Back to the Twelve Stones
Foundation 6 of 12
Revelation 21:20
Sardius
σάρδιονThe seal-stone of the ancient world: iron-tinted quartz whose every grain refracts light in two.
Mineralogy
- Greek name
- sardion (σάρδιον)
- Modern identification
- Carnelian / Sard
- Chemical formula
- SiO₂
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Optical class
- Uniaxial (+)
- Birefringence (Δn)
- 0.004–0.009
- Refractive indices
- 1.530–1.539
- Color / appearance
- Reddish-orange to brown
Iron oxide coloring; used in ancient Near East seals.
The light between
Sardius is anisotropic: enter it with a single ray of light and it leaves as two, split apart by the crystal's inner order. This is birefringence, the same property shared by every one of the twelve foundation stones, and by none of the cubic stones left out of the list.
In the high-priestly breastplate of Exodus 28, this position held Jasper in the Septuagint reckoning.
Hold the light in your hand
The Revelation Stones collection brings each foundation stone into the room with you, and the Light Between research explains what you are looking at.