Learn Pink Agate Spiritual Meanings, Symbolism, Healing Properties, Benefits, Uses, History & Origin, and much more in this article covering the Supreme Powers of Pink Agate.

What is Pink Agate?

Pink Agate, is a variant of the Agate that belongs to the chalcedony family of crystals. Its unique shades range from soft pinks to richer hues, often marked with beautiful swirls or patterns.

A pink crystal that is soul-soothing, Pink Agate graces the world with its myriad of colors and swirls. Think of it as the Earth’s art palette, with pigments ranging from the palest of pinks to vibrant, lively shades.

What is the Meaning of Pink Agate?

Pink Agate Symbolic Meaning

Pink Agate’s symbolic meaning represents head and heart coherence. Pink Agate’s meaning brings love, mental healing, and emotional tranquility.

In our lives, symbols serve as totems that help us make sense of the complex tapestry of existence. Pink Agate, within this tapestry, embodies multifaceted meanings. From unconditional love to inner tranquility, its energy wraps around you like a protective shield.

This symbolism isn’t mere happenstance. Embedded within the stone lies a powerful vibrational frequency that has been revered for centuries.

Pink Agate Spiritual Meaning

Pink Agate’s spiritual meaning symbolizes the earthly and the divine. Many consider it a touchstone for spiritual exploration, providing a serene atmosphere conducive to meditation and introspection. As a conduit to spiritual realms, it brings you closer to your inner self, enabling a profound spiritual transformation.

Pink Agate Dream Meaning

Pink Agate can appear in dreams as a guide, fostering emotional clarity and peace of mind.

Dreamscapes serve as playgrounds for our subconscious, where messages from our deeper selves manifest in symbolic form. Encountering Pink Agate in such a landscape often symbolizes the need for emotional balance and a call to embrace unconditional love in your waking life.

The stone’s appearance in dreams acts as a gentle reminder that healing lies within reach, if only you extend your hand to grasp it.

Pink Agate Color Meaning

The color of this gemstone often represents emotional balance and compassion.

Color psychology allows us a peek into the emotional undertones of Pink Agate. Its serene light pink crystal hues invoke feelings of emotional equilibrium, tranquility, and compassion.

Interestingly, the color itself has the power to affect one’s mental state. The gentle shades can soothe frazzled nerves and bring about an atmosphere of peace. Thus, the stone doesn’t just look calming; it manifests calm.

Pink Agate Supreme Powers

Syncs Heart and Head

Pink Agate boasts the ability to bring your emotional and rational sides into harmony.

Juggling the demands of both heart and mind often becomes an intricate ballet. Pink Agate serves as a harmonizer, effortlessly bridging emotional depths with rational thought.

This gem proves invaluable when you find yourself at an emotional crossroad. Its energies channel through you, synchronizing your heart’s desires with your head’s logic, hence creating a balanced outlook.

Aura Stabilization

This gemstone plays a vital role in aura cleansing and stabilization.

Often, our energetic fields, or auras, accumulate a variety of energies—both beneficial and detrimental. Pink Agate acts like a filter for your aura, allowing positive energies to flow while deflecting the negative.

This stabilization resonates through your being, permitting a clearer, healthier emotional state.

Unconditional Love

It promotes the purest form of love, unencumbered by conditions or limitations.

In a world awash with conditional affections and ephemeral relationships, the energy of Pink Agate stands apart. It fosters love in its most primal form—unconditional and boundless.

This stone nurtures not just romantic love but also platonic and self-love. It dissolves barriers that inhibit the free flow of affection, thereby allowing one to love and be loved without conditions.

Pink Agate Properties & Facts

Colors

Pink Agate varies in hue, often showcasing stunning patterns and shades.

Pink Agate mesmerizes with its color palette, from blush pinks to deeper, richer shades. The variations in hue don’t just provide aesthetic delight; they also offer subtle differences in energetic qualities. Often, you’ll find patterns and layers, like a history written in chromatic lines, each layer adding to the stone’s multifaceted personality.

Mohs Hardness

Rated at 6.5-7 on the Mohs scale, Pink Agate proves durable yet should be handled with care.

Mohs scale, a measure of mineral hardness, places Pink Agate between 6.5 and 7. While this ranking attests to the stone’s considerable durability, it requires careful handling to avoid potential damage. It can withstand everyday wear but might suffer scratches or fractures if mishandled.

