Raw Opal in Sandstone Matrix

Opal is an extremely amplifying stone.  It’s said to reflect the mood of its holder. It promotes self-awareness and intensifies emotions, enabling one to let go of regrets and helping one to release inhibitions. It can help to explore hidden emotions, allow one to recognize their true needs and aspirations, and guide one towards fulfilment and self-love. This stone also helps as a shield against absorbing other people's energy, feelings, or thoughts.  It encourages both freedom and independence, as well as hope, purity, faithfulness, and spontaneity.  It’s said to strengthen memory, stimulate imagination, creativity, and encourage interest in the arts.  It’s reputation of intensifying emotional states and releasing inhibitions means that opal strengthens one’s desire, erotism and sexuality. It makes one emotionally charged, seductive, unconventional, in love with life, and enhances one’s optimism.   It’s said to give psychic and mystical vision to its holder, as well as enhancing spiritual work like dream recall and shamanic journeying.  Physically it’s said to benefit the eyes, kidneys, and adrenal glands, strengthen the will to live, and treat infections and fevers.  It’s also reputed to purify the blood and kidneys, regulate insulin, ease childbirth and alleviates PMS.
In addition to this, certain types of Opals have additional properties. 
Fire Opals are said to awaken one’s passion, from physical desires to spiritual bliss. They activate one’s life-energy and awaken one’s authentic sense of self. They encourage optimism, help us become more outgoing socially, and boost one’s confidence while keeping one centered.  They tune in to the creative forces around us and promote the expression of one’s feelings through creative outlets. Fire opals are excellent stones for business and financial pursuits as they are said to attract money, ease us through changes and transitions, promote clarity, and lead one towards success. They bolster independence and autonomy, and support those who wish to make an impact on the world around them. They are very protective, empowering one to remove oneself from negative situations. Fire Opals can be used to comfort and unburden one from deep-rooted feelings of grief or fear and rekindle one’s ardour.  They can also help improve fertility issues.

Opal is a formation of silica that can form colorless, white, yellow, red, orange, green, brown, black or blue, and can be transparent, translucent or opaque.  When rough they have a waxy, dull appearance which can polish to an amazing shine.  They measure approximately 5 to 6 on the Mohs scale of hardness and can be brittle, especially depending on their origins.  Opals formed through sedimentary processes are stable and more resilient whereas opals formed via volcanic processes are porous, can absorb water, and are more prone to cracking and breaking.  They can be found all over the world including Canada, Peru, Australia, Ethiopia, and many other locations.  There are three basic types of Opals, Precious Opal, Common Opal, and Fire Opal.  Precious Opals contain shimmery rainbow-like streaks or flashes, Common Opal has a milky or pearlescent sheen, and Fire Opal is translucent, red, orange, or yellow, and doesn’t usually flash or shine, although sometimes it will have a faint display of color or display vivid green flashes.

Ancient Greeks believed the opal had great mystical powers of sight.