What’s the one gem in your collection that touches the very root of your energy? Red Coral. This beautiful gem represents the lifeblood inside your body and the universal energy that we tap into for renewal and strength.
This beautiful gem isn’t truly a gemstone at all, but rather an organic material found in the ocean. Its deep connection to life, vitality, wellness, and prosperity has kept it popular for use in jewelry and meditation for centuries. If you want to unlock the power within, Red Coral is the gem to help you do it.
Let’s talk about what Red Coral is, the healing properties it has, and how you can use it in your meditations and daily life.
What Are Red Coral Gems?
Most of the crystals and stones you have in your collection are probably minerals that have been mined from rock formations. Red Coral, however, is the byproduct of marine polyps, living creatures that continuously secrete materials to form a hard, exterior skeleton to protect them.
Over time, the exoskeletons form vast networks of these interlocking skeletons, forming coral reefs. When the marine polyps die, the skeleton remains. The beautiful skeletal remains of the marine polyps are harvested and cut into Red Coral gemstones.
Physical Properties of Red Coral
Red Coral is also referred to as corallium rubrum. The marine polyps that create Red Coral live in clear, tropical to subtropical waters and are usually found between 15-160 feet in depth. The deeper the coral lives, the lighter the color will be.
Deep, ox-blood-colored Red Coral is most highly valued. Red Coral also comes in varying colors of orange and even light pink.
Red Coral is a soft, porous material with a Mohs hardness of 3.5. It is made mostly of calcium carbonate and has no definable cleavage. When harvested, it is naturally matte but is typically polished into a stone with a shiny finish.
Red Coral Origins
Red Coral can be found in various parts of the world. However, the most highly sought-after Red Coral comes from Italy. The Red Coral found here is deeply connected with astrological energy, more so than Red Coral from any other location.
In fact, Japan is a source of a rarer form of Red Coral, but because it is not as astrologically connected as Italian Red Coral, it is often less expensive.
How Do You Know if Red Coral is Real?
It’s pretty easy to determine if your Red Coral is real if you know what to look for. Here are a few at-home tests you can use to determine if your Red Coral is authentic.
- Pattern test. Red Coral has an identifiable texture that resembles the pattern of wood grain. Sometimes, you cannot see the pattern without magnification. Using a magnifying glass, examine your Red Coral to determine if you see a pattern. If you only see a solid color, chances are your Red Coral is not authentic.
- Bubble test. If a gem has been made from glass, especially blown glass, there will usually be bubbles that have formed as the glass has cooled. Examine your Red Coral closely to look for small bubbles on the surface. If you see bubbles, your Red Coral is an imitation.
- Molding lines test. When plastic is used to mold Red Coral, it involves molding different pieces together. This results in visible molding lines on the gem. These molding lines are usually visible to the naked eye and indicate your Red Coral is an imitation.
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Fluid tests. You can use milk, vinegar, and lemon juice to test the authenticity of your Red Coral, but it isn’t recommended. Authentic Red Coral is very porous, and exposure to liquids for extended periods of time can damage it.
However, if you prefer to test your Red Coral at home, you can place a drop of vinegar or lemon juice on an inconspicuous area of your gem. The calcium carbonate should create bubbles when contacted with vinegar or lemon juice.
Milk can also be used as a method for determining authenticity. True Red Coral will discolor milk. However, a dyed, artificial piece of Red Coral can change the color of milk as well. Nevertheless, if you place a Red Coral in a cup of milk and see no discoloration, your gem is artificial.
If you still aren’t sure if your Red Coral is real or artificial, it's best to contact a professional to have it studied in a safe environment.
History of Red Coral Use
Red Coral has been prized for centuries for its beauty, protection, and healing properties. Ancient Egyptians believed that Red Coral contained a drop of divine blood that would protect them from evil spirits after they died. As such, Red Coral gems are often found in pieces of jewelry in Egyptian burials.
Ancient Celtic cultures believed that Red Coral protected them during battle and fastened them to their breastplates and helmets.
Metaphysical Properties
The Red Coral gem is ripe with metaphysical properties, astrological mystery, and good fortune. Red Coral promotes success in life and business, helps give confidence to those in leadership roles, and even promotes luck in sporting events.
Red Coral’s connection to lifeblood helps promote physical health and well-being and even strengthens the immune system.
Connected to Mars, this stone helps pull energy from the aggressive planet, balancing it as it is received and channeling it into usable energy for your life. Enhancing physical and mental stamina, Red Coral prevents negative, draining energy and helps keep you balanced.
Red Coral is also a stone of wisdom, helping you make better decisions and to use rationality. It is even thought that Red Coral increases maturity and eliminates foolish or non-serving behaviors.
