Flourite, Zi Shi Ying 紫石英

Zi Shi Ying (TCM)

Purple Flourite
Photo by Rob Lavinsky iRocks.com (Wikimedia)

Minerological name:

Flouritum CaF2 (Ca 51%, F 49%); also diferric trioxide, with admixtures including Cl and rare earths.

Parts used:

Prepared Stone; the purple Stone is most used in TCM

Temperature & Taste:

Warm, dry. Sweet

Classification:

G. Sedate the Heart, Mind and Spirit

Properties:

HARDNESS is 4
SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 3.18;
CRYSTAL TYPE: Of the Cubic crystal system, and found in masses, grains, columns, cubes, octahedra and rhombdodecahedra crystals.
LUMINESCENCE: Flourite has remarkable luminescence, being triboluminescent (meaning it is luminescent when crushed or scratched), thermoluminescent (luminescent when heated), and flourescent (luminescent by exposure to radiation of short wave length), but it is impossible to know which varieties will react in which way; often Blue, Violet, Green or Yellow colors are produced; Most, but not all forms of Flourite will fluoresce under UV light.

Uses:

1. Calms the Heart and Mind, Settles Tremors:
-Insomnia, disorientation
-Convulsions, Tremors
-Palpitations, including those coming from Fright

2. Warms the Lungs, Directs Qi Down:
-Cough, Wheezing, Asthma
-conditions with Cold and Weakness of the Lungs
-Vinegar-prepared Flourite is most used for this purpose

3. Warms the Uterus:
-Excess Menstruation, Uterine Bleeding
-Infertility associated with Cold and Weakness of the Womb
-also for Impotence

Dose:

Powder: 500mg–1 gram in powder;
Decoction: 5–15 grams in decoction, decocted for 30–45 minutes before adding other medicines

Preparation:

1. To facilitate powdering, it can be heated to red then quenched in cold water or Rose water.
2. Vinegar-Prepared Flourite: Flourite is heated to red hot, then plunged into cold Vinegar; this is repeated several times. This greatly facilitates powdering. It is preferred for Lung disorders.

Main Combinations:

1. Palpitations:
i. with Fatigue, Flourite Zi Shi Ying decocted in water and drunk.
ii. with Anxiety, Insomnia, Disorientation from Heart Blood deficiency or ascending Liver Yang, Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Zizyphus Semen Suan Zao Ren, Astragalus Huang Qi, Dang Gui, Poria Fu Shen.
2. Uterine Bleeding, Infertility:
i. Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Ass Hide Glue (E Jiao), Dang Gui
ii. from Cold, Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Dang Gui, Cinnamon
iii. Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Hematite (Dai zhe Shi), Red Earth (Chi Shi Zhi), Frankincense, Myrrh (as in Awaken the Spirit Pill)
3. Uterine Cold with Infertility:
i. vinegar-quenched Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Cyperus rotundus (Xiang Fu), Dang Gui, Ligusticum Chuan Xiong, Atractylodes Bai Zhu, Rehmannia Shu Di Huang
ii. Flourite Zi Shi Ying with, Dang Gui, Eucommia Du Zhong, Cornus Shan Zhu Yu, Dioscorea Shan Yao.
4. Cold-type Cough and Wheezing, Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Coltsfoot flower (Kuan Dong Hua), Almond kernel (Xing Ren)
5. To settle Wind, Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Quartz, Dragon Bone (Long Gu), Oyster shell (Mu Li), Red Earth (Chi Shi Zhi), Calcite (Hua Rui Shi), Gypsum (Shi Gao), Talcum (Hua Shi), Ginger (Gan Jiang), Cinnamon twigs (Gui Zhi), Rhubarb (Da Huang), Licorice (as in Conduct the Wind Decoction)
6. Epilepsy, Paralysis, Flourite Zi Shi Ying with Gypsum (Shi Gao), Calcite (Han Shui Shi), Red Earth (Chi Shi Zhi), White Earth (Limonite, Yu Yu Liang), Fossil Bones (Long Gu), Talcum, Rhubarb, Ginger, Oyster shell (Mu Li), Cinnamon twig (Gui Zhi), Licorice
7. Carbuncles, Flourite Zi Shi Ying with raw Ginger and Vinegar, applied as a paste.

Cautions:

Standard cautions for using Gem stones.