It most commonly is found as small white "cotton ball" formations within basalt geodes.

These formations are clusters of straight, radiating, fibrous crystals that are both bendable and fragile.

[5] It also belongs to the family of the calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) commonly found in hardened cement paste.

It was first described in 1828 for an occurrence at Disko Island, Greenland and named for German naturalist Lorenz Oken (1779–1851).

[4] Minerals associated with okenite include apophyllite, gyrolite, prehnite, chalcedony, goosecreekite and many of the mother zeolites.