Water stones
Which stones for anger and irritability?
If stress calls for pale blue, anger calls for water: aquamarine, larimar, chrysoprase, the stones of the sea and the lagoon. The association is metaphorical from end to end, and it is universal enough to be interesting.
Where the association comes from
From water as the opposite of fire, in a symbolism of the four elements that runs through Greek antiquity, medieval humoral medicine and a good part of the world's traditions. Anger is hot and dry, so you oppose cold and wet to it: that is exactly the reasoning of humoral theory, and modern lithotherapy inherited it without always knowing. Aquamarine carries it in its name, aqua marina, seawater, and Roman sailors wore it for the crossing. It is one of the rare cases where the name, the ancient use and the modern use hold together.
The stones tradition offers
What tradition suggests doing
Hold it, breathe, and wait for it to pass. Several handbooks suggest running it under cold water and then keeping it in hand, which is not mysterious: cold on the skin does slow things down, and it is used in emotional regulation techniques. Mind the stone you choose, though, not all of them take water.
What a stone does not do
Anger is a normal and often useful emotion: it signals that a line has been crossed. The problem is what you do with it. If it becomes frequent, if it frightens the people around you or if it escapes you, that can be worked on with a professional, and the methods exist and work.
The correspondences presented here belong to tradition and cultural heritage. They are in no way medical advice and never replace a consultation.
Frequently asked questions
Can these stones go under cold water?
Aquamarine, chrysoprase and prehnite without any problem. Larimar takes a brief rinse. So does amazonite. But never generalise: other calming stones, such as angelite or selenite, are destroyed by water.
Is larimar rare?
One deposit in the world, in Barahona province, worked by hand. It is one of the few gems whose production really is limited.
My chrysoprase has faded.
Sun or heat. Its colour comes from nickel in a hydrated silica gel, and it is sensitive to drying out. The change is irreversible.