Moss Agate

Moss agate is a chalcedony, a fine-grained form of quartz (silicon dioxide), whose clear or milky white body holds green threads and patches that look like moss or foliage. Wikipedia notes that it lacks concentric bands, so it is not a true agate despite its name, and that the moss is mineral, not plant. Once taken for petrified moss, the inclusions are mainly manganese or iron oxides, with celadonite, hornblende or a chlorite mineral named too, and in some Montana stones these oxides add red and black. It occurs in India, Brazil, Uruguay, central Europe and the United States, and was once called mocha stone after the Yemeni city of Mocha, once a source of it. In the Stone Age it was a favoured stone for arrowheads, knives and scrapers. Cunningham places it under earth and calls it the gardener’s own talisman, worn for healing, to give energy to the depleted, to make new friends, and in spells for riches, happiness and long life. Hall describes it as a steadying stone close to nature and farming, a stone of wealth that draws abundance, a birthing stone for midwives, and a support for self-expression, communication and new beginnings.