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Working with Crystals
by Hari Das CRYSTALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

OBSIDIAN - Snowflake - Mahogany - Apache Tears - Marekanite - Silver, Gold, Red, Purple,
Green, Blue and Rainbow Obsidian

Chemical Composition:  SiO2; mostly silicon dioxide with large amounts of impurities

Crystal System:  Amorphous     Hardness:  5 - 5.5

Habit:  Includes compact nodules or as layers between other volcanic rocks

Colour:  Dark green to dark brown and black also can show sheens of gold or green, yellow,
blue and/or purple coloration. 
Sometimes with white inclusions (Snowflake Obsidian)

KEYWORDS:  WARRIOR OF TRUTH

Obsidian is of low significance as a material for gemstones,
but the so-called volcanic glasses provide interest for the many uses to which they
have been put by aboriginal man and by the enigma of their genesis. 
Obsidian is formed by the rapid cooling of volcanic lava which, had it been allowed to cool slowly,
would have developed a crystalline structure and assumed the character of granitic rocks. 
There can be no exact chemical composition given for obsidian, for it may vary greatly,
but all obsidian has from 66 to 72 per cent of silica and is an extreme modification
of rhyolite and dacite rocks.
Obsidian is normally black or grey in colour and owes any attraction it may have to an
iridescent sheen caused by reflections from minute bubbles or inclusions of water or gas. 
The silver and gold sheen obsidian is highly prized and much sought after. 
In the United States of America a variety of obsidian having spherulitic inclusions of a
white mineral on the black groundmass is cut and polished and goes under the name of
‘flowering obsidian’ or ‘snowflake obsidian’. 
A variety banded black and red is known as ‘mountain mahogany’ or mahogany obsidian’.
A transparent leaf-green is also available, but it is extremely rare and most transparent
green obsidians are usually found to be moldavites or merely green glass. 
Red and blue obsidians have also been found, but these are also very rare. 
Marekanite is the name applied to smoky-brown, grey or black decomposing perlitic obsidian
found along the banks of the Mareikanka river at Okhotsk, in Siberia. 
Glassy pebble-like solid cores of unaltered glass, about an inch or more across,
from the decomposed obsidian of the American southwest, are known as Apache tears’. 
The legends around Apache tears are legion.
The fracture of obsidian is extremely conchoidal and it is due to the facility with which
the material can be broken into sharp-edged flakes that obsidian was so valued by Stone Age
people who lived in areas where it was common, the easily controlled flaking allowing the
production of keen-edge spear points, knives and tools. 
These have been discovered in ancient burial sites. 
Obsidian has been quarried since the days of the North American Indians,
who used it for arrowhead material.
Obsidian was used by the Aztecs and their predecessors for the sharp points of their weapons,
for mirrors and masks, and for ear ornaments. 
They called the material Iztli and surnamed it Teotetl (Divine stone) because of its diverse uses,
one of which was the ‘smoking mirror’ used by the Mayan priests for scrying to predict the future. 
Obsidian occurs throughout the world at those places where volcanic activity occurs
or has occurred in the past. 
In Iceland it is known as ‘Iceland agate’. 
It has also been called ‘Glass agate’, ‘Glass lava’,Montana jet’,
‘Nevada diamond’, ‘Nevada topaz’, ‘Rainbow obsidian’, ‘Iridescent obsidian’ and ‘Volcanic glass’. 
Obsidian derived its name from the Roman Obsius who, according to Pliny, found the stone in present-day Ethiopia. 
In antiquity, it was regarded as a stone that would drive out and banish demonic entities. 
In Hawaii it is considered the blood of the ‘Mother’ as she gives birth, through her volcanic activity.
Obsidian is a master mineral in the art of the hidden, lost or forbidden. 
It has no restrictions or limitations. 