Red Coral Gems Meaning
Red Coral is the lifeblood gem, maximizing vitality, wellness, and mental focus. It represents success and prosperity and also signifies circulation, both within the body and without.
Red Coral’s meaning is the correct use of power, untapped energy, and driving ambition that creates leadership, courage, and confidence.
Red Coral Gems and the Chakras
Red Coral is most closely associated with the balancing, foundational energy of the Root Chakra. The Root Chakra is the source of all energy and drives passion and stability. When our Root Chakra is balanced, we feel secure and well cared for. When it is not, we feel on-edge, disconnected, and vulnerable.
The Red Coral gem connects us to the universal energy grid, supercharging our Root Chakra and keeping us energized and balanced, so we experience a sense of belonging, increased self-esteem, and integrity.
Red Coral also helps balance and align the Sacral Chakra, which is the root of our sexual health. This passionate stone helps promote fertility and even helps stimulate desire and endurance. You can use Red Coral to balance and clear the Sacral Chakra by placing it directly on the pubic bone as you lie flat during meditation.
Healing Properties of Red Coral Gems
Red Corals are healing to the body, mind, and spirit. Able to help us extract additional energy from the universe and increase our awareness, Red Coral has amazing healing properties.
Physical Healing Properties of Red Coral
Even in ancient times, Red Coral was used for physical healing. Thought to prevent stomach and digestive problems (including spasms), aid in sleeplessness, and removing bladder stones, the ancients often kept Red Coral jewelry on their bodies to encourage physical healing and wellness.
Red Coral is also able to help with physical manifestations of an imbalanced Root Chakra. If your Root Chakra is imbalanced, you may experience:
- Lethargy
- Prostate issue
- Bladder elimination issues
- Colon issues
- Digestive disturbance
- Lower extremity problems with movement and pain
- Low back pain
Using a Red Coral gem to help balance the Root Chakra helps eliminate these physical issues so you can get relief.
Red Coral is also a great gem to keep close during cold and flu season. Its ability to strengthen your immunity and support your health and wellness can help defend against catching the latest office cold or whatever the kids bring home from school.
Emotional and Mental Healing Properties of Red Coral
Most of us need help healing from past traumas, and Red Coral is an excellent vehicle to safely empower us to deal with the past and move forward.
Although Red Coral is a gem associated with power and confidence, it is also a calming stone for those who experience anxiety and fear. With renewed confidence, power, and a sense of stability and well-being, fears and worries melt away.
Red Coral helps encourage focus and concentration and naturally attracts wealth, success, and good fortune. If you feel you are disorganized or lack focus, Red Coral by your side can drive your endeavors and give you laser focus.
Spiritual Healing Properties of Red Coral
Red Coral has been used in astrological practice since ancient times. Its connection with aggressive Mars helps produce power, energy, and increased vitality.
Mediums enjoy using Red Coral as it protects against black magic and evil spirits and gives them safety as they travel between realms. Red Coral is thought to continually drive away darkness and evil with its fiery red, passionate energy.
If you are beginning to use your psychic ability, Red Coral can increase your connection to the spirit realm and help give you better foresight and intuition, helping you with visualization. It can also give you confidence knowing you are protected as you engage in psychic activity.
Use of Red Coral Gems
Red Coral is easy to use in everyday life. You can use it in mediations, place it in your home and office, and even wear it as jewelry.
Red Coral in Meditations and Ceremonies
You can use Red Coral in meditation to increase your energy and focus. In fact, it’s one of the most popularly used stones in meditative practice. Driving your energy and helping keep you grounded, it’s perfect for keeping you laser-focused and involved when you meditate.
You can use Red Coral in connection with other crystals and their meanings when you practice, as it will enhance your experiences and offer new energy and deeper connection. It’s also useful in helping ground you back with nature due to its organic roots.
Try adding Red Coral to the front of your mat as you practice yoga. The gem’s natural ability to improve circulation and channel energy can help you get through intense practices and even give you the confidence to achieve new positions you’ve been unable to try or to master.
Red Coral in Home and Work
Using Red Coral in your home and work can increase energy levels and help your spaces radiate positivity. You can keep Red Coral at the entrance of your home to encourage all that pass your doorway to keep a positive and healthy attitude and to help encourage the flow of positive energy inside and outside your home.
Using Red Coral in your bedroom can even inspire romance and ignite passion! Try placing pieces under your bed or on your nightstand.
It is said that Mars rules land and property, so using Red Coral can even help you make better real estate decisions.
Keeping Red Coral at work encourages focus, drive, and determination. If you are in a position of leadership, Red Coral helps you remain confident and able to take decisive action. It encourages your ability to think on your toes and make sense of difficult situations.
