Fairy Crosses

Legend tells us that fairy crosses were created when the fairies learned of the crucifixion of Christ. Their tears fell to earth and crystallised into these little naturally formed crosses.

The fairy crosses are grounding stones and as a result are great for root chakra work.

They are great for connectivity as they help us to connect with other worlds, including the fairy realm. They can help us with the opening of our third eye chakra.

Some use it to psychically communicate with the animal kingdom, and indeed it is beneficial to any animal due to its healing qualities.

The healing qualities of these fairy stones extend beyond the animal kingdom. They are also useful for:

• children suffering from illness.
• to counter the effects of aging.
• to recover from abusive habits.
• providing protection.
• stabilizing emotions.
• general well-being.

It is said in legend that Richard the Lionheart used fairy stones during the crusades to heal the wounded.  Maybe this is the reason some consider it to be the stone of crusaders, but only those that strive for the greater good of mankind.

A fairy cross can help you to find lost items. Some consider it to be a personal power charm which brings with it good fortune.

Fairy crosses have a mineral make up of iron, aluminium and silicate and are known technically as staurolite.

The word ‘staurolite’ is of Greek origin. Stauros means cross and lite which comes from lithos means stone.

Staurolites are found in a number of locations throughout America and across the globe, including one named after the crystal due to its generous deposits, Fairy Stone State Park in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Staurolites can also be found along the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico, New Hampshire and Vermont. Across the globe deposits can be found in Canada, Brazil, Italy, France, Scotland, Sweden, Madagascar, Namibia, Switzerland and the Ural Mountains of Russia. I am sure that this list isn’t exhausted but, while there does appear to be plenty of staurolites, they are not always readily available.

When two separate crystals share some of the same crystal lattice, this is known as twinning. This is what commonly occurs to naturally create a fairy cross. Two staurolite crystals will merge together resulting in either a sixty degree or ninety degree cross. The sixty degree cross is similar to St. Andrews cross while the ninety degree one is similar to the Greek cross.  There is a third type of cross which would comprise of both a sixty and a ninety degree twinning. These are rarer and look like a six rayed star rather than a cross.

If you have obtained a perfectly formed staurolite cross, then sadly there is a very high possibility that it was ‘produced’ from a powdered form staurolite or similar material. True staurolite crosses are hard enough to scratch glass.

I have found myself fascinated with staurolites though I do prefer to call them fairy crosses. I hope you have found this information as interesting as I do.

Love n Light

Jana