Kyanite Gemstone: Meaning, Properties, Healing Properties & More

Did you know blue is the rarest color found in nature? One exception is the beautiful kyanite gemstone. Kyanite is a rare stone named for its brilliant blue color, although the gem isn’t always blue. With gorgeous luster and fascinating crystal shapes, kyanite offers beauty and spiritual benefits. 

Kyanite as a gemstone is rare, but the mineral itself is fairly common. Since most specimens aren’t attractive enough to become gemstones, kyanite’s chemical properties are utilized in manufacturing various goods.

Spiritually, kyanite stone is unique because it’s one of the few stones that doesn’t need cleansing! 

Want to learn more? In this guide, we’ll dive into the layers of kyanite properties and how you can use each kyanite color for spiritual healing and more!

First up, let’s discuss the basics.

What Is Kyanite?

Kyanite is a semi-precious gemstone that brings soothing vibrations to anyone who comes in contact with it.

Do you love astrology? Kyanite is the zodiac stone for three signs: Aries, Taurus, and Libra. 

• Aries: Kyanite can bring out the best in Aries by heightening their go-getter determination with a boost of energy. Aries signs may lose sight of their goals due to impatience and impulsivity, but kyanite’s balancing properties can put them back on track toward success.

• Taurus: These personalities are ambitious but pragmatic, making them reliable workers and friends. However, a Taurus can be stubborn and prioritize productivity over connection. Kyanite can encourage Taurus ambition while giving their empathy and compromise muscles a boost. 

• Libra: They’ll love kyanite’s harmonious properties, which match their own diplomacy and need for connection. Libras like to weigh out their choices, but this can lead to indecisiveness. Kyanite can prevent indecision by helping Libras make logical, confident decisions.

If you know a friend born under Aries, Taurus, or Libra, why not make their next birthday gift extra personal by getting them some kyanite jewelry? Whether your friend is into astrology or not, the stone is sure to impress.

Mineral Characteristics

Kyanite is an aluminum silicate mineral, though its exact composition may vary. Kyanite gems are usually blue, green, or bluish-green. However, other colors are available, such as orange or black kyanite.

On the Mohs hardness scale, kyanite has a unique ranking. The stone is anisotropic, meaning its hardness changes along different crystal axes. 

On the long axis, the stone ranks between 4.5 to 5. Perpendicular to that axis, the stone has a 6.5 to 7 ranking. Before receiving the name kyanite, the stone was called disthene (which means “two strengths”) based on its two different hardness rankings.

Rhaeticite, blue talc, cyanite, and kynite are all alternate names for kyanite. However, some stones often get mistaken for kyanite. 

Related Gemstones

Kyanite stone is a polymorph, meaning it shares the same chemical composition as other minerals that grow in different crystal structures. 

Kyanite is specifically trimorphous, meaning it shares the same chemistry as two other minerals: andalusite and sillimanite. Both of these stones are orthorhombic, while kyanite is triclinic.

Similar in color and transparency, sapphire, tanzanite, and iolite often get confused with kyanite. Sapphire has higher durability, however, while iolite has greater pleochroism. Tanzanite’s color is paler than kyanite, with a violet undertone.

For the characteristics specific to kyanite, check out the list below!

Kyanite Specifications & Characteristics

• Color: Typically blue; Can be black, white, gray, green, or orange

• Crystal structure: Triclinic (Pinacoidal class)

• Luster: Vitreous to white; Cleavage is pearly

• Transparency: Transparent to translucent

• Refractive index: 1.71-1.75

• Density: 3.53-3.70

• Cleavage: Perfect; Perfect on [100]; Good on [010] with a 79-degree angle between

• Pleochroism: Sometimes present, but mild; Trichroic - colorless, light blue, and blue

• Chatoyancy: Sometimes present, but rare

• Luminescence: Present; Fluorescent type; Usually weak red; UV-long

• Fracture: Splintery

That covers the chemistry behind kyanite crystals, but what about kyanite crystal meaning?

Kyanite Stone Meaning

Kyanite comes from the ancient Greek kyanos or kuanos, which means “deep blue.” As you know, kyanite comes in other colors, but you’ll most commonly find the stone in blue.

In a general sense, kyanite meaning relates to harmony and connection. Kyanite’s spiritual nickname is the “Gemstone of Attunement.” Here, attunement can mean better understanding and awareness, whether that applies to the self, others, or the world.

