The meaning of labradorite
At first glance labradorite is an ordinary grey stone. Then you find the right angle and a blue, green and golden light wakes up inside it, as if the stone had been waiting for you.
A stone that hides light: what labradorite is
Labradorite is a mineral of the feldspar family. What makes it special is a play of colour known as labradorescence. The stone contains extremely thin, parallel layers; as light passes through and reflects from them, some colours are strengthened while others cancel out. So the colour of labradorite comes not from pigment but from light itself, and it only appears when you look from a particular angle. Tilt the stone a little and the flash can vanish at once. It takes its name from the Labrador coast of Canada, where European missionaries brought it to wider attention in the 1770s. A variety from Finland, known for especially vivid colours, is called spectrolite; those deposits were found while defensive lines were being dug during the Second World War.
The trapped Northern Lights
A legend said to belong to the Inuit of the Labrador region tells that the Northern Lights were once trapped inside the rocks along the coast. A warrior struck the rocks with his spear and set most of the lights free into the sky, but some remained inside the stone and have shimmered there ever since. This story is the source of a symbolism that links labradorite with the sky, the stars and unseen realms. When you think of how spellbinding the aurora is during the long, dark northern winters, it seems only natural that people would see the same light in a stone they could hold.
Intuition and the door to the unseen
In crystal traditions labradorite is associated with the third eye chakra and the element of air. In many accounts it is regarded as a symbol of intuition, transformation and mystery. Perhaps the loveliest part of this symbolism comes from the stone's own nature: its light is always there, but you have to change your angle to see it. A situation, a person, or a part of yourself that looks grey at first may hold a similar light. Labradorite gives you no magical power; it simply reminds you what a small shift in perspective can reveal.
Spectrolite and the northern light
Spectrolite, found in south eastern Finland, is the variety of labradorite with the most vivid colours; alongside blue and green it can flash orange, red and violet. Its deposits came to light by chance during the war years, when rock was being dug for a defensive line. After the war the stone became part of the region's identity and was shaped into jewellery and small objects in local workshops. That such a stone should be found in a land where the Northern Lights are often seen feels like a distant echo of the old Inuit legend. The light in the sky and the light in the rock tell the same story on two separate shores.
A moment to look for the light
Holding labradorite and turning it slowly is a small exercise in attention all by itself. Watching at which angle the colour appears, how it ripples, where it fades, can rest your thoughts for a few seconds. If you like, you could do this at a moment when you feel stuck on something: turning the stone while wondering what it might be like to look at the same thing from somewhere else. You do not need to find an answer. Sometimes it is enough just to see that the light is there and leave the rest to its own time.
144 stones in Sakin Stones
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This text is a symbolic and cultural reading; it gives no information about health or the future.