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Lazurite: Meaning, Benefits, Properties, and More

(LAZ-YOO-RITE)

The rare mineral hiding inside every piece of lapis lazuli

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Primary Chakra Third Eye, Throat

Zodiac Signs Aquarius

Element Water

Planet Venus, Jupiter

Mohs Hardness 5.5

Crystal System Cubic

Birth Month September

Formation Metamorphic, Metasomatic

Not Water Safe

Avoid Direct Sun

Lazurite Meaning, Properties and Overview

Two different kinds of people arrive at this page. If you came from a mineralogy search, the Composition and Formation sections below address the 2021 IMA neotype redefinition by Sapozhnikov et al., the S₃^–· radical anion chromophore chemistry, the Czaja 2023 resonance Raman findings, the unit cell parameters, and the deposit geology of Sar-e-Sang and Malo-Bystrinskoe. That is where the peer-reviewed material lives.

If you arrived looking for how to work with lazurite in practice: placement, meditation, energetic properties, the practitioner tradition; start reading here and follow the page in order.

The distinction between the two audiences is also, as it happens, the central fact about this mineral: lazurite is not lapis lazuli, and understanding the difference changes how you source, evaluate, and work with both.

The name lazurite traces through Medieval Latin lazulum and Arabic lazaward to the Persian lazhward, the name of the actual mining region in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. This root also gave us “azure” and “ultramarine.” Lazurite is the mineral species responsible for the blue color in lapis lazuli; but the two are not the same thing, and the distinction is one of the most misunderstood facts in popular crystal literature. Lapis lazuli is a rock: a polymineralic aggregate of lazurite, pyrite, calcite, and often haüyne, sodalite, and diopside. Lazurite is the mineral species within that rock, formally defined by the International Mineralogical Association, with a specific crystal structure, a specific IMA-approved formula, and its own Mindat entry.

In the crystal healing tradition, lazurite and lapis lazuli are treated as inseparable, and energetically, the distinction may not matter much, since every piece of lapis lazuli contains lazurite as its essential blue component. Robert Simmons (The Book of Stones) frames lapis lazuli’s lazurite component as the seat of its “wind element” qualities: inner vision, psychic activation, the acquisition of new skills. Judy Hall (The Crystal Bible) emphasizes the Third Eye and Throat chakras together, framing the stone’s energy as one of “placing matters of intellect and truth above the mundane.” Melody (Love Is in the Earth) adds a historical and cosmic dimension, connecting the mineral’s metaphysical attributes to its cross-cultural history as the symbol of divine sovereignty. All three agree on the primary energetic territory: perception of truth, courage to speak it, and the junction between the third eye and throat chakras where those two functions meet.

In practice, what I observe with lazurite-rich specimens specifically: pieces with high lazurite content, deep saturated blue, minimal calcite. That is a quality of stillness that is sharper and more focused than what I get from lower-grade lapis. Jonathan Thompson has written about this elsewhere: the depth of the blue is not just aesthetic. A specimen that is 40 percent lazurite behaves differently in the hand than one that is 15 percent lazurite surrounded by calcite matrix. The mineral species is the active element. The rock is its carrier.

The Afghan Freeform and What It Changed

The piece that clarified everything for me came from the Denver Gem and Mineral Show in September 2019. A dealer had an Afghan specimen table, and one three-inch lazurite-dominant freeform stopped me mid-stride: no calcite patches, pyrite distributed like gold dust, the blue so saturated it looked almost wet under the convention-hall fluorescents. Eighty-five dollars felt almost unreasonable for a specimen that looked like it had been removed from the rock and left perfect. I turned it over three times watching the pyrite catch the light, put it down, picked it back up. Bought it.

It has lived to the left of my laptop ever since. That week, writing came easier. I kept noticing the piece in my peripheral vision during long editorial sessions, and the quality of sustained concentration felt different. I am not prepared to argue a mechanism. What I can say is that the quality of sustained focus during long writing sessions has been consistent since that stone arrived on the desk, consistent in a way that my earlier workflow, same habits, same hours, was not. Whether the stone is responsible or simply marks the period when I started taking the lazurite-lapis distinction seriously enough to source well, I cannot separate those two things. I have stopped trying.

The lazurite–lapis question is one I did not think carefully about until I started building this database and found myself correcting the same conflation on page after page of competing sources. Understanding that lazurite is the mineral, lapis is the rock, and that the quality of the blue you are holding depends on the lazurite percentage in that specific specimen. That changed how I source, how I evaluate, and how I work with this material.

For Those Looking For Lapis Lazuli

See our in-depth database page on lapis lazuli here.

Critical medical disclaimer: All physical healing associations represent traditional beliefs and historical folklore.

Lazurite Traditional Healing Properties

Physical

The physical healing associations with lazurite follow directly from its chakra correspondences and its traditional position at the junction between the throat and third eye. These are traditional claims representing historical and contemporary crystal healing beliefs, not medical statements. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for any physical health concern.

Throat, Larynx, and Voice

Lazurite’s most documented traditional physical association is with the throat and vocal apparatus. Practitioners have placed lazurite-rich lapis at the hollow of the throat for at least six thousand years: Egyptian priests, Sumerian scribes, medieval clerics who believed the stone sharpened thought and speech. In my own work, public speakers and teachers are the clients I most consistently see returning to this stone for voice-related support. A software engineer I worked with through a period of required public presentations kept a tumbled lapis piece in her jacket pocket for months; she described the effect not as reducing anxiety but as reducing the gap between what she intended to say and what actually came out of her mouth. Whether lazurite was responsible for that or the preparation that came with it, I cannot prove. I pay attention to the pattern.

For direct throat work, I recommend placing a flat polished lazurite or high-grade lapis cabochon on the hollow of the throat while lying down for ten to fifteen minutes. Use a polished piece; raw lapis can be crumbly and dusty. Add slow diaphragmatic breathing. Several clients report that gentle humming during this practice amplifies the sense of vocal openness. This is traditional placement practice, not medical treatment.

Head, Eyes, and the Third Eye Territory

The third eye association extends into traditional connections with the eyes and visual system. Ancient Egyptians ground lazurite into kohl and applied it around the eyes: partly cosmetic, partly protective. Whether there was any physiological mechanism is a matter for historians; the belief was consistent across centuries and cultures. In modern crystal healing, lazurite is traditionally connected to headache relief and eye fatigue, with practitioners placing a cooled piece on the forehead or temples. Judy Hall’s Crystal Bible and Melody’s Love Is in the Earth both address this association. I approach it honestly: anecdotal, consistent in client reports, not clinically established. Consult a healthcare provider for any recurring headache, vision, or neurological concern.