Structure

Pink Agate has a fascinating microcrystalline structure.

Going beyond mere aesthetics, the structural integrity of Pink Agate lies in its microcrystalline formation. Microscopic quartz crystals coalesce to create this stone, laid down in concentric layers or bands.

This structural form endows it with a unique blend of sturdiness and subtle energy patterns, making it an object of both scientific and metaphysical interest.

Transparency

This gemstone exhibits varying levels of transparency, each variant offering unique aesthetic and metaphysical properties.

Transparency in Pink Agate ranges from opaque to translucent. Each degree of transparency contributes to its aesthetic charm and metaphysical capabilities. For instance, a more transparent variant might serve as a powerful tool during meditation, its clarity corresponding to heightened spiritual insight.

Chemical Composition

Primarily made of silicon dioxide, Pink Agate includes other elements that contribute to its unique color.

While silicon dioxide forms the primary component of Pink Agate, it’s the trace elements that dictate its color. Varying amounts of these elements imbue the stone with its characteristic shades of pink, each one presenting unique properties and influences.

Varieties and Related Minerals

Pink Agate belongs to the Agate family and shares similarities with other types of agate.

In the vast mineral kingdom, Pink Agate resides within the Agate family, a group renowned for its diverse range of colors and properties. Whether it’s Blue Lace Agate for communication or Black Agate for grounding, each type contributes to the family’s reputation for versatile metaphysical properties.

History

Ancient cultures revered Pink Agate for its beauty and spiritual significance.

Since antiquity, Pink Agate has garnered admiration for its beauty and metaphysical attributes. Civilizations ranging from the Egyptians to the Greeks placed great spiritual importance on this stone, often employing it in rituals and as talismanic objects.

Modern Uses

Today, Pink Agate enjoys popularity in jewelry and for its healing properties.

In contemporary times, Pink Agate has found a home in various aspects of daily life. Whether elegantly set in jewelry or serving as a conduit for spiritual energies in metaphysical practices, its uses are as varied as its hues.

Major Sources of Mineral Pink Agate worldwide

Found predominantly in the USA, India, Morocco, Czech Republic, Brazil, and Africa, Pink Agate has a global presence.

Sourced from an array of global locations, Pink Agate demonstrates its worldly nature. Not confined to a single region, it graces various parts of the globe, each source contributing a unique set of properties and energies to the overall Pink Agate spectrum.

Benefits and Healing Properties of Pink Agate

Emotional Healing Properties

Pink Agate serves as a conduit for emotional healing, offering solace to those suffering from emotional trauma.

Navigating the stormy seas of emotions often requires a reliable guide. In this capacity, Pink Agate excels. Its soothing energies help to mend emotional wounds, offering much-needed solace to individuals grappling with past traumas.

Furthermore, its calming influence allows for emotional stability, serving as a rock upon which one can regain their emotional footing.

Mental Healing Properties

For those seeking improved mental clarity, Pink Agate can be a potent ally.

Foggy thoughts, indecisiveness, and mental fatigue—these are but a few hindrances to optimal mental health. Pink Agate works to disperse this fog, aiding in decision-making and sharpening one’s analytical abilities.

Its stabilizing energies also extend to the realm of mental health, affording clarity where confusion once reigned.

Physical Healing Properties

Pink Agate proves beneficial for various bodily systems, including digestion and blood circulation.

Beyond its emotional and mental contributions, Pink Agate also imparts healing on the physical plane. Its energies benefit the digestive system, help regulate blood flow, and even contribute to improved skin health. With its holistic approach, this crystal finds a harmonious balance between the emotional and the corporeal.

Spiritual Metaphysical

In the realm of the spiritual, Pink Agate brings balance and facilitates connection to higher realms.

As a metaphysical gem, Pink Agate serves as a spiritual compass, directing energies toward higher planes of existence. Its resonance with the heart chakra opens up avenues for unconditional love, enriching one’s spiritual journey.

Beyond individual experience, this stone also fosters a sense of collective spirituality, fortifying connections with other beings in the spiritual ecosystem.

Where to Buy Pink Agate Online

With its growing popularity, Pink Agate is readily available from numerous online vendors.

