Lapis Lazuli is one of the most sought-after stones in use since man’s history began. Its deep, celestial blue remains the symbol of royalty and honor, gods and power, spirit and vision. It is a universal symbol of wisdom and truth.

Lapis Lazuli is mined all over the world but one of the main places it is mined is in the Kokcha River Valley of Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli can also be found in Siberia and Chile, but not in such abundance. In recent years, the quality of some stone from Chile has rivalled that of Afghanistan. Lapis can also be found in a few other countries such as Italy, Russia, and the United States but in relatively small quantities.

HEALING PROPERTIES

Lapis Lazuli promotes emotional healing, encouraging self-acceptance and it helps overcome emotional blockages. Encourages self-awareness, allows self-expression and reveals inner truth, providing qualities of honesty, compassion and morality to the personality.  Lapis Lazuli quickly releases stress and it also believed to offer protection from negativity, bringing inner peace and serenity to the wearer.  Lapis Lazuli is rich in lazurite, a mineral that’s known for its calming effects. This calming effect is said to help alleviate stress and anxiety, promoting a sense of peace and tranquility. It brings harmony and deep inner self-knowledge.  Stimulates objectivity, clarity and encourages creativity.

Lapis Lazuli helps in stimulating wisdom and good judgment in the practical world. Lapis Lazuli is a powerful crystal for activating the higher mind and enhancing intellectual ability. It stimulates the desire for knowledge, truth, and understanding, and aids the process of learning. It is excellent for enhancing memory.  Lapis Lazuli stimulates the mind and encourages clarity of thought. It aids in expressing oneself and enhances communication skills.  Known as a stone of truth, Lapis encourages honesty of the spirit, and in the spoken and written word. Lapis Lazuli assists us in confronting and speaking our truths and inspires confidence within us.  Wear it for all forms of deep communication.

It is a stone of friendship and brings harmony to relationships. It bonds relationships, aiding in expression of feelings and emotions. As it’s a stone that encourages self-expression and invites you to speak the truth, this makes it an amazing tool for bonding relationships and forging close-knit friendships with those who can serve the true you. It benefits relationships by encouraging clear communication and mutual understanding which is essential for a loving and lasting bond.

Lapis lazuli is valued for its spiritual properties, such as enhancing intuition, self-awareness, and clear communication. It promotes spiritual development, stimulates intellectual abilities, and activates the higher mind. This gemstone is also used to stimulate intuition and enhance psychic abilities. This gemstone, often associated with wisdom, truth, and enlightenment, is believed to activate the Third Eye Chakra, facilitating deep intuition, psychic abilities, and spiritual growth. Lapis Lazuli is a spiritual guide that aids in self-discovery and transformation. It’s a beacon of inner vision and self-awareness, helping individuals connect with their higher selves and access higher realms of consciousness. Lapis Lazuli is a spiritual mentor, guiding you towards enlightenment and self-realization. It aids in expanding one’s consciousness and deepening spiritual practices. As a protection stone, Lapis Lazuli recognizes a psychic attack and blocks it, returning the energy back to its source. When used in meditation or spiritual practices, Lapis Lazuli is said to stimulate the higher mind, encouraging clarity and objectivity. It’s like a cosmic GPS, guiding you on your spiritual journey.

HISTORY

Lapis lazuli is one of the oldest opaque gemstones in history and is more than 6,500 years old. This rich blue stone includes tiny flecks of mica, like a night sky full of stars. In ancient times Lapis Lazuli was most highly regarded because of its beautiful color and the valuable ultramarine dye derived from it. The word ‘lapis’ comes from Latin for ‘stone’, while ‘lazuli’ comes from ‘lazulum’ and the Persian lazhuward “blue”. This crystal has endless connections to a variety of cultures across time and space, from the ancient Chinese and Greek civilizations to Persian cultures and more. Beloved by the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Minoans, Chinese, Greeks and up to the Romans, this deep blue stone has been used in the finest of art through the ages. Marco Polo wrote about the lapis lazuli mines way back in 1271.

In ancient Greek culture, lapis lazuli was known as the “sapphire of the ancients” and associated with wisdom and power, symbolizing goddesses like Athena and Hera. Lapis Lazuli honors Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love (also called Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty). She was one of twelve Olympians who governed all aspects of human life and is known for her beauty and passion. Romans believed lapis lazuli could protect against the evil Eye. It was often worn as an amulet or ground into powder and consumed as an elixir for longevity.

Celebrated as being The Wisdom Stone, Lapis Lazuli was loved by the Ancient Egyptians and in paintings and scrolls is often seen adorning the Pharaohs, Queens, and Goddesses. Lapis Lazuli was among the most highly prized tribute paid to Egypt, obtained from the oldest mines in the world, worked from around 4000 B.C., and still in use today. In the dry, barren land of the Egyptians, this deep cobalt blue color was a spiritual contrast to their arid desert hues. The gold flecks were like stars in their night-time sky and by meditating on these colors they felt supernatural forces would transform their lives. The garments of priests and royalty were dyed with Lapis Lazuli to indicate their status as gods themselves.  One of the most famous uses of the stone is in the death mask and golden sarcophagus of King Tutankhamen, where it is inlaid, along with turquoise and carnelian, in bright gold. One of his successors, Cleopatra, was known to use ground lapis lazuli as Eyeshadow. It was used extensively in scarabs, pendants, and other jewelry, and ground into powder for dyes, Eye shadow, and medicinal elixirs.

