Golden Apatite Natural Point Sterling Silver Pendant II

Golden apatite is for the moment we stop waiting for permission. Its colour is pure sunshine, a clear lemon-gold that can lean toward fresh lime green, and it grows in neat six-sided crystals that look almost cut by hand. Mexico and Madagascar are two of its best-loved sources. Apatite takes its name from a Greek word meaning to deceive, because it comes in so many colours that it is easily mistaken for other stones, but there is nothing uncertain about this one's warmth.

The Solar Plexus Chakra, the centre of will and self-worth in the Hindu and Vedic chakra system, is its natural home in modern practice, as befits so sunny a stone.

Within the crystal tradition, golden apatite is a stone of the yellow ray: a stone of nerve, confidence and personal power, known for helping us act on our ideas rather than only dreaming them. It is turned to by anyone starting a new venture or learning a new skill, for taking the right risks with a clear head, and for opening to abundance, especially when old habits of self-doubt or self-sabotage have kept good things at arm's length. It is a companion for times of learning as well.

Golden apatite looks like light poured into a crystal. Against a sunny window, a small point glows a clear lemon-lime, with the bright, glassy sparkle you only get from a transparent stone, and its six sides flash as it turns. It sits light and warm against the skin. It is very hard to feel gloomy holding one, which may be the whole point.

Golden apatite comes into its own at turning points: a first week in a new job, an interview, a pitch, or any day that calls for a bit more nerve than usual. On a chain it sits close to the solar plexus, easy to touch before stepping into the room. Some keep it near through long creative projects, when an idea needs a final push to become real.

Golden apatite is a soft stone (Mohs 5) that scratches and chips more easily than it looks, so keep it in its own soft pouch. Cleanse with sound, moonlight, or smoke; avoid long soaks, salt and harsh cleaners, and shade it from bright sun.