YMYL Note

I will be direct here: lazurite is a mineral, not a medicine. The physical associations above represent what practitioners have observed and what the metaphysical literature documents. None of it constitutes medical advice. If you are experiencing physical symptoms, see a doctor. Crystal work is complementary. It operates alongside professional care, not instead of it.

Emotional

Emotionally, lazurite works in a specific register that I find genuinely unusual among throat-and-third-eye stones. It does not produce the wide-open emotional flooding that rose quartz can create without grounding. It does not insist on confrontation the way malachite does. The work lazurite initiates tends to be colder and clearer: more like the moment when you finally articulate something to yourself that you have been circling for months than like the emotional release that follows.

The Courage of Clarity

The most consistent emotional pattern I observe with lazurite is what I privately call the “permission to see clearly” effect. Clients who begin working consistently with high-quality lazurite specimens often report, within the first two to three weeks, a period of heightened internal honesty. Old feelings surface. Not explosively, but with a kind of precision. Conversations that needed to happen start happening. The emotional state is not comfortable exactly. It is clarifying. One client, a woman in her late forties, who had spent years managing a family dynamic in which her perceptions were routinely dismissed, described it as “like finally being allowed to trust what I see.” That is lazurite’s emotional signature at its most specific.

Self-Suppression and Chronic Silence

Robert Simmons identifies lazurite-bearing stones as helpful for releasing repressed anger and the patterns that accumulate around chronic suppression. In my experience, the release is rarely dramatic. It is more like a slow defrost: emotions that have been held in the body for years beginning to move. The key is pairing this work with a grounding stone to prevent the process from becoming destabilizing. I typically recommend hematite in the opposite hand during lazurite sessions, for exactly the same reason I use it during malachite shadow work: the downward pull of hematite keeps the emotional process anchored in the body while the upper-chakra activation proceeds.

For clients dealing with patterns of chronic people-pleasing, martyrdom, or the habitual swallowing of truth for someone else’s comfort, lazurite is often the first stone I reach for. The lapis lazuli page on this site covers the emotional framework in depth. What lazurite adds to that picture is specificity: the higher the lazurite content in the specimen, the more focused and precise the energetic work tends to be. A specimen with 35 to 40 percent lazurite behaves differently in long-term practice than a lower-grade stone where calcite dominates.

Honest Self-Examination Without Self-Punishment

Seeing yourself clearly is different from condemning what you see. Lazurite holds that line in a way I find consistently useful. It supports honest self-examination, the kind that leads somewhere, not the kind that loops. In the metaphysical tradition, this is described as placing intellect and truth above the mundane, but what it looks like in practice is simpler: the ability to notice a pattern without flinching from it, which is the prerequisite to changing it.

Spiritual

Lazurite’s spiritual reputation is the oldest of any mineral species on earth that is still actively worked with in living tradition. Six thousand years minimum. That is not a figure to pass over quickly.

Third Eye Activation and Inner Vision

Virtually every crystal healing tradition that addresses lazurite converges on the same function: activation of the third eye and the inner vision associated with it. Simmons calls lapis lazuli a “key to spiritual attainment” and emphasizes its capacity to open psychic gifts and inner sight. Melody frames it as supporting “totality of understanding”: the capacity to perceive not just the immediate situation but the larger pattern it belongs to. I approach these claims with honesty: what I consistently notice during lazurite meditation is a quality of mental stillness that is sharper and more focused than what I get with most other upper-chakra stones. Whether that constitutes psychic activation or simply optimal conditions for clear contemplative thinking, I cannot say with certainty. The outcome is real. The mechanism stays open.

The Throat-Third Eye Junction

What distinguishes lazurite from most third eye stones is the simultaneous throat chakra activation. Sodalite works primarily at the third eye. Blue lace agate works primarily at the throat. Lazurite works the junction between them: the energetic bridge where perception of truth becomes expression of truth. In spiritual practice, this distinction matters enormously. The insight that you cannot articulate remains incomplete. The speech that bypasses genuine perception becomes noise. Lazurite is traditionally the stone for the full cycle: see clearly, then speak what you see.

Protective Sovereignty

In contemporary energy healing, lazurite, through its lapis lazuli vehicle, is associated with strengthening the throat and third eye layers of the auric field and protecting them from intrusion. The energetic concept of sovereignty applies here: the right to perceive your own truth and speak it without distortion from outside influence. For practitioners who work with clients who habitually absorb other people’s mental or emotional states, lazurite is the stone I mention first in the upper energy centers; not because it is a barrier in the aggressive sense, but because it reinforces the perceptual clarity that makes intrusion less possible. You cannot easily manipulate what sees you clearly.

Kundalini practitioners should approach intensive upper-chakra activation work with lazurite gradually, building grounding infrastructure before accelerating the process. This is standard practice for any stone activating the third eye at depth.

How To Use Lazurite

Lazurite rewards intentional contact over time. This is not a stone you set up once and leave. The depth of the blue is the first signal of quality; when sourcing, prioritize specimens with high lazurite percentage (saturated, uninterrupted royal blue with minimal white calcite), because the mineral species is the active element and higher concentration produces more focused results in practice.

Meditation

Place a lazurite-rich lapis piece on the forehead at the third eye point while lying down, or hold it in the left (receptive) hand during seated practice. The weight of even a small specimen creates a useful point of focus at that position. For throat chakra work, shift it to rest at the hollow of the throat. Some practitioners alternate between positions during a single session: third eye first, then throat, following the perception-to-expression sequence that the stone traditionally supports.

I personally work with lazurite on the third eye in lying-down sessions. The stillness that comes in is different from what I get with amethyst: less dissolution, more focus. Start with ten to fifteen minutes. If you work with both stones in the same session, place hematite near the feet as a grounding anchor, particularly when beginning this practice.

Desk and Workspace Placement

My Afghan freeform has lived to the left of my laptop since September 2019. The left side of the desk is the traditional feng shui “dragon side,” associated with income and opportunity; and for intellectual, communication-heavy work, lazurite placed in the eyeline during writing, drafting, or speaking preparation is one of the most practically effective placements I use. Keep it within visual range. The periodic visual contact during work sessions seems to matter; the stone is not just sitting there as a decoration.

