Article Highlights
Botswana agate is a powerful yet scarce stone that comes with a unique energy. People have been using this stone for the longest time as it is said to bring balance into the wearer’s life. This guide has everything you need to know about this magnificent stone. You will appreciate its meaning and properties, among other unique things about the Botswana agate.
History and Overview
By just glancing at this stone, you will understand why it is so special and unique. It is a form of quartz and multi-colored. Botswana agate is also a banded chalcedony. The unique stone was formed by volcanic flow millions of years ago. Its distinct banding is a unique characteristic that makes it easily identifiable.
Botswana agate has an explosion of colors and not the essential translucent layers like the other family members. You will see deep purple-brown, apricot orange, gray and blue bands. All these colors come together to create to form an incredible mixture of colors. Some deposits even have what resembles an eye at the center. Its concentric bands are more perfect and precise than other agates. This makes this precious stone a sought-after variety.
Just as its name suggests, this stone occurs in Botswana. It is a country found in Southern Africa and borders Zimbabwe and Namibia. The region is known as Babanong. According to locals, this stone was a good luck crystal for the ancient people. The locals believe that the vast whirlpool found in the Motloutse River pays homage to a sea serpent that hypnotizes people using its eye.
The ancestors of the land used Botswana agate for luck and protection. The majestic stone then spread to other parts of Africa and the Middle East civilizations. Botswana agate easily became a tool to gift the gods and a healing tool. The stone is now a powerful pillar for the locals’ rites.
Today the stone is quite rare. It is not easily accessible, but use its properties to your advantage if you are lucky to find it.
Geological properties
As mentioned earlier, Botswana agate is a chalcedony that comes with multiple-color banding. These intricate bands came from repeated floods of lava waves moving slowly over lower stone levels. This laid down successive layers of quartz, one on top of the other. The pressure and weight of the silica caused pockets, pits, and tubes to form in the bottom layers. That created several layers that happened to create smooth round shapes.
All these processes make this stunning stone take long to form. Many people love this stone due to its extra delicate banding patterns.
- Mineral information – Banded chalcedony, microcrystalline quartz
- Color – brown, white bands, light grey, grey background
- Chemical composition – SiO2
- Hardness – 6.5 to 7 Mohs
- Refractive index 1.544 to 1.553
- Specific gravity 2.60 to 2.65
Healing Properties and Benefits
You will quickly fall in love with this stone. Beyond its great appearance, it contains some healing properties that could change your life. It is a favorite stone among meditators and healers. Its energy has the potential to influence your life positively. Below are the significant ways this stone can impact your life:
Emotional
People experiencing emotional turmoil in their life can use Botswana agate to find solace. Crystal practitioners believe Botswana agate’s calming energy is sufficient to offer relief against grief, anxiety, and depression. The stone has a steady and slow pulsation, but its energy is unique as many people claim to feel it deep inside them.
With this stone, the wearer gains strength to push through whatever they are going through with vigor and tenacity. The stone will change your perspective even if you are going through something you do not have power over. Botswana agate will help eliminate any self-destructive thinking. You will no longer have any harmful mental patterns.
Its emotional healing properties ensure you have the strength to conquer your fears and see yourself as a victor. The stone pulls back your focus and allows you to focus on bettering your life by looking at the positives. Many people believe this rock also triggers emotional logic. Even though you can think logically on your own, the stone can help you create a formulaic approach to issues in life.
Physical
Botswana agate’s energy is not for emotional use alone. Many practitioners believe the stone has some positive impacts on your body. The healing properties of this precious stone tend to work on the primary cause of a situation and not its symptoms. One way to promote good health is via natural detoxification.
Your body gets rid of any harmful substances you may have taken as food or from the environment. Detoxification improves how your organs function and also clears your skin. Typically. The hollow organs tend to gain more from this process, such as the uterus and stomach. Your blood vessels will operate more seamlessly with the presence of Botswana agate.
Healers believe your regulatory system will work better if the Botswana agate is nearby. Some people use this stone for fertility. The ancient Botswana people believed the stone encourages conception.
Spiritual
While speaking of spiritual effects, the effects could be subtler. The results may not be visible or felt right away, but that does not mean it does not have spiritual healing energy. The stone is resourceful in promoting spiritual growth. With the rock around, you will find yourself thinking about things you never even imagined.
The quiet moments with Botswana agate will take you on a spiritual journey that will optimally bring you closer to enlightenment. To become a well-rounded individual, contemplation is very critical. Botswana agate will encourage you to think a lot about your life. It helps you initiate a healthy discussion that looks at what you have accomplished and what you are yet to do.
The precious stone also forces individuals to assess their moments of weakness and failures. Making you think over and over about your life is meant to return and give the wearer some inner stability. The stone will help you know yourself and let you know what you are capable of doing.
