As such, it was buried in fields when crops were sown to ensure a good harvest. In the past, it was connected with the Ancient Greek Dryads, the spirits of the forest. Thus, it describes the patterns created by the dark inclusions of iron or manganese called dendrites. This variety of Agate derives its name from the Greek word meaning “tree like”. Although, Tree Agate is more commonly green, there is some overlap. This stone is sometimes called Tree Agate. Similarly, it is believed to provide a wholesome, truthful ‘reality check’ to bring us back to our centre. Also, it helps us to examine our behaviours and provides the stable determination to make necessary adjustments. This crystal is believed to assist one in perceiving the self-imposed limitations and patterns that have created our experiences. Number: Master number 66 Dendritic Agate Crystal Healing Properties Keywords: Growth and wisdom through inner work Dendritic Agate always displays interesting patterns that remind me of a Chinese landscape painting. This sometimes resembles trees on a landscape against a dusky sky - when these are used in jewelry, it’s like wearing a little reminder of nature all around us.This Dendritic Agate Pendant will help you get in touch with your inner wisdom. When dendritic inclusions end up in Chalcedony, the result is a beautiful combination of dark grey or black dendrites against a cloudy, diffuse background. These usually appear as milky, translucent, or slightly opaque and often are whitish-grey in color. It consists of a “fibrous” crystalline structure, in which the crystals grow in parallel planes at a microscopic level. Like Agate, Chalcedony is also a microcrystalline form of quartz. What we refer to as Dendritic Agates are actually Chalcedony, interspersed with dark black or brown inclusions of manganese- or iron-oxides that form in tree-like patterns (not bands). Generally speaking, Agate is the microcrystalline (cryptocrystalline) form of quartz, but more specifically refers to those specimens that exhibit bands of alternating colors (usually black or brown and white or grey). Interestingly, the term Agate used in reference to these dendrite-containing quartzes is actually a misnomer. This is very similar to the way that snowflakes form when liquid water is cooled, it forms into dendritic patterns as the water molecules freeze and crystallize, growing upon each other in intricate and beautiful forms. Over millions of years and cooling conditions, the tiny particles that were deposited into the host material solidify, crystallizing into a branch-like imprint. Īs water containing these oxides enters the crystal’s structure (known as the “crystal lattice”), the particles of black or brown manganese or iron are left behind. When manganese or iron oxides are deposited within microcrystalline quartz, and under the right conditions, the result is what we call Dendritic Agate. Sometimes, as in quartz, the dendrites can seep into the three-dimensional crystal structure and develop into much more elaborate formations. This often occurs along deep fissures, down a flat, narrow plane between rock layers, causing the dendritic forms to grow flat alongside the planes of rock in which the water flowed. So how do dendrites, these tiny tree-like images, wind up in our gemstones? When water rich in manganese and iron oxides flows through fissures and cracks in rocks or minerals, these metallic elements are sometimes deposited within the crystal structures they encounter. Appearing as tiny, whimsical landscapes, gemstones displaying dendritic inclusions give us a truly fascinating peek into the science of mineralogy and a glimpse at how nature likes to create these patterns. If you’ve ever looked at veins in a leaf, you can see that the pattern they make is not too different from the branches of the tree that the leaf came from.Īnother amazing display of fractal patterns are those that appear as dendrites (Greek, meaning “tree-like”) in rocks and minerals. The definition of a fractal pattern is that, if its large scale pattern is examined at a much smaller level, it looks exactly the same.
These can be on a large scale, like the branches of trees, or infinitesimally small, like snowflakes. Have you ever noticed that the patterns in nature repeat themselves? From tree branches to the way cracks form in the ground, to the web of our own human cardiovascular system, nature finds ways to build upon itself in intricate, regular arrangements called fractal patterns.