Pre-Conversation Practice

Hold lazurite at the hollow of the throat for two minutes before any conversation where honesty matters: before a difficult meeting, a relationship talk, a presentation where the stakes are real. State the specific truth you intend to speak, silently or aloud, as clearly as possible. Set it down. Go have the conversation. What most people report is not that the conversation becomes easy, but that what comes out of their mouth more accurately matches what they meant to say. The gap between knowing and speaking reduces. This is the same practice I use with chrysocolla, but lazurite addresses the earlier part: the clarity of perception before the words. Chrysocolla handles the articulation once the knowing is complete. Lazurite gets you to the knowing.

Crystal Combinations

For amplification of the third eye and truth-seeing qualities, pair lazurite with clear quartz points directed inward. For deeper spiritual vision work, combine with amethyst; the nervous system calming amethyst provides lets the sharper lazurite clarity land without the edge that can come when the mind is still running fast. For grounded communication work, lazurite and amazonite together address both phases of the honest-speech problem: amazonite while you are still deciding whether to say the true thing, lazurite sharpening what the true thing actually is.

Sun and water reminders before you start: Do not leave lazurite in direct sunlight; the S₃^–· chromophore fades irreversibly under prolonged UV. Do not soak it in water; the calcite component is vulnerable, the pyrite can rust, and surface treatments on many commercial specimens degrade. Brief contact is fine. Prolonged exposure is not.

Lazurite Crystal Combinations

✓ Pairs Well With:

Clear Quartz Amethyst Selenite Hematite Amazonite Sodalite Blue Kyanite Pyrite

✗ Avoid Pairing With:

Carnelian Red Jasper Fire Opal

Lazurite Placement Guide

Lazurite belongs where thinking and communication actually happen. The question I ask with any stone placement is not “where does tradition say to put this?” but “where in this space does the function of this stone actually become useful?” For lazurite, the answer is almost always at the working desk.

The Desk: Primary Placement

My Afghan freeform has lived to the left of my laptop since the day it came home from Denver in September 2019. Left side of the desk: the feng shui “dragon side,” associated with income and opportunity in traditional practice. Having it in the visual field during writing, drafting, or any intellectual communication work is the placement I find most consistently effective. The Sumerians used lapis lazuli for their cylinder seals: the administrative and identity tool of an entire civilization. The alignment. The history and the function align.

Meditation Space

For dedicated third eye and throat work, keep a lazurite piece within reach of your meditation position. A nightstand, altar, or cushion-side shelf. Pair with a selenite plate for passive maintenance between sessions. If you are using lazurite for intensive upper-chakra work, a grounding stone: hematite, black tourmaline, or smoky quartz. It belongs in the same space to balance the activation.

Where Not to Place It

South-facing windows deliver the most direct UV exposure of any position in a room, and the S₃^–· chromophore is photosensitive. The feng shui guidance against placing water-element stones in the south (Fire element conflict) and the geological reality about UV fading give the same recommendation here: skip the south-facing sill. This is one of those satisfying cases where the energetic framework and the mineralogy point in the same direction.

Lazurite Crystal Energy

Pick up a high-quality lazurite specimen and the first thing most people notice is the color. Not the energy. The color. Deep royal blue, saturated past the point where photographs can capture it accurately. The pyrite flecks catch light from angles you do not expect. That visual quality is not incidental to the energetic experience; it is part of the same phenomenon. The S₃^–· radical anion that produces the blue absorbs orange and yellow light and returns pure blue with an intensity that synthetic ultramarine required twenty-two times the chromophore concentration to approximate. The mineral does something optically unusual. The energetic quality practitioners report: stillness, clarity, a focused quality of awareness. It reads as the experiential translation of the same basic character.

Upper-Chakra Activation, Not Calming

Lazurite activates. This is the distinction I always clarify when clients are choosing between upper-chakra blue stones. Blue lace agate soothes the throat; genuinely lovely, genuinely calming. Aquamarine produces calm during anxiety. Lazurite does something different: it sharpens. The quality of attention during lazurite meditation tends toward focus rather than relaxation. The clarity it produces has an edge to it. If you need to quiet down, there are better stones. If you need to see clearly and then speak what you see, lazurite is the correct tool.

The Ancient Accumulation

There is a quality to lazurite that I can only describe as accumulated gravity: a sense of weight that seems disproportionate to the stone’s actual density. Twelve years working with minerals and I still notice it. Whether this is the resonance of six thousand years of intentional human use, or simply the combination of deep color, pyrite grounding, and upper-chakra activation producing a distinctive perceptual state, I am not going to argue the mechanism. I am noting the observation. It is consistent enough to be worth naming.

Lazurite Spiritual Energy

The spiritual history of lazurite is not a metaphor. It is documentation. Lazurite-bearing lapis lazuli was used as sacred material in Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Rome, medieval Europe, the Renaissance, and across the Islamic world in an unbroken chain that runs from at least 7000 BCE to the present day. No other mineral species has a comparable record of continuous sacred use by unconnected civilizations.

The Inanna Precedent

The oldest written description of lazurite’s spiritual significance is in the Sumerian text “Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld,” dated to approximately 2100 BCE. The goddess Inanna prepares for her descent by adorning herself with the seven divine powers. She hangs small lapis lazuli beads around her neck and carries a lapis lazuli measuring rod, symbols of cosmic authority. At the second gate of the underworld, the lapis necklace is taken from her. Inanna’s servant pleads: “Don’t let your precious lapis lazuli be split there with the mason’s stone.” She is equated with the mineral itself. The identification of lazurite with divine sovereignty, with the authority to perceive and speak truth at the highest level, is that old. It is the starting point, not an addition to the tradition.

Auric Protection and Energetic Sovereignty

In contemporary crystal healing, lazurite is used specifically to protect and strengthen the throat and third eye layers of the auric field. The concept is not aggression but sovereignty: the protection that comes from perceiving clearly and speaking truly, which removes the primary vulnerability those energy centers have to distortion and intrusion. For sensitives and empaths who absorb other people’s mental and emotional states, lazurite addresses the upper-chakra porousness rather than attempting to build a general wall. Precision over bluntness.

