Oregon Sunstone

In Native American legend, the blood of a great warrior, who was wounded by an arrow, dropped onto pieces of sunstone. Thus infusing his great warrior spirit into the stones. That is how they received the coloring of shades of red, which imparted sacred power into the Oregon Sunstones.

Sunstones have been found amongst Indian artifacts collected around Oregon and the west coast.

Metaphysical properties of Sunstones

Sunstones can help one to see the better, or brighter side of life. It can help to rid a person of negative moods. It works on the sacral, solar plexus and root chakras. Sunstone can make a person self reliant, bring luck, good fortune, self healing, masculinity, vitality and strength.

Geological origins

The Oregon Sunstone is a feldspar member of the labradorite family. Sunstones formed millions of years ago, 13 million – 14 million years as they were brought up in molten basaltic lava flows during eruptions of the Steens Mountain. There was a very important two part lava flow that allowed the formation of these wonderful crystals. There was a first lava flow that had the feldspar crystals in it. This first magma layer was then covered by a second layer from another eruption and acted like an insulation blanket over the first layer, giving it a chance to cool very slowly. This slow cooling, over hundreds of years, allowed the Sunstone crystals to cool without cracking. Then a lake formed over the lava layer, covering it with water for thousands of years. Finally, dry and extreme weather caused the lake to dry up, exposing the lava layer, allowing it to be weathered over millions of years, exposing the Sunstones.

Now Suntones are mined in Lake and Harney counties in southern Oregon. It is the only place in the world where Sunstones may be found that are of gem quality and have copper inclusions in them. The amount of copper in the Sunstone determines the color of the stone. Most common colors are clear or champagne, but some stones can have yellow, pink, salmon, orange, red, green or teal colors and variations of the colors in others, depending upon the amount of copper in the stone. Schiller is where the copper can be seen as streaks, spots or even sheets of copper within the stone that gives it a spectacular flash.

Collecting

Sunstones may be collected for free in the Oregon Sunstone Collection area. This is a very remote desert country so if going there, be sure to have plenty of water and support supplies as the roads are rough and the weather can be anywhere from very hot to very cold. May can be an iffy time to visit as it is usually the wettest month of the year and when the roads and desert become wet, they are incredibly slippery and easy to get stuck in.

There are several mines in the area where one can dig for a “fee” for Sunstones. As the good high quality stones are usually found in the lower layer of basalt, the miners have the equipment and know how to first remove that top layer of lava to get to the pay layer with Sunstones in it. The upper layer can be anywhere from almost non-existent to hundreds of feet deep.

A colored Oregon Sunstone in the hand can have two or three different colors in it, depending on how the stone is looked at. It is 6.5 to 7.2 on the Mohs scale so it takes a great polish, can be faceted and/or carved. Sunstones range in value from $8 per carat and up to $4,500 per carat, depending on color, cut, size and clarity.

Oregon Sunstone is a completely natural gem, never heat treated, colored or irradiated to enhance the gem. There are several other localities where sunstones may be found but none of them have the clear, gem quality and facitable material as is found in Oregon.