The Guarding Witch Sprite
Element/Stone Name: Schorl, Indigo Black Tourmaline
Physical Appearance: Dark blue-black, with a glassy surface, sometimes resinous. Forms ditriagonal
Where is the stone found and how is it mined? Most varieties of tourmaline come from Brazil or Africa.
Tourmaline is mined in the same fashion as most minerals and ores. There are basically two types of mining processes to mine for tourmaline: surface mining and underground mining. Surface mining obviously is done on the surface of a given terrain. There are several ways to mine on the surface of a terrain, but they are all employed to accomplish the same task: extract deposits of a given substance. Hydraulic mining is a type of surface mining that uses water under pressure to spray at rock. The water breaks up and washes the rock away from the excavation site, exposing new areas to search for minerals and other materials. Strip mining is a type of surface mining that is used when a desired material is found closer to the surface but is covered by a thin layer of undesirable material such as trees, dirt or sand. The materials are stripped from the surface of the desired material so easy access can be achieved. Fewer materials and resources are required for surface mining than are required to mine underground.
Mining tourmaline via the underground mining method is more difficult than surface mining. Underground mining methods are used when materials are too far below the surface to use surface mining. Many machines and quite a bit of manpower are required to mine underground. Not only are materials needed to dig into the ground but they are also needed to process tourmaline and waste materials on the surface, outside of the mine. There are a few ways to mine underground. Shaft mines are dug vertically down into the ground and use elevators to move men and material between the surface and the bottom of the mine. Drift mines dig horizontally into a mountain or hill. Slope mines dig into a mountain or hill at an angle.
How does it rank on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness?7-7.5
What are it's metaphysical properties? Black tourmaline is said to protect from all kinds of negativity, ranging from electronic radiation from TVs and computers, to negative people, psychic attacks, past lives and spells. Black tourmaline seems to bring grounding in your life, and to balance our bodily systems for health.
Describe the lore associated with your stone: First mined in Elba, Italy. It's the most common form of tourmaline, with lesser color variations found in germany.
Sprite Memory: Waiting for what is to come, in the night next to a restless child's bed.
Jewelry Description: Small crystal prism pendelum with the base capped in antique silver cypress leaves.
Sprite Appearance: I'm basing Black Tourmaline a bit off of two sources, the first is the Italian folk story of La Befana, the good witch who leaves gifts and protections for children during the night. The other source is also Italian, the stregheria, the village wise witch, who could provide protection from dark spells, or remove ones that had been cast. Dark blue skin, the color of the night sky, thick glassy black braids with hints of the silver cypress leaves from the original jewelery (also a protective! gee, might be a theme here!) and twigs of rosemary stuck into the braids, bright blue irises with a cat's eye pupil. A haughty stern expression, like a schoolmarm giving a chiding with a smug smile. She'll wear a soft undyed cloth (like muslin) open-shoulder tunic with indigo trim, sleeves coming to the elbow, bottom hem coming far below the black knotted rope scarf tied around her waist. I...can't decide if she should be carrying a witches kit of thread, wood, bonebits, stones and leaves or have her wearing jewelery on her hands. I leave this part up to you.
Sprite Personality: Altruistic, patient, calculating, determined. She takes care of what is hers and anything else is no one else's business.
