Maori Greenstone
(mah-oh-ree green-stone)What is Māori Greenstone?
Māori Greenstone refers to two green-colored stones – Nephrite Jade and a type of Serpentine (Translucent Bowenite). In Māori, it’s called Pounamu or Pounamu Stone.
Māori categorizes Pounamu stone based on shades of green, mostly referring to the Nephrite Jade variety. Therefore, it’s called New Zealand Jade, New Zealand Greenstone, or New Zealand Nephrite. Sometimes, it’s called Aotea (old name for New Zealand) Stone.
Some indigenous names for New Zealand Jade are Kawakawa, Kahurangi, Īnanga, and Kōkopu, and Tangiwai for the Serpentine variety.
From a chemical perspective, New Zealand Nephrite exhibits a richer green color and high translucence, resulting from iron impurities. The rocks where Pounamu is found are called Ophiolites.
Greenstone, or Pounamu, is found on the South Island, called the Land of Greenstone Water or Te Wahi Pounamu.
Did you know fossicking for Pounamu stone is a cultural activity in New Zealand? The public is allowed to rummage for Pounamu along the West Coast of the South Island and take any Greenstone that they can carry unaided by themselves. However, you cannot take Pounamu out of New Zealand without a permit, as it is prohibited.
While legends regard Māori Greenstone as a protective stone, it’s also used for mental clarity, physical healing, strength, fertility, luck, and ancestral connections.
Fun Fact: In English, Jade found in New Zealand is called Greenstone, while in Māori, it’s called Pounamu.
Pounamu Healing Properties & Benefits
Letting Go and Acceptance
- Some varieties, such as Kohuwai, Orange, Blue, and Kawakawa Māori Greenstone crystals, assist in healing deep-seated hurt. These are beneficial for releasing emotions like guilt, hatred, and revenge.
- Charge your crystal with the healing vibrations of a singing bowl and carry it on your left side throughout the day. To do this, keep your stone next to the bowl before playing it.
Clarity and Communication
- Inanga, Kahurangi, Tangiwai, Blue, and Kako-Tea Pounamu Stones remove distractions and dilemmas. Placing a charged stone on your neck and forehead also improves self-expression and creativity.
- Face the rising Sun with your crystal in your palms and visualize it getting activated daily for a week.
Empathy and Love
- Kawakawa, Dark Green, and White NZ Greenstone varieties can clear blockages in your Heart Chakra, inviting love and radiating empathy for things around you.
- Light an incense or sage smudge stick and circle it over your crystal to activate its potential for love, harmony, and empathic connections. Once charged, place it in the center of your house or room.
Strength and Courage
- Kako-Tea, Black, Totoweka, and Tangiwai varieties of Greenstone from New Zealand open your lower chakras. They’re excellent for boosting energy, willpower, and confidence.
- Make a crystal elixir by placing your healing stone next to a glass of water (not inside it). Consume the elixir before sunset and repeat the process daily.
Fertility
- Did you know Greenstone increases the chance of conception? Some varieties, like Flower, Golden, Dendritic, and Kako-Tea Pounamu, are more powerful than others as they awaken your kundalini life force energy.
- Create a crystal elixir and pour it into your bathtub before soaking in the gem bath for 5 to 10 minutes. Do it once or twice a week for a month for the best results. Don’t forget to meditate on your intention while soaking.
Māori Greenstone Spiritual Properties & Benefits
Awakening and Growth
- Greenstone varieties that open the lower chakras with colors like golden, orange, teal, and bicolor varieties tap into the dormant areas of your mind to help your spirit evolve and transform.
- Sit in an open space under the moonlight and gaze into your crystal without blinking. Continue scrying until you receive psychic visions from the higher realm.
Good Luck and Abundance
- Are you searching for a good luck stone? Keep a charged Totweka, Flower, or Golden Greenstone from New Zealand in your wallet or purse to attract prosperity, fortune, and wealth toward you.
- Chant this affirmation while holding your stone near the lips, “I am open to positive opportunities, success, and luck coming into my life.”
Cosmic Connection
- Pounamu Stones with white or blue tints connect your physical body with the ethereal one.
- Build a crystal grid with 12 crystals for cosmic connections surrounding it. Light a candle or activate the crystals on the grid with a Clear Quartz wand daily to manifest your intention.
Psychic Protection
- Did you know Greenstone can create an energy field around you that repels negativity and evil? Some varieties, like Kako-Tea, Black, and Striped Māori Greenstone, empower your aura when you carry it on you.
