Moss Agate

Additional Names: Tree Agate; Mocha Stone

Status: Semi-Precious

Native Regions: India, Brazil, Uruguay, Yemen, central Europe, and the western United States of America (Montana, California, Wyoming, and Arizona)

Physical Description: Clear or grayish to milky-white colored agate ornamented by opaque vines, branches, spots, and other naturally occurring internal formations which appear like ferns, trees, clouds, clusters, and moss, or other plant-like elements.

Mineral Composition: SiO2; Chalcedony, as standard other Agate variant Silica Quartzes; the vegetal formations are produced by Iron Oxide, Magnesium, Dendrite, Chlorite, Chrome, Hornblende, and other inorganic metals.
Water Soluble: Potentially no, if a true Agate; information is difficult to find.

Pseudo-Medicinal Uses:

Magical Uses: Carrying or wearing, or attaching to a plow, while farming blesses crops and ensures bountiful harvests (Orpheus); lends energy to the energetically depleted, calms and de-stresses (Cunningham + Murphy-Hiscock); makes one persuasive, enterprising, and ingenious in business (Lecouteux); brings riches and to helps discover treasures (Cunningham); aids in making new friends (Cunningham);

Additional Notes: It seems like the only real sources which distinguish Moss and Tree Agate from one another are purely Metaphysical sources concerned with New Age crystal healing, and do so based purely on looks alone; though some claim the stones have compositional differences, I have yet to find a source which definitively states what those compound differences actually are, save the one source which attempts to do so below. However, their attempt is incorrect as it lists Tree Agate as a product of Chalcedony- and Moss Agate is a blatantly recognized type of Chalcedony. As are all Agates “true” or not. divider

It is appropriate for a spirit of rationalism that those born in the US should wear birthstones of US furnishing. For June, then, Moss Agate: Found in Montana, California, Wyoming, and Arizona, Moss Agate is the most important precious stone produced by the state of Wyoming; associated with the names Margarete and Maurice; Dreaming of Moss Agate signifies an unsuccessful journey.

Who comes with summer to this Earth, and owes to June her hour of birth, with ring of Agate in her hand, can health, long life, and wealth command; [Thre’ ??] the Moss Agate’s charm, the happy years. Ne’er see June’s golden sunshine turn to tears.

'The Curious Lore of Precious Stones' by George Frederick Kunz

All Agates are a variety of Quartz found in different colors, oft with alternate layers known as ribbons. The Moss, or Tree Agate, is a variety ornamented by nature with vines, spots, and natural formations appearing as ferns, trees, clouds, clusters, and moss. Vegetal representations within the stone are produced by metals such as Iron and Magnesium; sometimes called Mocha Stone, derived from Mocha in Arabia. It was held in high regard by the Romans for medicinal and talismanic uses. Orpheus believed that wearing Tree Agate pleased the Gods. Carrying or wearing it while farming would also bless the crops.

'The Book of Talismans, Amulets and Zodiacal Gems' by William Thomas and Kate Pavitt

There is no Moss or Tree Agate directly mentioned. However, some descriptions may suggest some relatives: Chernitis “a kind of sparkling or tree-like Agate resembling two white hands clasping one another; preserves bodies from putrefaction without consuming them”; Dendrachates “an arborescent Agate containing diaphanous portions inside a honey-colored part with another outer side of wax color; renders one persuasive, enterprising, and ingenious, and brings prosperity. In Rome was the stone of Gardeners and cultivators, and ensured a bountiful harvest when attached to a plow”. The latter in particular sounds like an orange variety of Moss Agate for certain.

'A Lapidary of Sacred Stones: Their Magical and Medicinal Powers Based on the Earliest Sources' by Claude Lecouteux

Receptive energy, earth element; due to its curious markings suggestive or Trees, Moss Agate is the Gardener’s Talisman. When worn, it ensured the favor of vegetative Deities in ancient Rome. When worn on the arm or carried while gardening, increases the plant’s fertility and ensures a bountiful crop, and healthy flowers. It can also be charged and then “planted” in the garden to promote further abundance; worn to lend energy to the (energetically?) depleted and for healing. Also used in spells for riches, happiness, long life, to discover treasures, and make new friends.

'Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic' by Scott Cunningham

Chalcedony (a form of chert) is a white, buff, or light tan, finely crystallized or fibrous quartz that forms rounded crusts, rinds, or stalactites in volcanic and sedimentary rocks as a precipitate from moving solutions. If chalcedony is conspicuously color-banded, it may be called Agate; arborescent or dendritic dark-coloured patterns of Chalcedony Agate set in a lighter field are called Moss Agate or Mocha stone specifically.

Moss agate is a grayish to milky-white Agate (Silica Quartz variant) that contains opaque, dark-coloured inclusions whose branching forms resemble ferns, moss, or other vegetation. The included materials, mainly manganese and iron oxides, are of inorganic origin. Most moss agates are found as fragments weathered from volcanic rocks. Long used for ornamental purposes, they are obtained chiefly from India, Brazil, Uruguay, central Europe, and the western United States. The best stones are cut in flat or rounded form, and some are dyed to improve their color.

Its properties are those of other Quartzes; the crystallographic structures of all the silica minerals, except stishovite, are three-dimensional arrays of linked tetrahedrons, each consisting of a silicon atom coordinated by four oxygen atoms. The silica minerals when pure are colorless and transparent and have a vitreous luster. They are nonconductors of electricity and are diamagnetic. All are hard and strong and fail by brittle fracture under an imposed stress.

'Moss Agate' article from Encyclopedia Britannica

For prosperity, use the following three stones (Citrine, Moss Agate, and Tiger’s Eye) as a triple Gemstone elixir.

'Dunwich's Guide to Gemstone Sorcery' by Gerina Dunwich

She separates Moss and Tree Agate as two separate stones, but as far as I know they’re the same stone. For Moss Agate: Used for healing, calm, and stress relief; for Tree Agate: The same, except in appearance, apparently; I don’t understand the point in separating them, if this is the case then, when no other source seems to so far.

'The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More' by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Again, treats Moss and Tree Agate as if they are separate stones. Both are connected to the Earth Element and made of Quartz, but Moss Agate contains additional Manganese and Iron, while Tree Agate contains Chalcedony and Dendrite; Moss Agate: Gently connects you to the deep energy of the fresh Green Earth and is the stone of Gardeners and new beginnings, growth, luck, drawing in business, animal magic, entrepreneurship, ad prosperity; Tree Agate: Reminds us that the sky, or the canopy, is the limit, and is the stone of abundance, growth, healing, the Earth, connections, of clearing blockages, and of tree magic; together they are “the ultimate combination”.

'Green Witchcraft: A Practical Guide to Discovering the Magic of Plants, Herbs, Crystals, and Beyond' by Paige Vanderbeck