Gypsum

In that enclosed warmth, the first crystal seeds began to form, transparent and small, unaware that hundreds of thousands of years lay open before their growth.

The crystals inside Naica are made of gypsum, specifically a clear form known as selenite.

Gypsum is familiar in smaller shapes throughout the world, sometimes appearing as pale blades, delicate rosettes, or soft translucent sheets.

Here, however, the chamber offered something rare.

Warmth remained within a narrow range, mineral-rich water stayed present, and the environment changed with extraordinary slowness.

We move only in imagination, passing among these quiet forms without touching them, letting their surfaces remain in the uninterrupted rest of the mountain.

Touch would reveal something softer than you might expect.

Gypsum ranks low on the scale used to describe mineral hardness, and even an ordinary fingernail can mark it.

Like bocce ball, he tells me.

He is the division safety manager for Gypsum Division of Georgia-Pacific, the world's leading manufacturer of building products, packaging, paper products, cellulose, and specialty materials.

Joe is here as not only a 12-year veteran at Georgia-Pacific, where he leads safety across multiple sites and divisions, enterprise-level roles, but today he also supports over 16 facilities nationwide, and he has been responsible for the Path to Zero safety strategy at GP Gypsum.

I am delighted to have you, and thank you for joining us, Joe.

Thanks for having me, Michael.

Yeah, no, of course, and I say that all tongue in cheek, but it is funny how you get voluntold at times that you get to do something.

[laughs] So moving on to your current journey, you've been part of...

Now, have you been with Gypsum the entire journey, or has it been a different part of Georgia-Pacific? It's 12 years with the company, so what did the journey look like there?

If you're not, calcitic lime is just fine.

And I think this is a good time to mention gypsum.

A lot of people go, well, what about gypsum? Gypsum's great if you need sulfur and calcium, but it does not buffer the soil pH.

So just keep that in mind.

You're not going to move your pH needle.

Directly causes new species of plants to evolve.

Gypsum does the same thing.

And throughout the Chihuahua Desert, where I've been living for the last five years, you get a belt of gypsum basically from Albuquerque, New Mexico, all the way down through northern Oaxaca, and you get a lot of wild shit.

Gypsum endemics ...

If something's endemic, it means it only grows in a certain region or in a certain state or on a certain, in this case, on a certain type of geology.

And so this is a gypsum endemic Pinguicula.

Really useful adaptation.

And so here's one that's doing that on gypsum.

Besid, with lime.

V'gipsis, this is translated as gypsum.

Einem, chibor, these are not considered as a chibor, it's not considered as a connection that they are part of the vessel.

or show God for it.

This is part of the oldest existing book on Chinese herbal formulas.

So we talked about uh shangnan ben so jing uh divine husbandsman's uh or divine farmers uh materia medica that is the oldest book on single chinese herbs this is the oldest book on chinese herbal formulas let's get into the ingredients of this formula Gypsum fibrosum, sure gal.

Sure gal.

We need, well, so the dosing on these are a little bit different.

Just gypsum fibrosum shirgao is the only substance that addresses all aspects of the heat treated by this formula because it clears heat throughout the triple burner, as explained in miscellaneous records of the Materia Medica Bensalbe Lu.

Without a date, there's no date on that.

Gypsum fibrosum shirgao is good at getting rid of headaches and generalized fever, strong heat throughout the three burners, as well as heat in the skin.

It releases heat from the muscles by promoting sweating, and it stops wasting thirst, irritability, and rebellious qi.