Tourmaline – a Stone of Protection, Energy and Transformation

Tourmaline is one of the most diverse minerals in the world of crystals. It occurs in numerous colors and varieties (more than 100 are known), each of which is associated with different energetic qualities – love, friendship, success in business, protection, courage and vital energy.

The name “tourmaline” comes from Sinhalese (the language of Sri Lanka) – turmali or toramalli – a stone of unknown origin. In 18th-century England, the word was spelled tumalin. Tourmaline is often confused with other gemstones because of its great variety of colors. It occurs in many different colors: colorless, pink, green, blue, brown and every shade in between. There is also a variety with an unusual purple color called siberite, which is mined in the Urals (Russia). In Bulgaria, deposits are found mainly of Black Tourmaline.

• Some tourmalines are bright and colorful – such as the “watermelon” variety from Brazil. Similar specimens are also mined in Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania and Zambia, where they may look exactly the opposite: green in the center and pink around the edges. Red tourmaline is also known as elbaite.
• Bright green tourmalines are also mined in Brazil and are called “Brazilian emeralds” or “chrome green tourmalines”. People unfamiliar with them often mistake them for emeralds. In the past, they were mounted in bishops’ rings.
• Achroite is a rare, colorless variety of tourmaline. Its name comes from the Greek word achros, meaning “without color”. It is often heat-treated to turn pale pink.
• Dravite is rich in magnesium, which gives it a very dark brown, orange-brown or golden-orange shade. It may appear colorless from one angle and colored from another. Sometimes it is heated to lighten it if it looks too dark. Its name comes from the Drava region in Austria.
• Dark blue tourmaline is called indicolite or indigolite. Its color can range from greenish blue to indigo. It may look green or blue from one angle and lose its transparency from another. Its largest deposits are found in Siberia (Russia), where the purple, blue-purple or violet variety is called siberite. Light blue tourmalines are mined in Paraiba (Brazil), as well as in Colorado, Massachusetts and California (USA), Namibia and Madagascar.
• Rubellite – from the Latin word meaning “red” – actually occurs in various shades of pink, pink-violet or red. Ruby-red specimens are the most valuable. Some rubellites contain thread-like inclusions that can produce a cat’s-eye effect when cut as cabochons. They are found in Russia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Brazil, California and Madagascar.
• Black tourmaline, also known as schorl, is the most common and most popular variety, although it is often undervalued.

This stone has been used for more than 2,000 years. The Romans and Greeks probably imported it from Asia, as an inscription on a ring from the 2nd or 3rd century indicates that it came from India.

Jewelry made of tourmaline has been created in the Middle and Far East for centuries, but it was not until the 18th century that Dutch colonists introduced it more widely in Europe. At first, the Dutch used only long crystals, which they used to clean ash from their pipes. For this reason, they called it ashen trekker or “ash puller”. After 1750 it became very popular and known by its Sinhalese (Ceylonese) name toramalli. The Germans called it azchenzieher, and the French – tirecendre. The ancient Roman writer Pliny called it lychnis. Tourmaline, like amber, is pyroelectric, meaning that it becomes electrically charged after heating. The Swedish scientist Linnaeus called it the “electric stone”. It also becomes piezoelectric when pressure is applied. Because of these two properties, it is used in the manufacture of thermometers, deep-sea equipment and instruments that operate under pressure. If a layer is cut along the length of the prism, tourmaline polarizes light. Although it is pyroelectric and piezoelectric, it does not conduct electricity. Unlike topaz, it floats in water.

All varieties of tourmaline share the same qualities, while their specific colors affect different chakras.

Use tourmaline together with malachite to connect the upper and lower chakras and help your energy flow in the right rhythm.

Tourmaline in royal treasuries – Because of its resemblance to other gemstones, tourmaline has often held an honored place in imperial crowns:

• The Crown of the Czech Kings: It was believed to contain a “blood ruby” that would kill any illegitimate heir to the throne. In 1998, it was established that the stone was actually an enormous rubellite.
• The Crown of Anna Ioannovna (1730): Decorated with a 500-carat stone brought from China, which was later found to be tourmaline.
• The “Caesar’s Ruby”: A grape-shaped stone (255.75 carats), presented to Catherine the Great by the Swedish king Gustav III. It was only in the early 20th century that Academician A. E. Fersman proved it to be rubellite.

Tourmaline can build and maintain a powerful shield that protects you while at the same time giving you a sense of security. As one of the strongest protective stones, it repels fear and negativity and inspires self-confidence and understanding.

It is believed to help balance the endocrine system and renew the body and mind (of course, by itself it does not replace medical treatment, which should be carried out only by a qualified specialist). It is also said to improve sleep. By activating certain vibrations in the mind and body, this crystal synchronizes the subtle bodies and has a powerful protective effect. It brings fear and negative states to the surface and helps remove them; a powerful guardian.

Tourmaline is believed to increase sensitivity and understanding and in this way help you concentrate and find inspiration. Because it is associated with unlocking creative abilities, it is considered very useful for painters, writers, artists, musicians and all other creators of art.

The stone is believed to help you become more flexible and avoid becoming too emotionally involved in unpleasant problems; it can also encourage you to be more objective in your intentions.

Different varieties of Tourmaline have specific abilities.