Botswana agate and Chakra
Botswana agate’s role is like a pivot in the metaphysical world. Its properties make it a powerful root chakra stone. This energy point is also known as Muladhara or base chakra, and it is the initial energy point on your metaphysical world. It is the entry point of energy from the Earth. Many experts consider the root chakra as a very crucial ingredient in one’s life.
Typically, it is the foundation of spiritual and physical energy. This chakra helps you connect with Mother Earth and intake the energy. People believe that the root chakra is also responsible for security and feelings of stability. These two are huge aspects of your life and could affect your life negatively if they are not balanced.
With an off-balance root chakra, your life may not be relevant to you. You will start feeling lost with no sense of what is happening. You will probably lose interest in everything and begin to question things. The condition will give you a certain unease that is not easy to get rid of. The stone will provide you with some sense of grounded stability and bring you back to life.
Other chakras that Botswana agate triggers are the third eye chakra and the crown chakra. The third eye chakra is typically the portal to higher consciousness and the epitome of your wisdom. The stone gives you collective consciousness and balance in life. As for the crown chakra, the stone will make you easily access higher consciousness.
How to Use Botswana Agate
Just like many other healing stones, Botswana agate has a wide range of uses. The stone is resilient and has many benefits. The most common way to use Botswana agate is using it as jewelry. This rock manufactures stunning beads, pendants, and talismans. Even though they might be costly due to their scarcity, jewelry made from Botswana agate is always a statement piece.
Botswana agate is a stone that offers balancing energy. When used as jewelry, constant contact with your skin means it radiates its power to you, hence maintaining your balance in life. You can also use the stone as loose rocks to carry around in your pocket. It will grant you comfort in life and help you through the challenging moments in life.
Many people also use the stone for spa therapy or meditation. You could place the crystals on the respective chakras and contemplate your life.
Some people use the Botswana agate to manipulate energy flow in their homes. Absorb its energy with your family members by using it at home as artistic pieces.
Zodiac Connection
Like any other agate, the Botswana agate properties can benefit just anyone regardless of your zodiac. There are two zodiac signs, however, that the stone seems to blend with more. Scorpios and Geminis tend to receive the Botswana agate properties more positively.
The stone focuses on the spiritual and emotional balance of the Gemini. Geminis have a hard time keeping these two aspects in balance which is why this stone offers that balance. The rock makes sure the Gemini Yin and the Yang are in balance.
For the Scorpios, the stone helps them in protection and soothing comfort. Scorpios are known to be contentious and highly emotional. These individuals do not know how to handle change. That is where Botswana agate comes in to help them. The stone acts like a blanket over their lives and eases the effects of change. It gives these people the much-desired confidence to move on in their lives.
Botswana Agate Prices
Even though this stone is rare, it is not as expensive as precious stones such as emeralds, diamonds, or rubies. However, Botswana agate is in a different category compared to the common agates. You would be surprised to purchase this stone at a range between a hundred and several thousand dollars. Typically, you can buy the affordable banded stone for less than $50.
Care and Maintenance
The Botswana agate is a very durable gemstone. The geological properties show that the rock has a hardness rating of 6.5 to 7 Mohs. With this ranking, it means the gem is quite hard, resilient, and strong. Many jewelers love it because it is durable when used as jewelry. Stone collectors will also keep it for a long time.
However, even though it is a tough stone, you have to take good care of it. You have to practice the best cleaning practices. Clean the stone with warm soapy water and a soft brush or some microfiber cloth. Avoid exposing it to hot water since it is sensitive to high temperatures. The gemstone is opaque; therefore, you ought to remove it before applying perfumes and cosmetics.
Emissions from these deodorants could dim the agate’s polish. While storing the gemstone, make sure it is put in a separate box where there is no direct sunlight or other metals. Do not exercise or participate in any games or sports while wearing the Botswana agate, just like other fine jewelry to avoid damaging it.
How to tell if a Botswana agate is real
The color is the first thing you want to look at to identify a fake and real Botswana agate. These stones are prominent due to the hues they occur with. Natural Botswana agates are brightly colored, while the fake ones do not have this radiance. Bands are apparent in the natural stone and appear authentic. With an artificial stone, the bands do not look real since chalcedony may not have been involved.
Understand that agates are hard, but the fake ones will bear a softer texture. By just touching the stone, you will quickly differentiate it from a fake one. The counterfeit stones will easily scratch while the original one remains steady. An original gemstone will appear flawless and vivid. You will also notice a fake agate as they are transparent while the original is not.
Authentic agates are translucent, and just by the looks, you should be able to differentiate them from counterfeit ones.
Take away
If you are looking for a bewildering gemstone that offers both beauty and powerful healing properties, then Botswana agate is your thing. Even though rare, the rock is precious to jewelers and stone collectors.
