Agate – The Medicine Stone of Balance

Agate is named after the Achates River (now known as the Dirillo River) on the island of Sicily, Italy, whose upper waters were an ancient source of this gemstone. Agate is a balance stone to use in most rituals.

Agate will focus your concentration during a ritual. Agate is a powerful protection stone also, especially for children.

Never tell a lie in a room with an agate, as the lie will come back on you.

Soak an agate in lily of the valley oil for 3 hours, pat it dry and give it to someone you suspect of not telling the truth. The person will feel compelled to tell the truth.

Chakra: Heart.

Numerology: Vibrates to the number 1

Astrology Association: Sign of Virgo – Elemental.

Birthstone: June

Physical Properties of Agate:

Agates are bright and colorful stones. This quartz, belonging to the Chalcedony family, is associated with volcanic rock but can also be found in metamorphic rocks. It is ugly in its natural state. It is usually sold as tumbled stones or sliced into slabs and polished into cabochons. It may also be tumbled and polished naturally in rivers and streams.

A generally accepted requirement in the definition of Agate is that it has to be banded. This qualification distinguishes it from other forms of Chalcedony which are not banded.

Exceptions include Dendritic Agate and Moss Agate, which are not true Agates since they lack the banding patterns, but they are still traditionally called Agates since they have more than one color.

Onyx, when banded white and black, is technically a form of Agate, and Sardonyx, which is a banded reddish and white Chalcedony, is also technically a type of Agate.

Some forms of Carnelian may also exhibit banding and can therefore be classified as both Carnelian and Agate.

Specific agate localities will provide similarities in banding style and color, thereby lending many Agates a geographic prefix.

Agates are found all over the world and each has very specific qualities, and will be listed individually, as time allows. The broad category of agates also includes stones with value beyond agate because of their unique clearness such as carnelian or their reflective nature, like tigereye.

Some agates are given names like moss agate because of their inclusions.

agate power stonesColors of Agate: They range in color from white to black but are most often found in shades of red. They can be found in a wide range of colors with many names, and are often variegated and banded. Agates can be found in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, many shades of brown, white and black, rose pink, or nearly clear.  Some rarer forms of Agate are iridescent. Some agates are commercially heated and dyed to enhance their natural colors.

Kinds of Agate:

A Mexican agate, showing only a single eye, has received the name of Cyclops agate.

Dendritic agates have fern like patterns in them formed due to the presence of manganese and iron oxides. Other types of included matter deposited during agate-building include sagenitic growths (radial mineral crystals) and chunks of entrapped detritus (such as sand, ash, or mud).

Occasionally agate fills a void left by decomposed vegetative material such as a tree limb or root and is called limb cast agate due to its appearance.

Turritella agate is formed from a silicified fossil shell, from Elimia tenera (erroneously considered Turritella  shells). E. tenera are spiral marine gastropods having elongated, spiral shells composed of many whorls.

Similarly, coral, petrified wood and other organic remains or porous rocks can also become agatized. Agatized coral is often referred to as Petoskey stone or Petoskey agate.

Greek AgatesGreek Agates
Greek agate is a name given to pale white to tan colored agate found in Sicily back to 400 B.C. The Greeks used it for making jewelry and beads. Today any agate of this color from Sicily, once an ancient Greek colony, is called Greek agate.

This stone has been around centuries and was also known to both the Sumerians and the Egyptians, who used the gem for decoration and religious ceremony.

Brazilian agate geodesBrazilian Agate geodes
Another type of agate is Brazilian agate, which is found as sizable geodes of layered nodules. These occur in brownish tones interlayered with white and gray. Quartz forms within these nodules, creating a striking specimen when cut opposite the layered growth axis. It is often dyed in various colors for ornamental purposes.

Certain stones, when examined in thin sections by transmitted light, show a diffraction spectrum due to the extreme delicacy of the successive bands, so they are called rainbow agates.

Often agate coexists with layers or masses of opal, jasper or crystalline quartz due to ambient variations during the formation process.

Other forms of agate include Lake Superior agate, carnelian agate (usually exhibiting reddish hues), Ellensburg blue agate, plume agates, and tube agate (with visible flow channels), fortification agate (which exhibit little or no layered structure).

Moss Agate – Includes matter of a green, golden, red, black or other color or combinations embedded in the chalcedony and disposed in filaments and other forms suggestive of vegetable growth. Due to its associations with nature, Moss Agate fosters feelings of expansion, freedom, and space, the same feelings you experience when you go for a walk along streams, the beach, or thru the woods.

It draws new friends. Relieves exhaustion and heals problems with the neck and back, blood sugar, anorexia/food issues, and lymph nodes. Balances emotions.   

