Quick Specs
- Brand: Sonavi
- Series: Crystal Scents Ritual Kit
- Type: Stick incense with crystal chips
- Count: 8 incense sticks
- Crystal: Labradorite chips
- Sticks: Visible botanical grains
- Scent: Fragrance inspired by labradorite
A Gray Stone With a Hidden Flash
Labradorite looks quiet until you tilt it. The stone is a plagioclase feldspar, usually gray to black or greenish in body color, and some pieces flash blue, green, gold or orange at certain angles. That effect is called labradorescence, and it shows in some pieces and shifts or fades as the angle of the light changes. The chips in this kit are small rough fragments, bagged beside eight incense sticks, so hold each one under a lamp and turn it slowly to see what it does at each angle. The sticks wear a coat of dried plant material that shows as visible botanical grains, and the fragrance is inspired by labradorite. Labradorite rates 6 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale and has two directions of perfect cleavage, which makes it brittle. A stone that splits along flat planes tends to break into angular pieces, and a saucer on a shelf keeps the chips clear of knocks. It is named for Labrador, Canada, where it was first identified, and it has since turned up in Finland, Madagascar, Australia and many other places.
In modern crystal practice, labradorite is associated with intuition, protection and transformation, and most often with the third eye chakra. Those are lore associations, and a stone said to belong to change suits the moments when one thing is ending and the next has not begun: the last week at a job, the night before a move, the first page of a new notebook. Burn a stick while you sit with a chip in your hand and write two lists, one for what you are leaving behind and one for what you are carrying forward. A gray stone with a hidden flash makes a fitting companion for that kind of work, since you have to turn it in the light to find out what it holds. The chips are small enough to ride in a coat pocket on the day of the move or in a bag on the first morning of the new job. When the stick has burned down, the chip goes back in its dish to wait for the next threshold.
Practical Ritual Applications
Burn a stick at a threshold: the evening after a big decision, the week you start a course, the hour after a hard conversation. The kit also fits the reading table. Light a stick before a spread about a decision, and tilt a chip under the lamp while you think through your options. At the end of a long year, one stick and one chip make a quiet way to mark what you have learned. Keep the chips in a dish by the door and turn one in your hand as you leave and return. During the day, set the dish on a windowsill so the daylight moves across the chips, and look again at dusk under lamplight. For more stones that suit seasons of change, browse my change, transitions and flexibility stones collection.
How to Burn Labradorite Incense Sticks and Tilt the Chips
Three steps pair the burn with a lamp for looking at the stone.
- Set the lamp and the holder
Stand a heat-resistant holder that catches falling embers on a flat, heat-resistant surface such as a ceramic tile, clear of curtains and paper, and open a window or door for ventilation. Place a lamp so its light falls on a small saucer set a hand's width from the holder. Labradorite is brittle, so choose a spot well back from the edge of the table.
- Light the stick and tilt the chips
Hold the tip to a flame until it catches, let the flame die back, and stand the stick in the holder. Then lift a chip and turn it slowly under the lamp, holding it over the saucer in case it slips. Some chips flash at one angle and go quiet at the next, and some show little color at all. Set each chip down gently before you reach for the next.
- Put out the stick and store the chips
Stay in the room while the stick burns, and keep it out of reach of children and pets. Press the glowing tip into a fireproof dish until it is out, since blowing on a stick can spread sparks, and check that nothing is still smouldering. Once the ash is cold, empty the holder. Keep the chips in their bag, apart from harder stones such as quartz that could scratch them.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock the Labradorite kit for readers who like a stone with a little mystery in it and a stick to burn beside the cards. The chips are small rough pieces, so they work as a token for the altar or a pocket, and the eight sticks give you several sittings. It is a gentle first step into crystal and incense together. Every kit needs a holder that catches embers, and my stick incense burners collection has styles to suit a desk, a shelf or an altar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Labradorescence is the iridescent flash of blue, green, gold or orange that labradorite shows at certain angles. Some pieces show it strongly and others show little or none, and it brightens, shifts or vanishes as you turn the stone. Gem dealers often polish or slice pieces so that the effect faces the viewer. Hold a chip under a single light and rotate it slowly to find the angle.
Spectrolite is the name for labradorite from Finland with an especially full range of flash colors, from reds and oranges through yellows, greens and blues. The best of that material was named by the director of the Geological Survey of Finland, and the name has become a brand name for Finnish stone. Material from other places with a similar display is sometimes sold under the name too.
Labradorite is brittle and has two directions of perfect cleavage, so a hard knock can split a piece along a flat plane. Gem guides advise avoiding rough handling and keeping it apart from harder stones. For cleaning they recommend mild soap, lukewarm water and a soft cloth, and they advise against ultrasonic cleaners, steamers and high heat.
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