The Heart Journey Stone

An October Birthstone it correlates with Libra, and this is the sign of balance emotional and spiritual.

Opal derives its name from the Sanskrit upala meaning “precious stone”. A classic, well-known gemstone treasured since ancient times.

Worshipped by the Romans as a symbol of hope, fidelity, purity and good luck, opal is sometimes called the “queen of gems” because the stone can flash patterns of color representing every hue of the rainbow.

Opals were said to contain the tears shed by Zeus after his victory over the Titans. In India opal is considered a lucky stone; in the Far East it is a symbol of eternal hope. Opal’s colours are created by microscopic water drops within the stone.

Colours: milky or white with mulit-coloured patterns inside, opaque, clear, transparent, yellow-brown

Uses: Containing up to 30 percent water and called the “eye stone”, opal is excellent for harmonizing energy, eye disorders, accessing cosmic energy, activating creativity and wisdom, gaining balance and inspiration, "doubling out", which is being in the physical world and the "other" world at the same time; intensifying emotional states, business, protection, and lucid dreaming.

Star Sign: Cancer
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Chakra: Throat

Tips for Opal

Rub opal to enhance your memory

Place opal around you at work to promote creativity, inspiration, and imagination

Carry blue opal when you want to feel invisible - it is known as the “stone of thieves”

Put opal in your pocket when you want to lose your inhibitions

Wear opal to increase your sexual attraction

Keep opal with you to promote diversity

Opal endows mystery and charisma

The opal is both projective and receptive.

The ancients used opals to promote astral projection.

Opal can also be used to recall past incarnations.

Opals are worn to bring out one’s inner beauty.

Opals are a gemstone that is closely tied to the emotions and will reflect the mood of the person holding or wearing the Opals. They act much like a prism within the Auric Field allowing the full spectrum of light energy to flow through each of the energy centers, cleansing, soothing and healing each of the layers of the Subtle Bodies. Opals can open you up to working deep within as well as expanding your being to Cosmic Consciousness and the colour-play in the flash conjour intuition and imagination.

It was believed that water, fire and heat are enclosed in Opal so it is a remedy for many diseases. Opal helps against heart diseases, calms nerves, guards against melancholy, restores visual acuity, normalizes functioning of epiphysis and hypophysis.

Opal is a stone of deceptive hopes and illusions, secret passions, superstitions, the favourite stone of magicians and alchemists. Opals intensify intuition and promote inspiration. Opals help recollect the past lives. Magical properties are related to the color of stone and since Opal's colors are very diverse so are its magical properties. For example, on one hand Opal as a stone of sympathy and compassion is a protector of Nurses and Doctors, on the other hand it is a stone of thieves; it can clarify spirit and thoughts and also can induce its wearer to foolish actions. People with instable character would better avoid wearing Opal. To increase Opal's magical properties it should be mounted in gold or silver. Opal reaches its maximum power in October.

Opal is found in a rainbow of hues. Its most distinctive characteristic is the way colors dance across the surface, flashing their brilliance. The effect looks magical, but has a scientific explanation: opal is made up of sub-microscopic spheres stacked in a grid-like pattern. The structure breaks up light into spectral colors. The gemstone is formed from a solution of silicon and dioxide and water.

Opals have a very long history and there are many myths pertaining to the stone. In medieval times, all blond maidens wanted a necklace made of opals, as this was considered an absolute guarantee to prevent their hair from fading or darkening. The opal was also thought to make a person invisible whenever he wished, and for that reason, it was called Patronus forum (patron of thieves).

Opal has always been associated with love and passion, as well as desire and eroticism. It is a seductive stone that intensifies emotional states and releases inhibitions. It can also act as an emotional stabilizer. Wearing an opal is said to bring about loyalty and faithfulness.

Folklore

You may have heard that the opal brings bad luck and is an evil stone. In fact, this has been a ridiculous belief for a long time all over the world. However, those in the know, are aware that this unfortunate reputation and myth actually is the fault of one man, Sir Walter Scott. Sir Walter Scott’s bestselling novel, Anne of Geuerstein, written in 1829, was the story of Lady Hermione, who is falsely accused of being a demoness, and dies shortly after a drop of holy water accidentally falls on her opal and destroys its color. The public took this to mean that this genius author was warning of the bad luck an opal can bring, so they stopped buying the beautiful gemstone. Sir Walter Scott succeeded in destroying the European opal market for almost 50 years with really, no real merit whatsoever. Within months of the novel being published, the opal market crashed and prices were down 50%.

This “play of color” is one of opal’s signature characteristics. The gem is found in a range of hues, including white opal (the most common); black opal; “boulder” opal (black opal with iron oxide); crystal or water opal, which is transparent; and fire opal, which has a yellow to orange to red body color.

Natural Opal

Natural opals are those which have not been treated or added to in any way by mankind, other than by cutting and polishing. Natural opals are usually described as light, dark/black, boulder, and matrix. Although boulder opal has an ironstone backing, it is regarded as a solid natural opal because this backing occurs naturally. The variety of natural opal is determined by the two characteristics of body tone and transparency.

Body Tone - The base tones of light, dark and black opal range from colourless, white, through the various shades of grey, to black.

Transparency - Opal of any body colour will be opaque, translucent or transparent. When it is transparent or very translucent, and the colour clarity is sharp, it is often referred to as crystal opal.

Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica; its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt.

Opal is the national gemstone of Australia.

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