This is due entirely to its amorphous structure; it teaches us to let go of our limitations
and self-imposed fear restrictions. 
It teaches us to flow and expand.  It has a soul mirror quality that is all its own.
Its ‘Spirit’ name is the ‘Warrior of Truth’. 
When consciously directed, obsidian reflects our shadow side back to us for deep soul healing. 
Obsidian then teaches us how to bring more light into our darkness or shadow side. 
On the path to our own personal wholeness, healing and health,
we must confront our deepest fears, phobias, pains, hurts and shame. 
Very often we desperately try to ignore our shadow side; these are the parts of us
that we have judged, rightly or wrongly, to be bad, ugly or shameful. 
We have been conditioned since our births to conform to other people’s
ideas of good and bad, right or wrong. 
This is our personal ‘conditioning’, our ‘robotic programming’. 
This programming does serve a vital function, it makes us easier to control and manipulate. 
These rules of good or bad constantly change, depending on our personal circumstances
and present life situation; they are influenced by our religious beliefs, teachers,
parents, relatives, politicians, scientists, the media and our peers. 
These rules do not represent Eternal Divine Truth, only the current civilisation’s accepted truth. 
As we, as individualised perfect expressions of the sacred life force, claim our Divine birthright
and personal power, we will have to confront all our demons of darkness
and shine the light of truth into these murky recesses. 
These demons of darkness will otherwise manifest as illness, pain and feelings of separation from
our source of love, inspiration and wisdom.
Obsidian draws the quality of our Divine essence into our physical body; this purges the negativity and activates
‘the Divine essence within’. 
Obsidian will also shield us from all unkind energies, which seek to use our energy and manipulate our energy field
for their own benefit. 
It also dissolves all negative energy within our environment. 
It is an excellent grounding stone for when we feel spaced out or disorientated from reality. 
It quickly dissolves blocks, trauma, shock,
fear and ‘reality shock’.  It helps us to deal with feelings of betrayal and exploitation.
It has been used for divination and scrying.  The process of soul integration, bringing
our spiritual invulnerable self into our consciousness for attunement and integration,
until we have a refined clairvoyance that encompasses eternal truth and integrity, accomplishes this. 
Pain is quickly removed when obsidian is placed on the affected area. 
It has been used in the treatment of arthritis and all joint pain. 
It easily relieves cramp and the pain from injury or operation scars. 
It has been used to shrink enlarged prostates and ameliorate the painful side- effects of an enlarged prostate. 
It removes toxins from the body after exposure to pollution and toxic areas of the earth. 
It purges negativity from the meridian system and is being used instead of needles in acupuncture. 
It has helped remove and relieve painful areas in AIDS patients. 
It is soothing and comforting, but has the ability to deeply penetrate problems and degraded illnesses. 
Green obsidian is very purifying to the heart and throat chakras.
Because obsidian was used as an implement of death by Stone Age people who lived in areas where obsidian was common -
as keen-edged spear points, knives and tools - you may have an initial resistance or fear of its energy. 
Be assured that the ‘Spirit’ keeper of obsidian is aware of your fear and will not allow any misuse of its energy.
Obsidian spheres have been used to unwind negative energy from dysfunctional chakras and painful areas of the body. 
They have also been used in meditation and scrying.  An obsidian sphere used for meditation has been likened
to an ‘iron fist in a black velvet glove’,
so please have a sphere of clear quartz ready to help you fully integrate
the energies a black obsidian sphere can unearth as it shatters your mirror of illusion.

