OPAL

Opal - Color, Facts, Power, Mythology, History And Myths

Opals seem to encompass all the splendour of the nature in themselves. They look so attractive and beautiful due to the rainbow-like colour, fire and lightening element, and all the serenity of the far seas that they exhibit. Opal is the form of mineral silica, and it contains 3% to 21% of water in itself.

Opal is the gemstone of Australia, and almost 97% of the Opals in the world comes from Australia. There are other variants of Opal as well, like Matrix Opal, DentriteOpal and Boulder Opal, which are somewhat different in design and texture from the authentic Australian Opal.

Where is Opal found?

97% of the supreme quality Opal comes from Australia. Other sources, where Opal is not found in much abundance, but is mined, are Brazil, Peru, USA, Mexico, and some parts of Africa.

Healing Properties

Benefits of Opal

  • Healing Properties

Opal stone, especially the black one, is considered to be a felicitous stone to ward off the evil eye and protect the wearer while traveling. If a person comes to any trouble while sleeping due to scary dreams, Opal is recommended to them by experts.

Opal is also believed to be a stone that can bolster energy and reinforces a person with positivity and confidence.

  • Cures diseases

Different variants of Opal cure different ailments, like Black Opal, is helpful in curing the pancreas, reproductive organs, and spleen. It cleans red corpuscles & aids in the augmentation of white corpuscles. Fire Opal is valuable for treating depression, lethargy, apathy, and red corpuscle & blood disorders, depression, apathy, lethargy while white Opal is a great treatment for any sort of deformities in the left or the right hemisphere of the brain.

  • Other benefits

Opal is also helpful in instilling faith, trust, and confidence. It brings fortune to the wearer, improves creative skills, and assist in finding out true love.

Opal Facts

Some facts aboutOpal

  • The planet Mars is also said to be the home of this amazing stone as announced by NASA, in 2008.
  • Black Opal is the luckiest among all the other variants of Opal.
  • The Opal is the birthstone of the people who are born in the month of October, and who are largely born under the astrological sign Libra.
  • Opal mainly symbolizes purity, innocence, and hope.

Types of Opals

There is a vast variety in which Opals are present in the market. Some of them are mentioned below:

  • Black Opal

Not exactly black, but somewhat with a dark tone, Black Opal is mined in New South Wales. It is one of the most famous and beautiful looking stones. Black Opal comes with shades and hues of other colors as well, which includes Black/Dark BlueOpal, Black-Brown-GreyOpal, etc. Black Opals are considered extremely powerful by magicians and Wiccans. Although Opal is regarded as the stone that brings misfortune, but black Opal is considered to be exceptionally lucky.

  • Australian Opals

Australian Opals are the epitomes of purity and passion. Other than assisting a person in emotionally and mentally, it calms the inner soul. Australian Opals are believed to connect the conscious and subconscious, and helps the person in understanding himself clearly. 

  • White Opals

Also recognized as 'milky Opal', white Opal exhibit a light and subtle body tone. It is a very common form of Opal found and used. It is believed to activate the functions of the necessary glands, harmonizing desires, creating lovemaking, and alleviating food disorders.

  • Crystal Opal

Crystal Opal is a transparent or s semi-transparent form of Opal, which is quite a see-through stone. They can have both light and dark kind of body tone, which has generated terms, like “white crystal Opal”, and “black crystal Opal” in the market.

  • Fire Opal

Fire Opals generally exhibit a high amount of red color and red being rarest of the color makes Fire Opals exceptionally valuable. Red or Fire Opal enhances the inner power of a human being and works as a protective shield against fire. Fire Opal is considered great in appealing emotional turmoil.

  • Matrix Opal

Naturally displaying a pinfire tone, Matrix Opal is made of precious Opalina silica, which fills the pores of this stone. The pinfire shade is somewhat dark green-blue in color.

  • Opalite

Opalite is also a variant of Opal, which is delicate in structure and exhibits milky or white iridescence. When Opalite is placed on the Crown Chakra while meditation, it is believed that it enhances intellectual abilities of the wearer and persuade his visions.  It is also effective in stabilizing mood swings, and pacifying disorders related to kidney and blood.

The Ethiopian Welo Opal or Ethiopian Opal is a variant of Opal, however, a little different in its texture, appearance, and properties than Australian Opal. It was discovered in 2008, and the properties due to which it differs from Australian Opal is that it is found in nodules unlike the layers of Australian Opal. A black colored Australian Opal is considered to be the finest and most sought-after quality of Australian Opal, but there is no black color as such reported in Ethiopian Opal.

Ethiopian opal is believed to be an ancient gemstone. An anthropologist in 1939 discovered some evidence of opal in caves of Kenya. However, the stone was re-discovered again in the mid 90’s, and mining was begun.

 In 1939, an anthropologist found evidence of the use of the opal by early man in a cave in Kenya. It was not until the mid-1990s when the opal was re-discovered and mining was begun.

A good quality Ethiopian Opals have a variety of colors to display such as orange, red, green, pink, yellow, brown, white, and blue. Some of the colors of Ethiopian Opals are so exquisite and unique that they are not even found in Australian Opals. The striking pattern formation of Ethiopian Opals makes them look more wonderful.