Lazurite Crystal Divination

stylized image with 4 lazurite stones used in stone divination

Lazurite’s divinatory history predates most of the written traditions that later described it. The flat deep-blue surface of high-quality specimens makes scrying natural. The gold pyrite flecks catch low light from unpredictable angles. The visual depth of the stone draws the gaze inward rather than reflecting it back.

Scrying With Lazurite

Unlike clear quartz or black obsidian scrying, which tend to produce visual imagery, lazurite scrying works more through intuitive knowing: sudden clarity about a situation, insight that arrives whole rather than building incrementally, a quality of understanding that seems to bypass analysis. Practitioners who work regularly with lazurite in this way describe the experience as “receiving” rather than “generating” information. Whether that distinction reflects something real about the stone’s properties or simply describes what happens when a practitioner enters a sufficiently still mental state, the outcome is consistent enough to be used intentionally.

Pendulum Work

Lazurite pendulums are traditionally suited to questions about communication, truth, and integrity. The questions where lazurite pendulums perform best are ones where self-deception is the risk: “Am I being honest with myself about this situation?” “Is there something I know that I am refusing to acknowledge?” The stone’s association with clear perception makes it useful precisely in the territory where clarity is most obscured. The pyrite component grounds the pendulum response and stabilizes the oscillation.

The Cylinder Seal as Divinatory Object

Queen Puabi of Ur was buried with three lapis lazuli cylinder seals: the Sumerian administrative and identity tool, used to stamp official documents and authenticate decisions. In a very direct sense, lazurite was the first material humans used to say “this is true, and I am responsible for it.” That is still its deepest divinatory function: not prediction of external events, but clarification of what is already true and clarification of what the questioner already knows but has not yet acknowledged.

Lazurite Goddess Crystal

Inanna/Ishtar: The Sumerian goddess of love, war, and sovereignty, known as Ishtar in the Akkadian tradition, holds the most direct textual association with lazurite of any deity in any tradition. In “Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld” (c. 2100 BCE), Inanna adorns herself with lapis lazuli beads and carries a lapis measuring rod as symbols of divine authority. At the second gate of the underworld, the lapis necklace is stripped from her. Her servant’s plea: “Don’t let your precious lapis lazuli be split there with the mason’s stone” equates the goddess with the mineral. Lazurite is the physical embodiment of Inanna’s sovereignty and truth-telling function. In practice, this is the correspondence I reach for when using lazurite before conversations where the stakes involve being believed: not invocation, but orientation. Inanna goes into the underworld carrying the mineral of truth and has it taken from her at the second gate. She descends anyway. That is the quality this stone supports, not the absence of cost, but the willingness to speak accurately regardless of it.

Isis: The Egyptian goddess Isis held the temple title “Iset Khesbedjet Tep”: “Isis with the Lapis-Lazuli Head”; referring to a cult image in which lapis lazuli was inlaid into the goddess’s hair. As both the Sky Goddess and the supreme practitioner of protective magic in the Egyptian pantheon, Isis’s connection to lazurite runs through every one of her domains: sky (the deep blue), protection (the auric shielding tradition), and truth (the association with Ma’at). Egyptian sacred texts describe the divine body as having “skin of gold, bones of silver, and hair of lapis lazuli.” The mineral was not used to represent the goddess. It was the material of which the gods were made.

Ma’at: The Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, and cosmic order. Egyptian judges wore lapis lazuli amulets inscribed with Ma’at’s name. The equation is direct: lazurite, the mineral of truth, worn by those responsible for discerning it in the human realm. The association with truth that runs through every crystal healing tradition treating lazurite is documented first here, in an explicit judicial-divine context, approximately three thousand years before the modern metaphysical tradition.

Feng Shui and Lazurite

In feng shui, lazurite is classified as a Water element stone. The deep blue color, the still and contemplative quality of its energy, and its traditional associations with inner depth, wisdom, and truth all align with Water’s governing qualities: intuition, reflective capacity, the capacity to move through difficulty by going deep rather than going around.

North Sector: Career and Life Path

The north sector of any space corresponds to the Career and Life Path area of the bagua, governed by the Water element. Lazurite placed here traditionally supports career advancement specifically for those in intellectual, creative, or communication-based work: writers, teachers, lawyers, counselors, journalists; anyone whose livelihood depends on perceiving clearly and expressing that perception with precision. The mineral’s six-thousand-year association with scribes, scholars, and administrators is not incidental here.

Northeast Sector: Knowledge and Wisdom

The northeast Knowledge and Wisdom corner is lazurite’s most targeted feng shui placement. This area governs self-cultivation and the pursuit of understanding. A lazurite specimen here functions as both an energetic support for learning and a material reminder of the intellectual seriousness the stone has symbolized across every culture that valued it. If your home study or dedicated reading space falls in the northeast quadrant, lazurite belongs there. The scholar’s corner and the scholar’s stone.

Left Side of the Desk

The left side of a desk corresponds to the “dragon side” in feng shui: the income and opportunity position. My Afghan freeform has occupied this position since 2019. For communication-intensive desk work, this is the single most practical lazurite placement I use.

Verification: Geological facts cross referenced with Mindat and IGS.

Lazurite Chemical Composition

Na₇Ca(Al₆Si₆O₂₄)(SO₄)(S₃^-·) · H₂O

Lazurite’s IMA-approved formula, established by Sapozhnikov et al. in 2021 and published in American Mineralogist 106:226–234, is Na₇Ca(Al₆Si₆O₂₄)(SO₄)(S₃^–·) · H₂O. Earlier literature used the simplified formula (Na,Ca)₈(AlSiO₄)₆(SO₄,S,Cl)₂, which remains common in older texts but does not explicitly identify the trisulfur radical anion that is now understood to be both structurally essential and the direct cause of the blue color.

The S₃⁻· Chromophore: What Actually Makes Lazurite Blue

Generic crystal sites frequently state that “sulfur gives lazurite its blue color.” This is vague in a way that obscures the actual chemistry. A more specific but still-common error claims the blue comes from iron. Both are wrong in the way that matters. The blue of lazurite is produced by a specific species: the trisulfur radical anion S₃^–·: a three-sulfur cluster carrying an unpaired electron, trapped inside the beta-cage cavities of the sodalite-type aluminosilicate framework. This is not a transition-metal chromophore. It is not crystal-field splitting of a d-orbital. It is electron delocalization within a radical sulfur cluster, producing a strong absorption band centered at approximately 600 nm (orange-yellow), with the reflected light registering as intense blue.

