Catlinite (Pipestone)




Crystal System:
Isometric
Cell Salt:
Hydrous aluminum silicate
Color:
Brick Red
Energy:
Receptive
Element:
Earth, Air, and Fire
Planet/Sign:
Mercury/Gemini;  Moon/Cancer;  Saturn-Uranus/Aquarius
Stone Lore:
The traditional Native American pipe bowl is made of catlinite from Pipestone Quarry in Minnesota. The stem may be made of stone or wood. The pipe is perhaps the most sacred object in Native American spirituality. It was first given to the Lakota Indians by White Buffalo Calf Woman, and is now used by many Indian tribes for prayer. It is not merely a symbol of that which is sacred—the pipe itself is sacred. Unci Kunshi, the Grandmother Earth, lives in the bowl. The stem represents Tunkashila, the Grandfather Sky. Sometimes the pire is decorated with beads, feathers and painted symbols.
Medicine Uses:
Pipestone is used primarily to fashion the sacred pipe, which is always handled with the utmost respect. The bowl is filled with canshasha, the red willow bark tobacco, or herbs such as sage or wild cherry bark. Then the pipe is lit and the smoke offered to Grandfather Sky, Grandmother Earth, and to the four directions. As the pipe is shared among the people, the smokers become one with the earth and sky, because they are filled with the Great Mystery of visible breath.
If you were pipestone beads or keep a piece of natural pipestone in your medicine pouch, recognize that it is a great blessing to have this stone in your possession. Always treat pipestone with teh utmost respect and remember to include the Lakota and all indigenous people in your thanksgiving.