Alternative Names: None
Origin: Worldwide
Mineral Species: Muscovite
Mineral Group: Silicates
Chemical Formula: KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
Hardness: 2.5
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Colour: Colourless, white to pale brown, silvery.
Typical Appearance: Typically as 'books' or flaky masses, with rhombic or hexagonal outlines. Commonly twinned forming star-shaped crystal groups.
Birthstone: None
Chakra Alignment: None
Element: None
Origin of Name & Mythology: The earliest names attributable to muscovite include: Muscovy Glass, Cat Silver, and Lapis Specularis (stone mirror); these names appearing in texts in the seventeenth century and before. The stand-alone name 'Muscovite' was used as early as 1794 by Johann Gottfried Schmeisser in his System of Mineralogy, and is derived from the term "Muscovy glass," which was in common use by that time. Muscovy Province in Russia yielded sheet mica for a variety of uses. Muscovite and sometimes similar species were earlier called: mica (Phillips and Kersey, 1706), glimmer (Phillips and Kersey, 1706), and isinglass (1747 according to OED): but all of these terms are still in use to some degree. It should be noted that mica, glimmer, and isinglass were also used for a variety of materials before these given dates and in those earlier times did not always indicate what would be a mineral, much less muscovite proper. Isinglass, for example, was originally used for a gelatinous bladder found in sturgeon.
See general properties of Mica Group
