Amazonite

the river stone that never saw the river

Amazonite rough specimen on dark stone
Provenance
Colorado, USA · Russia · Madagascar
Mineral family
Microcline feldspar — turquoise-green, lead-lit
Hardness
Mohs 6–6.5 — worn with a little care
Energy
Calm — The slow-river frequency — current without hurry.
Named for the Amazon by explorers who never actually found it there — the great green feldspar comes from Colorado, Russia and Madagascar instead. Egypt knew it long before the misnomer: amazonite rings the collar of Tutankhamun and fills a chapter of the Book of the Dead. A geography error, worn beautifully for three thousand years.
“The stone kept the river’s name, though the river never held it.”Explorers’ lore · the Amazon stone