In ancient Persia and pre-Columbian America, Lapis Lazuli was a symbol of the starry night and a favorite stone of the Islamic Orient for protection from the evil Eye. Lapis was much used in Greek and Roman times as an ornamental stone, and in medieval Europe, Lapis Lazuli, resembling the blue of the heavens, was believed to counteract the wiles of the spirits of darkness and procure the aid and favor of the spirits of light and wisdom.

Catherine the Great fell hard for the rich blue hues and had a whole room adorned in Lapis Lazuli. Michelangelo ground it down into powder to produce the intense, but expensive, ultramarine and rich blue color favored by the painter that we can see to this very day when turning our Eyes heavenward when walking through the Sistine Chapel. Buddhists recommended Lapis as a stone to bring inner peace and freedom from negative thought, and during the Renaissance.

In the Middle Ages, painters ground up lapis lazuli to make the deep blue paint called ultramarine–the blue used to paint the robes of Mary of Nazareth on church walls and ceilings like in the Sistine Chapel. The stone made its way to Europe during the Middle Ages, where it was used by artists and painters. Its vibrant blue color was considered a symbol of the heavens and was often used in religious art.

During excavations of the royal graves in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, artefacts featuring gold, silver and gemstones were discovered. Many exhibited exceptional craftsmanship, skill and artistry. The ‘golden lyre of Ur’, crafted from gold and lapis lazuli, was found in the grave of a king during a 1928 British Museum expedition to Ur (modern-day Iraq). A fine example of ancient Sumerian art, it has been dated to approximately 3500 BC.

CHAKRAS

Lapis Lazuli is connected to both the Throat Chakra and the Third Eye Chakra. The Throat Chakra is the place from where we speak our heart-felt truths and is linked to how we express ourselves in this world. Lapis Lazuli aligns Chakras and enhances a person’s overall well-being. The Third Eye is our gateway to inner wisdom and intuition. It helps us to learn to see deeper and lean into trusting ourselves and our own instincts.

The Third Eye Chakra is the center of our perception and command. It is known for being the Eye of consciousness, the one that sees all. It directs our everyday awareness of the world. Our consciousness of self is gleaned through our Third Eye, and we relate to ourselves through this Chakra. If you have a block in your Third Eye you may have difficulty concentrating, connecting and keeping your cool especially when the world around you falls into chaos. The Third Eye Chakra is often visualised as a deep indigo blue, mirroring the colour of Lapis Lazuli. Lapis Lazuli’s energy resonates with the frequency of the Third Eye, enhancing its function and opening the door to inner vision.  When the Third Eye Chakra is in balance, we clearly understand that which we see. It elevates our sense of perception and our thoughts and internal communications within ourselves are healthy and vibrant. When you awaken your Third Eye Chakra you may have the ability to see further and to use the dark blue lapis to tap into hidden psychic abilities.

Your Throat Chakra is the voice of your body, a release that allows the energy from the other Chakras to be expressed. If blocked or out of balance, it can impact the health of the other Chakras. Lapis Lazuli helps unblock your Throat Chakra to let your truth flow which can give you that burst of confidence, clarity, and the ability to stand up for yourself that you may have been missing. Lapis Lazuli, with its soothing and harmonizing vibrations, helps to encourage fluid and sincere expression, facilitating both verbal and emotional communication. Lapis Lazuli helps release energetic blockages responsible for a lack of self-confidence when speaking and aids in stimulating active listening and understanding in interpersonal exchanges. When this Chakra is in balance, it allows for the expression of what we think and feel. We can communicate our ideas, beliefs and emotions allowing us to bring our truth out into the world.

CLEANSING AND CHARGING

If you want to keep your Lapis Lazuli dreamy and ever ready to bring its healing powers to your door, it’s important to keep the stone cleansed and charged when necessary. To maintain its intense blue color and healing properties, lapis lazuli requires a certain amount of care.

One popular method is smoke cleansing. This involves burning sage, copal or any other resin or dried leaf and passing your stone through the smoke. The smoke is believed to clear away any negative energy

Even though lapis lazuli can go in water, it is not recommended to leave it in water for extended periods of time due to its porous nature. Clean your gemstone with lukewarm soapy water, avoid temperatures that are too hot. Be sure to rinse it with fresh cool water to thoroughly remove the soapy residue and dry it with something soft.

Another method is using sound. You can use a singing bowl or a tuning fork. The vibrations from the sound are said to shake off any unwanted energy.

One of the best ways to cleanse your lapis is by covering it with rock or sea salt and leaving it overnight to be purified.

Charging your Lapis Lazuli is the next step to re-energizing it an restore it to full strength. After you have cleaned it you can leave it in the sun for a few hours.  Some people will charge their Lapis Lazuli by burying it in the earth for a time.  This will ground it and recharge it with the power of Mother Earth.

One of the most popular methods for charging your Lapis Lazuli is to place it in the moonlight, especially under a full moon over night. This will fill it with healing energy and recharge it back to full potency.

It’s important to cleanse and charge your Lapis Lazuli regularly. This ensures that it’s always at its best, ready to provide you with its healing properties. After you have cleansed and charged it, hold your Lapis Lazuli in your hand, close your eyes, and focus on your positive intentions for the stone.