Given its ascendancy in the world of crystals, it’s unsurprising that Pink Agate can be easily procured online. However, caution must be exercised when selecting a vendor. Seek out trustworthy sources, preferably those that provide certificates of authenticity and transparent information about the stone’s origin and properties.

Pink Agate Metaphysical Properties & Benefits

Pink Agate Color Energy

Pink Agate resonates powerfully with color energy, its hues reflecting its influence on the emotional spectrum.

Color energy constitutes a crucial facet of Pink Agate’s metaphysical properties. Each shade of pink in the stone correlates with emotional energies, either intensifying or mitigating certain feelings. For instance, lighter hues might resonate with energies of compassion, while darker shades could connect to deeper emotional depths.

Chakra Properties of Pink Agate

Pink Agate aligns predominantly with the heart chakra, serving as a conduit for love and compassion.

Given its resonant energies and emotional healing prowess, Pink Agate naturally aligns with the heart chakra. Through this chakra, the stone channels energies of love and compassion, both for oneself and others. It helps open the heart, fostering connections that go beyond the physical realm.

Zodiac Sign Associated with Pink Agate

Pink Agate is connected to two zodiac signs Libra and Capricorn.

Astrologically speaking, Pink Agate is particularly familiar with the zodiac signs of Libra and Capricorn. Libras might find that the stone aids in balancing their inherent sense for harmony, while Capricorns may discover it bolsters their ambition and discipline.

As a planetary child of Mercury, this gemstone aids in communication and intellectual pursuits, supplementing the qualities of these zodiac signs.

Month & Birth Stone of Pink Agate

Though not a traditional birthstone, Pink Agate’s energies might still resonate depending on your birth month.

Pink Agate doesn’t hold the status of an official birthstone; nevertheless, some individuals feel a particular resonance with the gem based on their birth month. Anecdotal accounts indicate a strong bond between the stone and those born in months where emotional balance and love are key themes.

Planet Association of Pink Agate

Mercury governs the Pink Agate gem, making it a powerful tool for communicative endeavors.

As a gemstone under Mercury’s domain, Pink Agate facilitates enhanced communication and intellectual processing. Those looking to improve their conversational skills or engage in meaningful dialogue will find Pink Agate gem a willing accomplice. This stone also supports endeavors that require clever thinking and articulate expression.

Number of Vibrations of Pink Agate

The stone vibrates at the frequency of the number 7, indicating its spiritual properties.

The vibrational frequency of Pink Agate aligns with the number 7. This association imbues the gem with profound spiritual attributes, enabling it to serve as a conduit for higher forms of knowledge and intuition.

The number 7 often relates to the collective consciousness and spiritual enlightenment, characteristics well reflected in Pink Agate’s metaphysical properties.

Element of Pink Agate: Air and Ether

Air and Ether elements imbue pink agate stone with a unique set of energetic properties.

Associations with both Air and Ether endow Pink Agate with an ethereal quality. The Air element aligns the stone with intellectual pursuits and effective communication, while Ether—often considered the fifth element—connects it to higher spiritual realms. These associations serve to make Pink Agate a truly versatile and powerful gemstone.

Yin/Yang Balance

For those who seek equilibrium, Pink Agate serves as a compelling harmonizer.

Pink Agate brilliantly navigates the delicate balance between yin and yang energies. This dual capability turns the stone into a spiritual harmonizer, perfect for those yearning for equilibrium in their lives.

On the one hand, the gem’s gentle pink hues cater to yin energies, often associated with femininity and compassion. On the other hand, the intrinsic strength of agate crystals taps into yang energies, symbolizing masculinity and action.

What Finger to Wear Pink Agate On?

The choice of finger can impact the gem’s effectiveness; let your intuition guide you.

While traditions and beliefs vary, wearing Pink Agate on different fingers can, according to some metaphysical theories, influence its effectiveness. For example, wearing it on the ring finger might accentuate its ability to foster love and emotional well-being.

How to Use Pink Agate

Jewelry

When adorned as jewelry, Pink Agate becomes an elegant guardian of emotional health.

Pink Agate works splendidly as an adornment, especially in jewelry forms like rings, necklaces, and bracelets. While its exquisite beauty makes it a fashionable choice, its true value lies in its emotional protective qualities.

Wearing it close to your body allows its nurturing energies to better harmonize your emotional state.

Home Uses

As a home ornament, Pink Agate adds both aesthetic charm and tranquil vibes.

