Opal stones: types, properties and meaning

Opal stones are among the visually most attractive gemstones. Due to the relative rarity of some of the variations of opal and their bad reputation in the past, they are not extremely popular in the new age metaphysical community. Nevertheless, owing to the special opal properties, this stone can be of great value to the practitioners who are ready to experiment and include opal in their collection of healing and meditative crystals.

The colors of opal are white, pink, red, blue and violet, but opal stones can also be brown or orange. Usually opals are rather small, and possess glassy glow. The characteristic color of opal comes from the interference of transmitted light. The rarest and therefore most valuable are the black opals. Some transparent opals can match the beauty of the black opals (see the video bellow). The black opals are not totally black, as the name might suggest, but they simply have a darker tone when compared to a typical white opal. The pure white milk opals can be relatively inexpensive.

The darkest backgrounds with red or pink spots across the stone can have intense brightness and a dance of light that no other stones, even diamonds, can match. The gemstone quality opals are usually always accompanied by unusual flash patterns. Their price can match the one of the most expensive diamonds, emeralds, rubies, or other precious stones. The best quality black opal stones are mined in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Notable occurrences are in Australia, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Canada and Honduras.

Opal is a low temperature mineral that is often found in cavities or cracks within the Earth's crust. There has to be water around the localities of this gemstone, since water enters its chemical composition. In essence, opal is a form of silica, SiO₂, mixed with certain fraction of water molecules. The name opal most probably comes from the Latin expression for precious stone – opalus. When using this stone one should keep in mind that it can easily get dehydrated under the influence of heat, or if exposed to chemicals. It is also very porous.

Opal stones can be man made (either synthesized or altered in some way) and indeed one can find many types of opal which are artificially produced on the markets today. Therefore be careful when selecting opal stone jewelry. The man made opals are sometimes called doublets or triplets. A doublet is a paper thin slice of genuine opal glued on a black backing, sometimes for example on a piece of black onyx stone. Triplets are essentially doublets with a transparent glass, or quartz capping. There are, of course, lab synthesized opal stones, which are difficult to spot with an untrained eye, as they can be really close to the natural opal. Apart from that, one can also find several minerals that can mimic the appearance of natural opal.

A special type of opal is fire opal. The name originates from its typical fire red color, and not from any flash patters or interplay of light. The fire opal stones can have all the possible nuances from yellow, through orange to deep red color. Most of the fire opals today come from Mexico, and they are usually not as expensive as the other types of genuine opal, while the other characteristics can be more or less equal.

Opal is a stone of protection, faithfulness and loyalty. It is said that it can enhance super sensible vision and creativity. Not unlike the malachite stones, opals are mystical gemstones of high vibrations. As such, they can have a wide spectrum of application on the physical as well as on the higher levels of existence. Some say that opal is able to absorb thoughts and feelings, to enhance them, and sent them back to the source.

The opal meaning In the past was not positive. Mostly due to superstition, opal was considered bad luck. It was believed that opal can grant its bearer a power of invisibility - therefore it gained bad reputation as an amulet for thieves. In medieval times opal was generally disliked due to its similarities to the eyes of some"evil" animals. Thus, this beautiful stone used to provoke fear of the “Evil Eye”.

Despite these negative connotations, opal is an excellent stone to disperse either positive or negative energy, but it requires careful handling during the metaphysical practice. Learning how to meditate with this stone can also be a challenge. This means choosing a suitable stone that can integrate energy, as well as proper programming, cleaning and charging. Opal stones can be used as a tool to explore the unresolved emotional problems from the past. Opal is a birthstone of October.

In crystal therapy, the opal metaphysical properties can be very useful in dealing with problems of the digestive organs and it can stimulate the proper functioning of the stomach.

At my blog you can find more about another of the great metaphysical crystals - the green amethyst.