- Hold your stone near the lips and chant “LAM” into the stone for a minute. Finally, hold your stone over each of your chakras for a few seconds while visualizing your auric centers getting stronger.
Ancestral Connection
- Kohuwai and Dendritic Greenstone varieties can connect you with ancestral spirits to help you complete your soul missions.
- Build a crystal altar with your crystal in the center, surrounded by sage, tobacco, a black candle, bay leaves, white rose petals, and a few drops of sandalwood. Make sure to light the candle before bed to activate the connection.
Side Effects of Māori Greenstone
- Overstimulation: Using NZ Greenstone without a break can overstimulate and exhaust you.
- Disturbing Dreams: Sleeping with a charged Pounamu Stone under the pillow may lead to disturbing or vivid dreams.
- Blind Positivity: Sensitive people may become overwhelmed by Māori Greenstone’s high vibrations or positivity while ignoring the practical risks around them.
Māori Greenstone Meaning: What Does Māori Pounamu Stone Symbolize?
The meaning of Māori Greenstone is psychic protection.
In Māori culture, Greenstone is traditionally considered a “taonga,” meaning a treasured object or natural resource.
Today, it’s regarded as a powerful amplifier for divination rituals involving karmic debts, psychic powers, protection rites, fertility rituals, and prosperity ceremonies.
Many legends surround the origin, use, and effects of Greenstone in the Māori culture. As Pounamu Stones are often heirlooms, there is a widespread belief that they harbor “mana,” a spiritual essence believed to hold significant power.
New Zealand Jade was traditionally used for several things, from jewelry to heirlooms and weapons. However, chiefs primarily donned it as a symbol of their rank and social hierarchy.
Many stories also talk about the Pounamu Stone offered as a symbol of peace.
Just as Pounamu is Māori for Greenstone, most varieties have vernacular translations. For instance, Tangiwai Pounamu means “tears from the great sorrow,” referring to a legend where the tears of a lamenting woman turned into the Tangiwai variety.
Another legend is of the God Tāne, who used another variety of New Zealand Jade to split the rope that tied Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatūānuku, the Earth Mother.
Fun Fact: Māori also give Greenstone as a gift to visitors!
Types of Māori Greenstone
- Common Māori Greenstone: Common Pounamu stones show different hues of green, often mixed with other colors like brown, yellow, gray, and black. It is recommended for ancestral connections, physical power, and psychic protection.
- Inanga Māori Greenstone: Inanga, a Māori term, refers to whitebait, exhibiting a pale green base color. It’s the best variety for intuition, psychic vision, and mental clarity.
- Totoweka Pounamu: This rare type of Pounamu stone shows red streaks, spots, or mottling on a green base color. Use it for courage, good luck, and spiritual development.
- Kohuwai Māori Greenstone: Pounamu Kohuwai is characterized by its moss green hue interspersed with dark, pale, and olive green. Use this stone to aid transformation, release hurt, and strengthen ancestral connections.
- Kawakawa Pounamu: Also called Kawa-Kawa Greenstone, this type displays a dark green hue with other shades of green throughout the stone. It enhances cosmic connections, emotional intelligence, and empathy.
- Kako-Tea Māori Greenstone: This type represents the dark green variety of NZ Greenstone, distinguished by black spots, and is also called Kōkopu Pounamu. Use it for strength, fertility, psychic protection, and self-expression.
- Kahurangi Pounamu: A bright green type of Pounamu stone with light and streaky inclusions, the patterns on this rarest variety look like rolling clouds. Use it for mental clarity, intelligence, and spiritual development.
- Flower Māori Greenstone: Featuring cream, yellow, beige, or brown inclusions from iron impurities inside the stone, this stone is popular as Picture or Flower Jade. Originating from Marsden in Hokitika, it is sought for its purported benefits in fertility and good luck.
- Tangiwai Pounamu: A translucent variety that resembles glass, this stone shows various shades and looks like a drop of water under clear light. Use it for development, deep healing, courage, and grounding.
- Blue Māori Greenstone: This is a little-known variety of Pounamu stone with an indigo-blue tint. Psychics recommend it for communicating with spirits.
- Golden Pounamu: A type of Flower Jade from New Zealand, this variety shows golden flecks on a dark green base. It’s excellent for health, wealth, abundance, and fertility.
- Orange Māori Greenstone: Another variety of Flower Pounamu, this stone is usually pale orange with stripes of gray or black. This stone is believed to open the kundalini energy center and awaken willpower.
