Iron Meteorite Meaning
A guide for the history, meaning, and properties of Iron Meteorites.
Spiritual Cleansing | Channeling Energy | Spirit Guides
Iron meteorites are exceptionally old, and their use in spiritual communities is limited only by their accessibility. Despite being rare, iron meteorites are used by some for meditation. This is because iron meteorites are said to provide cleansing energies to one's spirit, and they are said to connect with other spirit guides. Though, perhaps it is their scarcity that attracts spiritualists to use them.
The mystique surrounding iron meteorites is an element as to why spiritualists love this. Some believe that iron meteorites are a direct channel to other energies spread out across numerous galaxies. Others believe that they can use the spiritual properties of iron meteorites to channel a strong connection with other spirit guides.
Matters are different when considering the physical or scientific front.
Iron meteorites are ferrous meteorites. This iron is not a typical type of iron found on Earth. It is a special alloy consisting of nickel and iron. This alloy can be either kamacite, which has less nickel, or taenite, which has more nickel. Anything found on Earth made of either alloy comes from space. Iron meteorites have been used in tools and weapons historically, though not often. Some of these can be found in the Americas, as wrought iron was difficult to come by. One theory holds that the Inuit used iron meteorites in their knives and arrowheads. Unfortunately, iron meteorites are rare, and their history is difficult to trace and understand.
When these meteorites made bold contact with Earth, their material was quickly scavenged for use. Ancient people respected meteoric iron, and one of the most famous examples of this is King Tutankhamun's meteoric iron dagger.
When it comes to scientific matters, well, there's a lot that goes into classifying, identifying, and detailing the specific chemical composition of any meteorite, let alone iron meteorites specifically.
The age of these meteorites can vary quite a bit. Some meteorites are billions of years old. Yeah. Billions. Some, however, are only millions. That's still a lot, especially when you put that against the modern human (which is also old, to be fair).
One distinct feature of iron meteorites that many people bring up is the pattern it has. These are called Widmanstätten patterns. This beautiful pattern has to do with the composition of the meteorite (nickel and iron) when it cooled. These pretty bands have resulted in people using iron meteorites for jewelry.
It's no secret that people love beauty and exotic materials. It's rare, has cool, unique bands, and is something from outer space. Of course, people are going to make jewelry out of it. Our store has iron meteorites because we also happen to love them and aren't ashamed to spread that love to everyone else.
In any case, this is perhaps a more contemporary use of iron meteorites. Historically, these meteorites were a reliable source of iron, and so their use was more or less practical until other sources turned up. Spiritual communities then gave iron meteorite meaning and other metaphysical properties that people admire.
Classifications
This requires its own section; classifying iron meteorites is a highly scientific topic. There are different types of meteorites, and then are different types of iron meteorites. So, what are they? There are three main classes, structurally speaking: octahedrites, ataxites, and hexahedrites. These are dependent on whether or not they are nickel-rich. Octahedrites are common and are generally divided into different classes.
Octahedrite sub-classes are dependent on the layers or plates of kamacite bands. To determine where an iron meteorite fits in an octahedrite sub-class, researchers will examine the kamacite lamellae and sort it based on the width of these plates or bands. Typically, these are defined as "coarse" or "fine." Coarse is if these plates are over 3.3mm wide; fine specimens have less than .2mm.
Ataxites are unique and exceptionally rare. They are nickel-rich, and the kamacite width on ataxites is virtually impossible to measure from the naked eye. It is because they are relatively abundant with nickel that these unique patterns do not emerge.
Finally, we have hexahedrites. These are not nickel-rich, but they lack that beautiful pattern we know and love.
This is still only a brief overview of how these materials are defined. Properly classifying iron meteorites is generally extensive work. We didn't even go into how chemical classification works, as that is an entirely separate animal. But this should be a decent enough overview for anyone who is interested to seek out more material. As always, we have the sources down below.
The Wrap Up
Iron meteorites are simply fascinating. To think that we have something so old and so beautiful in our store fills us with joy. Many believe an iron meteorite has metaphysical properties, and we have an appreciation for it based on what it is.
Iron meteorites are fascinating and many of them have cool patterns, which depend entirely on its classification. We know that section was perhaps a bit dry for many of our readers. However, for those who were interested in it, we hop that it gives you a quick glance at the work that goes into classifying meteorites, or, more specifically, iron meteorites and their properties.
Historically, iron meteorites were a reasonable source of iron. You can always check ancient Egypt on that, too. As always, thank you for reading!
Sources
Scott, E. Iron Meteorites: Composition, Age, and Origin. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Retrieved 24 Mar. 2023, from https://oxfordre.com/planetaryscience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190647926.001.0001/acrefore-9780190647926-e-206.
https://www.mindat.org/min-52787.html
https://sites.wustl.edu/meteoritesite/items/metal-iron-nickel/
Buchwald, Vagn Fabritius. Iron and Steel in Ancient Times. Denmark, “The” Royal danish academy of sciences and letters,., 2005.
Buchwald, Vagn Fabritius. Meteoritic Iron, Telluric Iron and Wrought Iron in Greenland. Denmark, Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland, 1985.
https://geology.com/meteorites/iron-meteorites.shtml
https://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/meteorite1.html