Affirmation:  I am a spiritual warrior of truth.


OPAL

Chemical Composition:  SiO2-nH2O

Crystal System:  Amorphous     Hardness:  5.5 - 6.5

Habit:  Massive; often as stalactitic, botryoidal and rounded forms; also as veinlets; cavity-fillings such as in
fractures and geodes, nodular or as a replacement of other minerals and wood

Colour:  Variable from colourless through milky white, grey, red, brown, blue, green, pale yellow, pale red, pink,
grey or black, when impurities are common.  Diffraction can cause flashes of any colour of the rainbow (opalescent)

KEYWORDS:  EMOTIONAL MIRROR

The name opal comes from Sanskrit and means ‘gem’ or ‘precious stone’. 
Opal has been a popular gem for many centuries
and has a very interesting structure. 
Opal is considered a mineraloid because this structure is not truly crystalline. 
The chemistry of opal is primarily Si02 and
varying amounts of water. 
Although there is no crystal structure (meaning a regular arrangement of atoms), opal does possess
a structure nonetheless.  Random chains of silicon and oxygen are packed into extraordinarily tiny spheres. 
These spheres in most opals are irregular in size and inconsistent in concentration.
Yet in precious opal, the variety used most often in jewellery, there are many organized pockets of the spheres. 
These pockets contain spheres of approximately equal size and have a regular concentration,
or structure, of the spheres. 
This has the effect of diffracting light at various wavelengths, creating colours. 
Each pocket produces a different colour, with a different intensity depending
on the angle from which a viewer sees it. 
The multicoloured flashes of light which opal emits give it a truly exquisite quality.
Hyalite is colourless, botryoidal opal; wood opal is wood that has been replaced in part by opaline silica;
and hydrophane is a variety, which becomes transparent when immersed in water. 
Siliceous sinter and geyserite are opaline deposits formed around geysers or by precipitation from hot waters. 
They generally form stalactitic and delicate filamentous forms of various colours. 
Precious opal has a milky white and sometimes black body colour. 
Fire opal is a variety in which red and yellow colours are dominant and produce flame-like reflections when turned.
Opal has been treasured throughout history around the world. 
Archaeologist Louis Leakey found six thousand-year-old opal artefacts in a cave in Kenya. 
Roman historian Pliny described the magnificence of opal as the combination of the beauty of all other gems:
“There is in them a softer fire than the ruby, there is the brilliant purple of the amethyst, and the sea green of the emerald -
all shining together in incredible union.  Some by their splendour rival the colours of the painters, others the flame of
burning sulphur or of fire quickened by oil”.
Opal was much loved and valued highly by the Romans, who called it opalus. 
In Greek mythology opal is said to have formed out of the tears of joy Zeus cried after his victory over the Titans.
The Aztecs mined opal in South and Central America. 
Opal was also treasured in the middle Ages and was called ophthalmios, or eye stone, due to a widespread
belief that it was beneficial to eyesight.
Blonde women wore opal necklaces to protect their hair from losing its colour. 
An opal called the orphanus was set in the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor. 
It was described as follows: “as though pure white snow flashed and sparkled with the colour of bright ruddy wine, and was
overcome by this radiance”. 
This opal was said to protect the regal honour. 
Opals are also set in the crown jewels of France. 
Napoleon gave Josephine a beautiful opal with brilliant red flashes called “The burning of Troy”, making her his Helen.

