Stone Mania

Seraphinite is a member of the chlorite group of minerals.  It is a rare and beautiful gemstone found in only one place in the world.  Its colour is deep green to green-black with white feathery like inclusions of silvery mica. 

Seraphinite is also known by the mineral name clinochlore.

Many websites state that the word seraphinite comes from the latin 'seraphin' meaning first order of angels, the allusion to angels being seraphinite's feathery wing like patterns, however after extensive research, we came up with the following:

Seraphin is the French masculine form of the latin name Seraphinus, which in turn comes from the Hebrew 'seraphim' meaning fiery ones.  The seraphim were an order of angels described by Isaiah in the Bible as having six wings each.  After having researched the word seraphim, most references were again to angels of some kind or another.

This paragraph is quite interesting: 

Seraphim: class of heavenly beings mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in a vision of the prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah saw several seraphim, their exact number not being given, standing before the throne of Yhwh.  They were winged beings, each having six wings, two covering their faces, two covering their feet, and two for flying.  The seraphim cry continually to each other, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.  The foundations of the thresholds of the Temple were moved by the sound of their voices.  One of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar and with which he touched the lips of the prophet to purge him from sin.

Isaiah gives no further description of the form and appearance of the seraphim, he apparently assumes that his readers are acquainted with them.  Nevertheless it may be concluded from the description that the seraphim were conceived as having human faces, human hands, and human voices.  However one should not too hastily conclude that the seraphim were winged human forms.  At least this was not the original conception, although later, Judaism pictured them so.  The seraphim are frequently mentioned in the Book of Enoch where they are designated as serpents and are always mentioned in conjunction with the cherubim, as the heavenly creatures standing nearest to God.

Seraphinite is currently only found in Korshunovskoe, an iron mine situated not far from Baikal Lake in eastern Siberia.  It has been known for a number of years in Russia as a minor by product found in this one location and very few pieces ever made it past the iron curtain to the West.  More recently it was discovered by the new age movement for its metaphysical properties and also by mineral collectors and subsequently found its way into Europe and the rest of the world.  The fact that seraphinite supplies are limited means that fine quality pieces are rather expensive and should Korshunovskoe ever close, it will become even rarer and more expensive.

With regards to crystal healing, seraphinite is often referred to as 'an angelic stone' due to its feathery markings and strong air to earth qualities.  It is said to help facilitate contact and communication with the angels of the highest level.  It is also said that seraphinite is the leading health enhancing gemstone of this age.

Seraphinite is graded 2 to 2.5 on Mohs scale of mineral hardness which is quite soft so it must be handled with great care.