The Mohs Hardness Scale: A bit of Geology every Witch who uses crystals should know.
Hi all!
As a Geology nerd who is also a witch, I was inspired to make this post by all the crystal-related confusion that pops up throughout the witchy internet! Hopefully, this will help someone out there on their journey!
What is the Mohs Hardness scale, and why should a metaphysical fan of crystals care about it?
The Mohs Hardness scale is a scale of 10 minerals that are used to determine the hardness of other minerals that geologists find in the field. It is super useful for the crystal witch to know and use, because:
It will help you to identify your unknown rocks and minerals. (It is not the only way to do so, but it is the most accessible. The Mohs number for every mineral is just a google away! It is also 100x more reliable than color, which is almost useless for accurate identification, as even minute chemical impurities can radically influence color, and many many minerals produce both multiple colors and identical colors to other minerals.)
It will help you care for your crystals. (Ever open a bag to find one of your stones has broken another, or destroy a mineral by getting it wet? The Mohs hardness scale will prevent those mishaps.)
It will help you make safe choices about your crystal waters/elixirs. (Crystals that are too soft will become absorbed by the water.)
The Mohs Hardness Scale
(The scale has 10 minerals, with 10 being the hardest, and 1 being the softest. In between the main minerals I have put a few household items that can also be used in lieu of a stone.)
10. Diamond
9. Corundum
8. Topaz
7. Quartz
6. Feldspar
5.5 - A piece of glass
5. Apatite << Anything past this point is not water safe!
4.5 : An Iron Nail
4. Fluorite
3.5 : Copper
3. Calcite
2.5 : Your Fingernail
2. Gypsum (aka Selenite)
1. Talc
What if I don’t have all of these?
No problem! Just start looking up the hardnesses of what you do have, and build your own set! (The Mohs number is on each stone’s wikipedia page! :) ) Don’t worry if you don’t have anything harder than quartz (7) or softer than your fingernail (2.5); you won’t be testing diamonds too often, and you’ll always have your fingernails! (Hopefully!)
How to Use the Scale:
Identification:
Say you’ve got a lovely new stone, but you have no idea what it is! You’ve googled a few possibilities that seem right, but you’re not sure. Here’s where the Mohs scale comes in!
Google the Mohs numbers for the stones you think it might be, and write them down. For example, you’ve got a lovely new blue-green stone, but you’re not sure if it’s Fluorite or Aquamarine. You write down the number 4 for Fluorite and the number range 7.5-8 for Aquamarine.
Next, you’ll gather items that are harder and softer than your possible minerals. For our example, I’ll have you start by grabbing the easily accessed Quartz.
Now, attempt to scratch the crystal with your Quartz. If it can scratch the crystal, your mystery stone is softer than quartz. If it can’t, your stone is harder than quartz. For example, if it can’t scratch your blue stone, you can rest assured that it is not Fluorite (4), and it is very likely to be Aquamarine (7.5-8).
Repeat step number 3 with items of different hardness until you have narrowed down your Mohs Number. Let’s say that the quartz does scratch our mystery stone.This means the hardness is <7. Keep repeating scratch tests until you can confirm that a 5-hardness item can scratch your stone, while a 3-hardness one cannot. Once you’ve done that, you can safely identify it as a Fluorite! (Or, if it does not meet those requirements, you’ve gotta start googling new possibilities!)
Note: this is not a FOOL- PROOF way to identify stones, as minerals of the same hardness can also have the same color. It is a very useful way to narrow down the possibilities, however. Try to consider as many attributes of the stone as possible when identifying.
Safe Storage:
When deciding whether to box or bag crystals together, try only to combine those of similar hardness. Your carnelian will smash your fluorite, and your selenite won’t long survive a rowdy citrine, and it will be very sad for all involved! :(
Checking for Water Damage and Elixir Safety:
While I also highly recommend that a crystal witch familiarizes themselves with one of the many crystal toxicity lists online, one of the things that can make an elixir dangerous is particles of minerals being absorbed into the water. This occurs with many soft minerals; anything less than or equal to 5 on the Mohs scale is risky. A good rule of thumb is to stick with those 6+ on the Mohs Scale if you want to put it in or clean it with water. To clean your softer crystals, buy a cheap toothbrush and dry brush them — it’s been super useful for me!
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Hopefully this wasn’t too boring, and will be of use to someone!
I also have an idea for an in-depth post about identifying crystals. Let me know if anyone would be interested in reading that!
Either way, blessed be!
(Note: I am NOT a scientist! This is just some hobby geology knowledge for you all! If any actual geologists out there see any mistakes in my post, please know I want you to point them out!)