Shakespeare found in the opal a symbol of shifting inconstancy, likening play of colour to play of mind in one of the most
apt uses of gemstone symbolism in literature. 
In ‘Twelfth Night’, he writes: “Now the melancholy God protect thee, and the tailor make thy garments of changeable taffeta,
for thy mind is opal”.
In India, opal is thought to be the Goddess of rainbows turned to stone when fleeing from the romantic
advances of the other Gods. 
Queen Victoria loved opals and often gave them as wedding presents. 
Ancient opal came from the mines near Cervenica, Hungary, in what is now Eastern Slovakia, where hundreds of
men mined the stone.
Ancient opal devotees never had the opportunity to see the opal of Australia, where the opal of today was born,
which far surpasses the beauty of Hungarian opal in fire, colour and sheer brilliance. 
Gold panners in Australia found the first few pieces of precious opal in 1863. 
Mines at White Cliffs began producing in 1890. 
The strength of the colours seen in opal also depends on the background body colour and the transparency of the stone. 
Opal is the birthstone for those born in October.
Opal is absorbent, it picks up your emotional energies, positive or negative, and works with the karmic law of return:
what you send out is returned amplified like a boomerang.  The reason the energy is magnified is very simple:
like attracts like! 
This makes some people very wary of wearing opal, and rightly so - for if you are not sending out positive loving energy and are
instead deeply focused on negativity, the last thing you need is even more negativity! 
But don’t blame the beautiful opal, it is just showing you the Universal Law of resonance: what you focus on attracts even more
of the same energy; this law makes you very aware of your every thought, word and deed. 
What you give out will always be yours; you just attract even more of the same! 
This law can cause havoc when you consider all the ~black’ spots on the planet. 
We have all had enough of killing, of chaos and confusion. 
I know from my own experience that we can change our field of reality. 
It is as simple as owning your thoughts, feelings, emotions - your vibratory pattern. 
Pure mind power - don’t be the problem, be the cure. 
Opals are wonderful emotional healers when you are ready to accept responsibility for owning your own emotional
energies and vibratory pattern.
Opal is also used for ‘Soul Star’ activation in body layouts. 
The brilliant flashes of light frequency emitted by the opal cause a significant vibrational shift in the chakra
immediately above the crown chakra. 
Although the ‘Soul Star’ chakra is not actually located on the physical body, its influence and activation will cause a
download of light vibrational information’ that can greatly induce emotional healing and deepen the spiritual
results of meditation practice.
Most recently opals have been frequently used to send healing to the Earth’s energy matrix; this is activated by
sacred sounds or mantras. 
Each ‘Star Seed’ on the planet at this time holds a Divine ‘key’ within their own personal ‘Mandala’; as we gather
in groups of other
‘Light Workers’ we should tone our own sacred ‘sound key’.  This energy is then carried via the opal to the Dolphins and
Whales within the Earth’s oceans - which will then be anchored into the Earth’s energy grid. 
This will cause a raising of the vibrational energy.
By bringing the vibration of the planet into a higher octave, we should find a lessening of aggression and
negative frequencies within the ‘black spots’.  Just as the ‘Universal Law of Resonance’ works on the human energy field,
the same applies to the Earth.
Mysterious opals contain the wonders of the skies - sparking rainbows, fireworks and lightning -shifting and
stifling in their depths. 
They can be extremely inspiring and have been used by artists to gain heavenly Divine inspirational flashes. 
The opal vibration is very motivating.
Opal can also be used in visualisation practice.  As we hold a beautiful opal we begin to visualise ourselves
seated on a beautiful white lotus flower set in the midst of an endless perfect blue sky.  As we focus on the
‘rainbow’ opal, its iridescent light begins to enter our heart chakra. 
There it begins to turn anticlockwise; as it does so, rainbows pour from it, filling our whole body and purifying it, until finally
we sit transformed; our gross physical body is now iridescent rainbow light. 
Having filled our body, the rainbows overspill from the crown of our head and cascade down through our aura. 
You can stay as long as you like in this visualisation, but please allow all feelings of ‘light-headedness’
to dissipate before you move about.

Blue Opal (Andean Blue Silica)

Contains no fire.  So it is soothing emotionally, it enhances personal courage and confidence. 
A powerful healer for the etheric blueprint, within the auric field. 
Realigns you to your highest spiritual purpose this lifetime on the earth plane and gives you the courage to complete. 
It is a tool for sacred living and sacred gatherings; it is a very sociable crystal. 
It encourages you to share your heartfelt emotions.

Blue opal is very good for overcoming self-sabotage. 
It also has a strong affinity with all the sea creatures, including Dolphins, Whales and Mer-fairies.

Pink Opal (Andean Pink Silica)

Contains no fire.  Use the pink opal after a person has been assaulted in any way, or after they have had part of their body removed
or modified in an operation. 
Pink opal gets rid of emotional hang-ups.  It is spiritually uplifting and creates achievement through love.

It helps you release sorrow with dignity, rather than the distraught expression of emotional turmoil. 
It enhances your spiritual awakening, bringing Divine joy to all your ventures. 
It has a beneficial effect on the entire endocrine system.  Releases guilt and teaches you to not to be a victim. 
It is also a good stone to use when the sweetness has gone out of life and has been used to alleviate the symptoms of diabetics.

Fire Opal

Fire opal is used on the area of the lower back and lower intestines, the abdomen and the kidneys. 
It helps the function of the adrenal glands and is good when used during stressful situations to stop emotional ‘burnout’. 
When someone feels they have been mistreated or are deeply outraged - ‘it isn’t fair’ syndrome - fire opal will bring
them up through the shock and emotional turmoil.  Fire opal can release deep-seated fears and grief. 
It helps people to dealwith the past and let go. 
Fire opal frees the spirit and brings optimism and creative power. 
Fire opal also teaches you self-reliance and to trust your gut instinct regardless of the intellect.

Black Opal

This is used for going into your own personal darkness to discover the Universal Light. 
It is also used for gazing, providing insight and vision. 
Also a very high vibration grounding stone, useful when other grounding stones would be too dense a vibration for
the energy field of the awakened ‘Light Worker’.  It is good for souls who have lost faith in tomorrow. 
Black opal also brings order out of chaos and banishes chaotic thought patterns.