Imagine a Pink Agate display in your home, perhaps as a centerpiece or a wall accent. Not only would it serve as an artistic addition, but it would also exude tranquility and emotional balance into the living space.

Given its aura-stabilizing properties, having this gemstone in common areas can turn them into sanctuaries of peace.

Office Uses

In a workplace setting, the stone champions focus and tranquility.

Incorporating Pink Agate in an office environment serves dual purposes. Aesthetically, it elevates the workspace, but more crucially, it helps to balance stress and foster focus.

As a stone that promotes emotional well-being, having it near your workstation can alleviate anxieties and facilitate more efficient work.

Feng Shui Uses

In Feng Shui, Pink Agate brings energies of love and equilibrium to any space but does well in the southwest corner of the home or office. If you know your Kua number, then you can also put it in your love direction for your personal energy number.

Pink Agate’s attributes in Feng Shui are akin to its general properties—namely, emotional balance and love. Whether placed in a bedroom to enhance romantic vibes or in a living room for overall harmony, its presence harmonizes the energies of the space, making it more inviting and serene.

Pink Agate Chakra Healing Uses

For chakra work, this stone is most productive when aligned with the heart chakra.

Given its heart-based focus, Pink Agate naturally aligns with the heart chakra. Utilizing it in chakra healing can help unblock emotional constipations, allowing love and compassion to flow more freely. It’s an excellent tool for those looking to open up emotionally or foster self-love.

Pink Agate Meditations

In meditation practices, this gemstone amplifies inner serenity and unconditional love.

Utilizing Pink Agate during meditation proves transformative for those seeking inner peace and deeper emotional connections. As you slip into a meditative state, the stone’s energy harmonizes with your own, creating an emotional symphony that fosters both self-love and compassion for others.

The vibration of Pink Agate resonates strongly with quietude, making it easier to achieve an undistracted state.

Pink Agate Crystal Grids

For those intrigued by the power of crystal grids, Pink Agate offers an exceptional dynamic.

Integrating Pink Agate into a crystal grid optimizes its inherent properties. When combined with other synergistic stones, it can even amplify their effects, creating a potent, multidimensional energy field. For example, a grid combining Pink Agate with clear quartz and rose quartz could focus on attracting love and emotional balance into one’s life.

Affirmations with Pink Agate

Affirmations alongside this gem can potentiate its metaphysical properties.

Using affirmations such as “I am deserving of unconditional love” or “I attract peace into my life” while holding or gazing at a Pink Agate can amplify your intentions and the stone’s innate abilities. This powerful combination enables a profound emotional and spiritual shift, enriching your life from the inside out.

How to Care, Cleanse, & Charge Pink Agate

Smudging

Cleanse with smudging for an energy reset.

When your Pink Agate starts to feel energetically heavy, smudging it with sage can help. The smoke from the sage cleanses the stone’s aura, restoring its vibrancy and effectiveness in emotional and spiritual healing.

Moonlight

Charging under moonlight imbues it with ethereal energies.

To charge your Pink Agate, consider leaving it under the moonlight, particularly during a full moon. This ritual is believed to fill the stone with celestial energy, rejuvenating its metaphysical properties and amplifying its ability to assist in emotional and spiritual healing.

Himalayan Salt

Himalayan salt baths cleanse and reenergize.

A Himalayan salt bath can remove energetic impurities from your Pink Agate. Just ensure that the stone is not too porous, as salt can be corrosive. Submerge it in a bowl filled with Himalayan salt and water, and leave it for several hours for a thorough cleansing.

Bury In The Earth

Earth’s energies provide a potent cleansing method.

For a deep, revitalizing cleansing, consider burying your Pink Agate in the earth. The soil will absorb all the negative energies, recharging the stone with grounding, nurturing energy from the earth.

Sound Baths

Sonic cleansing provides an alternative for those not inclined towards traditional methods.

Sound baths offer an innovative way to cleanse Pink Agate. Whether it’s Tibetan singing bowls, tuning forks, or even certain frequencies played on speakers, sound waves can shake loose any stagnant energies and revitalize your stone.

How to Program Pink Agate

Intending to program your Pink Agate? A process of focused thought and ritual can empower the stone with specific energies that you wish to tap into. The ritual might involve holding the stone in your hand while deeply visualizing your intentions, thereby syncing your energy with that of the stone.

