Heart Quartz

Laid upon the altar was a chunk of heart quartz. Smoothly polished yet retaining all of its natural crystalline points, it almost seemed to glow as the light from the candles passed through it.

Heart quartz is a variety of rose quartz that is the sacred stone of the deity Althea. There are strict regulations in many places, especially those with religious backgrounds, about how and where this quartz can be used.

Appearance

Like rose quartz, heart quartz is a pink variety of quartz. What sets it apart from common rose quartz, however, is its distinctive veined pattern. The stone is shot through with thin lines of dark red that look like the pattern of veins in one's body. It also tends to be a far richer and deeper pink than rose quartz. While common rose quartz is a dusty pink that can range to nearly white, heart quartz can range from almost magenta to the pink of clouds at sunrise. It is usually found in large clusters of six-sided points, which can be needle-thin to the thickness of a human arm.

Heart quartz, like other quartz, is very hard and cannot be scratched by steel. It must be harvested in large clumps and separated with a hammer and chisel. Most heart quartz nodes are found deep underground in air pockets within rock layers, but in some places they can be shifted to the surface and emerge with other rocks and minerals in streams or from springs.

Harvesting

Heart quartz must be harvested so that none of it goes to waste. Even the smallest grains of it must be saved, as it is a rare and sacred stone. If a node is discovered during mining expeditions, it must be left alone until someone with experience handling sacred stones can be summoned and can remove the quartz.

Heart quartz that appears aboveground is not quite so protected, as it is sometimes seen as less pure than previously undisturbed nodes deep underground. In these cases, the folk that come across the heart quartz may collect it themselves and bring it with them to an appraiser, who can verify its identity. After it has been appraised, it is given back along with a certificate to the finder, who is allowed to keep it if they so wish, so long as they adhere to specific rules about how the stone is to be kept.

Handling

There are many guidelines about how heart quartz may be used. These guidelines are meant to preserve the stone's status as sacred, and are thought to keep the stone clean and pure so that its properties may be strong and untainted. Quartz found aboveground may be lightly polished to give it a clean shine, but it must retain the shape in which it was found. It is believed that removing any consequential amount of the stone will remove its properties and its sanctity.

Quarts found underground has much stricter regulations in some respects, but also has the most potential. Once the raw node is transported to the surface, it can be taken to approved jewelers or stoneworkers who are allowed to carve into the stone and change its shape. This must be done, however, with tools that have only touched sacred rock, or that have been thoroughly cleaned before use, to prevent tainting of the stone. Any leftovers must be stored in properly blessed or cleaned containers without the presence of other non-sacred stones.

The mined heart quartz can be carved into a large variety of shapes, but some are forbidden. Universally, to carve the sacred stone of one deity into a scared symbol (like an animal) of another deity is considered the highest offense to the deities and is associated with misfortune on those who perform this blasphemous act. Commonly, heart quartz is carved into smooth orbs to resemble the Orb of Althea, turtles (Althea's sacred animal), or the image of hands pressed together to form a triangle. Less common but still in use especially by those familiar with Featherscrim is the sign for Althea, an equilateral triangle.

Use

Heart quartz can be found in every temple that honors Althea. The larger, more established temples have vast collections of heart quartz carved into intricate scenes from tales of Althea as well as great murals of starry skies. Smaller temples will have only a few smaller carved pieces or an array of aboveground quartz. Family shrines usually have one chunk of aboveground heart quartz or, if they are wealthy enough, a single carved item.

Heart quartz is said to have similar properties to those of the Orb of Althea. It is said that carrying a piece of heart quartz in your pocket can slightly increase your magical abilities, since it is thought to have a slight pull on ley lines. It is also a quartz of comfort and increases one's affinity for love of all kinds. Additionally, some believe that rubbing the stone across one's face or along one's hands can reduce wrinkling and restore a small amount of youthfulness to one's body and mind.