Witnessed by: TCM
White quartz (Quartz), of the oxide mineral (silica) family. Milky-white to colourless hexagonal prisms and massive vein quartz, glassy and very hard; native range: veins and pockets in granite and metamorphic rock, and the white pebbles weathered out of them. Globally recognized as 白石英 bai shi ying in Chinese, and white quartz, milky quartz in English. The part used is the crushed and calcined stone. Milk-white to water-clear, glassy, cold to the touch and hard enough to scratch steel, tasteless, breaking with a curved shell-like fracture.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
WHITE QUARTZ
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- white quartz
- Scientific name
- Quartz (silica, SiO₂)
- Family
- oxide mineral (silica)
Form
- Part used
- the crushed and calcined stone
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet
Temperature
- TCM
- warm
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Kidney · Heart
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- warms the Lung and Kidney and settles wheezing, calms the spirit, and warms the uterus
Cautions
- Contraindications
- yin deficiency with heat, and cough from Lung heat — its warmth is against the pattern; not for long-continued use
- Toxicity
- a hard, insoluble mineral, slow to leave the gut; the dry powder is a siliceous dust and should not be breathed
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