Obsidian is translucent volcanic glass, an igneous stone created from quickly cooled lava. It fractures with clean sharp edges. For thousands of years it's valued for arrowheads, knives, ritual implements and spirituality. Refracted light in obsidian gives it an inner glow.
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An important trade item of the ancient world, obsidian is usually black or dark colored. It appears as white-lace snowflake obsidian, rarely in other colors. Obsidian is in use by c. 6800 BCE. It's the most familiar of the natural glass elements.
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Others natural glass includes pebble-sized tektites, formed when a meteorite smashes into Earth. Moldavite is green tektite found in southern Bohemia.
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Tektites form as the force causes fusion of elements which become particles of dense black, grey, brown or green glass between a micro-millimeter to several millimeters long. They're scattered outward by the impact.
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Natural glass also includes Libyan desert glass, also an impactite. Its origin is uncertain but meteorites are suspected. It's formed c. 29 million years ago. Like obsidian, Libyan desert glass is made into weapons, tools and beads by Pleistocene and later humans.
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Another type of volcanic glass, fulgurite, forms when lightning strikes sand and fuses the grains. It's often called fossilized lightning. Fulgurites happen in dry clean sand.
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Obsidian is found in volcanic areas where the magma is rich in silica and lava has quickly cooled, without forming crystals. The black glass can be sharpened to a thin cutting edge.
With no crystalline structure, obsidian is considered a mineraloid.
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Anatolia (Turkey) is using obsidian by c. 4000 BCE. The rock cleaves to a sharp edge and can be shaped with hand tools. In history it's used for weapons, tools, beads, mirrors, jewelry, ritual objects, statue decor and ancient versions of sunglasses.
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Obsidian relief-cut cylinder seals are found in Mesopotamia c. 2700 BCE. Carving obsidian is tricky due to its brittle random layers. Obsidian dust is hazardous to lungs, eyes and skin. Even tiny particles have razor edges. It's ideal for sharp objects.
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In the Greek Aegean, ancient sources of obsidian include Milos, a volcanic island near Crete, and Gyal. Obsidian forms in volcanic zones throughout the world. It can appear as scattered surface stones, outcroppings or deposits on slopes of volcanoes.
Obsidian is created in rhyolitic lava streams or aptly named obsidian flows. Due to abundant silica content the flows are very viscous. Rhyolitic lavas typically form thick blocky flows and/or lava domes.
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Rhyolitic lava flows are extrusive and tend to be thick and short. The stream descends steep slopes and quickly cools to create obsidian.
Obsidian has a vitreous sheen, smooth surface and contains only 1% water, giving it a dense structure. It has a conchoidal fracture and Mohs hardness of 5 - 6, about the same as window glass.
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Usually black, obsidian also forms in less common colors including green or brown. It's rarely found in red, yellow or blue tones. Colors and patterns in obsidian are created by inclusions of quartz or iron oxides such as hematite and limonite.
Microscopic crystals of minerals like magnetite, hornblende, pyroxene, plagioclase and biotite, together with tiny rock fragments are most likely to produce the deep black varieties of obsidian.
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A Neolithic center of obsidian processing and trade is found at Lake Van, east Turkey, along one of the world's earliest trade routes. It's a major volcanic region, where Eurasian and Arabian tectonic plates continue to collide, causing eruptions and earthquakes.
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The benefit of volcanic soil is a multitude of minerals such as magnesium and potassium. Volcanic ash is a natural fertilizer. Before the eruption of Pompeii, Italy, the people grow grapes, olives and abundant crops. The nutritious soil is the basis for Pompeii's wealth.
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By the late Neolithic obsidian is traded in both the near East and Greece. Early people like the keen cutting edge of obsidian and can work it like flint with skill and precision. In some childbirth rituals it's used to cut the umbilical cord when the baby is born.
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In the Americas obsidian is prized by ancient cultures. In Aztec lore the Goddess of Death, Ītzpāpālōtl, is known as Obsidian Butterfly. Trade prospers in North, Central and S. America, with colored or well-crafted pieces at a premium. Obsidian blades are often used in rituals.
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A Mesoamerican weapon, macuahuitl is a type of war club made of obsidian blades mounted in wood. Combining the sharp edge of obsidian, the ragged cut of a serrated blade and the brute force of a club, the weapon can cause terrible wounds.
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Obsidian Cliff, a national monument in Yellowstone Park, USA, is a major source and sightseeing attraction. Obsidian Cliff has an exposed vertical thickness of about 98 feet (30 m). Obsidian is first quarried from this cliff by Neolithic people c. 8800 BCE.
Obsidian Spirituality
Spiritually, obsidian is a stone of clarity. It helps a person overcome emotional, physical, and spiritual blockages. Obsidian leaches stress and nervous tension from the body. It guides personal growth and relates to the resolution of old traumas, in this or previous lives.
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Animals relating to obsidian include ravens, considered among the most prophetic of birds in ornithomancy (divination by avian behavior). Obsidian can give a glimpse into future or past lives. It detoxifies the spirit and purifies the mind of negative thoughts or memories.
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One can meditate on obsidian to find solutions for difficult problems, or place obsidian under the pillow to release prophetic or revealing dreams. Obsidian relates to the root chakra. If the root chakra is blocked it interferes with the ability to trust self or others.
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The root chakra is at the base of the spine. It helps a person feel grounded and is a vital element of security and stability. The color of the root chakra is red. Red corresponds to fire, essential to creation of obsidian.
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Meditation or jewelry of this rock can help find a sense of balance. A strong elemental combination is black obsidian, clear quartz and red jasper. Spiritual work is best done with black obsidian rather than patterned varieties such as snowflake obsidian.
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The snowflake pattern is a reaction of quartz. Fancy obsidians are ideal for jewelry and decoration, associated with spiritual protection and repulsion of unwanted energies. Dark or black obsidian speaks to the powers within a person.
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It absorbs negative energies in a space or individual, like charcoal absorbs smells. Rubbing it with cloth builds up heat by friction, activating the purgatory powers of the gem. Boost the positive powers of obsidian by keeping the stone polished and fingerprint-free.
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Obsidian is a stone of change. It was created by the formation of elements exposed to intense heat and sudden temperature flux, which cause its glassy quality by preventing crystallization.
Brought to high heat again, it transforms to a light, puffy, grey substance. By its nature obsidian is conducive to transformation. It can open channels to higher levels of awareness or depths of consciousness without losing contact to elemental grounding.
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Of the zodiac signs, Sagittarius and Scorpio both associate with obsidian. It's a stone of fire (Sagittarius) and water (Scorpio). Obsidian absorbs water as it gets older. The age of obsidian can be determined by percent of water within it.
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