Specific colors of kyanite carry their own meanings, too!

Kyanite Color Meanings

As a blue gemstone, blue kyanite represents tranquility, healing, and spirituality. More specifically, the royal blue tones of blue kyanite symbolize selflessness, reliability, and dedication.

In Feng Shui, blue kyanite meaning corresponds to water energy. Water energy is about strength in stillness. Just as the ocean is peaceful until it unleashes its power, water energy relates to the potential for greatness within us all.

Green kyanite in Feng Shui connects to wood energy, where our bodies and minds grow. With the nurturing forgiveness of green kyanite, we can continue to start fresh and evolve, even after we’ve made mistakes.

Black kyanite meaning reflects the symbolism of its color: strength, grounding, and protection. While black may conjure fear of the unknown, black kyanite uses that power to create a shield of protection against unknown forces. Additionally, the stone represents healing from times we aren’t protected.

Speaking of healing, let’s explore all the kyanite metaphysical properties used in crystal healing!

Kyanite Healing Properties

Every gemstone carries specific vibrations that can be used in crystal healing. Kyanite can heal everything from relationships to self-esteem issues. Like other blue healing stones, blue kyanite properties encourage communication, connection, and compassion.

Physical Healing

Physically, kyanite healing properties can aid recovery from illness while soothing pain. Whether you’re fighting a cold or you’re sore from an injury, kyanite can help ease your way back to full health.

One of the worst parts of dealing with illness is fatigue. Kyanite can boost your stamina, helping you focus on essential tasks and providing energy to take care of yourself as you heal.

Emotional Healing

Unlike many other absorbing healing crystals like clear quartz, Kyanite crystal doesn’t absorb external energies, and it grants this power to its wearer. Kyanite can help you feel less weighed down by everyday stressors like taxing expectations or obligations.

With more control over your emotions, you can utilize kyanite’s calming properties to nurture healthier relationships. The stone enhances our compassion and intuition, allowing us to have more empathetic, impactful conversations.

Chakra Healing

Kyanite is a unique healing stone for chakra healing because it balances all seven chakras. However, certain kyanite colors are better for specific chakras. 

For example, blue kyanite healing properties balance the throat chakra, encouraging us to discover our inner truth and share it with the world. Green kyanite opens the heart chakra, closing emotional wounds and opening our hearts to receive love.

For opening the root chakra, black kyanite will help you find peace and mindfulness in the present. Orange kyanite can balance the sacral chakra, allowing creativity and pleasure to flow into your life.

Balancing Energy

Kyanite is one of the best stones for grounding and meditation. Beyond its calming vibes, the stone pushes away distractions, focusing your concentration on your current physical and emotional state.

Green kyanite in particular is an excellent stone to carry when meditating in nature. The stone’s green hues encourage growth, perspective, and connection to the earth.

No matter which variety you choose, you’ll want to know what factors into kyanite’s value before you buy.

Kyanite Gemstone Properties

Any savvy gemstone buyer knows that certain properties play a role in a stone’s value. If you know what to look for, you can buy with confidence.

The kyanite properties that contribute to its value are color, clarity, and cut. 

Color

Kyanite rarely comes in one shade of solid color. Typically, the stone’s color will show up in color zones of darker and lighter hues. Many kyanite gems have white streaks as well.

The most common color, blue kyanite, comes from iron and titanium present during the stone’s formation. Besides blue, the main colors you’ll find kyanite in are black, orange, and green. Rarer kyanite hues include pink, white, gray, and yellow. The rarest form is colorless kyanite.

Clarity and Luster

Gemstone clarity is a grade used for valuing a stone based on its inclusions. The number of inclusions you can see in any translucent or transparent gem will typically reduce the stone’s value. 

For colored stones, inclusions are trickier to categorize than, say, in diamonds. Instead, we use three categories of clarity grades. Kyanite falls under Type III, similar to stones like emerald and watermelon tourmaline.

Luster plays a key role in kyanite value as well. The best kyanite specimens are transparent, like the clear ocean water of the Bahamas. Translucent kyanite gems are also gorgeous but command lower prices than transparent ones.

Cut and Shape

For gemstone-quality kyanite, specimens larger than two carats are rare. In fact, kyanite as a faceted gem is rare, as the stone’s perfect cleavage and varied hardness make it difficult to cut.

