A solid, weighted band with a mirror-dark polish — the kind of ring you feel on your hand all day. Ours run mostly domed, with some flatter profiles in the mix, all carrying the cool metallic shine that gives hematite its name. It is the ring people buy to keep something grounding on them through an ordinary day. What Makes This Piece Solid magnetic hematite band with a mirror-polished finish Mostly domed profile — some flatter pieces in the mix, as batches vary Ten sizes, 4 through 13 Runs a smidge small — we suggest going up a size, especially if you are normally a half size. ~Vero Magnetic, with a gentle pull About the Magnetism Magnetic hematite carries a gentle pull, which is a big part of why these bands are so popular. It is a beautiful, weighted, mirror-dark ring that is easy to wear every day. In Tradition Tradition holds that a hematite ring breaks when it has taken a hit for you — that it absorbed or deflected something aimed your way and gave out rather than let it through. Where that story is kept, the practice is to give the ring back to the earth: bury it in a houseplant or out in the ground, and thank it. Many people take a break as a nudge to step back from whatever they were standing in. We will say the plain thing alongside it: these are slim, hard bands at a small price, and slim hard bands can break. Which story you keep is yours. In Sacred Crystals' Teaching Hematite is a tricky one, as its coloring does not match its assigned chakra. It is a Solar Plexus stone and a guardian of trusting your gut instincts. It is the most important ore of iron. I call it the Crystal form of Iron, and it is a very close relative to the cast iron skillets our fore mothers used. It is mined to be made into iron, and from there into steel. Without it, life as we know it would not be. Can you imagine the industrial revolution without steel? Luckily it is abundant — so abundant that it is why our neighbor Mars is called the Red Planet. It can be red, reddish brown, black, grey or silver, but its common trait is that in the raw state it leaves a red streak on what geologists call a streak plate. It does not matter what color it is. The streak is always red. Its relationship with us goes back far before steel. It was used as a pigment — the red ochre in the oldest symbolic art we have found — and the earliest securely dated evidence for that pigment use sits at around 164,000 years ago, at Pinnacle Point in South Africa.* Its name comes from the Greek word for blood, though it has no relationship to the modern Jasper we call Bloodstone. Working in the Solar Plexus, the center of our instincts and our will, hematite can create balance where what we know and what we want are in conflict. That balance can ease an anxious mind and bring calm to body, mind and spirit. It is especially useful in relationships, adding stability by finding the middle ground between what is and what is wanted. Finally, as a stone of the sacred masculine living in the solar plexus, it takes practical action. Add it to your grids and potions when things need to get done — with no nonsense. It will bring powerful action to the table with no fuss. *Researchers find earliest evidence for modern human behavior in South Africa. Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University / AAAS, 17 October 2007. Chakra: Solar Plexus (some traditions place Hematite at the Root) Element: Earth, Fire Properties: Grounding, protection, balance in self, transformation, practical creation, trusting the gut A Note on Your Selection Choose your size at checkout and we will send that size. Finish and profile vary a little piece to piece, as they do with anything polished in batches.