Also called yellow quartz, merchant's stone, burnt amethyst (heated material), Madeira citrine
Citrine is yellow to orange quartz. Its modern meaning is prosperity and cheerful confidence, and crystal sellers call it the merchant's stone, but natural citrine is rare and most of what is sold is amethyst that has been heated.
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Take care: Citrine is hard and safe to handle, but sudden heat can crack it, so keep it away from candle flames. Do not put stones of unknown origin in drinking water.
Because its tawny colour matched golden topaz, citrine was long sold and named as topaz, and trade names like Madeira topaz lingered. It now shares November as a birthstone with topaz and is the gem of the 13th anniversary.
Giant hollow amethyst geodes from Brazil are baked until their purple turns yellow, orange or brown, then sold as citrine cathedrals and clusters. Deep orange or reddish material with white bases is usually heated amethyst; natural citrine tends to be pale and evenly coloured.
Uses: amethyst geode, kiln
In Bolivia amethyst and citrine can occur in a single crystal, giving a two-coloured stone called ametrine. Modern crystal users treat it as combining calm and confidence.
Uses: ametrine
Citrine takes its name from the French citron, lemon, and it is simply quartz coloured yellow to orange by traces of iron. The Gemological Institute of America notes that natural citrine is rare and that most citrine on the market is amethyst that has been heated, often from huge Brazilian geodes. Lime yellow material can also come from heated smoky quartz. Before modern testing, citrine was routinely confused with topaz. It shares November as a birthstone with topaz and is now the best-selling yellow to orange gem.
The idea that citrine is a merchant's stone that should sit in the till is modern crystal-shop lore from the late 20th century; it does not come from older sources. Today people link it with prosperity, optimism and the sun. Crystal healing has no scientific support: in a 1999 Goldsmiths experiment by Christopher French and colleagues, volunteers holding fake crystals reported the same sensations as those holding real quartz. If you want to know whether a piece is natural, look for pale, even colour; bright orange points with white bases are nearly always heated amethyst, and some cheap pieces are glass.
A shop or small business blessing drawn from hoodoo customer-drawing floor washes and from old first-sale customs: wash the entry, bless the first money of the day, and keep a beckoning charm near the door. It works best alongside good service and honest prices.
A green candle is dressed with oil and herbs, marked with what you need, and burned over coins to draw money. It is a 20th-century form that grew out of Hoodoo and mail-order candle magic, now common in modern witchcraft.
A small flannel bag holding a lodestone fed with magnetic sand and a John the Conqueror root, carried to draw money, work and luck. It is a classic charm of African American Hoodoo.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