Oregon Opal

This opal is from volcanic deposits in Oregon.  It is transparent bluish-white material and rainbow material. 
It is the gentle form of opal; it is emotionally uplifting and encouraging. 
It has a lovely lulling quality about it.

Oregon opal tones down the harsh and abrupt. 
It has a purity and innocence about it; it induces faith and trust in the self. 
It teaches you to be a free spirit, to break away, to loosen the chains that bind you from reaching your soul’s maturity. 
It is good to use on those souls who are moody with an unforgiving temperament, who needlessly hold on to resentment and hostility.

Affirmation:  I now choose to work with the ‘Universal Law of Resonance’ in a positive loving way.


PERIDOT - Olivine - Chrysolite

Chemical Composition:  (Mg,Fe)2SiO4

Crystal System:  Orthorhombic     Hardness:  6.5 - 7

Habit:  Good crystals are rare; occurs usually as isolated grains in igneous rocks, or as granular aggregates

Colour:  Various shades of green; olivine is olive green colour; sometimes yellowish or brownish to black; reddish when oxidized

KEYWORD:  SPRINGTIME

Peridot is the volcanic gem. 
Small crystals of peridot are often found in the rocks created by volcanoes and also can be found
in meteors that fall to earth.
A few samples of extraterrestrial peridot have even been faceted into gems. 
Because the iron which creates the colour is an integral part of its structure, it is found only in green, ranging from a
summery light yellowish green to bottle green.
Peridot was mined in ancient Egypt on an island called Zeberget. 
Mining was done at night because legend said that peridot could not be easily seen during the day. 
The island was infested with serpents that made peridot mining a very dangerous occupation until one Pharaoh finally had them
all driven into the sea.
The Romans called peridot ‘evening emerald,’ since its green colour did not darken at night but was still visible by lamplight. 
Peridot later was also often used to decorate medieval churches. 
The ancients believed peridot had the power to drive away evil spirits and the power was considered to be even more intense
when the stone was set in gold. 
Peridot was also said to strengthen the power of any medicine drunk from goblets carved from the gemstone.
Although peridot is treasured in Hawaii as the goddess Pele’s tears, almost all of the peridot sold in Hawaii today is from
Arizona, even though Hawaii’s volcanoes produce peridot. 
The island of Oahu even has beaches made out of olivine grains,
but unfortunately they are much too small to cut into peridot!
It is mentioned in the Bible under the name of chrysolite. 
Peridot is considered a secondary ‘Vedic’ gemstone ‘remedy’ after emerald for a badly aspected mercury. 
Although in Vedic Astrology its potency is somewhat reduced, dedication and commitment will bring positive results. 
In fact the ancient gemological teachings of the East place prime importance on the colour and the quality of the gem crystal.

Peridot is considered in the West the birthstone of those born in August. 
The springtime energy of peridot is very refreshing to the whole body. 
It contains vitality and gives the encouragement of renewal - a fresh start. 
Peridot is helpful for manic-depressives. 
It is also the best crystal for anyone who truly believes that everything wrong in their lives is due to outside
circumstances that someone else is always at fault. 
It also heals the negative energy of the green ray - jealousy, resentment, selfishness, hypochondria, scarcity,
hatred, greed, envy and spite.  It is a good crystal for people who are surrounded by disastrous relationships
and refuse to acknowledge their part in the problem.
On a physical level it balances the thymus and alleviates problems of the heart, chest, shoulders and lower lungs. 
Peridot helps dispel negative emotions and can be used when you are trying to make up your mind.  It gives direction
and wisdom to make the right choice.  Peridot can act as a tonic; it eases biliousness, soothes headaches. 
It is a good detoxifier of the liver. 
Peridot can purge the system of that which must go for emotional growth and mental stability to manifest.
Rejuvenation, growth and the enthusiasm of youth are the fruits of using peridot. 
It has also been used for auric protection and to strengthen the energy field of those people who have very little
or no green in their aura.
Peridot is a very fiery active crystal to work with, as the crystal therapists who live in Hawaii will vouch for. 
It does contain the refined energy of the manipura chakra and will help you overcome the fear of fire.  It is said she/he
who concentrates on this chakra has no fear of fire and is free from disease.

