Crystals and gemstones offer opportunities for healing and growth, some of them designed to aid with sleep, while others offer stronger associations with ethereal components that have deeper spiritual links. But what about prehnite?

While not a name as popular as other crystals, it has a stunning color range, with deep, dark inlays and unique rounded shapes that make it an eye-catcher. It also has several healing properties, known for being able to dissolve blockages toward growth, negativity, and aid with peaceful sleep.

Let’s take a deeper look at why prehnite jewelry or stones might be a useful aid in your daily life.

Prehnite has an orthorhombic crystal system and is considered a calcium aluminum silicate mineral. The name was given to it by Abraham Gottlieb Wener in 1788, who discovered it in South Africa and named it after the Dutch colony in the area, von Prehn.

Today you can find prehnite mined from the Eastern U.S., specifically the New Jersey and New York areas where the verdant properties are most pronounced. There are other mines around the world where it is found too, with lighter shades originating from Canada or Europe.

Prehnite is unique among gemstones because of its shape. Under normal circumstances when you look at a gemstone or a crystal you'll see sharper edges that come together. It'll have flat surfaces but there will be distinct lines with a somewhat severe shape.

That is not the case here.

Prehnite is Botryoidal which means it forms balls. Instead of having flat edges that come together to a point, it forms rounded balls and in large cases multiple balls stacked together can look akin to a bunch of grapes.

Obviously, it looks much more like green grapes than purple grapes because of the color. Prehnite is a delightful green shade that looks very similar to the light green skin on grapes, but it comes with distinct dark markings on the inside that give it texture and vibrance. This comes from epidote. Epidote is made of calcium, aluminum, and iron. While it is very common, the dark inclusions contained in prehnite juxtapose the light green color in such a way that draws attention.

Even more interesting is that prehnite has the physical ability to create these epimorphs or bubbly, rounded masses that look very similar to balls because it grows over existing material and then the compounds over which it grew will dissolve leaving behind a hollow center.

However, it can be several different shades and the epimorphs can be differently shaped depending on what substance was underneath, like thick blades instead of balls if the prehnite formed over anhydrite.

Perhaps most fascinating about this epimorphic ability is that prehnite comes in and deposits a crust over other material, coating things until it has formed a complete shell encasing what it once was. The material underneath, like the anhydrite, then dissolves out the back, leaving behind unique shapes in each piece.

Many of the healing properties associated with prehnite are beautifully related to its epimorphic ability to cover and dissolve other things that it finds. In this way, prehnite can cover and dissolve negative experiences, emotions, or energies, leaving an open space within you to fill with something new and positive.

Prehnite does not, to some degree, exist on its own. It forms its way into cracks in basalt and actually coats existing surfaces. To that end, you won’t see prehnite crystals at first on their own. This is akin to the way in which prehnite has healing properties; it almost requires you as the substance on which it can enact its healing, like that of the basalt cracks.

It is said to heal several areas of the body, including the:

• Kidneys
  
• Bladder
  
• Heart
  
• Lungs

The ways in which it heals the body physically has a direct connection to prehnite’s ability to dissolve negative things. If you are struggling with build up in the kidneys and bladder, this negativity and unwanted waste can be eliminated.

Prehnite is known for helping to improve your circulatory system by stabilizing heart rhythm, creating new, healthy blood cells, and alleviating old, unnecessary toxins and waste.

Similarly when you struggle with lung conditions like respiratory infections, it is the result of having unwanted material built up in the lungs which can impede breathing function. The way in which prehnite dissolves negative things can be helpful for certain respiratory conditions.

Within all areas of the body, it is also said to reduce inflammation because of its ability to promote healing, coat negativity including unwanted inflammation, and dissolve these spaces in preparation for something good.

The physical healing comes from the nurturing impact of the stone and your ability to connect with things like love and your higher self to promote awareness and receive guidance on steps to take for physical and mental improvement.

The epidote contained within prehnite is said to help develop your emotional and spiritual growth by removing any resistance you might currently have to that growth. More often than not people put blockades in their own paths without realizing it. And the right type of stone, when worn regularly or used throughout the house can offer a cleansing way to remove that resistance and dissolve blockages that might interfere with personal growth.

Tangentially, the epidote inclusions in prehnite are known to help improve spiritual and emotional balance, dispelling negative emotions so that you have room for positive ones. Just the same as you might hold on to physical tension in your face or your hands without realizing it, you can hold on to negative emotions and negative energy. Without a way to dissolve these feelings, they can impede positivity, opportunity, and balance.

Prehnite offers a way to tackle your fears by searching for the things that bother you on a deep, inner level, such as when you dream, and helping to dissolve them.

