APPLICATIONS: | Ornamental stone, ceramics and mineral specimens. |
ASSOCIATED MINERALS: | Quartz, tourmaline and muscovite. |
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: | Aquarius. |
CHEMICAL STRUCTURE: | NaAlSi3 O8, Sodium Aluminum Silicate. |
CLASS: | Silicates. |
CLEAVAGE: | Perfect in one and good in another direction forming nearly right angled prisms. |
COLOR: | White or colorless but can be shades of blue, yellow, orange and brown. |
CRYSTAL HABITS: | Blocky, tabular and platey crystals. The typical crystal has a nearly rectangular or square cross-section with slightly slanted dome and pinacoid terminations. A variety called Cleavelandite forms very thin platey crystals that can grow rather large (15+ cm across) but can maintain an even thickness of only a few millimeters. Twinning is almost universal in albite. Crystals can be twinned according to the Albite, Carlsbad, Manebach and Baveno laws. Albite is a common constituent of granitic and syenite rocks. Can also be massive. |
CRYSTAL SYSTEM: | Triclinic, bar 1. |
FIELD INDICATORS: | Occurrence, crystal habit, twinning, striations, density and index of refraction. |
FRACTURE: | Conchoidal. |
GENERAL INFORMATION: | Index of refraction is 1.53. Lamellar twinning may cause a grooved effect on crystal surfaces that appear as striations. Some albite may show an opalescence due to twinning and is referred to as moonstone. Albite is derived from the same root word as albino. |
GEOGRAPHY: | Labrador, Canada and the Scandinavian Peninsula. |
GROUP: | Feldspars. |
HARDNESS: | 6 - 6.5. |
LUSTER: | Vitreous to dull if weathered. |
METAPHYSICAL: | Encourages relationships, situations and interactions. Enhances tact and cooperation. It eliminates fear of the unknown and supports personal freedom through change. It encourages one to action, providing insight to certainty of purpose while sustaining ones confidence and resolution. It stimulates clarity in thought and enhances the stabilization of the frequencies of brain wave transmissions. It helps in connecting to the psychic self, awakening the energy of the third-eye and expediting the verbalization of the experience. |
PHYSICAL: | Has been used to treat disorders of the eyes, restriction of blood flow and ambulatory disorders. It is a purifier for disturbed portions of the physical body. |
TRANSPARENCY: | Translucent to opaque (rarely transparent). |
SPECIFIC GRAVITY: | 2.61. |
STREAK: | White. |
SUBCLASS: | Tectosilicates. |
VIBRATES: | To the master number 22. |