The 2021 Sapozhnikov study confirmed this using infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on the Malo-Bystrinskoe neotype specimen. A 2023 study by Czaja et al. (American Mineralogist 108:2234–2244) refined the picture further using resonance Raman spectroscopy at 405 nm and 532 nm excitations. They identified three coexisting chromophore species in lazurite: S₂^–· (yellow), S₃^–· (blue), and S₄^2- (polysulfide). The ratio of S₂^–· to S₃^–· determines whether a specimen reads as pure blue or with a greenish cast. S₄^2- decomposes to two S₂^–· units under laser illumination. The photosensitivity of these radicals is why lazurite fades under prolonged UV: the chromophore is oxidized and the color is irreversibly lost.

Crystal Structure and the 2021 Redefinition

Lazurite belongs to the sodalite group of tectosilicates, cubic system, space group Fd-3m (hextetrahedral). Crystals occur as dodecahedra or, more rarely, cubes, up to 5 cm; most natural lazurite is granular, disseminated, or massive rather than forming well-defined crystal faces. The Sapozhnikov 2021 redefinition established the unit cell parameter a = 9.087(3) Å for the cubic sub-cell (α = β = γ = 90°; Z = 1). The structure shows both commensurate and incommensurate modulations: a structural feature unique to lazurite that serves as a provenance marker distinguishing, for example, Baikal material from Afghan material at the crystallographic level.

Per the Nickel-Strunz system as maintained by Mindat, lazurite is classified as 9.FB.10: a feldspathoid in the sodalite group, framework silicates. The Mindat entry for the Malo-Bystrinskoe type locality (locentry-91384) validates the IMA-approved formula and confirms the neotype specimen.

A Critical Nuance: Most “Lapis” Is Technically Haüyne

Mindat notes that in most commercial lapis lazuli specimens, the blue mineral is technically a sulfur-rich variety of haüyne: a related sodalite-group mineral, rather than true IMA-approved lazurite. The 2021 Sapozhnikov redefinition established a tighter formula requiring the S₃^–· radical as essential. Specimens labeled “lazurite” prior to that definition may be S-rich haüyne. Genuine IMA lazurite with the neotype-validated formula is rarer than the general lapis market suggests. This distinction rarely matters for crystal healing purposes; the chromophore is functionally the same. But it matters for anyone purchasing mineralogical specimens under the name “lazurite” specifically.

Lazurite Formation & Origins

stylized image showcasing three different lazurite stones in different formations.

Lazurite forms through contact metamorphism and metasomatism of dolomitic limestone or marble under a specific convergence of conditions that rarely occur together at gem-quality scale. The process requires heat from an igneous intrusion, sodium and aluminum from that same intrusive body, calcium and carbon from the host carbonate rock, and, critically, a source of sulfur, typically from interbedded evaporite deposits (ancient gypsum and anhydrite layers) within the limestone sequence. Without that sulfur source, you get marble. The S₃^–· chromophore that produces the blue cannot form.

Afghanistan: The Geological Standard

The Sar-e-Sang deposit in Badakhshan Province, northeastern Afghanistan, occupies the Kokcha Valley at approximately 2,725 m elevation in the Hindu Kush. Research by Faryad (2002) established that metamorphic conditions at this locality reached approximately 780–800°C at pressures of 1.1–1.2 GPa (high-pressure amphibolite facies). These extreme pressure-temperature conditions, combined with unusually high sulfur availability from interbedded evaporites, produced lazurite with maximum S₃^–· chromophore content and the structural character that makes Afghan material the global benchmark. Natural geological annealing over millions of years further optimized the crystal structure. The deposit has been in continuous operation for at least 6,000 years; the oldest active mining site on earth.

Colorado: The Blue Wrinkle Mine

Colorado has a confirmed and historically significant lapis lazuli locality: the Blue Wrinkle Mine (Anderson Claim), North Italian Mountain, Dorchester Mining District, northern Gunnison County, located east-northeast of Crested Butte in the Taylor Park area. The mine was worked by prospector Carl Anderson and his son Ande. Assay results from the Blue Wrinkle ore were described at the time as “among the best lapis lazuli the world has ever seen.” The Denver Museum of Nature and Science holds specimen catalog DMNH 17059, cited in exhibit documentation as the largest known lapis lazuli specimen from North America. Collector specimens from this locality occasionally surface through Crested Butte mineral dealers and secondary markets. This is the local deposit I trace in geological discussions; it is less than three hours from Boulder.

Other Significant Deposits

The Malo-Bystrinskoe and Slyudyanka districts in Irkutsk Oblast near Lake Baikal, Eastern Siberia, are the neotype locality for the 2021 IMA lazurite redefinition. Baikal material contains unusually high total sulfur (up to 8.3 wt% S in the neotype sample) and the incommensurate structural modulations that distinguish it crystallographically from Afghan specimens. It was used extensively in Tsarist-era Russian imperial artifacts and Fabergé commissions. The Flor de los Andes deposit in Coquimbo Region, Chile, at 3,500–3,600 m elevation in the high Andes, formed through contact metamorphism of Mesozoic limestone followed by hydrothermal sulfur introduction between 13–9 million years ago. Chilean material typically shows more calcite, a darker or greenish-tinged blue, and sparser pyrite than top Afghan specimens. Minor occurrences exist in Baffin Island, Canada; San Bernardino County, California; and Myanmar.

The Mine That Has Never Stopped

The Sar-e-Sang deposit in the Kokcha River Valley of Badakhshan, Afghanistan has been continuously mined for at least seven thousand years, longer than any other metal or mineral deposit in continuous human use. It supplied lapis lazuli to Sumerian city-states, Egyptian pharaohs, Greek sculptors, Roman senators, Islamic architects, and Renaissance painters. The same valley. The same mine. The same S₃⁻· radical anion producing the same blue. When you hold an Afghan lazurite specimen, you are holding material from a supply chain that predates writing. That is not a metaphor for depth. It is the geological and archaeological record.

