SMOKY
QUARTZ.
The Old Gods
Dark and alluring, grounding and ancient, Smoky Quartz taps into the magick of the old Gods. If it were a perfume, it would have earthy notes of ozone, oakmoss, and pine, transporting you back to Bronze Age forests. In Scotland, tribal Celts called Smoky Quartz the ‘Stone of Power’, using it as a talisman of protection and for clarity when making decisions. Today, it is used for shamanic rituals and tapping into Primal Energy. Smokey Quartz is fantastic for stopping self-doubt and banishing impostor syndrome. Tied closely to the Root Chakra, it is very balanced, promoting grounded and harmonious energy.
Meditate with Smoky Quartz and pour all your negative thoughts and energy into the crystal. Once you are finished this process, touch the Smoky Quartz to the Earth to discharge all that negativity into the Earth, where it dissipates into nothingness.
Smoky Quartz is found worldwide, but some locations produce it in pretty interesting habits. In general, Smoky Quartz can form as prismatic crystals and as a massive. But you can also find Smoky Quartz sceptres, Skeletal/Elestial Smoky Quartz in Brazil, Smoky Herkimers in New York County, and twisted Gwindels in Alpine regions such as France, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.
Smoky Quartz Gwindel, Galenstock, Furka VS, Switzerland.
Smoky & Clear Double Terminated Elestial Quartz, Brazil.
Smoky Quartz with Spessartine Garnets, Fujian Province, China.
Smoky Quartz with Amazonite (prismatic), Crystal Peak, El Paso Co., Colorado, United States.
© Smithsonian
Smoky Quartz may seem like a common crystal, but it takes several million years for it to form with its typical earthy brown colour. It is irradiated deep within the Earth in metamorphic rocks that contain radioactive elements. Their radiation, combined with traces of Aluminium, causes the colour. When the crystal is dark and almost black, it is known as Morion Quartz. The Celts would mine Smoky and Morion Quartz in the Cairngorm Mountains of the Scottish Highlands, but it was considered precious to many cultures. The ancient Egyptians made it into beads, and European royalty wore it as jewellery during the Renaissance.
Faceted Smoky Quartz, Scotland, United Kingdom
© Smithsonian
‘Fake’ Smoky Quartz
Irradiated/Heat-treated Smoky Quartz
Colour Enhanced: Sometimes Smoky Quartz is enhanced by Gamma Irradiation to deepen and darken its colour. This can leave it slightly darker or take it all the way to black, making it Morion Quartz. It can be challenging to spot when this has taken place, so always ask the seller if you aren’t sure.
Colour Switch: Clear Quartz can be irradiated or heat-treated to the point where it turns a smoky brown or black colour. For example, the Jim Coleman Mine doesn’t produce Smoky or Morion Quartz - they heat treat their world-famous Clear Quartz to make Smoky/Morion Quartz. And while they are very clear about the heat treatment on their website, sellers may not pass this information along to their customers.
Morion Quartz from Jim Coleman Mine, Arkansas, USA. This crystal was originally Clear Quartz that was heat-treated to give it its dark Morion colour.
Glass
Brown glass, almost identical to the dark brown Smoky Quartz colour, is being sold via crystal centres in China. I have seen it as tumbles, palm stones, and small carvings. This material will be very transparent, have little to no internal fractures and inclusions, as you can see with natural Quartz, and contain small gas bubbles (although on smaller pieces, sometimes there are no bubbles).
Buyer’s Guide to Smoky Quartz
Private Buyers
Smoky Quartz will always be a staple in any good crystal collection. It has a versatile array of colours from very light brown to almost black, so you can usually find a shade that floats your boat. I always try to find a piece with rainbows; they look particularly cool against the darker background of Smoky Quartz.
Metaphysical Buyers
The format I would recommend depends on what you intend to use it for.
Daily grounding. I recommend wearing Smoky Quartz as jewellery, such as a pendant or bracelet, or I would pop a tumble in a pocket or bra.
Deep negative energy ‘cleanse.’ Use a Smoky Quartz palm stone and focus on pouring all that negative or stagnant energy into the Smoky Quartz. Tell it all the negative things you tell yourself, and push them into that stone. Once the meditation is complete, place the Smoky Quartz on the earth to discharge all that negativity. In the process, letting go of all that harmful build-up.
Banishing negativity in a space. You can use a Smoky Quartz sphere for large-scale energy cleansing or to keep the energy fresh in a space. A sphere gives you 360 degrees of continuous cleansing energy, emitting in ripples like a pebble dropped into water.
Rituals. If you perform Full Moon Rituals, Shamanic Ceremonies, or large-scale cleansing rituals, I recommend a large Smoky Quartz tower to absorb negative energy and shoot it out and away into the Universe. This practice grounds your space and allows participants to feel more connected to each other and the Earth around them.
