Black tourmaline is also known as schorl, and has a mohs hardness of 7 – 7.5 It is a very hard, yet most specimens are brittle/crumbly and not suitable for lapidary work. The sturdier stones have smooth sides and intact terminations, and these can be cut or wire-wrapped for jewelry.
Black tourmaline is known in the metaphysical realm for its powers of protection and grounding. It is widely considered to be one of the best stones for psychic protection and I think that it is the absolute best protection stone for empaths.
It transmutes negative energy into into positive energy, making it a great stone for optimism and creating positive mental habits. Black tourmaline doesn’t simply absorb or neutralize negative energy, it helps us make something positive out of it. It helps you be less affected by other people’s negativity.
As a powerful stone of purification, black tourmaline is a great companion during times of stress and conflict, soothing worry and anxieties, and helping us avoid reactionary behavior in order to stay focused on our intention and the task at hand. This crystal helps clear up confusion and brings clarity and a sense of purpose.
Black tourmaline works quite well with manifestation stones like citrine, epidote and malachite. The most important part of manifestation is managing our thoughts. Since everything we think has the power to manifest, we must guard our thoughts and change destructive thinking patterns in order to manifest what we want in our lives. Because it naturally helps us do these things, combining black tourmaline with other manifestation stones will enhance your endeavors.
Black tourmaline is linked with the Root Chakra, the Feet Chakras and the Earth Star Chakra. It increases vitality and strength through Elemental Earth Energy. For these reasons, is an excellent grounding/earthing stone. Remaining grounded is necessary for health. It has been shown in studies that earthing/grounding reduces pain and inflammation, enhances the immune system, improves circulation and accelerates healing.
If you tend to get dizzy or lightheaded when working with your upper chakras or while meditating, try setting a black tourmaline crystal at your feet to assist you with grounding. It helps also to place your awareness on where your legs or feet touch the ground or your bottom touches the surface you are sitting on.
Black tourmaline is a natural painkiller and is very helpful with migraine headaches, raw crystals being the best suited for this purpose. When I have a headache, if I place a raw black tourmaline on the most painful area, the pain lessens a bit immediately.
Energy in raw crystals tend to flow in through the base and out most intensely through the termination (though some does radiate out of the m-faces as well.) For headache pain, it is most effective to either focus most of the tourmaline crystal energy through the tip directly to the painful areas, or to encourage qi to flow through the area naturally by aligning the crystal parallel to your natural qi flow, termination pointing down, so the energy is coming in through the crown chakra and out through the Root and Feet Chakras.
Placing the base on the painful area with the termination pointing either out, or up doesn’t work as well for headache pain. It’s important to bring the energy in from areas closer to the pain you are trying to treat, as opposed to trying to bring the energy through the entire body first, as this can cause it to build up at the blockage and actually increase the pain.
Black tourmaline is the most protective stone that I know of, and considering it’s economical price, if you are embarking on a gemstone healing journey, I think this is one of the most important stones for your collection, particularly if you are an empath and sensitive to other people’s negative energy.
Many empaths suffer chronic physical illness because of our tendency to naturally vacuum up other people pain, illness and negativity without even noticing it. Then, when we start to feel ill as a result of that, we tend to tense up, close down and shut off the incoming energy, unwittingly blocking our much needed supply of energetic fuel. We also instinctively give a lot of our energy away and because we are so preoccupied with other people’s needs, many of us never take the time to develop the habit of grounding and fueling ourselves.
Using our empathic gifts without proper self-care can manifest in physical illness. The most common ailments we tend to suffer are pain disorders (like headaches, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia…), psychiatric conditions (like depression and anxiety) and inflammatory/autoimmune disorders. These issues can be greatly improved by simply adopting better strategies, ones that nourish us instead of starve us.
Instead of stopping energy or highly filter it, we need to be able to tolerate the negative energy better, this way we can receive the healing energy we need for our own health and vitality, at the same time as we develop our skills at being receptive to, accepting and understanding of, empathizing with and spreading positivity to other people.
The reason black tourmaline in my opinion is one of the most important stones for empaths is that instead of absorbing negative energy, which would require frequent cleaning, black tourmaline transmutes it into positive energy, thus never needing to be cleaned in the same way other stones need to be.
Scientifically speaking, tourmaline has some very interesting properties. I discovered one of them purely by accident while soldering black tourmaline pendants. As the crystals heated up, my soldering iron would vibrate/rattle against the stone. Upon doing some research, I learned that tourmaline becomes magnetic when heated up. The molecules align so that they are polarized, with all the Norths and Souths running parallel. When it cools, the molecules return to their original position.
Tourmaline is also ionic, releasing negative ions when heated or put under pressure. For this reason, this mineral is used in hairdryers and flatirons. The negative ions break up the water molecules so your hair dries faster with less heat, at the same time as reducing static electricity. It does not take a lot of heat or pressure for tourmaline to release negative ions; simply handling the crystal is adequate for creating a negative charge.
Negative ions are not “negative” in the way we think when talking about “negative energy.” Negative ions have a negative electrical charge (an extra electron) which attracts and bond with positive ions. Positive ions are created during many cell processes, and are emitted by electrical equipment, particularly computers, televisions, wifi, mobile phones, cell towers…. Positive ions are highly unstable and can cause cellular damage/oxidative stress leading to cancer and degenerative disease. They are sometimes referred to “free radicals” (though technically these can be negatively or positively charged.)
Negative ions are found in nature, in forests, mountains, creeks, rivers, lakes and at the beach. They are especially high near waterfalls. Studies have shown evidence that negative ions improve mood among depression sufferers, help regulate sleep patterns, reduce stress, improve cognitive function, enhance the immune system and kill or stop the growth of viruses, bacteria and mold. Negative ions are also used in air purification because they bond with positively charged particles, like allergens, smoke, and airborne pathogens, causing them to clump together and become too heavy to remain airborne.
Although none of this science proves that holding or meditating with black tourmaline will cure or prevent disease or aging, it certainly seems to support the possibility that it could help. From my own personal experience, I have noticed benefits, particularly in my mental focus, sense of well-being, stress management (particularly when dealing with conflict or anxiety) and pain level, specifically with my headaches. And considering the economical price when compared to the many ionizer products on the market, it’s a low risk investment into your health.
I always keep a raw black tourmaline crystal by my computer as I write and research; and I habitually handle and squeeze it whenever I pause to think, because it does seem to help me tune out distractions and concentrate on the task at hand, working more efficiently and producing better content.
I hope this article proves helpful for you. To check out the black tourmaline product currently available in my shop, click here: DoodlepunkArt.etsy.com
© Jennifer Shipley
This healing properties description was written by me and is copyrighted.
Please do not copy without my written consent.
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