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Black Tourmaline for Protection: Meaning & Properties
Apr
Black tourmaline (sometimes called Schorl) is a popular protection stone that is naturally found in Africa, Brazil, and Pakistan. It’s used across the world in rituals, for meditation, to decorate shrines, and for jewelry. It’s also the birthstone of those born in October.
Black tourmaline has several uses, but people primarily use it for its ability to banish negativity and provide people with the space and resources to heal. If you’re interested in using black tourmaline for protection, read on to learn more about its meaning, properties, and how to work with this stone.
Black Tourmaline: Meaning
Black tourmaline is the most potent form of tourmaline, and one of the most powerful protective stones available. It represents cleansing, purification, and breaking free. These stones are symbolic of self-love, self-care, and strength. They represent choosing yourself and taking back your power and energy when you have been giving so much to others. It’s an essential stone for anyone’s collection!
Black Tourmaline: Properties
It Helps Clear Your Head of Negative Thoughts
Sometimes we get into a negative spiral in our heads and just don’t seem to be able to get back on a positive path. If you feel like you’re constantly talking down to yourself, putting yourself down, or thinking hopeless thoughts about your ability to live life on your terms, try working with black tourmaline.
Black tourmaline is a strong protection stone and can help you start to clear your head of these thoughts, whether these bad thoughts come from past trauma, current stress, or the negativity of others.
Protect You From Other People’s Bad Energy
Sometimes, you’re forced to be around someone you’re an energetic mismatch with. They likely irritate you, you feel icky when you’re around them, they don’t understand you, and/or they’re always in a bad mood. Unfortunately, this person is often a boss, colleague, or the loved one of a loved one, meaning you can’t simply stop being around them.
You can use black tourmaline for protection from all their negativity, helping you to create a better energetic and spiritual barrier between you and them. Try wearing black tourmaline jewelry or carry a stone somewhere on your person. It doesn’t need to be a sizable stone, so if you only have room for a small one, you can positively charge it before you see the person in question to help you stay strong.
This also works energetically with places – if there’s a town, home, or business you feel energetic friction with when you enter it, wearing black tourmaline for protection will help you create a bubble around yourself and avoid the negativity you usually feel or the bad luck you usually experience there.
Protect You From Energy Vampires
This benefit builds on our last, as energy vampires often have negative energy, the difference is we often don’t notice it. Energy vampires are usually people close to us (but not always) that suck away our energy – you’ll generally come away from an interaction with them having another thing on your plate, having heard about all their woes (having shared none of yours), or so tired you need to close yourself away from others. Introverts and sensitives can be especially vulnerable to energy vampires, though they affect everyone around them.
The best thing to do if you have an energy vampire in your life is to find a way to cut them out. They are literally and metaphorically sucking your energy from you – you’ll find yourself give-give-giving to them with nothing in return, though they may call you their “hero”, “savior”, or “star”, which will keep you around. Try to cut the cords with them – a cord-cutting ritual is key here, so work with your black tourmaline in this ritual. You should do this ritual even if you cannot cut this person out of your life – you just may need to do it regularly after spending time with them.
You can do a cord-cutting ritual whenever you have a little free time, even if it’s just in the bathroom, perhaps while you’re in the shower or bath. If you have the space and time, prepare an area in your home you consider “yours” where you feel safe, and light a few candles, light some incense, and put on some calming music – whatever puts you at ease.
Next, take a black tourmaline stone in your dominant hand and sit or stand comfortably, connecting to the energy of the Earth and ground your own energy. When you feel ready, raise your arms and imagine putting your hand around one of the cords that are connecting you to that other person. Then, with the black tourmaline in your other hand, imagine cutting through the cord. As you do the motion, say “[name], I set you free”, or, “I return this energy to its owner, for it is not mine.” Do this repeatedly until you feel the weight on you release. By the end of the ritual, you should feel lighter.
It’s also a good idea to carry black tourmaline with you when you know you’re going to be spending time with them and imagine a protective bubble around you. Be wary of giving in to them when they ask you for your energy – make sure it’s something you actually want to do before agreeing.
Lift the Heaviness in Your Home or Place of Work
Saging a space isn’t the only way to get rid of negative energies, you can also use black tourmaline for protection. Using black tourmaline is a great alternative if you can’t use sage due to other people inhabiting the space, respiratory problems, or smoke alarms.
If you cannot sage a space, but you have the freedom to move around the entire building or room, hold your black tourmaline and “sage” the space, going to each corner with the stone, motioning to the lower and upper corners, chasing out the negative energy. You can place four stones in each corner of the room or building for long-lasting effects – just remember to cleanse them from time to time.
If you can’t do this because you’re never in the space alone, place black tourmaline around your space, and carry it with you, either in a pocket or by wearing it as jewelry.
Shake Negative Memories
If you find negative memories popping into your mind unexpectedly, try working with black tourmaline, as many find these unwelcome memories lessen in frequency or disappear altogether after meditating with the stone. All this negativity can build up in us, and you may feel happy only for your mind to throw one of these memories at you, bringing you back down.
This usually happens because you are out of balance – if you think of an old-fashioned scale, your “negative side” is so much heavier than your “positive side”, so any time you’re feeling more positive, the negative side weighs you back down.
To find balance again, you need to shake off some of that negativity. The best way to do this is to do a black tourmaline protection “cleanse”, which is where you are very intentional about how you work with your stones intensively for 3-5 days straight. This involves meditating with black tourmaline morning and night, placing it around the spaces you spend a lot of time in (car, home, work), and carrying it or wearing it.
For 3-5 days, you keep the stones around you, pushing any negative memories away when they come, and practicing gratitude or purposely recalling good memories to replace them when they do. After a few days, you’ll find these memories don’t pop up as often, or you’ll be less affected by them when they do. The more stones you have the better, but at least 5 small stones are recommended. Take them into different situations with you and cleanse them each night or every other night.
How often should you cleanse black tourmaline?
When you’re actively working with black tourmaline, try to cleanse it every 1-3 days, depending on how much negativity you’re experiencing. It’s often worth having a few stones to work with during stressful times. If you’re wearing tourmaline for general protection, rather than in response to heavy situations, cleanse every new and full moon.
What chakra does black tourmaline connect with?
Black tourmaline connects primarily with the root chakra, which is responsible for your creative and sexual energy. It helps you manage your emotions and those of others with more ease. Working with black tourmaline can help to unblock this chakra. Signs of a blocked root chakra include unexplained anxiety and fear, exhaustion, and even constipation.
What other protection stones are there?
Some other stones to consider working with for protection are: amethyst, black jade, clear quartz, and obsidian.
If you’re moving away from negativity in your life and you’re trying to find the right stones to work with – don’t go without black tourmaline. Black tourmaline can help protect you from negative energy and be instrumental in big shifts in how you think and care for your own energy.