When the geode is then opened, the water comes out. Once in a while, a geode will be removed so precisely that water which has been trapped inside the geode for millions of years remains inside. These artisan miners are few in number and skill is handed down from one generation to another in a mining family. ![]() Once an intact geode is found, it is then “carved” out of the mountain by a special artisan miner who removes the entire geode without damaging it. This combination of factors only occurs within a very narrow band of the earth, and thus, there is no need to drop vertically to find the amethyst geodes. This is because amethyst crystals only form in certain geologic and geothermal conditions, and only in the presence of certain minerals. The miners enter into the side of a hill and then proceed horizontally with only a minimal drop in elevation. Interestingly, amethyst mines are only horizontal. It is truly wonderous to see the geodes actually “in” the earth. In the mine tunnels I could see open amethyst geodes in the walls. I got overwhelmed in contemplating the whole process and the wonders of nature and our mother earth. ![]() I imagined the air pockets which formed the geodes, them being infused with the minerals that ultimately formed the purple crystal points inside, and the heat and pressure that was necessary over tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years to make the geode be what we see today. In the mine tunnels I could see open amethyst geodes in the walls. I then went to the workshop’s mine and spent about an hour walking through it and asking questions of the mine manager (with the help of Ricardo’s translation into Portuguese of course!). Once there, I visited the city’s amethyst museum and went through an abandoned mine. Ametista do Sul is about a three-hour car ride north of Soledade. My time is Soledade was particularly special this trip as I was invited to visit an amethyst mine in Ametista do Sul, the city from which virtually all of the amethyst from Brazil originates. Standing beneath some crystals that are nearly 10 feet tall, and even sitting inside another that was big enough to hold me! I’m not big on shopping for clothes, but I sure do love shopping for crystals!!! And of course, and maybe best of all, from the multitude of crystals and geodes I see and experience, I get to pick the ones I want to bring back to Mystic Journey. Then I see the geodes cleaned and polished and prepared for presentation to the “surface world”. ![]() I see, touch and even smell the dust and dirt that has been inside them for millions of years. Standing beneath some crystals that are nearly 10 feet tall, and even sitting inside another that was big enough to hold me! Then at the workshops seeing the geodes go through all the stages of preparation. Seeing the amazing array of colors and feeling all the different energies emanating from the crystals. ![]() Walking in and amongst the hundreds, really thousands of crystals and geodes. The city is magical for me: The sights, the sounds, the smell of the workshops and seeing all of the crystal dealers. I’m not big on shopping for clothes, but I sure do love shopping for crystals!!!
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