  • Swiss Opal

Swiss opal is a dark green colored gemstone with dull patches of different patterns, like chicken wire or lizard skin. When Swiss Opal is exposed to light it radiated spectacular color and change according to the movement in different angles.  It is renowned for its characteristic green color but could be found in some other hues as well, like dark green, blue etc.

  • Pink Opal

Pink opal is basically the stone of tranquility, love and peace. It is vibrant, enriching, uplifting, and delightful. Pink Opal helps in bringing sweetness and liveliness back into the lives of those who wear it and it is a great stone at the time of stress.

Pink Opal is a worthwhile stone in getting rid of the emotional hang-ups, and the unwanted feelings of guilt, shame, and embarrassment. It encourages you to keep out of worries and gives you the clarity in emotions.

According to the healing properties that Pink Opal possesses, it is said to be valuable for diabetes and is apparently soothing for the skin as well.

Other than these, there are few more variants that this amazing Opal family holds, like Redwood Opal, Siberian Opal, Rainforest Opal, Honduran Opal, Brown Opal, Cherry Opal, Hyalite Opal, Blue Opal, Green Opal, Pink Opal, Dendritic Opal, Oregon Opal, Grey Opal, and many more.

 

Metaphysical Properties

Opal has derived its name from the Sanskrit word "upala", which means, "valuable stone".Opals have claimed to be discovered around 4000 years ago, and since then it has not lost its popularity as a healing stone among human beings.

The basic property of Opal is its structure, which is not crystalline, but is made up of hardened silica gel. It is said that pure Opal is colorless, but it is very rare to find, generally Opal is found with some amount of impurities in it, which makes it look even more beautiful.

The hardness of this magnificent stone on Moh’s scale ranges in between 5.5 to 6.5, which basically depends on the structure of Opal. The more porous the Opal is that can freely absorb water, will incline more towards the lower limit of the range, while the more translucent Opal having “conchoidal fracture” will occur in the higher range.

Opal In News

Opal Color

Opal comes in various colors like blue, orange, gray, pink, brown etc.

Opal Colors

  • CleavageNone
  • Other Names
  • Crystal HabitIrregular veins, in masses, in nodules
  • StreakWhite
  • Refractive Index1.450 (+.020, -.080)
  • DiaphaneityOpaque, translucent, transparent
  • Mohs scale (hardness)5.5 – 6
  • Sourcesaustralia,Brazil, Peru, USA, Mexico, and some parts of Africa
  • Chemical formulaSiO2·nH2O
  • LustreSubvitreous to waxy
  • ColorColorless, white, yellow, red, orange, green, brown, black, blue
  • Chakra HealingHeart chakra,Crown Chakra
  • BirthstoneOctober
  • Zodiaclibra
11 Comments
Write Comments
  • ella
    Oct 31, 2014, 11:32:11 AM

    I like all the hues of Opal, which shade of it will be apt for me?

  • Gemexi
    Nov 10, 2014, 4:57:30 PM

    Hi Ella… for an apt gemstone you will require to tell us your birth date or astrological sign as the gemstones are worn according to these information. All the gemstones doesn’t suit everyone. You may also consult with your astrologer. He will go through your horoscope and will suggest you a suitable charm.

  • Alaska
    Nov 25, 2014, 4:48:07 AM

    Fire Opal a type of Opal helps in curing various diseases. All the shades of Opal are used for specific requirements with respect to the needs of the wearer. I want to don this gemstone. Suggest if I could do so.

  • Galen maes
    Aug 13, 2015, 4:35:47 AM

    Opal is a very nice stone. This is a special stone for me because it brings confidence and trust in myself. really helpful to me!! \nGive it a try :)

  • Alaska
    Aug 21, 2015, 4:47:14 AM

    yes, Hendrix. i have asked to ms mittens and it helped me to some extent. it explained how opal stone is helpful for me.. After that i bought this stone and really happy with the experience.. This stone is working great on me..would surely recommend other people..

  • Margaret
    Jul 17, 2019, 10:30:41 PM

    Opal gemstone is also helpful in releasing anger and claims self-worth.

  • Anderson
    Sep 16, 2019, 10:17:59 PM

    Opal is so charming stone that nobody denies for it.

  • patacia
    Nov 7, 2019, 9:57:30 PM

    my father has severe problem of diabetis,one of my friend told me about gemexi and they suggest me to wear opal and seriously it is so much beneficial in curing diabetis..Thanks alot gemexi

  • bethny
    Dec 23, 2019, 9:54:54 PM

    What a stunner !!! Can't take my eyes off from your jewelry.Very nice collection.

  • kaira
    Jul 21, 2020, 4:45:53 AM

    Wow, this is breathtaking!

  • Kiara
    Dec 22, 2020, 9:39:03 AM

    I am a travel blogger and I use to roam around the world and I was searching something for me and I think my search is over it is the best available option for me.

    Gemexi
    Dec 23, 2020, 5:34:21 AM

    Thanks for the feedback on your experience.

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