Goethite

Goethite is an excellent stone to help with feelings of grief, as this stone's strong vibration can help heal emotional wounds. It has a deep connection to earth and will provide grounding especially for those who are driving in a car all day. Meditating with the stone opens the door to positive energy and if allowed it will fill one's heart with love and passion.

Because of its opaqueness, goethite is most commonly found cut into cabochons. Red, orange, yellow, and brown are the most commonly available colors. However, banded and iridescent varieties tend to be more popular and valuable than solid colors. Size is not as important a factor, because large stones are common. Goethite is also popular as an inclusion in other rocks, such as amethyst or quartz. There are no known enhancements. One way to ensure its authenticity is to increase its temperature, as it will become attracted to magnetic fields upon heating.

Goethite is a diaspore mineral which has been used for hundreds of years as a source for brown and yellow ochre paint. It is also important as an iron ore, from which iron can be extracted. Some particularly beautiful and rare types are desired by collectors, or cut into cabochons for use in jewelry.

Goethite's oldest use comes from the ancient Phrygia. A body was found in a royal tomb believed to the father of King Midas. The burial shroud was colored with a dye containing goethite, making the shroud look golden. Historians conjecture that King Midas' golden touch legend may have started from Phrygian royalty wearing such golden-colored clothes.

Goethite is an iron oxyhydroxide containing ferric iron. It is the main component of rust and bog iron ore. Goethite's hardness ranges from 5.0 to 5.5 on the Mohs Scale, and its specific gravity varies from 3.3 to 4.3. The mineral forms prismatic needle-like crystals ("needle iron ore") but is more typically massive. Feroxyhyte and lepidocrocite are both polymorphs of the iron oxyhydroxide FeO(OH) which are stable at the pressure and temperature conditions of the Earth's surface. Although they have the same chemical formula as goethite, their different crystalline structures make them distinct minerals. Additionally, goethite has several high-pressure and high-temperature polymorphs, which may be relevant to the conditions of the Earth's interior. These include ε-FeOOH, which has an orthorhombic crystal structure, a cubic pyrite-type polymorph with or without losing hydrogen and an ultradense hexagonal structure.

Goethite often forms through the weathering of other iron-rich minerals, and thus is a common component of soils, concentrated in laterite soils. nanoparticulate authigenic goethite is a common diagenetic iron oxyhydroxide in both marine and lake sediments. The formation of goethite is marked by the oxidation state change of Fe (ferrous) to Fe (ferric), which allows for goethite to exist at surface conditions. Because of this oxidation state change, goethite is commonly seen as a pseudomorph. As iron-bearing minerals are brought to the zone of oxidation within the soil, the iron turns from iron(II) to iron(III), while the original shape of the parent mineral is retained. Examples of common goethite pseudomorphs are: goethites after pyrite, goethite, siderite, and marcasite, though any iron(II)-bearing mineral could become a goethite pseudomorph if proper conditions are met. It may also be precipitated by groundwater or in other sedimentary conditions, or form as a primary mineral in hydrothermal deposits. Goethite has also been found to be produced by the excretion processes of certain bacteria types.