• Achroite (rare and colorless): Believed to help you see everyday events more clearly and foresee the future.
• Blue-green: Associated with attracting new friends and new events into life.
• Buergerite (iridescent dark brown): Its energies are considered similar to those of dravite.
• Chrome dravite (dark green): Associated with attracting money and success in business.
• Dravite (very dark brown, orange-brown or golden-brown): Believed to balance the fourth chakra and support intellectual processes.
• Indicolite (blue): Associated with peace and clear insights. Said to teach spiritual wholeness.
• Rubellite and elbaite (red, dark pink): Sometimes called the “queen of tourmalines”; associated with calming and relaxation. Believed to support spiritual aspirations and desires, and to ease grief and inner pain caused by conflict. As a heart-chakra stone, it is said to help release deeply buried emotional experiences. It works well together with rose quartz and kunzite. It is believed to help you release old heartbreak and prepare to love again.
• Siberite (purple to purple-violet): Believed to help unlock intuition and extrasensory perception.
• Tsilaisite (yellow and brown): Said to energize the mind during study or research and to help establish contact with etheric beings from other worlds.
• Verdelite (green and dark green): Associated with communication. It is said to assist those seeking wisdom from nature and nature spirits. It is considered a regenerative stone that can realign all the bodies after traumatic experiences. It is associated with attracting prosperity and inspiring creative ideas. It may help you deal with a problem and is also believed to point out negative energies so that you can avoid them.
• Watermelon (pink and green): Said to help you persist with your work until it is finished. Considered a wonderful aid for resolving imbalance and guilt, conflicts and uncertainty. Watermelon tourmaline is described as a stone that “solves problems”; it is believed to help you accept the past and make plans for a better future.
• Yellow: Believed to balance the fifth chakra and strengthen the intellect.

Black tourmaline (energy: receptive; element: Earth) – used for grounding and represents the Earth in magic connected with this element. Protects against negativity.

• Believed to support astral travel, process information from past lives and assist transformation toward higher levels. It may help with understanding abstract ideas. It deflects negativity and can be used as a shield against physical and psychic negative energies. It transforms and removes inner negativity. It may cause vibrations or events to slow down so that a person can assess them more clearly. When it occurs naturally within a transparent quartz crystal, it is called tourmalinated quartz.
• Believed to protect the aura and incarnation, bringing Earth energy into the root chakra and kundalini channels.
• Described as protective armor that absorbs and transforms negative energy and negative thought-forms from ourselves and others, offering protection from psychic attacks and possessing spirits.
• Associated with healing fear and panic and inspiring a feeling of safety and security.
• Believed to activate the ability to ground and center ourselves, encouraging us to put down roots in the Earth and the body.
• Associated with creating a sense that we are welcome on Earth and strengthening the ability to remain present within the body.

Real or fake

There are currently no synthetic tourmalines on the market, but enhancement treatments are often used:

• Heating: Used to improve the color of blue and bi-colored stones.
• Irradiation: Used to intensify the red color of rubellites.
• Green (chrome) and yellow tourmalines usually have a completely natural color and are not treated.

Tourmaline is difficult to imitate because of its unique physical properties, but doublets (assembled stones), glass or synthetic spinels are nevertheless often sold on the market as tourmaline.

Here are several practical ways to check whether a stone is genuine:

The “dust magnet” test (static electricity)

This is the easiest home test, based on the pyroelectricity of tourmaline.

• How to do it: Rub the stone vigorously against a piece of wool fabric or your hair for about 30–60 seconds.

• Result: Genuine tourmaline will build up a static charge and begin attracting small particles of ash, dust or fine pieces of paper. Glass and plastic will not behave in the same way.

Checking for pleochroism (change of shade) – for colored tourmalines

Tourmaline is a strongly pleochroic mineral. This means that the same crystal displays different shades or different color intensity when viewed from different angles.

• How to do it: Look at the stone in natural light and slowly rotate it.

• Result: If you are looking at green tourmaline, it may appear grass-green from one side and much darker, almost black, when viewed toward the end of the crystal. If the color is absolutely identical from every side, it may be glass or a synthetic imitation.

Presence of inclusions

Tourmalines (especially pink and red rubellites) often contain natural inclusions.

• How to do it: Examine the stone with a magnifying glass under strong light.

• Result: Look for thin, thread-like cavities running parallel to the length of the crystal. They often look like “frozen” needles.

  • Caution: If you see small round air bubbles, this is a sure sign of glass.

Note: Today it is very common for “aura quartz” or irradiated glass to be sold as tourmaline. For expensive stones, the most reliable option remains a gemological certificate proving the chemical composition (including the presence of boron).

Sources used:

• Stein, Diane. Healing with Gemstones. Sofia: Aratron, 2005.
• Conway, D. J. Gemstones and Their Magical Properties. Sofia: Aratron, 2008.
• Kivrin, Vladimir. The Healing and Magical Properties of Crystals. Sofia: Paritet, 2014.
• Miteva, Gergana. Ivan Mitev. Encyclopedia of Healing Minerals: A-Z: Second Expanded Edition, Haskovo: IK Oponent, 2004.
• Barbara Ann Brennan, Hands of Light, Sofia: Kibea, 2000.
• Nelson, Mary, Jane Scrivner. Healing with Stones, Sofia: Mont, 2011.
• Hall, Judy. Crystals and Gemstones: How to Use Crystals and Their Energy to Improve Your Life. Sofia: Aratron, 2018.