Carnelian

the ember seal

Carnelian rough specimen on dark stone
Provenance
Gujarat, India · Brazil
Mineral family
Chalcedony — iron-warmed to ember
Hardness
Mohs 6.5–7 — wear-ready
Energy
Vitality — The struck-flint frequency — the will, lit.
Pharaohs sealed letters with it, Romans cut their signets in it — hot wax will not stick to carnelian, so the stone of fire became the stone of one’s word. Goethe kept its old blessing in verse. Few materials have spent five thousand years this close to human intention.
“Carnelian is a talisman; it brings good luck to child and man.”Goethe · West-östlicher Divan, 1819