Black Tourmaline Faceted Bead Bracelet

Black Tourmaline

Black Tourmaline (Schorl) are ideal for psychic protection for anyone who must work or live in challenging place or circumstances, is one of the premier stones for our age. It has the ability to transmute and purify negative energy, turning it into usable energy. This is especially important as one fully opens one's psychic and empathic abilities-Black Tourmaline acts to protect one's energy field against attachments, entities and energetic debris.
Carrying or meditating with one of these stones can keep one's auric field clear of imbalance, even in the process of destructive energies. We all know that we often encounter individuals or situations that emanate 'bad vibes'. Indeed, we can sometimes brocast them ourselves. Black Tourmaline act like etheric vacuum cleaners, clearing oneself and one's surroundings of negativity and disharmony. In addition, where such influences are not a problem, Black Tourmaline can provide high levels of purification which serve to elevate one's consciousness.
Black Tourmaline is grounding  and is one of the most effective stones to use for creating a grounding circuit with the Earth's energies field. This grounding circuit is increasingly important as we strive to adjust ourselves to the Earth's shifting electromagnetic field. Unless one is well grounded and attuned to the planetary energies, these shifts can increase feelings of stress and negativity. By utilizing the supportive energy of Black Tourmaline, one is able to easily move into alignment with these subtle changes.

Another application for Black Tourmaline is in etheric purification. Carrying one of these stones in the pocket, holding one in meditation, or sleeping with one in the pillowcase will provide a refreshing dose of cleansing for the auric field and all dimensions of the etheric body. This clearing influence can even echo down into the physical form. These crystals are also recommended for ridding oneself of negative thoughts, anxieties, anger and ideas of unworthiness. The purification available through Black Tourmaline is powerful, and it is an energy needed by all of us in these challenging times.
Black Tourmaline is also an electrical gemstone and can be used very effectively to purify and regulate the electrical and other energetic system of the body. It is especially useful for those who experience high levels of stress, worry or obsessive behavior in their work or home lives.
A small number of Black Tourmaline are double-terminated. These are the ideal specimens for body layouts, because the liner flow of energies is enhanced equally in both directions along the crystalline form. Healing practitioners who utilize crystals are especially advised to use these with their clients.
Black Tourmaline's energies of protection can be further enhanced by combining it with Jet, Obsidian, Black Andradite Garnet, Smoky Quartz, Sugilite, Charoite and Amethyst. Its grounding qualities can be increased by Hematite.

• SPIRITUAL  Black Tourmaline provides a grounding path for Light to enter the Earth plane.
• EMOTIONAL  This ally helps one disengage from obsessive or compulsive behaviors and release chronic worry and anxiety.
• PHYSICAL  Black Tourmaline helps purify the body of toxins and wastes. It can support the cleansing of heavy metals and environmental pollutants from the body.

Faceted

Facets are flat faces on geometric shapes. The organization of naturally occurring facets was key to early developments in crystallography, since they reflect the underlying symmetry of the crystal structure. Gemstones commonly have facets cut into them in order to improve their appearance.

 

Of the many hundreds of facet arrangements that have been used, the most famous is probably the round brilliant cut, used for diamond and many colored gemstones. This arrangement of 57 facets was calculated by Marcel Tolkowsky in 1919. Slight improvements have been made since then, including the addition of a 58th facet (a culet) on the bottom of the stone. Since this is calculated to show maximum brilliance, round diamonds are rarely cut in any other arrangement, although recently the Princess cut is becoming popular. Other cuts, including "rose" cuts, are most typically found in antique jewelry. See diamond cuts for an in-depth discussion and diagrams of various shapes and ways of cutting faceted stones.

The art of cutting a gem with facets is a very precise activity. The aim with a faceted cut is to produce an article that sparkles with internally reflected light, and that shows off the "fire" of the stone. Accordingly, only transparent or translucent stones are usually faceted.

The angles between each facet are precisely calculated. As the aim is to maximise the effect of the internal reflections, these angles depend on the refractive index of the material. This means that although the name and general shape of a particular cut may be the same between different materials, the actual angles will be slightly different, for the maximum effect.

Thus, although cubic zirconia and rock crystal may look similar to diamond, and all can be cut in a round brilliant cut, the angles must be different to produce the same optical effects. Additionally, as diamond has a refractive index significantly higher than the other natural transparent stones, it can have a much greater sparkle than other materials.

While some facets can be cut by cleavage, specialised machines are used for cutting arbitrary facets. These consist of two main features:

a flat abrasive, usually diamond dust of precise size bonded onto a metal disk (called 'laps') or carried by an oily fluid on a smooth metal or ceramic disk, and
a system for holding a stone onto the disk at a precise angle and position.
This usually requires the stone to be attached to a holder or dop, which is then placed in an indexed vice. This allows progressively finer abrasives to be used without disrupting the orientation of the stone. The final abrasive must be smaller than the wavelength of light, so that the scratches it creates are invisible. Modern machines tend to have indexed gears for moving the stone, so that rotating the stone to cut the next facet can be more precisely controlled.

An older machine called the jamb peg faceting machine used wooden dop sticks of precise length. By placing one end into one of many precisely located holes in the jamb peg, the other end, with the stone, could be precisely placed onto the lap. These machines took considerable skill to use effectively.

Much less commonly, faceters use cylindrical machines, which leave concave facets. This technique is most noticeably used around the gem's girdle.