Programming Pink Agate in such a manner amplifies its inherent abilities, tailoring them more closely to your individual needs.

How to Tell if Pink Agate is Real?

Determining authenticity in Pink Agate requires keen observation and a few basic tests.

In an era rife with imitation stones, ensuring your Pink Agate’s authenticity becomes crucial. The appearance of banding or patterns, the stone’s texture, and its responsiveness to light can all serve as indicators of its authenticity.

If possible, purchase from reputable dealers who can provide certificates of authenticity. Some prefer to consult with a gemologist to confirm the mineral composition of their specimen.

How to Choose a Pink Agate?

Selecting the right Pink Agate involves personal preference, metaphysical needs, and attention to quality.

The quest for your ideal Pink Agate specimen depends on various factors, from your aesthetic taste to the specific healing properties you’re looking to harness. Pay close attention to the color depth, pattern, and overall quality of the stone.

Trust your instincts; the stone you are drawn to the most often proves to be the right choice for your metaphysical needs.

Pink Agate Pairing & Crystal Combinations

When it comes to maximizing the multifaceted potential of Pink Agate, synergistic crystal combinations amplify its inherent qualities. Each additional gemstone adds a layer of nuanced energy, thus creating a rich tapestry of healing, balance, and spiritual growth.

Red Agate

A pairing with Red Agate forms a blend of stimulating and balancing energies.

When combined with Red Agate, Pink Agate’s calming nature gets a touch of vitality. The integration of these two stones balances not only your emotions but also invigorates your energy flow, especially focusing on the root and heart chakras.

Orange Agate

Join Orange Agate to Pink Agate for a splash of creativity and emotional understanding.

Combining Pink Agate with Orange Agate creates a setting ripe for creative endeavors and emotional exploration. The creativity that Orange Agate unlocks becomes grounded in the emotional wisdom that Pink Agate offers, forming a nurturing environment for artistic and emotional pursuits.

Yellow Agate

Pair Yellow Agate with Pink Agate for a focus on clarity and emotional well-being.

Yellow Agate’s power lies in enhancing intellectual and emotional clarity. When fused with the emotional calming energies of Pink Agate, the resulting blend brings out a well-rounded sense of well-being and concentration.

Blue Agate

Add Blue Agate to the mix for heightened communication and emotional understanding.

Blue Agate, a stone known for improving communication, adds another layer to Pink Agate’s inherent emotional intelligence. This union facilitates not just internal emotional understanding but also external expression.

Green Agate

Include Green Agate for a focus on heart-centered decisions and an enhanced connection with nature.

Green Agate resonates with the heart chakra much like Pink Agate. Together, they create an intensified focus on emotional decisions and make one more attuned to the energies of the earth. These Green and Pink Crystals complement each other very well.

Purple Agate

Join Purple Agate to heighten spiritual awareness and emotional insight.

Purple Agate is a stone that inspires spiritual awakening. When paired with Pink Agate, the resulting combination facilitates a powerful spiritual and emotional journey, encouraging both insight and higher levels of consciousness.

Black Agate

Pair Black Agate for grounding and emotional protection.

Black Agate’s grounding abilities make it an excellent companion for Pink Agate’s emotional nurturing. Together, they create a fortified emotional boundary, protecting against negative energies.

Brown Agate

Join Brown Agate to foster stability and a strong connection to the earth.

The grounding features of Brown Agate make it an ideal partner for Pink Agate, enhancing not only emotional stability but also a strong, balanced connection with Earth energies.

Grey Agate

Add Grey Agate for neutrality and balance.

Grey Agate brings a level of neutrality and balance that complements Pink Agate’s emotional stability, creating an environment of ultimate emotional equilibrium.

White Agate

Include White Agate for purity and clear intentions.

When paired with Pink Agate, White Agate adds a layer of purification and clarity to your intentions, acting as a clean slate that amplifies the energies of love and emotional stability.

Clear Agate

Combine with Clear Agate for enhanced clarity and emotional insight.

Clear Agate amplifies the qualities of other stones. When combined with Pink Agate, this results in heightened emotional intelligence and an even more profound level of emotional clarity.

Other Crystal Combinations

Pink Tourmaline

When paired with Pink Agate, Pink Tourmaline dives deep into the reservoir of emotional trauma, offering profound healing and rejuvenation.

