Grape Agate: What It Is, Meanings, Healing Properties, And More

If you’re a fan of crystals and gemstones, you’ve likely heard the buzz around the crystal we’ll be discussing today. Grape Agate, named for its resemblance to bunched grapes and deep purple tone, is a grouping of tiny round gemstones. These crystalline beauties are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand with an almost hypnotic aura that draws in your attention.

It’s a special crystal, but what is Grape Agate? What are the healing properties? What does Grape Agate mean? Today, we’ll be talking in-depth about this beautiful purple crystal and what else makes it such a popular gemstone to own.

What Is Grape Agate?

Grape agate is a great unique name, but it has a marketing twist (we’ll explain that below) It has beautiful purple aggregates, these are tiny quartz crystals with a spherical (botryoidal) habit. The name reflects their purple color and how they occur in clusters that resemble a bunch of grapes. These crystals were found in the Mamuju area, near the western coast of Sulawesi, an island of Indonesia. They’ve also been found West of the Green River in Utah. 

Grape agate is a very young genre, it didn’t enter the mineral market until 2016. Its popularity grew fast, it soon headlined mineral shows, rock shops, websites, advertisements, and online marketplaces. Specimens with a fun appearance and an interesting name like grape agate market themselves.

The "grapes" of these specimens are tiny. They range between about two and eight millimeters across. Although purple is the best color to match the "grape" name, some specimens have grapes that are blue, green, gray, and white.

It Is Grape, Agate: Maybe Not

The name "grape agate" has stuck as a marketing term. However, the name is a misnomer. Misnomers are names that are scientifically incorrect. There are no arguments with "grape" because of its purple color. But, the use of "agate" as a species/variety name draws objections. Here is an analysis...

Grape Agate: This name is inappropriate because agate should have parallel internal banding. The name agate also implies quartz with a microcrystalline texture; however, most of the grapes have a drusy surface - making them megascopically crystalline.

Grape Chalcedony: Like agate, the name chalcedony implies quartz with a microcrystalline texture. 

Grape Quartz: The name quartz fits better than both agate and chalcedony. Even so, the appropriate name for purple quartz is amethyst.

Botryoidal Amethyst: The name "amethyst" better honors mineralogical and gemological definitions, and the adjective "botryoidal" refers to a rounded shape.

So, this author concludes that the name "botryoidal amethyst" is a name that is scientifically correct, but is not as much fun as "grape agate".

Grape Agate Meanings

Intensify your psychic faculties and decipher dreams with Grape Agate; a potent intuitive gemstone that activates the crown and third eye chakras. Place this magical stone by your bed each night for its powers to work whilst you sleep, helping you reach new levels of dream understanding. If you have been struggling to comprehend what lies within those mesmerizing visions, then Grape Agate may be the solution you’re looking for.

With grape agate, it’s believed that you’ll have more control over your dreams and images within become more clear. Your mind becomes stronger than ever and you get a visual representation of your life, helping you find your calling and the meaning of your life. Due to this, Grape Agate promotes mental clarity and focus, vividness as well, it does so by trying to link the dream realm and real world together. 

If you're looking for a way to nurture security and stability within yourself, Grape Agate is the perfect crystal companion. This remarkable stone assists with aura cleansing and eradicates any fear-based thoughts from your mind. Additionally, it connects you with intuitive wisdom while promoting confidence in oneself; allowing one to be able to appreciate their own self worth. By activating the Crown chakra, this rare gemstone can assist in deepening meditative states and unlocking inner knowledge of our true potentials.

Grape Agate vs Amethyst

Yes, Grape Agate and Amethyst get mixed up a lot. To the naked eye, the two look a lot alike. It’s tough to see any difference. However, if you take a closer look, you’re going to start seeing the differences.

When you take a close inspection, you’re going to see that the spheres are composed of microcrystalline quartz, which expands radially in contrast to the macro crystals which define varieties such as amethyst. It's slightly difficult to describe them accurately, but they don't belong under either chalcedony or classic amethyst crystal categories.

In the end, can Grape Agate be considered Amethyst? No, these crystals are built completely differently. Amethyst is Quartz colored purple by Iron impurities. Grape Agate is considered a Chalcedony colored purple by Clay Mineral impurities.

How To Spot Dyed Specimens

Dyed Grape Agate, it’s a problem and you want to make sure you’re buying Grape Agate that’s authentic. 

Are dyed specimens commonplace? You be the judge. The simple addition of a purple dye can make a piece of grape agate worth way more than if it only had pale coloration. Grade A+ specimens will get very expensive, and some crystal dealers will take advantage of that.

Most dyed specimens are usually a single color, usually the color of choice is purple, these can be very hard to detect if you’re buying Grape Agate online without very high-definition photographs. If a deep purple piece of Grape Agate appears cheap… you’re probably looking at a dyed specimen, so please be careful.

We recommend buying your Grape Agate here at Earth Family Crystals, this will ensure you’re getting true authentic Grape Agate and not dyed crystals.

Crystal Pairings

Crystal pairings for Grape Agate, here’s what you need to know. This crystal is ideal for all mediums, channelers, scribes, massage therapists, reiki professionals and is recommended for all energy healers. This stone vibrates at such a high frequency and allows one to transition between this realm and higher realms with ease, allowing you to reach the highest form of yourself.

This stone’s intuitive abilities can also help you get in contact with spirit guides, guardian angels, and other powerful beings. When working with this stone, we’re going to recommend working with Angelite, Phenacite, or Selenite alongside it. All these stones will enhance the strength of Grape Agate, while also helping one maintain much needed mental clarity.

References

• Ivey, Joel (2018) "Grape Agate" from West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Mineralogical Record, 49(6), 827-836.
• Laurs, B.M., Rossman, G.R. (2018) Grape-like 'Manakarra' quartz from Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Journal of Gemmology: 36(2) 101-102.