Galena

(gah - lee - nuh)
Main Origins:
Bulgaria, the USA, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Peru, the UK, Canada, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, and Romania.

What is Galena?

Galena on a black background

DISCLAIMER: Galena has a high lead content, so handle it with personal protective equipment like gloves and masks. Prolonged handling of Galena with bare hands or inhaling its dust can cause dangerous side effects. 

Galena is an opaque lead sulfide mineral in gray with a silver shimmer, resembling Hematite. It’s commonly found in the hydrothermal ore veins of minerals, like Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, and Sphalerite, or metals like Silver, Zinc, and Copper. 

Due to its toxicity, avoid holding it with your bare hands or letting it touch your skin.

Did you know Galena was used for making tools and weapons in prehistoric times? Ancient Greeks and Romans used it for making coins, tools, and weaponry. The Ancient Chinese empires also used Galena for making coins, whereas Mayans and Aztecs used it for making pigments and dyes.

Today it’s the main source of lead, pigment (eyeliners, eye shadows, and hair dye), and radiation shielding. Galena is used for grounding, protection, detox, and psychic abilities in the spiritual circle.

Also popular as Galenit, Galeno, Galeniet, and Glasurerz, this common lead ore is usually opaque with a gray streak. It may have a metallic, submetallic, or dull luster based on its mineral impurities.  

Fun Fact: Crystals of Galena look bright when freshly mined, but they tarnish and rust quickly with exposure to air. 

Galena Metaphysical Properties and Benefits

As it’s usually seen in gray, black, silver, red, and brown colors, it’s mainly associated with the Root, Crown, Earth Star, and Lunar Star Chakras. 

Galena is also seen in orange, green, olive-green, white, yellow, blue, indigo, and pink, so Galena properties also include Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, Soul Star, Solar Star, and Stellar Gateway Chakras.

Discipline, manifestation, and inner power are the meanings of Galena’s cosmic vibration numbers 22 and 2.

This crystal is associated with luck, courage, and clarity from Saturn in astrology. 

Who should wear Galena? Aquarius and Capricorn are the best signs for Galena.

Galenit is linked to the Earth element in spirituality, including feng shui. Where to keep Galena in the house? Keeping this crystal in the Southwest or Center of your home is good.

The iron crystal is linked to deities like Bendis, the Thracian Moon Goddess; Iroquois, the Native American Thunder God; Odin, the Norse God of Wisdom; Perun, the Slavic God of Thunder; Viracocha, the Andean Creator God; and Sedna, the Inuit Sea Goddess.

Galena Healing Properties and Benefits

Relationships

  • Strength and support come naturally to Galena because it opens your mind to accept others and their ideas.
  • Charge a Galenit palm stone under the early morning sun and carry it in your left pocket to review yourself and grow in relationships.

Courage and Confidence

  • Use Galena with Pyrite, or those in the cubic shape, to boost self-esteem. They’ll help you discover your most authentic self and respect it.
  • Program your crystal for confidence by charging the crystal in front of a candle for less than a minute.

Protection from Radiation and EMF

  • Most of us live in a sea of radiation, with hundreds of gadgets around us. Galena can help you neutralize some of those bad energies. 
  • Charge your Galena by keeping it in a bowl with some soil for a couple of hours. Keep the charged crystal in different areas of your home to spread good vibes.

Decisiveness and Knowledge

  • Galeno crystals in the octahedral shape (naturally, not with polish) are good for quick thinking, rationality, and intelligence. 
  • Charge your crystal for knowledge and decision-making skills by chanting positive affirmations into the stone.

Fertility

  • Have you tried most remedies for infertility without success? Galena with Rhodonite may accelerate the effect of medicines (never substitute medicines for crystals or alternative healing), especially if you’re trying to conceive.
  • Program your crystal for reproductive benefits with a combination of techniques, like meditation, Fire, Earth, sage, incense, healing sounds, etc. Then keep the charged stone in your bedroom.

Galena Spiritual Properties and Benefits

hand model writing the word manifesting on a piece of paper

Manifestation

  • Galena is that quintessential crystal that helps manifest desires and dreams.
  • Use a single-terminated Galena stone in the center of a crystal grid for manifestation.

Psychic Protection

  • Galena with Sphalerite, Goethite, and Pyrite prevents harmful energies from touching your family.
  • Charge four Galeno crystals with incense or smudge sticks then place them in different corners of your house. Bury it near the Entrance if you live in an apartment. 

Clairvoyance

  • Galena activates psychic abilities, like spirit contact, clarity, and intuition, in varieties with Cobalt. 
  • Light a candle and activate your crystal for clairvoyance by gazing into it with open eyes at night in your room. 

Astral Travel

  • Varieties of Galena with Fluorite are good for cosmic travel, astral projection, and interdimensional leaps.
  • Program your crystal for astral travel by soaking it overnight in the moonlight and carrying it with you.

