Prehnite is another gemstone that seems to be surrounded by some confusion. I have seen prehnite referred to as a type of garnet, or as an alternative name for tourmalated/tourmalinated quartz. I have also seen prehnite consistently misspelled as phrenite, pernite, and prenite. Prehnite is not a type of garnet or quartz; it is a calcium aluminum silicate mineral. Prehnite is a phyllosilicate. It is typically yellow-green to brown-yellow in color. (Most of the prehnite I have purchased is a celery green color.) Prehnite ranges from transparent to translucent. Prehnite does not sparkle, but it has a glow that I personally find very soothing to look at.
Prehnite has a Moh’s hardness of 6-6 1/2 (about the same hardness as quartz, sometimes a bit less). It has a good cleavage, making it easier to break (and therefore less durable) than quartz.
Deposits of prehnite are found in Australia, China, Scotland, South Africa, and the United States (Schumann, Gemstones of the World.) Prehnite is found in hydrothermally altered rocks. It is associated with xeolite minerals (although it is not a xeolite mineral itself.)
More information on prehnite can be found at the mineral galleries site and webmineral.
Google image results for prehnite.
Metaphysical information on prehnite.
micheledodge
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