Physical Properties

Optical Properties

Lustre: Vitreous
Transparency: Translucent To Opaque
Refractive Index: 1.500–1.522, isotropic; weak anomalous anisotropism from incommensurate modulations

Structural Properties

Cleavage: {110} imperfect
Fracture: irregular to uneven
Specific Gravity: 2.38–2.42

How to Identify Authentic Lazurite

The lazurite and lapis lazuli market has a significant authenticity problem. The most common substitutes are straightforward to identify with basic home tests, but two distinctions are worth stating plainly before the testing section: the mineral-vs-rock distinction, and the name confusion between lazurite and lazulite.

Lazurite vs. Lazulite: Two Completely Different Minerals

This is not a fake problem; it is a naming problem that trips up buyers and even some dealers. Lazurite is (Na,Ca)₈(AlSiO₄)₆(SO₄,S,Cl)₂, the sodalite-group tectosilicate that produces lapis lazuli’s blue. Lazulite is (Mg,Fe)Al₂(OH)₂(PO₄)₂: a completely unrelated phosphate mineral, monoclinic system, also blue, with no geological or chemical relationship to lazurite. They share a similar name because both come from the same Arabic root meaning blue. They are otherwise unrelated. If a seller confuses the two, treat that as a credibility signal.

Common Imitations

Dyed howlite is by far the most prevalent lazurite/lapis substitute. Howlite is soft, white, and porous; it accepts blue dye readily and can look convincingly blue at first glance. It lacks pyrite inclusions and typically shows the gray veining characteristic of howlite rather than scattered gold flecks. Dyed magnesite operates through the same mechanism. Dyed sodalite is a genuine blue mineral in the same sodalite group as lazurite, but darker blue-violet, without pyrite, and without the calcite patches present in real lapis. “Swiss Lapis” is a trade name for dyed jasper; prohibited under CIBJO clause 4.2.4.5 because it misuses the gemstone name. Gilson synthetic lapis is laboratory-produced to closely mimic lapis lazuli; it is detectable only by spectroscopy and is rarely encountered outside the jewelry trade.

Field Tests

The acetone test is the fastest and most reliable home test: dip a cotton ball in acetone (nail polish remover) and rub it on an inconspicuous area of the stone. Dyed imitations transfer blue color onto the cotton. Genuine lazurite/lapis shows zero color transfer. Thirty seconds, no equipment needed.

The UV fluorescence test at 365 nm is the best confirmatory test: genuine lapis shows irregular yellow-orange fluorescence patches from calcite inclusions. Dyed howlite shows uniform dull or no response. The pattern is the key: spotty and irregular means real calcite.

Under a 10x loupe, genuine lazurite in lapis shows: aggregated texture with visible pyrite (metallic opaque gold, cubic forms under magnification) and white calcite patches. Dyed imitations show uniform color with no metallic inclusions. Glass shows conchoidal fracture.

The specific gravity heft test: genuine lapis lazuli runs 2.7–2.9 (notably dense). Dyed howlite is lighter (SG ~2.5–2.6). Plastic is noticeably lighter still. The heft of a real specimen is detectable by hand once you know what to expect.

Price reality: genuine tumbled Afghan lapis runs $5–$30 per piece from a reputable dealer. Anything labeled “lazurite” or “lapis” for $1–$2 per tumbled stone is almost certainly dyed howlite. The price gap is the first signal.

Cleansing & Care Instructions

Lazurite sits at 5.5 on the Mohs scale: softer than quartz (7), comparable to glass, noticeably harder than calcite (3). In its natural context it occurs locked inside lapis lazuli rock alongside pyrite (6–6.5) and calcite (3), which means the bulk hardness of any specimen varies depending on which mineral you happen to be pressing against. Treat it as you would a soft stone throughout.

Cleansing

Moonlight: The gold standard. Set the stone on a north-facing windowsill during the full or waxing moon. No risk to the photosensitive S₃^–· chromophore, no chemical interaction with the calcite or pyrite. I bring mine back to the desk the next morning.
Sound cleansing: A singing bowl, tuning fork, or bell works cleanly. The stone responds well to it. I keep a small singing bell on my desk for between-session cleanses.
Smoke: Sage, palo santo, or cedar; all safe. Pass the stone slowly through the smoke rather than holding it stationary in the stream.
Selenite plate: Leave the stone on a selenite charging plate overnight. Passive, reliable, no handling required.
Do not use salt: Salt is mildly abrasive (will scratch a 5.5 Mohs stone), and it reacts chemically with the calcite component. The result is surface dulling that cannot be reversed.

Charging

Moonlight charging: Full moon is traditional, but any phase works depending on your intention. Always preferable to sun for lazurite.
Sunlight warning: The S₃^–· radical anion that produces the blue color is photosensitive. Under prolonged UV illumination, the S₄^2- polysulfide present in the structure decomposes, shifting the chromophore balance toward the yellow S₂^–· radical and fading the blue irreversibly (Czaja et al. 2023). Brief indirect morning light is acceptable for charging if you do not exceed 10–15 minutes. Never direct midday sun. Never a south-facing sill.
Visualization: Hold the stone with both hands, close your eyes, picture deep indigo light filling the mineral structure. Zero risk to the stone, and the intentionality matters.

Storage and Precautions

Store in a fabric-lined drawer or soft cloth pouch, away from direct sunlight and away from harder stones. Quartz, topaz, or anything above Mohs 6 will scratch lazurite on contact.
Keep away from persistent moisture. The pyrite inclusions in lapis lazuli specimens can oxidize to iron sulfate (jarosite) in humid conditions over time, which causes surface crusting or internal cracking.
No acid exposure of any kind. Lazurite’s calcite component reacts visibly with vinegar, citrus, and cleaning products.
No water baths. Brief rinsing is acceptable; dry immediately with a soft cloth. The calcite dissolves slowly in prolonged water contact, particularly if the water is even slightly acidic.
For cleaning, use a soft cloth only. No ultrasonic cleaners, no steam, no chemical solutions.

✓ SAFE METHODS:

Moonlight

✗ AVOID:

Direct sunlight (will fade color)
Water exposure
Harsh chemicals

History and Cultural Significance of Lazurite

stylized image showcasing 4 different lazurite stones.

Lazurite’s human history is the longest documented relationship between any mineral species and human civilization. The Sar-e-Sang mines in Badakhshan have operated continuously for at least six thousand years. Some archaeologists, citing lapis artifacts from Bhirrana (the oldest Indus Valley Civilization site), push that figure toward 7,570 BCE, roughly nine and a half thousand years ago, though this date remains contested in the archaeological literature and most published sources cite a range of 7,000–7,500 BCE for the earliest lapis use. No other gem material has a comparable record.