Awakening and Transformation

  • Use Galena with Quartz, Marcasite, or Calcite for enlightenment, change, spiritual destiny, and deep shamanic healing. 
  • Activate your crystal for the spiritual awakening by breathing seed mantras like RAM, OM, VAM, or LAM.

Galena Side Effects

  • Headaches and discomforts: Take a break from Galena if you’re experiencing dizziness and uneasiness.
  • Unsatisfied: You might feel like an adrenaline junkie when you’re pumped to do many things. Cleanse your aura with a Selenite wand and detox to feel nourished again. 
  • Conflicts in Birth Chart: If you notice irrational events or coincidences in life, take a break and consult an astrologist if it’s clashing with your ruling planets or elements.

Galena Meaning: What Does Galena Symbolize?

tarot cards together with candle on black platform

The meaning of Galena is psychic protection. 

Galena is traditionally associated with protection from natural light, heat, and dust, on top of benefits like power, strength, confidence, and transformation. It was named after the Greek word for iron ore, “Galene,” by Pliny the Elder in the first century.

Did you know the Ancient Egyptians wore a powder of Galena around their eyes? They did so for protection from the desert sun, bugs, and pests. 

The Ancient Romans used Galenit in piping, baths, and water management, while Babylonians and Assyrians used it in construction.

It’s widely used industrially for decor, feng shui, reiki, and other energy healing techniques. Galena benefits, such as courage, grounding, protection, manifestation, support, and awakening, are also popular these days.