Business endeavors are protected from failure when Red Coral is present while making decisions, signing contracts, or undergoing negotiations. It’s wise to include a piece of Red Coral in your office if you are considering a new venture.
Red Coral For Healers
Healers can use Red Coral to help balance the Root Chakra and can use these gems to help encourage their clients to experience a deeper connection and energy. Healers also benefit from keeping Red Coral close while they practice to increase their energy and keep them vitalized.
Often, healers can become drained or overwhelmed by the negative emotions of their clients. Red Coral offers protection against these negative energies and helps give the healer added energy, motivation, and focus as they work.
Healers that deal with particularly difficult cases involving spiritual work can use Red Coral as protection against the infiltration of darkness or evil in psychic matters.
Red Coral in Jewelry
Wearing Red Coral jewelry is one of the best ways to receive the healing properties and benefits of this gem. Keeping these stones on your body can encourage everything from better digestion to increased self-confidence and security.
Not only is Red Coral beautiful, but it also pairs perfectly with both silver and gold. It’s also an excellent match for pairing with other precious gems and crystals and will enhance the energy of all your stones. A bracelet that contains Red Coral can help keep you balanced and prevent negative energy from flowing in when you meet new people and shake hands.
The ancient Babylonians ascribed planets to days of the week, giving Tuesday to the planet Mars. Because Red Coral is highly attracted and connected to Mars, it is suggested that wearing Red Coral on Tuesday helps to best channel the planet’s energy and protect against feelings of self-doubt and inferiority.
Cleaning and Recharging Red Coral Gems
All crystals and gems will need to be cleansed on a regular basis. Cleansing is different from cleaning. Cleaning refers to the removal of dirt or debris from your gems and stones. Cleansing refers to the release and removal of built-up negative energy your crystals and gems absorb when in use.
When to Cleanse Your Red Coral
You should aim to cleanse your crystals and gems regularly, but if you forget, chances are your Red Coral will let you know it’s time for a ritualistic cleansing. When you begin to feel less energetic, less confident, depressed, or sullen, you’ll know your Red Coral isn’t working as well and needs to be cleansed.
Red Coral is organic, and by nature, extremely soft. As such, it can’t tolerate the types of cleaning some of your other gems and crystals may be able to withstand.
Red Coral will fade with wear and also when exposed to direct sunlight. Be sure to keep your Red Coral stored in a soft cloth away from direct sun exposure.
Additionally, Red Coral shouldn’t be fully submerged in water. Because the gems are porous, it can cause fading, cracking, and breakdown.
Here are our favorite ways of caring for Red Coral gems, cleansing negative energy, and recharging them.
Salt Cleansing
The use of salt to cleanse your crystals works well because salt absorbs the negative energy your crystals and gems may collect during use. However, salt is abrasive, so direct contact with Red Coral isn’t always recommended.
Instead, you can cleanse your Red Coral gems using an indirect salt cleansing method. To use this method, fill a large bowl with salt, and place a smaller bowl inside of the salt bowl. Place your Red Coral gems inside the small bowl (so that it is not touching the salt).
Cover both bowls with a towel and allow your gems to cleanse for two hours.
Sound Cleansing
Sound cleansing is ideal for groups of gems and crystals, and for gems (like Red Coral) that are too delicate for other methods of cleansing like water or salt.
Sound cleansing uses vibrations from music, chants, or instruments to harmonize the vibrations of your gems and bring them back into balance. This helps cleanse and recharge your crystals and stones at the same time.
To sound cleanse, collect your Red Coral in one place and allow the sound you produce to wash over the pieces for at least thirty seconds. This is best performed during a cleansing ceremony and while you hold a cleansing intention in your mind.
Lunar Energy
The best way to recharge your Red Coral is by placing it in direct moonlight. Because Red Coral is organic, it thrives on organic energy, like the kind produced by the moon. You can place your Red Coral pieces in direct moonlight when the moon is brightest.
Leave your Red Coral in the moonlight overnight to recharge and restore them, so they are most beneficial to you.
The Takeaway
Red Coral gems symbolize the lifeblood within us and the energy flowing in the universe. The ultimate gem for increasing vitality, energy, and confidence, this gem isn’t truly a gem at all but rather an organic gift of the sea.
Red Coral is highly sought after and used frequently in astrology. As such, many manufacturers have created synthetic versions of Red Coral. You can perform simple, at-home, visual, and chemical tests to determine if your Red Coral is authentic or not.
Using Red Coral in your daily life helps you become a better, more confident leader and increases your success at work and at home. Red Coral is a passionate gem and can even help encourage a more beautiful love life.
Red Coral may be one of the most powerful gems you add to your collection. Use it often during meditation and for everyday wear to increase your connection to the universal energy grid and passion for living.
Check out our Coral jewelry collection to find some brilliance for your self!