Pink Quartz

Join Pink Quartz and Pink Agate for a blend that fosters a sense of well-being and a relaxed approach to life.

Spinel

Integrate Spinel to add a layer of rejuvenation and inspiration to Pink Agate’s already soothing qualities.

Pink Fluorite

The combination with Pink Fluorite enhances mental clarity, thus contributing to a balanced emotional state.

Pink Agate Crystal Shapes

Towers

Pink Agate towers channel energy in a focused manner.

Towers, shaped to stand tall and direct energy, fit ideally into any spiritual or meditative practice. Placed in your sanctuary, Pink Agate towers can channel emotional soothing and spiritual growth upwards through their pointed apex.

Sphere

The sphere shape distributes energy evenly.

Pink Agate spheres radiate their comforting and loving energies in all directions, making them ideal for room placements where you seek overall harmonization and balance.

Pyramids

The pyramid shape concentrates energy at the apex, providing a unique method of harnessing Pink Agate’s powers.

A Pink Agate pyramid can concentrate its inherent metaphysical properties through its apex, making it a powerful shape for manifesting intentions or for focused meditation and healing practices.

Pink Agate Conclusion Take Away

Pink Agate’s symbolic meaning of head and heart coherence emerges as a multifaceted gemstone, emphasizing emotional and spiritual significance. Its aesthetic appeal, harmonizing abilities, and potent healing properties make it an invaluable asset in metaphysical practices.

From the crystal novice to the seasoned gemologist, Pink Agate offers something for everyone: emotional balance, spiritual growth, and a serene aura that permeates every aspect of your life.

Pink Agate FAQ

Queries frequently arise regarding the properties, uses, and characteristics of Pink Agate. Answering these queries can serve as an illuminating guide for both novices and seasoned practitioners in the realm of crystal healing and metaphysics.

What is pink agate good for?

Pink Agate finds renown for its emotional nurturing properties. As an ideal companion for times of stress, it fosters a sense of balance and unconditional love. It can be particularly beneficial for parent-child relationships and assists in enhancing self-love as well. Moreover, it aids in healing emotional wounds, making it a go-to crystal for many.

What is pink agate made of?

Formed from microscopic quartz crystals laid down in bands, Pink Agate belongs to the quartz family. The soft pink hue emanates from the traces of iron or manganese. Its banding patterns exhibit varying degrees of opacity and translucence, contributing to its aesthetic allure.

What does pink agate do spiritually?

Spiritually, Pink Agate serves as a conduit for unconditional love and emotional nurturing. The stone harmonizes energies between the heart and mind, augmenting spiritual growth. Its resonances align with higher states of consciousness and can serve as a vessel for receiving spiritual insights during meditation.

Is pink agate rare?

While agates in general are fairly common, Pink Agate holds a unique place due to its soft hue and the specialized emotional qualities it brings. Though not exceedingly rare, high-quality specimens with vivid banding and translucence are highly sought after.

Where should I put Pink Agate?

Placement varies based on intention. To improve love and relationships, the bedroom proves ideal. For emotional healing, carry it with you or place it in an area where you spend considerable time. Pink Agate can also serve as a stylish addition to office spaces where a soothing atmosphere can enhance productivity.

Can I sleep with Pink Agate under my pillow?

Sleeping with Pink Agate under your pillow can assist in emotional healing and encourage peaceful, uninterrupted sleep. Its calming energies can help in the assimilation of experiences, manifesting in dreams that guide rather than disturb.

Is Pink Agate good for anxiety?

Exceptionally so. Pink Agate can soothe turbulent emotions, offering a grounded perspective during times of stress. The stone’s calming energies provide a reliable, emotional anchor, thus making it beneficial for those grappling with anxiety.

Is Pink Agate a real crystal?

Yes, Pink Agate is indeed a genuine crystal. It belongs to the Agate family of chalcedony, a type of quartz. Due to its banded formation and quartz lineage, it exhibits crystal-like properties, including a Mohs hardness typically between 6 and 7.

Is Pink Agate a stone or crystal?

Pink Agate holds the classification of both a stone and a crystal. Often, the terms are used interchangeably. However, its scientific classification places it in the quartz family of crystals. Its layered, banded appearance and hardness also attributed to its stone-like characteristics.