In this post, we tell you everything you need to know about milky quartz, including its meaning, properties, uses and value. Let's get started!
Introduction
Not to be confused with opalite, milky quartz is a less common, albeit highly beneficial crystal. We believe that all crystal users should have at least one piece of this stone in their frequently used collection — here’s why:
In this article we discuss the following:
- Milky Quartz Properties
- Milky Quartz and the Chakras
- How to Identify Milky Quartz
- Milky Quartz Uses
- Milky Quartz Value
- How to Cleanse Milky Quartz
- Where is Milky Quartz Found?
- Milky Quartz Tumbled
- Milky Quartz Jewelry
- Conclusion
Milky Quartz Properties
The first thing you need to know about milky quartz, is that it also often goes by the names white quartz and snow quartz. The stones may range between clear white to off-white, depending on the deposit from which they came and the unique formation process.
Milky quartz occurs when clear quartz’ crystalline structure encounters different minerals or elements within the deposit. Technically speaking, milky quartz is simply clear quartz with a more opaque body.
Thus, milky quartz possesses all of the exact properties that clear quartz does. One of the most notable benefits to working with this stone is the way in which it aids concentration by stimulating different parts of the mind. You’ll likely find your memory recall is in tip top shape!
Despite being a stone of white ray energy, milky quartz actually works closely with one’s communication skills, making it a great companion for public speakers, or anyone who simply needs some help in this department.
This is a stone of balance, and it wants physical, spiritual and emotional well-being to be in perfect harmony. Like most white stones, there is an essence of tranquility and innocence within the crystalline structure. If your inner child has been struggling, this is a gentle yet effective crystal to do the work through.
Milky Quartz and the Chakras
When a crystal is a particular color, it generally correlates with one or more of the chakras in the same ray energy. Green stones, for example, tend to work closely with the heart chakra as this is the green ray energy center. Similarly, blue crystals work with the throat, the blue ray energy center.
White ray energy is represented by the crown chakra, which is the energy hub that connects our lower being with the higher planes. Imagine white light shooting right out of your head and up into the heavens — that’s white ray energy.
This is why milky quartz works so closely with the mind and brain, leading to enhanced concentration and mental function. It’s constantly stimulating the crown chakra and ensuring that there is healthy flow between the upper and lower planes.
That being said, milky quartz is unique in that it is technically just clear quartz, meaning the crystalline structures are nearly identical. Clear quartz holds the entire light spectrum within it, meaning that it has a unique connection to all seven chakras; by default, milky quartz holds this connection as well.
Milky quartz can be used to cleanse, stimulate, purify and open up any of the chakras residing within the human structure. It works powerfully with the throat, while offering equally as effective abilities in grounding the individual through the root. No chakras are unturned when it comes to milky quartz; it is a unique white stone indeed.
How to Identify Milky Quartz
Due to the vast amounts of white crystals in existence, it can be difficult to distinguish milky quartz from all of the other stones. White agate looks a lot like white quartz, as do short cuts of selenite.
All you need to remember is that milky quartz is generally quite shiny, and often translucent. The cloudy facade is what led to the name ‘milky’.
Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, which means it can scratch ordinary glass, as well as all forms of steel. This is one way of distinguishing white quartz from other white crystals.
If you were to drop a piece of milky quartz on the floor, it would break in a shard that is curved, as opposed to flat-faced fragments. This is not the most ideal way of distinguishing milky quartz from other forms, but in the worst case scenario this would give you an answer pretty quickly.
Milky Quartz Uses
Because of the potent abilities of milky quartz, this stone is predominantly used for healing and energetic work.
What’s great about this stone is that it is exceptionally beginner-friendly, meaning you don’t have to know much about crystal healing at all to properly draw benefit from this stone. Just by keeping a piece nearby you’ll be tapping into all of the listed properties, and the stone will get its frequency where it needs to go.
A newfound use for milky quartz is using it in the fashioning of Tibetan singing bowls. Certain crystals have the ability to be carved out and shaped into large sized bowls that, when banged against, emit the sounds that traditional singing bowls do.
Milky quartz is an abundant crystal to the Earth, so it’s relatively cheap to source rocks large enough for bowl carving.
Quartz crystals are also commonly used in the making of crystal balls. White quartz is no different, and perfectly sphere-shaped balls are making appearances in homes, healing centers and yoga studios.
Milky quartz crystal balls can be used to bring cleansing to a general space, or used on the body directly for more personal healing.
Milky Quartz Value
Like clear quartz and rose quartz, milky quartz is equally as abundant and found in mass deposits all over the world. It’s cheap to mine, and thus usually retails at a lower cost than stones considered to be less accessible.
At most, a palm sized piece of milky quartz is likely to set you back between $6 to $8. Smaller stones will cost much less, with some tumbled pebbles going for as little as 50 cents.
The trouble is that quartz is one of the most easily imitated crystals on the planet, and it’s relatively easy to generate fake renditions of these stones using carefully dyed glass. Why would anyone do this, you may be wondering? Well, mining and refining crystals to get them suitable for retail is quite a process, and sometimes manufacturing replica stones saves money and maximizes profit.