Types of Galena

  • Common Galena: Galena usually has a metallic, lead-gray, or black color. It’s good for clearing stagnant or blocking energies from your chakras. 
  • Bleischweif: This is the archaic name for Fine-Grained Galeno in black, white, gray, blue, or silver. Use it for mediumship and higher powers.
  • Bleispiegel: Slickenside Galena that forms mirror-like, flattish to slightly curved surfaces. This Galena variety is good for advanced spiritual rituals, like scrying and mediumship.
  • Gestrickter Bleiglanz: This is an acicular variety of Galeno in vibrant colors with gold, silver, brown, or black. Use this crystal to boost your communication skills, confidence, and creativity. 
  • Strickblende: Another type of Bleiglanz, Strickblende forms with colloform Sphalerite and means “knitted Galena” in German. It’s called Galène Tricotée in French and shows beige, brown, black, gray, or tan colors. Use it for spiritual awakening. 
  • Spinel Twinned Galena: Also popular as Spinel Law Twinned Galena, this is a pair of Galeno crystals with twinning formation, as in spinels. It’s great for spiritual awakening and psychic protection. 
  • Blaubleierz: This is a natural crystal formation of Galena with Pyromorphite. Blaubleirz is the German word for blue lead ore. It’s a good crystal formation for higher consciousness and psychic abilities, like clairvoyance and intuition. 
  • Gold-bearing Galena: Metallic gold with Galena is usually found in deposits and veins of Quartz, Granites, Sandstones, and other metamorphic, sedimentary, or igneous rocks. They’re great for luck and self-discovery. 
  • Haidingerite (Johnstonite): An alteration mineral of Galeno in clear, white, green, or yellow, this variety is great to attract Galen benefits for physical health and luck.
  •  Plumbeine: This crystal contains lead copper sulfide, according to chemistry, showing dark gray or black color with a metallic shine. They often form elongated shapes, sometimes with yellow inclusions. Use it for protection. 
  • Acanthite: Also popular as Selenium-bearing Galena, this crystal may be black or gray with silver flashes. It’s good for grounding and protection. 
  • Silver-bearing Galena: Appearing in white, gray, and black colors with silver shimmer, this variety is good for discovering your destiny and most authentic self. 
  • Orange Galena: This variety shows black from Galeno and orange from Gummite. Use it for inner power and strength. 
  • U-Galena: Also popular as Uranium-bearing Galena, this is a dark crystal with a uranium-derived lead found in the USA and Finland. It’s good for cosmic travel with the crystal gazing technique. 
  •  Red Galena: When Rhodonite occurs naturally with Galena, it shows vibrant red or pink with black crystals. Use it for fertility and courage.
  •  Yellow Galena or Anglesite on Galena: Sometimes Anglesite may replace Galena. It shows yellow crystals on black or gray Galeno. They may occur with indigo crystals of Covellite. Use this crystal for good luck.
  •  Blue Cobalt Galena: Showing vibrant blues with black and silver, this variety gets its unique shades from Cobalt. It’s good for communication skills.
  •  Galena with Cerussite and Barite: One of the unique types of Galena, this crystal shows a black matrix from Galeno with yellow or white crystals of Cerussite with pink-bladed Barite. Use it for letting go and inner healing.
  •  Galena with Calcite: Black crystals of Galena naturally form with White Calcite in this variety. It’s good for higher consciousness and awareness. 
  •  Galena with Goethite: Also called Brown Galena, this variety has dark brown crystals replacing most of the surface Galenit. Use it for psychic protection. 
  •  Galena with Sphalerite, Pyrite, and Marcasite: Dark brown crystals of Sphalerite often form with Galeno, sometimes with golden and brown from Pyrite and Marcasite. Use this crystal for immunity and vitality. 
  •  Galena with Twinned and Quartz and Fluorite: A mix of several crystals, this formation occurs naturally in black, orange, yellow, and gray colors. It’s a good crystal for healing the higher and lower chakras.
  •  Galena with Chalcopyrite and Pyrrhotite: Often sourced from Russia, this is a crystal variety showing silver, black, brown, yellow, white, and gold. Use it for astral travel and centering. 
  •  Galena with Tetrahedrite: This Galeno variety forms naturally with Chalcopyrite and Tetrahedrite in gray, silver, brown, and yellow hues. It’s good for safety and confidence. 
  •  Galena with Dolomite: Black Galeno in geometrical shapes exist naturally with white or beige Dolomite. They’re great for travel protection. 
  •  Galena with Siderite: Galena may be coated naturally with yellow, brown, or lime-green crystals of Siderite. Use it for courage and deep peace. 
  •  Galena with Cinnabar: Appearing in pink and black colors, this natural Galena formation with Cinnabar must be handled with care since Cinnabar is highly toxic. They’re great for self-love.
  •  Galena with Bismuth: Also popular as the Bismuth-bearing Galena or  Bismuthiferous Galena, this variety holds up to its 16% weight in Bismuth and is usually black or gray with golden flecks. Use it for psychic powers, like intuition and clairvoyance.
  •  Rhodochrosite with Galena: A beautiful Galena cluster in pink and black, Rhodochrosite may also replace Galena through different stages of crystal growth. Use it for support and strength during challenging situations.
  •  Vanadinite with Galena: Showing yellow or red crystals on the iconic black of Galena, this natural crystal formation is ideal for astral travel and lucid dreaming.
  •  Spessartine Garnet with Galena: This Galena variety shows dark brown or red crystals of Spessartine Garnet on a black base color of Galena. Use it to heal deep emotional scars.
  •  Chrysocolla with Galena: One of the vibrant blue varieties of Galena is a teal blue and black crystal. It’s great for empathy, compassion, and gratitude. 
  •  Galena with Celestine: Also called Celestine Pseudomorphs, this variety may show beige, yellow, and pale blue hues. It’s great for Reiki healing, especially for clearing curses and stubborn chakra blockages.
  •  Mimetite with Wulfenite on Galena: This is a multicolored variety with purple, green, yellow, black, gray, and orange. Use it for manifestation or grid work. 
  •  Azurite with Malachite and Galena: Boasting vivid indigo and green colors on the orange, beige, brown, or tan base color, this is a crystal for protecting your home and family from radiation and evil vibrations.
  •  Galena Anhydrite: Often forming naturally with White Quartz, this crystal boasts shiny black, brown, and gray. Use it for amplifying energies or setting intentions. 
  •  Clausthalite with Galena: This is a Galena series with Clausthalite. It shows white and brown crystals with Black Galena. You can carry it on you to reduce overthinking and increase confidence.

How To Cleanse Galena?

Smoking palo santo smudge stick

  • Smudging: Waft the smoke of a lit incense over your crystal for 20 to 40 seconds. 
  • Clear Quartz: Circle the Clear Quartz over Galena to clear the negativity absorbed by the crystal. 
  • Sunlight: Keep your crystal under the early morning sun for a few minutes to remove negativity stuck onto it.

 

Questions and Answers

Is Galena a gemstone?

No, Galena isn’t a gemstone but a semi-precious stone used in jewelry and decor.

What is the difference between Hematite and Galena?

You can easily tell Galena from Hematite with the weight test. Galena is heavier than Hematite. It’s Galena if your crystal leaves a gray or black streak when rubbed on unglazed porcelain. If it leaves a red streak, it’s Hematite. 

Is Galena rare?

No, Galena is not a rare mineral; it’s available in several places worldwide.

Is Galena safe in water?

No, Galena is not safe in the water. The presence of moisture leads to oxidation and rust. 

Can Galena go in the sun?

Yes, Galena is a sun-safe crystal, though avoid leaving it out in direct sunlight for long hours.

Is Galena dangerous or toxic to the touch?

Yes, some varieties of Galena with lead, uranium, and selenium may be toxic to the touch. In any case, you should avoid coming into contact without protective equipment.

How to identify real Galena?

Real Galena has a blue-black tone and a gray or black streak. Real Galena can’t be scratched with your fingernail and may leave its streak on your nail.

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