Lapis lazuli
Valued since ancient times, Lapis lazuli has been ground for brilliant blue dyes, eye makeup, and medicines. The name comes from Latin (stone) and the Persian (blue). The gem is a melding of sodalite, calcite, lazurite and pyrite, which may be visible as gold flecks.
A famous objet d'art, the sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen is richly inlaid with lapis lazuli.
According to the International Colored Gemstone Association, lapis is mined in Italy and North America, as well as Myanmar, Mongolia and Pakistan. It is also mined in Afghanistan and in Chile. Pre-Columbian cultures valued and used this blue stone, which they mined in the Andes.
Lapis Lazuli is also the name of one of the most famous poems of the great 20th century poet William Butler Yeats.
I find the colour of this gemstone irresistible. Favourite bits of jewellery include earrings brought by a friend from Pakistan as well as a square pendant I bargained for in the Medina in Tunis.
In energetic terms, the colour of lapis is associated with the throat chakra, the seat of communication and integration.