When you dissolve and cleanse negativity it also helps you tackle your fears which leads to better focus and inner peace.

With inner peace, you position yourself to be open to learning and growth.

When you have improved focus you are able to achieve deeper personal and spiritual growth because you can center your mind on the things that matter most.

With prehnite positioning you for deeper spiritual and personal growth, you put yourself in a position to accept love from all around you, which also works in tandem with the prehnite to do away with fear or negative emotions.

When you are able to achieve deeper spiritual and personal growth you are able to achieve inner peace and self love.

When you are able to improve your love of self in the world around you, you open yourself up to true love from all areas of the universe.

Prehnite offers a chance to connect with your higher self and receive guidance on your purpose and your decisions. When you are able to connect with love from all areas of the universe, you can gain perspective on your purpose and achieve a deeper connection with your higher self.

When you achieve a deeper connection to your higher self you are able to access guidance from beyond in a way that leads to a more fulfilling life.

As such, the mental and emotional healing properties associated with prehnite can extend to nearly all areas of your life.

The most common metaphysical property of prehnite has to do with your dreams. It is colloquially referred to as the dream stone and has been used as an ocular stone throughout history because of this association.

Having the stone next to your bed when you sleep or wearing it throughout the day is said to aid in both dreaming and remembering.

It is important to note that when you have high-quality sleep, your dreams are designed as a way for your brain to convert short-term memory into long-term memory. As such, if you don't have good quality sleep and you struggle with things like nightmares, it can impede your ability to store memories properly, which, by extension, destroys your memory during the day.

With prehnite, this stone can counter all of this by uncovering the negativity and negative emotions associated with your:

• Deep fears
  
• Phobias
  
• Nightmares

Once the prehnite finds those areas, much like the way it forms in nature it will dissolve them, cause them to fall out of your dreams and sleep and in exchange replace what was left behind with positivity and comfort. By doing so, this stone can act not just as a way to help you achieve better sleep but to help you with better memory.

PrehniteIs heavily associated with the heart chakra and solar plexus chakra.

The fourth chakra is the heart chakra. In Sanskrit the name for the heart chakra is “anahata” and this refers to being unbeaten or unhurt.

If there is a blockage in this area it can cause physical ailments like poor circulation, something that prehnite can help alleviate. It can also cause mental and emotional issues, including negative emotions of loneliness, isolation, jealousy, and defensiveness.

Your heart chakra is the center of your compassion, your love, and your empathy. It is also where you find your deepest and most profound truths revealed. The heart chakra serves as a bridge between the bottom and top chakras in your body so without proper function this chakra can impede healthy alignment and connection throughout your body.

With prehnite, you can improve your heart chakra, which offers healthy alignment and makes you:

• Open to experiences
  
• Surrounded by love
  
• Connect with your true self

All of these affiliations mean that you are in a position to achieve personal and spiritual growth, to improve your self love and love of others, and to connect with your higher self in order to achieve guidance and support in all things. You position yourself to love and accept who you are and what your purpose is.

The solar plexus chakra around the navel is the third chakra, directly below your heart chakra. In Sanskrit the name for the solar plexus chakra is “manipura” which means energy or power.

When you have a blockage in this area, it can cause poor physical ailments like eating disorders, liver disease, or constipation. It can also lead to mental and emotional problems like a lack of direction and fear.

Prehnite is most strongly correlated with an ability to help alleviate fears and the other mental and emotional signs associated with solar plexus chakra blockage. By wearing prehnite jewelry during the day, for example, you can find direction, boost your self-esteem, and better connect with both self-love and guidance from your higher power.

Prehnite is associated with Libra and Virgo. Those who are Libra might struggle with indecisiveness, whereas those who are Virgo might strive for perfectionism. Libras are spontaneous and social but Virgos like to remain more isolated and remain practical.

In both cases, the use of prehnite jewelry or stones can offer an aid when it comes to improving self love and love of others, connecting with others, doing away with negative emotions like too much perfectionism or anxiety for a Virgo or too much spontaneity without direction for a Libra.

Overall, prehnite is a wonderful and absolutely stunning stone that can help with several areas of life. It has been used throughout history as a dreamstone associated with spirituality and oracles. It remains a popular dreamstone for its ability to aid with nightmares, induce deep sleep, have a calming impact on your day, and improve memory.

Whether you have a piece by your bedside or you wear it throughout the day you can improve your heart and solar plexus chakras. You can connect with your higher self and receive guidance as a Virgo or Libra. You can also find the help you need to fix nightmares, overcome fears and negativity, and enjoy spiritual and personal growth.