Mexican opal

Mexican opal was already known to the Mesoamerican Aztecs , who named it "Vitzitziltecpa" (hummingbird stone or bird of paradise stone) because it resembles the iridescent colors of bird feathers and they believed it encouraged creativity and new beginnings. The Romans already believed that opal was a symbol of hope and purity. They called him amor paederos - a child as beautiful as love and used him as an amulet against diseases.

Metaphysical Properties of Mexican Opal .

The ancient Greeks believed that opal had the power to inspire foresight , bringing the light of prophecy to its owners.
The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians revered opal as the most powerful light and powerful healing stone.
Mexican Opal itself is used to support the elemental energy of fire to awaken passion from carnal desires to spiritual intoxication. The energy of Mexican Opal represents enthusiasm and activity . It embodies Yang in nature. It is the energy of warmth, action, emotion and passion. In the room, it is recommended to store it on the south side and it is used for life support and strengthening of relationships in the family.

Opal is suitable for supporting creative energy and expressing feelings through art. It is intended especially for those who want to be independent, who want to live life according to their own ideas and rules. It is an ideal stone for traders, a protective stone against danger. It can be used to support efforts to release deep-seated feelings of grief. It is used to encourage love, spontaneity and creativity.
Opal promotes a calm mind and focus for meditation, relieves stress and brings peace and harmony.

Mexican Opal and Chakra Harmonization

By influencing the sacral chakra, Mexican opal supports the kundalini energy , thereby stimulating sexual feelings and can thus improve personal relationships between partners. It is suitable for releasing deep-rooted feelings of sadness, for inducing calm and harmony. It was traditionally used as an amulet against illness. It stimulates the root and sacral chakras, activates chi energy and kundalini energy, which can stimulate sexual desires.

Mineral Properties of Mexican Opal

Opal is a mineral that is considered a gemstone . It is a compound of quartz with water, which is represented most often between one and three percent, but can reach up to 20%. According to the Mohs scale, the hardness is between 5.5 and 6.5. The name opal comes from the ancient Indian upala , i.e. precious stone. The age of the opal is estimated to be 50 to 65 million years, to the Mesozoic Cretaceous period. Opal is already mentioned in ancient times, in the 6th century BC it was praised by the poet Onomacritus and the Greek naturalist Dioscorides, who in the 1st century AD described it as a real gem.
Plinius Secundus (the Elder) in his work Naturalis historica (Natural History) described opal as the most beautiful stone, which hides more than 60 colors .

Mexican opal is unique in that it can only be found in Mexico from all over the world . This opal was mined many hundreds of years ago by the Aztecs, in the 16th century the original mines were lost during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. They were newly discovered and opened in 1800 by Sir Maria Siurab, in the state of Qerétaro, about 200 km northwest of Mexico City. The capital of the Mexican state of Querétaro became the center of trade with Mexican opal. In 1950, Alfonso Ramirez discovered an opal near the small town of Magdalena about 80 km northwest of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Most of the mined Mexican opal comes from these two regions – Querétaro and Magdalena.

Mexican opal is often marketed as "fire" Mexican opal . This labeling is very misleading, and mostly fairly common Mexican opal in the parent rock is sold under the label "fiery". Genuine bright red colored "fire" opals cost several thousand CZK, so if someone offers you cheap "fire" opals, then they are knowingly deceiving you.

Types of Mexican Opal

• the precious opal , which manifests itself in a play of colors, is the rarest, most sought-after and also the most expensive,
• water opal – transparent opal of blue color, with a play of colors,
• fire opal – orange to red opal with or without play of colors,
• milky (white) opal – milky white, opaque and translucent only at the edges, if it shows a play of colors, it is an expensive opal (Slovakia, Australia),
• hydrophane opal – formed by volcanic activity, it has the ability to absorb water and thus change from opaque or semi-translucent to completely translucent or transparent. Sometimes the play of colors is accentuated by this change. After drying, it returns to its original colorless or opaque form.
• general or also "potch" opal - does not show any play of colors, does not opalise, because it partly absorbs the incident light radiation and partly reflects it unchanged. It is opaque to translucent.

Terms used to express the play of colors of Mexican opal

• pinfire – these are small groups (spots) showing a play of colors,
• halequin – wide, angular closed sets of colored spots,
• flame – extensive converging flashes of red or reddish color that pass through the stone,
• rolling flash - colored flashes that look like the stone is turned on (resembles a lamp).