AurumEve Journeys Southwest: Got my Rocks On!

(Don’t forget to join for the Turquoise Ring Giveaway here!)

Turquoise, a stone prized for bringing good fortune and healing has been a staple and favorite within Native American design since the Aztecs mined the mineral in present day Arizona and parts of New Mexico. Currently, over 88% of the turquoise (even ‘natural’) that anyone sees is stabilized, as turquoise is not high on the Mohs scale and fragments easily.

At the Zuni Trading post in the Pueblo, I had the opportunity to get a hold of some unpolished, stabilized turquoise, – ready for a very fun design project.

But the true beauty was this piece of unstabilized, completely natural piece of turquoise pictured below. It is very difficult to find genuine, unstabilized turquoise, specifically from Arizona, as the mines are all generally shut down. This baby is a true prize and an exciting find!

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We also happened upon some stones that were not native to the South or Midwest. However, true, excellent quality for these particular stones is hard to find…

Take a look at this beautiful Afghani Lapis with its lovely dashes of pyrite. These are two completely untreated pieces.

This stone is a favorite of mine; know to enhance wisdom and fortitude, increasing psychic ability. In the Southwest, ‘denim lapis’ is commonly available; it has a much lighter hue with a lot of white and does not generally have any pyrite traces. The color is also less vibrant.

We also nabbed these two pieces of Labradorite from Labrador, common in Canada, Norway, and Madagascar (although the Madagascar variety has a slightly different appearance).

I was so excited that I managed (through a lot of shuffling!) to pick up the only unpolished/tumbled piece in the group.  Take a look at the piece to the left- it does not have the same luster as its partner, but I love the rawness and slightly more pronounced authenticity!

(Labradorite pictured with stabilized turquoise and unstabilized piece on the far right)

Upon visiting the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert, we stopped in a store and got this little piece of Petrified Wood.

Picking up the stones in the National Park is prohibited, but the owners of the shops just outside of the Park entrance own land where petrified wood sits, that was not claimed by the National Parks, so I was able to take home a VERY tiny piece of history !

All images courtesy of Raymond Bourraine.