Quick Specs
- Brand: Sonavi
- Series: Crystal Scents Ritual Kit
- Format: Incense sticks with a small bag of chips
- Pack: 8 incense sticks
- Stone: Tourmaline chips
- Sticks: Visible botanical grains
- Fragrance: Inspired by tourmaline
A Mineral Group That Builds Its Own Charge
Tourmaline is a group of closely related minerals that share silicon, aluminum and boron, with varying amounts of sodium, lithium, iron and chromium. GIA credits the group with one of the widest color ranges of any gem species, and crystals run from black and brown through red, pink, green and blue to colorless. Many crystals are multicolored or zoned, with bands of different color along their length. The name comes from a Sinhalese word, toramalli. Tourmaline also has an unusual physical trait: it’s both pyroelectric and piezoelectric, so a change in temperature or pressure makes a crystal build an electric charge, and dust particles cling to its ends. It rates 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale, which lets it resist scratches from everyday dust and grit. The chips in this kit are dark. The sticks beside them are coated in dried plant material, dark and gold flecks over a black core, with yellow bare ends. The box is black and gold, with a crescent moon hung with feathers above an eight-pointed star, all in gold line work against the black.
In modern crystal practice, tourmaline is often linked to protection, and each color carries a meaning of its own: pink is linked to compassion for others, for example, and black to turning away negativity. Black tourmaline is the form most associated with grounding and with the root chakra. Those are lore associations, and they suit the moments when you want to mark an edge: closing a reading so the session has a clear end, settling at your desk after a noisy morning, or placing a chip at each upper corner of your reading cloth before you lay out the cards. GIA rates tourmaline’s toughness as fair, so the chips live best in a dish or a bag, handled gently, and returned there when you’re done. A stick gives the sitting its beginning, and a chip set back in its dish marks the place where it ends. Against a pale cloth, dark chips are easy to see, and if you read for a friend, a chip on the cloth can mark where their cards will go.
Practical Ritual Applications
Reach for this kit when a session needs a clear edge. Light a stick at the start of a reading and set the chips beside the deck, then put the stick out when the last card is back in the pile, so the sitting has a defined beginning and end. The kit also suits a work desk after a busy morning: a small dark stone and a thread of smoke mark the shift into focused hours. A short altar ritual works as well. Burn a stick while you write down one boundary you want to keep this week, then slip a chip into your pocket as a reminder. For more stones with a protective reputation, my protection and energy shifting stones collection has tumbled and raw pieces to set beside the chips.
How to Burn Tourmaline Incense Sticks and Keep the Chips Cool
Three steps keep the burn tidy and the chips at room temperature.
- Prepare the holder and the dish
Stand a heat-resistant holder that catches embers on a flat, heat-resistant surface, such as a ceramic tile, clear of curtains, paper and fabric, and open a window or door for ventilation. Test that the holder grips a coated stick firmly. Place a small dish for the chips a hand's width away, out of the path of falling ash.
- Light the stick and keep the chips cool
Hold the tip to a flame until it catches, then let the flame die so the end glows and the smoke begins. Stand the stick in the holder. GIA cautions that heat can alter tourmaline's color and sudden temperature changes can fracture it, so the chips stay in their dish, well clear of the glowing tip.
- Put the stick out and clear the table
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's out; blowing on it can spread sparks. Check that nothing is smouldering, let the ash cool, and empty the holder only then. Slip the chips back into their bag.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock the Tourmaline kit for readers who like their rituals to have borders: a stick to light and a dark stone to set beside the deck. Eight sticks give you a good run of sessions, and the chips stay on after the incense is gone. The kit also suits anyone who collects stones by family, since tourmaline is a group with many colors and this bag is one piece of it. A holder that catches embers completes the set, and my stick incense burners collection has several styles to choose from.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Tourmaline is a group of closely related minerals. The best-known members are schorl, which is black, dravite, usually brown, and elbaite, the most colorful and clearest member. The Gem Society reports that most cut tourmalines are elbaite, and GIA adds that schorl is usually black and rarely used as a gem.
Keep them back. GIA says heat can damage tourmaline and alter its color, and that sudden temperature changes can fracture it. The Gem Society adds that heat is a risk because of liquid inclusions inside the stone. A dish a hand's width from the holder, clear of falling embers, keeps the chips at room temperature. Both sources advise against ultrasonic and steam cleaners.
Brazil is the common thread. GIA names the Paraíba area, and the Gem Society lists Brazil among major sources with Madagascar, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Mozambique and Namibia. GIA adds Tanzania's Merelani area. Elbaite forms in pegmatites, the coarse-grained rock found in granite regions, while dravite and uvite form in altered limestone.
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