Stones: Their Colors & Their Magickal Meanings

Just like in candle magick, crystals and stones may be grouped together by their colors. Here is a straightforward listing for you to peruse and to work your earth magick with.

Red— Red stones and crystals are definitely projective ones. Typically related to the planet Mars and the element of fire, they are forceful powers. Red stones such as carnelian promote courage and bravery, while red jasper promotes valor and banishes fatigue. Red crystals and gems also give the body a burst of energy, both for athletic prowess or for sex. Red stones may be incorporated into healing rituals and spells. Try these for drawing out the heat of skin irritations or minor burns.

Orange— Orange crystals and stones are thought to be a gentler version of red ones. They are also projective and associated with the sun, such as the orange-colored stone citrine, which can grant you a positive outlook on life. These sunny stones and crystals are perfect for shedding some light on a subject or for a little creative illumination. Orange stones are linked to personal power. They can boost your self-confidence and self-esteem. This is a successful color. Work with it to pump up the volume on your own vitality, creativity, and energy.

Yellow— Yellow gemstones and crystals are projective. These will fall under the influence of the sun, the planet Mercury, and the element of air. And what a surprise: they are worked into magick for communication, visualization, and perception! These are the stones to work with when you need to get the old brain kicked into high gear. If you need help expressing yourself, whether it’s in public speaking or writing, work with yellow stones and crystals. These babies will make you more eloquent while you are speaking and or writing, plus your thoughts will flow more freely.

Green— Green stones, gems, and crystals reflect the colors of life, nature, and fruitfulness. Green is a receptive color and may be worked into spells for healing, gardening, grounding, good luck, and prosperity. A mystical green crystal to try is malachite. This stone encourages success, draws cash, and can even protect its bearer from danger. Any green-colored gemstone or crystal may also be incorporated into spells that work with the faerie kingdom or the elementals. As you’d expect, this color of stone is tied to the element of earth.

Blue— Blue gems and stones are receptive and often linked to the element of water and the planet Neptune. These crystals promote peace and soothing emotions. They can be used to promote a good night’s sleep and may keep away bad dreams. A good blue stone to try is the blue lace agate. This stone has all of the qualities listed above. As blue is a healing color, blue stones are often incorporated into healing rituals, charms, and spells.

Purple— Purple crystals are receptive and also spiritual. These gems and stones correspond with Jupiter and Neptune. Purple is the color of magick, royalty, and the gods. Purple or violet gemstones such as amethyst promote spirituality, protection, and peace. Purple stones can alleviate tension headaches and help reduce stress and anxiety. Displaying a cluster of amethyst crystal points makes negative energy dissipate, provides balance, and restores harmony in your home.

Pink— Pink stones and crystals are also receptive stones and bring warm, fuzzy feelings. They are linked to the planet Venus and are used to promote love, happiness, and friendships, as well as soothe frayed nerves and tempers. Stones such as the rose quartz can help encourage relaxation of both the mind and the spirit. They also can help end the spat between a feuding couple by magnifying loving feelings and relieving anger. Given as a token between friends, pink stones can gently link one magickal friend to another.

White— White stones and crystals fall in the receptive stone category and are governed by the moon. These stones have the magickal qualities of promoting safe travel, a good night’s sleep, psychic abilities, intuition, and, of course, moon magick. White stones such as the moonstone are traditional stones used to open up psychic receptors and to encourage empathy. The moonstone is a popular magickal stone and is often worked into Goddess magick and rituals.

Black— Black stones are also receptive and sometimes projective. As the color black absorbs light, so, too, will a black stone absorb negativity, despair, and anger. These ebony-colored crystals and gems are ruled by the planet Saturn. Black stones are perfect for protection work, for grounding, and for removing negativity. Some black stones, like jet, can actually help you gain influence over obnoxious or difficult people. These stones are people. These stones are talismans for security, self-control, and power.

—Ellen Dugan, Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick

Energies of the Stones: Projective and Receptive

There are two types of energies inherent in crystals, gems, and stones: projective and receptive. Projective energies are sometimes described as electric, hot, day, physical, bright, summer, masculine, and active. Receptive energies are often described as magnetic, cold, night, spiritual, dark, winter, feminine, and inert. It is important to know that one type of energy is not superior to the other, for they each have their place in magick, and they both bring balance to our lives.

Projective stone energies are able to get in touch with the conscious mind. They are associated with the sun and the planets Mercury and Mars. They are also linked to the masculine elements of air and fire. These stones tend to fall in the color range of red, orange, yellow, gold, clear, and sometimes black. They can be utilized to fight disease, and can attract good luck. Projective stones bring vitality and health, and they also may impart courage and success to their bearers. These projective stones are powerful tools to fight off negativity, boost your physical energy levels, and grant you a strong sense of grit and determination. A few projective stones to try for these purposes are amber, banded and brown agates, carnelian, citrine, garnet, hematite, onyx, quartz crystal points, red agate, red jasper, tiger’s-eye, topaz, and zircon.

Receptive stones have the opposite sort of energies. These are associated with the moon and the planets Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune. They are associated with the feminine elements of earth and water, and they are often cooler colors, such as green, blue, purple, grey, silver, pink, and black. These receptive stones are wonderful tools for soothing and calming situations and people. They promote grounding, may assist in meditation, and can help folks search within to find the answers they seek.

Receptive stones and crystals can also promote spirituality and wisdom, as they encourage peace and psychic abilities. A few receptive crystals and stones to work with include amethyst, azurite, blue and green agates, chalcedony, green jasper, lapis lazuli, malachite, moonstone, opal, peridot, rose quartz, sapphire, tourmaline (black, blue, green, or pink), and turquoise.

—Ellen Dugan, Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick