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Barite (originally “baryte”), the primary source of barium, is a common mineral made up of barium sulfate and is usually white or colorless, but may also appear in light shades of green, gray, blue, or brown. It is sometimes multicolored and banded in stripes and is transparent/translucent to opaque. It has gone by other names, including “tiff,” “blanc fixe,” “barytine,” “barytite,” “schwerspath,” “barytes” and “heavy spar.” It is found in a variety of depositional environments, but it commonly occurs in hot spring deposits, lead-zinc veins in limestone, and with hematite ore, alongside associated minerals celestine and anglestine. It can be created through hydrothermal, biogenic, and evaporation processes, among others. Barite has been found in Brazil, Canada, Nigeria, Chile, China, Greece, India, Iran, Guatemala, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, Liberia, Romania, Peru, Turkey, South Africa, Thailand, the UK, and the US. It has even been identified in meteorites. 77% of barite worldwide is used in drilling fluids as a weighting agent. Other uses include radiation shielding cement, sound reduction in engine compartments, filler in paint and plastics, and medical and automobile applications. Barite exhibits an orthorhombic crystal system, a Moh's scale hardness of 3 to 3.5, and a vitreous or pearly lustre. It has a specific gravity of 4.5, which is exceptionally high for a nonmetallic mineral. This is why its name is derived from the greek word “barys,” meaning “heavy.”
Barite is claimed to promote friendship, love and harmony, and bring calm and self-assurance to those with trapped emotions by assisting them to release them. It may initiate motivation and independence and stimulate and cleanse the throat chakra, easing shyness and enhancing communication ability and effectiveness. It is believed to renew intuitive energies (your ability to hear your own inner voice) and be cathartic to the spiritual self as well. Wearers proclaim that it provides a delicate but strong and long lasting connection to the spiritual world and a higher self awareness and sense of purpose. It may aid in astral (out of body) travel. It is used to attract high frequency energy, clear upper charka blockages, and in dream therapy to stimulate the dream state and enhance dream recall and interpretation. Barite is associated with the astrological sign of aquarius, the planet uranus, the element of air and the third eye and crown chakras.
Physically, barite is said to support brain health-- and increase information retention and enhance memory, in particular. It is also believed to rid the body of toxins, soothe the nervous system, provide support for those recovering from addictions, and play a role in the balancing of its wearers internal flow of energy. Healers maintain that barite actually has the ability to increase one's overall supply of life energy, or “chi,” and provide one with the ability to effectively manage and direct that increased energy for one's own benefit and/or the benefit of others and the environment.