The opal, also known as the Queen of Gems, is one of the most beautiful gemstones and has been highly prized for thousands of years.
Opals have always generated strong passions, according to the folklore of many cultures. In ancient times these gems were said to bring good luck, a tradition which continued through to the medieval period when English ladies gave their knights opals for good fortune.
In Ancient Egypt and Babylon, opals were considered a powerful healing gem, combining the qualities of fire and water. Arabs believed that opals fell to the earth in lightning flashes. While in Greece, opal was sacred to Cupid as a love stone.
The concept of opal as a bringer of bad luck is a modern one, since the implications found in Sir Walter Scott’s novel ‘Anne of Geierstein’ (1828); the heroine’s demonic grandmother died when a drop of holy water touched her enchanted opal, putting out its fire.
As well as Cachalong opal, the white type, this gem occurs in a variety of colors.
Fire Opal: This type of opal is a semi-transparent orange to red.
Girasol Quartz: A transparent blue-white opal with blushes of red.
Lechosos Opal: This variety is white showing a green hue.
Milk Opal: This is an attractive white or blue-white variety of opal.
Moss Opal: A delicate looking white opal with inclusions that look like tiny ferns.
Prase Opal: A green opal.
Precious Opal: This is any white type showing flashes of color in the light.
Resin Opal: A yellow-brown variety of opal.
There are many myths associated with the varieties of opal including one that these gems can help to guide your destiny.
Enhancing your self-image and improving your good luck are just two of the ways in which you may benefit from working with the powerful opal.
If you are having a run of bad luck and wish to improve your fortune, employ the help of opal combined with the power of the Sun.
On a sunny day hold your opal out in the light so that you can see its inner fire in the sunlight, shining with different colors. Say “Stone of the Gods, all the colors unite in you, by the power of their union may luck always be true”, you can now wear or carry your opal to promote good fortune.
In Europe, opal was also known as patronus forum (patron of thieves) as it was believed to render the bearer invisible. If you wish to go about unnoticed, for example, in your car, follow this simple exercise.
Consecrate an opal under the sun and the moon by holding it up to be bathed in their rays, and each time says “Through the nights and the days, deflect any unwanted gaze, protecting my car in all ways”.
Place the opal in your car and visualize the vehicle being inconspicuous, with people walking straight past and not noticing it. Now you may journey incognito.
Like diamonds, opals are good stones for magnifying energy, and can revitalize you if you’re at a low ebb. Be sure you are in a good mood though, otherwise the stones could amplify your bad feelings. If you tend to be hyperactive you should also avoid this exercise, as the opals may overstimulate you.
Hold an opal to your Heart Chakra with both hands and feel its energy spread throughout your body, invigorating you with new vitality.
Opal’s natural beauty makes it a good stone to assist you in bringing out your own inner beauty. Wear opal jewelery if you are going out and wish to look your best, or try the Chakra ritual.
If you are uncomfortable with your self-image, hold an opal to your Third Eye and say this incantation, “May I have clear vision and see true beauty and may the beauty of my soul radiate from every part of my body”.
Now visualize the flashing colors of the opal filling your aura, surrounding you with a rainbow of colors, subtly radiating your virtues and beauty for all to see. Wear the opal as jewelery to continue to benefit from its beautifying powers.
Many opals, especially fire opals, are found in Australia, so it is not surprising the Aboriginal tribes have many myths about this gem.
According to one legend, a huge opal governs the movement of the stars in the heavens. This great gem also guides human love and controls the amounts of gold in the ground.
Other myths denounce opal as an evil gem, stating that the stone is a devil – half-human and half-serpent. It lurks in dark holes in the ground, always ready to lure humans to their doom with flashes of wicked magic.
