Realgar

Realgar is believed to cleanse the subconscious mind, revealing all hidden thoughts and deeds from past lives, allowing a person to use these to build a better future. It is said to possess positive energy so that by carrying it, a person will feel revitalized and inspired to achieve their aspirations. It is also believed to open a person's heart to allow for more tolerance and understanding.

Realgar is not an uncommon gemstone and can be acquired from all over the world. However, its extreme fragility makes it very difficult to cut and thus very expensive to buy in this form. It can scratch easily and slowly decomposes when exposed to light. It also contains the poison arsenic, so it is rarely used as gemstones. Synthesized realgar does exist, but has been used for color pigments, rather than jewelry making. Its optic character and toxicity can be used to establish authenticity.

Realgar is used for leather processing to remove hair from the hide. It has also been used to create red pigments, and as a minor source of arsenic, this mineral is used to kill weeds and pests such as insects and rodents.

Realgar has long been known as a poison and was used by the Ancient Chinese to repel snakes. They also believed realgar could ward off evil and made it into a wine during dragon boat festivals. This toxic mineral was used for orange and yellow pigment in 13th century Byzantium art.

Realgar most commonly occurs as a low-temperature hydrothermal vein mineral associated with other arsenic and antimony minerals. It also occurs as volcanic sublimations and in hot spring deposits. It occurs in association with orpiment, arsenolite, calcite and barite. It is found with lead, silver and gold ores in Hungary, Bohemia and Saxony. In the US it occurs notably in Mercur, Utah; Manhattan, Nevada; and in the geyser deposits of Yellowstone National Park. It is commonly held that after a long period of exposure to light realgar changes form to a yellow powder known as pararealgar (β-As4S4). It was once thought that this powder was the yellow sulfide orpiment, but has been recently shown to be a distinct chemical compound.