Mohs hardness scale 3.5–4
A long time ago, when the mountains were oceans, a cephalopod called an ammonite made its home in a spiral shell on the ocean floor. Its shell was much like the shell of a snail or a conch, lovely in its spiral form but otherwise unremarkable. When the ocean receded, these cephalopods failed to recede with it. Their remains were fossilized in what became a mountainside. The pressures of time and the soil matrix of the mountain caused their chemistry to shift, becoming opalescent and sparkling. Time changes everything, Ammolite knows. What in your life needs spaciousness and time so it can become a jewel?
Ritual 
Like the nautilus shape of the ammonite shell, our lives are an ever-expanding spiral. We pass through the same lessons, growing and expanding with each return. These become the core themes of our life as well as opportunities for growth. In the midst of a cycle, it can be hard to see your own patterns. In retrospect we can often come to greater understanding.
Begin by making a timeline. Choose to chart your mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual growth. Starting at your birth, note significant events relating to your chosen area of inquiry. When you have a thorough list, go back and look for patterns.
Repeat this exercise for various aspects of your life. Compare and overlay these timelines to reveal new patterns.
Reflection
We tend to think that animals stay animals and minerals stay minerals. But this is the short view! Geological time knows otherwise. Pine trees fossilize and harden into Jet; lava’s liquid fire solidifies to glassy Obsidian; your own bones turn crystalline, growing a mineral called Apatite.
Medieval alchemists distilled, evaporated, powdered, and heated in an effort to understand how one thing transformed into another. Alchemy was both a physical science and the medieval version of self-help as alchemists applied their studies metaphorically, seeking the elemental steps to transform a person and help them burn off the dross to become more than they were.
Begin consciously noticing transmutations in your everyday life. Watch water become steam, paper become ash.
How can you use these transmutations metaphorically and in ritual to support your own growth?