Crystal Grids. Smoky Quartz pyramids make the most perfect centre stone/keystones for crystal grids. Think carefully about what you want the Universe to assist you with - write it on a small piece of paper, place it underneath the pyramid at the centre of the grid, and let it transmit your request to the Universe. Smoky Quartz is a very grounded crystal with its own ancient Earth magick, that seems to tap into the very fabric of reality. They make an ideal conduit for messages and requests.
Smoky Quartz Tower, Brazil.
Smoky Quartz Pocket Stone, Brazil.
When buying from metaphysical stores, be aware that there is some fake Smoky Quartz floating about, made from glass. This seems most relevant in beaded bracelets, tumbles/pocket stones, palm stones, and small carvings. Refer to the section above, ‘Fake’ Smoky Quartz, so that you don’t get duped.
Specimen Buyers
You can go a bit wild with Smoky Quartz. XL towers, spheres and freeforms, while not specimens, make for fabulous decor in a crystal-obsessed home. If I had to recommend a top Smoky Quartz specimen wish list, my top 5, in no particular order, would be:
Cairngorm Smoky or Morion Quartz point, from Scotland.
Smoky Quartz and Amazonite prismatic cluster from Colorado, USA. [see picture above]
Dark Smoky Quartz with juicy orange Spessartine Garnets from China. [see picture above]
Smoky Quartz Alpine Gwindel, as clear as possible. [see picture above]
Smoky Quartz and Amethyst Elestial from Brazil. [see picture below]
My ‘Bonus Buy’ would be prismatic Rose Quartz as secondary growth over Smoky Quartz massive.
Elestial Smoky/Amethyst, Brazil. On loan from Terra Incognito, Amsterdam.
Retail Buyers
Smoky Quartz is always a popular crystal. Polished and natural forms of Smoky Quartz all sell pretty well, from tumbles, palm stones, and carvings to natural points, clusters, and massive chunks. Look out for pieces with rainbows, as those will be popular. You can usually purchase tumbles, natural points, and raw chunks in large bags from Brazil. However, you should ask the wholesaler if the material has been heat-treated, as a lot from the Minas Gerais region has been treated.
You will see a lot of Smoky Quartz coming out of China, which is legit, but here are two things to ask or consider.
1. What is the country of origin of the Smoky Quartz being sold via Chinese dealers? China (low carbon miles for shipping in raw materials), Madagascar (shipped into China - adds to the carbon miles, plus Madagascar is being investigated for unethical mining practices by the EU), Brazil (possibly irradiated in Brazil, shipped to China, adding to the carbon miles). When you buy via, via, via, you may lose the original information, making sustainable and ethical choices more difficult.
2. Has it been treated? It may be nearly impossible for the Chinese dealers to trace back the country of origin, and even harder to know if the material has had any heat treatment, so be wary of any claims unless they have receipts!
If I had to stock a metaphysical shop again, I would buy directly from Brazil or a trusted local wholesaler and triple-check if the material had any treatment so that I could give accurate information to my customers. For crystal stores, I would try to get small ‘lots’ of natural clusters or points from interesting locations (e.g. Europe and the US) and only small tumbles and palm stones from Brazil.
Glass! There are a lot of dealers who knowingly or unknowingly sell brown glass as Smoky Quartz. And the colour of these fakes is spot on. One of our dealers sent us some once; she had no idea it was fake. So, if you are buying from China, always pay with PayPal so that it is easier to dispute any crystals you suspect are fake.
For more on buying super dark Morion Smoky Quartz, view the retail buyers guide here >>
Quick Guide | Smoky Quartz
Zodiac: Smoky Quartz is associated with the zodiac signs Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn.
Ruling Planet: The ruling planet for Smoky Quartz is the Earth.
Chakra: Smoky Quartz is associated with the Root (Muladhara) Chakra.
Element: Smoky Quartz is aligned with the element of Earth.
Crystal Charging: Smoky Quartz can be charged overnight under a full moon. You can discharge any energy build-up by pressing Smoky Quartz to the Earth or burying it for a few hours. Smoky Quartz is quite partial to a good smoke cleanse, especially with White Sage smoke
Crystal Elixir: Smoky Quartz is water safe and can be used to make a crystal elixir.
Crystal Care: Smoky Quartz can be cleaned in warm, soapy water. Avoid very hot water as this can cause thermal shock to the crystal and cracking to appear. You can also clean Smoky Quartz with a soft dry cloth or a compressed air duster for clusters where you have to get into the nooks and crannies. A soft makeup brush is also an option for cleaning natural pieces.
The chemical formula for Smoky Quartz: SiO₂