Mesopotamia and the First Long-Distance Trade Network

The most precisely documented early lazurite use comes from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, excavated between 1922 and 1934 by Leonard Woolley in a joint British Museum/University of Pennsylvania expedition. Grave PG 800 contained Queen Puabi (fl. c. 2550 BCE) with: a gold-and-lapis-lazuli headdress, a lapis-lazuli-encrusted lyre with a golden bull’s head, three lapis lazuli cylinder seals pinned to her cloak, and lapis-and-carnelian bead belts, rings, and bracelets. Puabi’s headdress components are held at the Penn Museum, Philadelphia, under accession numbers including B17711 (Wreath 3), B17710 (Wreath 2), B17709 (Wreath 1), B17708 (Frontlet), and B16992A (Hair Ring). The Standard of Ur (~2600–2400 BCE), from the same cemetery, depicts Sumerian court life in lapis lazuli, shell, and red limestone.

By the 5th millennium BCE, lazurite was traveling one of humanity’s earliest documented long-distance trade routes: from the Afghan mines westward through Iran to Mesopotamia, eventually reaching Egypt, Greece, and the Aegean. This route predated the Silk Road by thousands of years. In the Sumerian text “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta,” a king uses grain shipments during famine to leverage resumption of lapis exports. The stone was diplomatic currency.

Ancient Egypt: From Eye Paint to King’s Mask

Lapis lazuli reached Egypt by the Predynastic Naqada I period (c. 4000–3500 BCE), documented by a bone female figurine with inlaid lazurite eyes. By the First Dynasty, Queen Djer’s tomb at Abydos contained lapis lazuli bead bracelets. The most recognized artifact is the Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun (c. 1323 BCE), held at the Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo, inventory number JE 60672: hammered gold with lazurite inlaid at the eyebrows, eyeliner markings, and headdress stripes. An inscription from Tutankhamun’s outermost shrine reads that Ra has “flesh of gold, bones of silver, and hair of real lapis lazuli.” Egyptian theology held that the gods themselves were made of lazurite. Cleopatra used powdered lazurite as blue eye shadow. Egyptian judges wore lapis amulets of Ma’at inscribed with “truth.”

Classical Antiquity and the Name Problem

Pliny the Elder, writing in Naturalis Historia Book XXXVII, §§ 119–120 (c. 77 CE), does not use the term “lapis lazuli” (a Medieval Latin coinage) but writes of sapphirus, which scholars following D.E. Eichholz’s 1962 Loeb translation identify as the stone we now call lapis lazuli rather than corundum sapphire. Pliny’s description accurately identifies the blue color, the lack of transparency, the gold-dot inclusions (pyrite), and the non-engraveability from hard inclusions. That is a remarkably correct mineralogical observation for the first century CE. Theophrastus, writing in On Stones §25 (c. 315 BCE), mentions kyanos and sappeir(os) in contexts scholars identify with lazurite-bearing lapis. Marbode of Rennes, in Liber Lapidum (c. 1090 CE), a verse lapidary surviving in approximately 160 manuscripts, lists sapphirus with properties ascribed to lapis, including protection against fraud, envy, and terror. The medieval conflation of lapis with sapphire persisted in European lapidary tradition until the mineralogical separation was established in the 18th century.

Ultramarine: The Most Expensive Pigment in History

Ground lazurite (ultramarine pigment) was the most costly pigment in European art history from approximately 1400 CE through the early 19th century, priced higher than gold by weight. One kilogram of raw Afghan lapis produced roughly 30 grams of usable pigment. Renaissance patrons wrote ultramarine clauses into artist contracts specifying its use for the Virgin Mary’s robes. Vermeer used it lavishly in nearly every painting and died in significant debt. Michelangelo left The Entombment unfinished partly for want of it. Raphael reserved ultramarine for final coats only, using cheaper azurite underneath. The Afghan mines in Badakhshan supplied virtually all of European art’s blue for five centuries.

Written by:

Jonathon Thompson

I've been working with crystals for over 12 years. Long enough to know what works, what's overhyped, and where the line between geology and metaphysics actually sits.My background is in...

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between lazurite and lapis lazuli?

Lazurite is a mineral species with a specific IMA-approved chemical formula and crystal structure. Lapis lazuli is a rock: a polymineralic aggregate that contains lazurite as its primary blue component, plus pyrite, calcite, and often haüyne, sodalite, and other minerals. Every piece of lapis lazuli contains lazurite, but lazurite is the mineral; lapis is the geological material it forms within.

Is lazurite safe to put in water?

No. Avoid prolonged water exposure. Lazurite occurs in lapis lazuli alongside calcite (which dissolves slowly in water, especially if it is slightly acidic) and pyrite (which can oxidize and rust in persistent moisture). Brief rinsing is fine; dry immediately. No soaking.

Will lazurite fade in sunlight?

Yes. The S₃⁻· trisulfur radical anion that produces the blue color is photosensitive. Under prolonged UV illumination, the S₄²⁻ polysulfide in the structure decomposes, shifting the chromophore balance toward the yellow S₂⁻· radical and fading the blue irreversibly. Keep lazurite away from direct sunlight and south-facing windows. Brief indirect morning light for charging (10–15 minutes maximum) is acceptable.

What chakra does lazurite work with?

Primarily the third eye, with significant secondary activation at the throat. The combination of both simultaneously is one of lazurite's distinguishing characteristics; it bridges perception of truth (third eye) and expression of truth (throat), rather than working with one chakra in isolation.

What is the real cause of lazurite's blue color?

The trisulfur radical anion S₃⁻·, a three-sulfur cluster carrying an unpaired electron, trapped inside cage-like cavities in the sodalite-type crystal structure. It is not caused by iron, not by copper, and not by sulfate alone. The chromophore absorbs orange and yellow light (~600 nm) and the reflected light reads as intense blue. This was confirmed by Sapozhnikov et al. (2021) and refined by Czaja et al. (2023) in peer-reviewed papers in American Mineralogist.

What is the difference between lazurite and lazulite?