- Black Pounamu: When most of the stone exhibits a black shade, it is called Black Greenstone. Use it for preventing psychic attacks, harmony, balance, courage, willpower, and strength.
- White Māori Greenstone: Featuring white cloudy patterns with dark green, pale green, and brown hues, this is a multicolored Pounamu Stone good for multi-chakra alignment.
- Teal Māori Greenstone: This NZ Jade type is blue-green, perfect for opening the Throat and Heart Chakras. They are known for promoting physical and emotional balance.
- Bicolor Pounamu: This New Zealand Jade is a natural crystal formation that combines black and teal colors. It is a rare stone ideal for balancing the higher and the lower chakras.
- Dendritic Māori Greenstone: Featuring yellow, cream, or brown dendritic patterns on a dark green base color, this is also a rare variety. Use it for transformation, ancestral connection, tranquility, and reproductive health.
- Striped Māori Greenstone: When you notice distinct shades of green in stripes or bands on your Pounamu Stone, it’s perfect for decisiveness, courage, and psychic protection.
How to Cleanse Māori Greenstone?
- Soil: Pack your stone in a box or a pouch and bury it three inches under the soil overnight or up to seven days to remove the negativity absorbed by your stone.
- Singing Bowls: Place your stone next to a singing bowl and gently tap its sides with the mallet for a few minutes. Envision the sound vibrations, restoring the stone’s original energies.
- Palo Santo: Light a palo santo stick and circle the smoke over your stone for a minute or two. Do it before and after using the stone.
Questiona and Answers
Pounamu is the Māori name for Greenstone, which refers to Nephrite Jade from New Zealand and a translucent Bowenite (a type of Serpentine).
Yes, Māori Greenstone is safe to touch with your bare hands.
Pounamu Stones (both varieties) form from a chemical reaction deep within the earth, merging sedimentary and volcanic rocks rich in magnesium and iron.
As a result of heat and pressure from the formation of the Southern Alps millions of years ago, Māori Greenstone gets lifted to the surface and is often found in rivers and seas.
Yes, Māori Greenstone can get wet for short and long periods.
Yes, Pounamu Stone is safe in the sun as its color doesn’t fade from short periods of sun exposure. However, it’s wise to keep it away from prolonged exposure to light and heat.
The best way to tell if Māori Greenstone is real is by checking for a ringing sound when struck. Genuine stones may show a white or a brown streak.
Yes and no; some varieties of Māori Greenstone are rare, such as Kahurangi and Totoweka, but others are available in plenty.
Most Pounamu stone is expensive, ranging from $10 to $250 per specimen, depending on its color, clarity, and size.
Stones best to combine with Pounamu Stone include Shattuckite, Lodalite, Herkimer Diamond, Quartz, Blue Kunzite, Diamond, Zircon, Black Opal, Coral, Danburite, and Beryl.
Greenstone and Pounamu are synonymous terms referring to the same type of stone.
Interactions with Māori Greenstone or Pounamu
Māori Greenstone vs. Vesuvianite
Vesuvianite and Māori Greenstone are good to use together because the same planet rules them. Use it for ancestral connections, psychic protection, and healing.
| Crystal | Māori Greenstone | Vesuvianite |
| Chakras | Root, Solar Plexus, and Heart. | Root, Solar Plexus, and Heart. |
| Ruling Planet | Mercury and Venus. | Venus and Pluto. |
| Ruling Element | Earth and Wood. | Earth |
| MOHS | 6 to 6.5. | 6.5 |
Māori Greenstone vs. Malachite
Venus rules Māori Greenstone and Malachite, so they are good to combine, especially for fertility and deep healing.
| Crystal | Māori Greenstone | Malachite |
| Chakras | Root, Solar Plexus, and Heart. | Heart and Throat. |
| Ruling Planet | Mercury and Venus. | Venus and Jupiter. |
| Ruling Element | Earth and Wood. | Earth |
| MOHS | 6 to 6.5. | 3.5 to 4. |
Māori Greenstone vs. Chrysoprase
You can combine the energies of Chrysoprase with Māori Greenstone because Venus rules them both. They’re great for success in love and romance.
| Crystal | Māori Greenstone | Chrysoprase |
| Chakras | Root, Solar Plexus, and Heart. | Heart |
| Ruling Planet | Mercury and Venus. | Venus |
| Ruling Element | Earth and Wood. | Water |
| MOHS | 6 to 6.5. | 6 to 7. |
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