Because of its association with Nature and the Earth, Moss Agate is particularity useful to gardeners. Wear your Agate necklace, pendant, or bracelet while tending your garden.

Ancient traditions say that placing Agates in your garden will make you flowers brighter, and increase the yield in vegetable gardens. Walking thru the village, you would see Agate nuggets tied with strings and hanging from branches over the garden, and larger stones set on the ground. So if you are of the mind to create a rock garden, make sure to add Agates to your list!

Picture Agate: Gaze into for meditation. Left/Right brain balance. Pineal, pituitary; coordination.

Blue Lace Agate: This stone helps one to reach high spiritual places through patience and peace. Associated with hope, unity, cleansing, harmony, protection, optimism, positive thinking, smooth energy flow, joy, truth, purification and promptness. Makes us more easygoing. It is also often dyed other colors.

Mexican Lace Agate: It is said to lift depression.

Pink Lace Agate: Increases friendliness and happiness.

White Lace Agate: Attunes us to our highest mind and to the Creator.

Botswana Agate: A banded agate from the African country of Botswana banded with fine parallel lines of white, purple, or peach. It prromotes protection, fertility, sensuality, sexuality, passion, artistic expression and emotional comfort.

Mexican Laguna agate
Mexican Laguna AgateMexican Laguna Agate: Well known form of colorful Agate with very dense banding from Ojo Laguna, Chihuahua, Mexico.

Fire Agates
Crazy Lace Agate
Crazy Lace Agate: (which exhibits an often brightly colored, complex banded pattern) is also called Rodeo Agate and Rosetta Stone, depending on who owned the mine at the time.  Aids with energy lows. Relieves emotional pain. Opens the way for laughter. Strengthens the heart. Clears energy blockages. Brings vitality to major organs.

Eye Agates
Eye Agates
Eye Agate: Agate with banded, concentric rings that are perfectly rounded. 

Fire Agates
Fire Agates
Fire Agate or Flame Agate: Seems to glow internally like an opal. Provides clarity during periods of transition. Stimulates awareness. Enhances physical vitality. Used in treatment of burns and relieving pain.

Metaphysical powers of Agate:

Agates foster love, truthfulness, courage, bravery, strength, abundance, wealth, good luck, longevity, acceptance, protection, balance, harmony, generosity, security, persuasiveness, agreeability, congeniality, compatibility, creativity, and are associated with acquiring wealth.

Agates are also associated with appreciation of nature.

Agates are considered Power Stones. The are very grounding, solid and stable. If you have to deal with numbers, Excel spread sheets, charts and accounts, an Agate crystal on your desk will help you be more precise.

Also helps awaken (discover) your inherent natural talents. Good stone for those in banking, or who are the treasurer of a club.

Agates are particularly helpful to people having a hard time with forgiveness, and in dealing with letting go of bitterness and resentments, especially in relationships involving family or love.

Wear Agate when you are feeling overwhelmed, constricted, pressured, closed in or suffocated with current responsibilities. Better yet, enjoy the best of both worlds, and go for that walk with a nugget of Moss Agate in your pocket, as it is said to enhance the appreciation of nature.

In Ancient times, the forces of the Four Elements were considered the most powerful forces in the Universe to be reckoned with. Moss Agate is an Earth Stone, which the ancients believed were among the most powerful of medicines.

They believed Agates had the ability to make warriors both Strong and Victorious in battle.

Courage: What battles do you face today? The need for Courage and Bravery in being true to ourselves and what we believe, was not lost when we put down our swords. On the contrary, the most courageous among us today are those that have the courage to stay the course and keep to their own inner truth despite the temptations around us.

Give an Agate pendent or bracelet to your teenager. Sometimes its tough to “Just say No.” The power of an agate stone is helpful when starting new friendships, especially if YOU tend to come across as an aggressive or forceful person that doesn’t usually make a good first impression.

Protection: All Agates have excellent protective and healing energy, and stimulate analytical capabilities and precision.

Emotional / Mental Healing: Agate improves self-esteem. Agates help overcome bitterness of the heart, and inner anger.

Physical Healing: Agate is associated with improving physical speed (as in running, racing, marathons, athletic endeavors). Lungs, blood vessels, lymphatic system. Digestion, anorexia and food issues. Toxins, infections, colds, flu. Agriculture, Crops, Rain, pollination of plants.

Combinations: Agate is more powerful and its effectiveness is enhanced when combined with Aquamarine.

Agate Sources: Agate deposits exist in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Poland, Botswana, India, Australia, and the United States (Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Michigan).

Agate Enhancements: Agates used as gemstones may be naturally colored, but they are often dyed. This is especially true of the Agates from Brazil that have more intense colors. Hot pink, blue, or green colors in Agate are always dyed.