Affirmation:   I now release all anger and resentment, so that the fresh new energies of springtime can manifest in my life.


PLATINUM

Chemical Composition:  Pt

Crystal System:  Isometric     Hardness:  4 - 4.5

Habit:  Nuggets and grains or flakes, rarely showing cubic forms

Colour:  White-grey to silver-grey, usually lighter than the platinum colour of pure processed platinum

KEYWORD:  ENVIRONMENT

Native platinum is an exotic mineral specimen and an expensive metal.  Unfortunately, well-formed crystals of platinum are
extremely rare. 
Pure platinum is unknown of in nature as it usually is alloyed with other metals such as iron, copper, gold, nickel,
iridium, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and osmium.
It is typically more expensive by weight than gold, mostly a product of its scarcity. 
Platinum is very non-reactive and for this reason it is used in chemical reactions as a catalyst. 
Metallic platinum can facilitate many chemical reactions without becoming altered in the process. 
It is also used in many antipollution devices; most notable is the catalytic converter, and it has been given the nickname
the ‘Environmental Metal’.
Platinum contains the energies of illumination; it is penetrating and focused, pristine and light. 
It will reflect negative energies back to their source. 
It exposes the hidden and untrue, so it is a good ‘witness’ energy to use in dowsing and kinesiology.
It is good to use in times of stress and stressful situations. 
It has also been used to bring alignment to the chakra system and facilitate Divine alignment. 
Its energy is incorruptible, which is why it has terrific potential for cleansing and protecting not only the human
energy field but also the environment.
Platinum works on the endocrine system. 
Platinum supports the life force within all the bodies, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, etc. and the
surrounding auric field, allowing for a greater abundance of vital energy.  It gives a feeling of total well-being.

Affirmation:  I now begin to harmonise my relationships and environment.



PYRITE

Chemical Composition:  Iron pyrites (FeS2)

Crystal System:  Cubic     Hardness:  6 - 6.5

Habit:  Crystals usually cubes, pyritohedral or octahedral, or combinations of these forms. 
The cubes frequently show striations produced by oscillatory growth of cube and pyritohedron and which are
perpendicular to each other; also massive, granular, stalactitic, spheroidal and radiating

Colour:  Pale brass-yellow: opaque

KEYWORD:  FIRE

Pyrite is one of the most widely distributed of sulphide minerals, occurring in a variety of environments. 
It is present in igneous rocks as an accessory mineral. 
It is a common mineral in hydrothermal sulphide veins, in replacement deposits and in contact metamorphic deposits. 
Fossils are often replaced by pyrite.  The name comes from the Greek word for fire and alludes to the sparks given
off when the mineral is struck sharply. 
It has been used as a talisman for health and warmth since ancient times.
Pyrite has a very strong powerful male yang energy that will induce intellectual superiority when worn or carried. 
It is ideal for students and those who wish to improve their academic prowess and memory. 
It is also ideal for those people who feel subordinate to others or who have an over-abundance of the female yin vibration. 
It can make those who are very male or yang act almost too aggressively, so they need to be aware of its potency,
being conscious at all times to use this mineral in a balanced holistic way.
Pyrite is totally focused and will act like a swift arrow going straight to the physical, mental or emotional disease. 
There it will facilitate healing but, more than this, it will also make you aware of the cause of the illness or disease
and bring about favourable circumstances to find ‘cures’ for the ‘cause’ of the dis-ease. 
This process is facilitated by a synergy of the higher self and the improved concentrated mind action of the pyrite
mineral as it interacts with your energy field.
It will swiftly dispel deep gloom; lift despondency, despair and the drudge mentality. 
It is also ideal when you feel a severe lack of energy. 
It is a must for those who display tendencies of low self-worth and subservience. 
Pyrite teaches you to honour and accept yourself, to work towards self-empowerment, personal freedom and joy.
Pyrite is a very protective stone and will keep your energy field clear of unwanted outside influences. 
It will stop energy leaks and energy drains from the physical body and auric shell. 
It will strengthen the meridian system.  It is not recommended to be worn as a pendant, as it will irritate the skin,
but you could carry it in a ‘medicine’ pouch or use it for meditation.

Affirmation:  I accept and honour myself exactly as I am.