I recently mounted a rose quartz inside the cedar ring of this beautiful 14" drum. The delicacy of the mounting seemed to enhance the soft pink crystal structure of the stone and I wondered about the meaning, uses and history of rose quartz. The entry for rose quartz in Love is in the Earth, by Melody, describes its emitting a "calming, cooling energy which can work on all the chakras to gently remove negativity and to reinstate the loving, gentle forces of self-love." This sounds good of course, but how did such qualities come to be associated with this stone? Is this something in its crystal structure or mineral composition? This search became more interesting as I explored the physical properities of rose quartz and found that how rose quartz becomes pink is a bit of a mystery. I read that the possibility of a totally new and as yet unknown fibrous mineral could be causing the color in massive rose quartz. I also discovered that "some rose quartz contains microscopic rutile crystals which are oriented at right angles to the c-axis of the rose quartz in three directions, each 120 degrees apart. When viewed at a specific angle with a source of light a star-effect is visible. This is known as asterism. I further discovered that "masks cut from rose quartz were used to beautify skin in ancient Egypt." I wondered if this use was in any way connected to the finds of crystal skulls; there has even been a rose quartz skull found on the border between Honduras and Guatemala.
And then I discovered this mystery. "Scientifically, there is no reason why Rose Quartz does not occur more commonly in crystals. This remains a scientific mystery. Because quartz crystallizes into well formed crystals in all its other macroscopic varieties. Brazil is also the only source of true well formed crystals of rose quartz. Rose Quartz crystals are thus extremely valuable. I think maybe the metaphysical uses of rose quartz should emphasize its association with mystery. And maybe the new owner of this drum holds a bigger mystery than she realizes, when she plays her new rose quartz drum.