Milky quartz is easily faked, and thus it is crucial that you always buy your stones from a reputable source; ideally, a store with a positive track record and many satisfied customers to attest to their integrity.
When in doubt, opt for raw white quartz that has not been tumbled or polished. These are far less frequently faked as it’s too complicated a process.
How to Cleanse Milky Quartz
Generally speaking, milky quartz is quite a porous stone, and energy flows out of it as easily as it flows in. It’s not like darker stones that tend to hold negative vibrations within the crystalline structure; white quartz knows how to let things go, and is less susceptible to energetic contamination.
That being said, the frequency of milky quartz can still be weakened after long periods of use without cleansing or recharging. The result being a less effective experience between you and the healing you seek from the stone.
In order to keep your milky quartz in prime functioning condition, make use of any of the following methods for cleansing and recharging:
- Hold your stone under running water for a minimum of one minute, and then towel dry.
- Place your milky quartz under the light of the full moon and leave it overnight.
- Submerge your crystal in a saltwater solution, and leave it be for about 24 hours.
- Bury milky quartz in the garden, and leave it for up to 48 hours.
- Burn incense or any sacred herbs (Palo Santo, sage, sandalwood) over your stones and send intent for cleansing from your mind into the stone.
- Leave your stones outside during a rainstorm.
- Pray or meditate over your milky quartz, setting the intention for the stone to be cleansed and recharged.
- Use any self-cleansing crystal, such as selenite, to recharge your milky quartz. Simply place one stone on top of the other and leave for 24 hours.
Where is Milky Quartz Found?
Most mine deposits containing regular forms of quartz (clear, rose) usually have a section within them that forms into snowy, white milky quartz. As we said, it takes minor inclusions of gas or liquids becoming trapped within the crystalline structure in order for the stone to turn white.
What’s quite remarkable about milky quartz is that it has the ability to form in metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks, as opposed to just one. This attests further to how widely accessible this stone is, and how easily it forms.
There are massive deposits of milky quartz in the mines of Siberia, as well as throughout the Alps, Brazil and even Japan. The United States has a myriad of hot springs that play host to large milky quartz deposits.
Recent discoveries of white quartz have been made in parts of Morocco, making this one of the first places on the African continent to house this crystal.
Milky Quartz Tumbled
When a stone is tumbled, it simply means that the raw form of the stone has been placed into a special machine and tumbled around until the rough edges have been totally smoothed out. The result is a shiny facade, and a crystal that is softer to the touch.
When milky quartz is tumbled, it tends to look like small white marbles. These are great to use to fill up a vase and keep on display. Larger pieces of tumbled milky quartz can be used directly on the body. The smoothed edges make it easy to roll the stones over different limbs, for whatever energetic healing is intended.
Technically speaking, milky quartz crystal balls are really large-sized tumbled stones that have been shaped into perfect spheres. Similarly, the quartz singing bowls are tumbled to an extent, before being hollowed out and sanded down to scale.
Tumbled milky quartz is also a great stone to use if you want to cleanse any drinking water. They can be placed in the bottom of a glass or water bottle, and generally won’t shed into the water while submerged. Drinking water charged by crystals is believed by some to be extremely beneficial to human health.
Milky Quartz Jewelry
One of the best ways to reap the benefits of crystals is to have them as close to your physical body as possible, at all times. For this goal, we wear crystals as jewelry, which means that they have ample opportunity to interact with our aura and personal frequency as we go about our day.
Because milky quartz works closely with the crown chakra, mind and consciousness, it is best to wear it in the form of earrings. Having two pieces of the stone on either side of your head means that the close proximity offers the best possible outcome for the work that needs to be done.
Similarly, wearing milky quartz near the hands, such as in a ring or bracelet, makes for deeper and more transcendental meditation practice. Holding crystals in your hands whilst meditating is thought to deepen the practice quite significantly, so wearing them near your hands means that even mundane errands, such as sitting in traffic, can become a form of meditation without you even realizing it.
Although the stones themselves may be generally affordable, the creative labor and additional materials that go into making jewelry will drive the price right up.
Conclusion
White quartz possesses all of the healing benefits of clear quartz, along with its own unique properties. This makes it an extremely valuable stone to have within reach when life starts to take its toll.
Some see the milky-hue of white quartz as a flaw in formation, deeming the stone less valuable as a result. We disagree, as we feel that white quartz formed this way has versatility, adaptability and potential. No crystal collection is complete without a piece or two.
Milky quartz in the generator shape is our personal favorite, but a tumbled or raw stone will do the trick, too!
If you are interested in incorporating crystals into your life, you should consider amindful breathing necklacemade of a crystal that resonates with you.Mindful breathing jewelrymade of crystals not only help provide the benefits of the crystal you choose to wear, but they can also be used to help slow your breath, leading to a greater sense of calm and serenity. Also, if you are interested in reading more about anxiety and crystals, check out our comprehensive blog post on the15 Best Crystals for Anxiety!
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