Transparent kyanite is typically attractive enough to be faceted. The most common cuts are pears and ovals. Translucent kyanite stones often become cabochons or beads.

Because kyanite grows in fascinating shapes, rough kyanite is popular as well. Two of kyanite’s most common crystal cuts are bladed, which look like a sword, and radiated, where the crystals grow outward from one central point into a circular shape.

Kyanite’s crystal shapes may be fascinating, but its history is even more so!

Kyanite History

Kyanite received its name in 1789 from German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner. At the time, the deep blue variety of kyanite was the most abundant color, so Werner chose to name the stone after this kyanite blue form.

One of kyanite’s monikers, disthene, came from Rene-Just Hauy in 1801. Hauy was a French mineralogist who made such significant contributions to the field, many call him the “Father of Modern Crystallography.”

Speaking of the French, the French spelling, cyanite, was actually more commonly used until the mid-1900s, when “kyanite” became more popular.

Before the 1900s, kyanite was mistaken for sapphire. To this day, transparent, mostly inclusion-free kyanite stones show up in sapphire parcels!

While kyanite gemstones are rare, kyanite uses for industrial and ceramic manufacturing are abundant. The stone’s strong heat resistance makes it perfect for high-temperature furnaces, especially those used for creating ceramic porcelain products.

Other applications for kyanite as a raw material include creating mullite used for automobile spark plugs and insulators.

Since kyanite is a relatively modern gem, it doesn’t have a long spiritual history. However, many use blue kyanite to honor the Christian personification of wisdom, Sophia. Others connect green kyanite to Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring and growth.

On the topic of growth, how does kyanite grow into such a mesmerizing crystal?

Kyanite Origins and Sources

How does kyanite form? Kyanite forms in aluminum-rich sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. The process starts when high pressure transforms clay minerals inside sedimentary rocks.

The difference between kyanite and its polymorphs depends on their environment. Kyanite requires low temperatures and high pressure. Andalusite requires low temperatures and low pressure, while sillimanite needs high temperatures and high pressure.

Kyanite often grows inside other stones like quartz. You’ll often find kyanite in granite pegmatites or schists. 

One such place is the Manhattan schist, a bedrock formed millions of years ago when two giant landmasses pushed together to form Pangaea. 

Wondering where to find kyanite? We’ve got you covered!

Mining Locations

The best-quality kyanite stones come from Nepal and Tibet. The majority of kyanite specimens are mined in Brazil, the USA, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Other sources include:

• India

• Italy

• Kenya

• Mozambique

• New Zealand

• Russia

• Switzerland

Some kyanite varieties have only shown up recently. Orange kyanite was only discovered in Tanzania around 2009, while Nepal’s high-quality kyanite has only been around since 1995.

Of course, higher quality also means a higher price. So how much does kyanite cost?

Kyanite Price and Value

The key factor for kyanite price is color. When clarity and cut are consistent, sapphire-like blue shades have the highest value, while pale blue shades are at the lower end. Medium pale blues with violet undertones fall in the middle. 

Clarity plays a role in price as well, with transparent specimens commanding higher prices than less transparent ones. For cut, any shape that requires greater expertise, like hearts and trillions, will be pricier.

Carat weight and stone size affect price, with the price per carat rate increasing with larger sizes. The most common sizes for kyanite gems are 1ct, 3ct, and 5ct specimens. 

Low-end colors with good clarity will vary from $24 per carat for 1ct to $33 per carat for 5 ct. High-end colors with good clarity go from $73 per carat for 1ct to $100 per carat for 5ct. 

With kyanite’s distinct crystal structure, knowing how to care for the stone is crucial for maintaining its longevity.

Care and Maintenance

Kyanite is a pretty durable stone, but the different hardness levels along its axes affect its wearability. With its perfect cleavage, kyanite can be split into two with one sharp blow. Therefore, it’s best to avoid wearing kyanite jewelry during rigorous activities.

To clean kyanite, you can use a soft brush and warm, soapy water to gently wash the stone. Avoid ultrasonic or mechanical cleaners, and don’t leave the stone submerged in water or it might dissolve.

Keep the Peace with Kyanite! 

With that, you have everything you need to know about kyanite! If you’re looking for a more balanced life full of great relationships, this is the stone for you. Whether you wear it as a lucky zodiac stone or keep a bladed crystal on your desk, kyanite is a stone worth keeping around!

Buy kyanite gemstones today!

Kyanite