my parents. But for now, I wanted to post about something positive in honor of my Mom. . My Mom’s a survivor, a woman of incredible taste and flair, with pinks or purples or blues in her hair as she’s always been childlike and fun. 👩🏻🎤 She’s a Mother whose a fierce supporter, and a selfless giver. She’s a Woman with incredible moral character whose acceptance of everyone, from any walk of life, made her the Mom all my brothers friends, and my friends, talked too about their problems. Our house was often a place of refuge for others. She was the Mom who got you, who listened and empathized with you. I’ve learned growing up, that I too have that quality. And though it can often be a heavy burden with a costly toll, it’s a heavenly gift that shines light in the world ☀️ , and for it, I am eternally grateful. . My Mother and I share a love of rocks, gems and minerals 💎❤️🪨 . Around 10 years old, my Mom and I joined a local Rock and Mineral club, and the Rockhound in me was born. My Grandmother was a archeologist/geologist and this love affair with natures igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic formations has been passed down by the women in my family for 3 generations. . In these photos we went down to a mine in San Diego for our collective birthdays. We came away with some amazing finds of tourmaline, morganite, aquamarine, lepidolite, garnet, quartz and more. . #mothers #moms #rockhounds #rocks #gems #minerals #rockhound #oceanviewmine #tourmalines #morganite #aquamarine #lepidolite #garnet #quartz #womenwhorock https://www.instagram.com/p/ChAhPX8J0OF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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