They are completely different mineral species that happen to share a similar name. Lazurite is the sodalite-group tectosilicate in lapis lazuli. Lazulite is a phosphate mineral: (Mg,Fe)Al₂(OH)₂(PO₄)₂, monoclinic, unrelated geochemically and structurally. The similar names come from the same Arabic root for blue. Otherwise: no connection.

How do I know if my lapis lazuli is genuine?

The acetone test is the fastest: rub acetone on an inconspicuous spot with a cotton ball. Dyed imitations (howlite, magnesite, jasper) transfer blue color onto the cotton. Real lapis shows zero transfer. Under a loupe, look for scattered metallic pyrite flecks (cubic forms, opaque gold) and irregular calcite patches. UV fluorescence at 365 nm shows spotty yellow-orange patches from calcite in genuine material. Perfectly uniform blue with no inclusions is almost always synthetic or dyed.

What zodiac signs is lazurite associated with?

Sagittarius and Aquarius are the primary associations in crystal healing tradition; both aligned with the stone's qualities of truth-seeking, intellectual clarity, and the courage to speak what one knows.

What is the most important lazurite locality for collectors?

The Sar-e-Sang deposit in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, produces the finest material: deepest blue, highest lazurite content, finest disseminated pyrite, minimal calcite. The Malo-Bystrinskoe locality in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, is the IMA neotype locality for the 2021 species redefinition. In Colorado, the Blue Wrinkle Mine in Gunnison County produces material that assays describe as "among the best lapis lazuli the world has ever seen."

Does lazurite work well with amethyst?

Yes, with a specific distinction. Amethyst calms the nervous system and quiets mental activity. Lazurite activates the third eye and sharpens perception. Used together, amethyst provides the still mental ground that allows lazurite's clarity to land without the edge that can come when the mind is still running fast. For deep meditation work, the combination is effective. For practical communication work, lazurite alone tends to be more focused.

What does the skeptic's view of lazurite's properties look like?

Honest assessment: the mineral is chemically and optically unusual, which may partly account for the consistent perceptual reports practitioners document. The S₃⁻· chromophore is rare, the color saturation is extreme relative to chromophore concentration, and the pyrite inclusions produce genuinely distinctive visual behavior in varying light. Whether any of that translates to energetic effects on the user is not established by scientific evidence. What is well-established is that six thousand years of consistent human attribution across unconnected cultures produced a coherent and specific metaphysical profile. Whether you hold that as evidence of something real or as an interesting cultural phenomenon, the profile itself is documented and consistent.

Scientific Sources & References

On the crystal chemistry of sulfur-rich lazurite, ideally Na7Ca(Al6Si6O24)(SO4)(S3)–·nH2O
Sapozhnikov, A.N. et al.
Establishes the 2021 IMA-approved neotype formula for lazurite, confirms S₃⁻· as the blue chromophore via IR, Raman, EPR, and XPS; provides unit cell parameters for the Malo-Bystrinskoe neotype specimen.
Lazurite: validation as a mineral species and new data
Sapozhnikov, A.N. et al.
Zapiski RMO 2021 validation paper for lazurite as an IMA species; reports cubic sub-cell a = 9.087(3) Å and confirms commensurate/incommensurate modulations as provenance markers.
S₂⁻ and S₃⁻ radicals and the S₄²⁻ polysulfide ion in lazurite, haüyne, and synthetic ultramarine blue revealed by resonance Raman spectroscopy
Czaja, M. et al.
Czaja et al. 2023, American Mineralogist 108:2234–2244; identifies coexisting S₂⁻·, S₃⁻·, and S₄²⁻ in lazurite; establishes that S₂⁻·/S₃⁻· ratio determines blue vs. greenish color; explains chromophore photosensitivity mechanism.
Spectroscopic and Crystal-Chemical Features of Sodalite-Group Minerals from Gem Lazurite Deposits
Chukanov, N.V. et al.
Chukanov et al. 2020, Minerals 10:1042; multi-method study identifying S₃⁻· and S₄ as primary blue/purple chromophores in sodalite-group lazurite specimens.
Lazurite: Mindat.org neotype locality entry
Mindat.org
Mindat entry for the Malo-Bystrinskoe neotype locality confirming the IMA-approved formula and validating the 2021 Sapozhnikov redefinition.
Lapis Lazuli Quality Factors
GIA (Gemological Institute of America)
GIA quality factors documentation for lapis lazuli; describes geographic grading system (Afghan/Persian, Chilean, Russian/Siberian), visual quality criteria, and physical properties.
Headdress of Puabi, Penn Museum
NYU/ISAW
Documents Queen Puabi's headdress from grave PG 800 at Ur with component accession numbers; primary source for the Mesopotamian lapis lazuli archaeological record.
The Gold Mask of Tutankhamun, Global Egyptian Museum
Global Egyptian Museum
Museum record for the Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun, inventory number JE 60672; confirms lapis lazuli inlay in eyebrows, eyeliner, and headdress stripes.
Glowing Talismans Among the World's Best: How a Blue Stone in the Rockies Added a Wrinkle to Colorado History
Los Angeles Times
1986 LA Times article documenting the Blue Wrinkle Mine in Gunnison County, Colorado; reports the assay designation "among the best lapis lazuli the world has ever seen" and the history of the Anderson claim.
CIBJO Gemstone Blue Book 2020
CIBJO (Confédération Internationale de la Bijouterie)
CIBJO 2020 gemstone classification standards; covers lapis lazuli as a rock under natural gemstones, disclosure requirements for surface waxing and dyeing, and prohibition on "Swiss Lapis" trade naming.
Kokcha Valley, Badakhshan, Afghanistan: Mindat locality
Mindat.org
Mindat locality data for the Sar-e-Sang deposit; confirms location, elevation, and access details for the world's primary lazurite source.
Natural History, Book 37 (Eichholz translation)
Pliny the Elder; trans. D.E. Eichholz
Pliny §§ 119–120 on sapphirus and cyanus; scholarly consensus identifies these passages as the earliest extended classical description of lazurite-bearing lapis lazuli.
Metamorphic evolution of the lapis-lazuli bearing rocks from Sare Sang (Afghanistan)
Faryad, S.W.
Faryad (2002), European Journal of Mineralogy 14:803–815; establishes P-T conditions of 780–800°C at 1.1–1.2 GPa (high-pressure amphibolite facies) for the Sar-e-Sang deposit; primary petrological source for Afghan lazurite formation conditions cited in the Formation section.