Dark and mysterious, black obsidian is an intriguing gemstone used in a variety of different applications, from medicine to jewelry, to meditation. Let’s get to know how this amazing stone came to be and how you can take advantage of its incredible healing energy properties.
A Black Obsidian is a powerful crystal for psychic protection, helping to clear the negative psychic energy within your aura by acting as a psychic vacuum cleaner. In addition to protection and releasing negativity, you can use the black obsidian gems for root chakra healing and grounding.
What is Black Obsidian?
Also known as the “Stone of Truth”, black obsidian is associated with protection (known as protection stone), honesty, integrity, and grounding. It is connected with the root chakra, unblocking the floodgates of energy that prevent you from feeling a deep sense of connection with your environment.
Obsidian, or as it is sometimes called, volcanic glass, is a naturally occurring rock that comes from volcanoes. When lava cools very, very quickly it can turn into obsidian.
It is formed when volcanic lava transforms into a glassy igneous rock when it comes into contact with water. The lava cools so quickly that it doesn’t get crystallized, creating a unique dark rock with a shiny surface.
What Type of Rock is Black Obsidian?
Black obsidian is made of 70-80% silica, and 20-30% magnesium and iron oxide. It is a compact amorphous mineral, with its hardness similar to that of glass. It is hard and brittle and creates fractures when cut, forming very sharp edges. Because of this quality, black obsidian was used in ancient times for cutting and piercing tools. The stone has also been used in experimental surgical scalpel blades.
The stone is found in many regions around the world, specifically in places that experience rhyolitic eruptions. It is found in Argentina, the US, Australia, Chile, Guatemala, Iceland, Kenya, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, Papua New Guinea, with the largest deposits found in Mexico and India.
The stone is not considered a mineral entirely, but it is mineral-like. This is because the stone is considered as volcanic glass as it does not crystallize. Also, its composition is too complex to fall under one single mineral.
Black obsidian symbolizes a number of things, but its most prominent meaning is protection. It protects the wearer from negativity that may come from the outside world and from the inner workings of the individual.
As the “Stone of Truth”, it has a merciless ability to bring about the real cause of problems and trauma, and can be overwhelming if you are not ready to face your demons. Despite this, black obsidian crystals will give you the power and the support to handle these truths and flaws, helping you to move on and give you an enlightened sense of self.
The stone’s reflective, mirror-like surface also represents its meaning – reflecting your true self, including your strengths, mistakes, and weaknesses.
Iron and magnesium give the obsidian a dark green, brown or black colour. It helps clear, energise and balance the solar–plexus and sacral chakras.
What is Black Obsidian Used For?
Since ancient times, the stone has been practically used for knives and sharp blades. Its practical purpose coincidentally represents what it brings to the wearer. Working like a knife, it slices into the heart of your problems, revealing to you the root causes of your stress, and helping you face and overcome such issues.
Benefits of Black Obsidian
Here are the benefits to expect when you use black obsidian in your life:
1. For Self-Growth
Black obsidian has an ability to heal past hurts and negative emotions. When you still carry pain from the past, you are unable to move on and truly learn from the experience to become the person you were meant to be. You become stagnant and get stuck, with no room for self-growth.
Black obsidian will help to heal these hurts so you can finally reach a place in your life where you are finally at peace and free of pain.
2. For Self-Control
Black Obsidian absorbs negativity, helping you to get rid of selfish thoughts and intentions, and giving you the gift of foresight. With negativity at bay, you are able to make better decisions that will help you move on and grow.
3. For Physical Health
Black obsidian can improve digestive health and has a detoxifying effect on the body.
Basically, if you feel like your life has reached a plateau – either you’re not improving or you’re in a place where you don’t want to be, gaining the benefits of black obsidian will help you to finally move forward.
The Healing Benefits of Black Obsidian
1. Physical Healing
Black obsidian improves peripheral circulation and balances digestion. It protects the stomach, intestines, muscle tissues, and helps to heal viral infections.
2. Protection for the Gentle and the Sensitive
The stone is specifically useful for individuals prone to abuse, such as children and women, and those with a gentle nature.
3. Healing of Past Hurts
Black obsidian is incredibly beneficial for individuals going through therapy as it can help therapists and counsellors discover hidden truths and issues that a person may be hiding or may not even be aware of. As the stone that reveals the truth, it helps to get to the root causes of problems, and helps to clean negative patterns of thinking.
How to Use Black Obsidian
1. When Confronted by an Aggressive Person
If you currently have a conflict with a colleague at work or with a family member, having black obsidian close to your body will help to protect you from their negative vibrations. You can wear black obsidian jewelry or keep a stone in your pocket for protection as it will keep away ill wishes thrown towards you.
2. When You Want to Improve Your Career
Place any black obsidian carving, stone, or figurine on the northern tip of your home. It helps to clear out obstacles in your life’s path. As mentioned, the stone absorbs negative energy, so it is ideal to cleanse it regularly with soapy water and a soft cloth to keep its vibration flowing smoothly.
3. When You Want to Let Go of the Past
Lie down on a flat surface and place a black obsidian stone on your tailbone, where the root chakra is located. Close your eyes and feel the stone’s energy running through that part of the body and slowly circulating all throughout the rest of your body.
Visualize a past hurt, trauma, or pain, and imagine the circumstances that could have prevented the pain. Announce to the universe that you are no longer hurting and that you have forgiven the people and yourself from allowing the hurt to occur in the first place.
Now imagine a cord that attaches you to the person who caused the pain, or to the hurt that’s keeping you from moving on. Imagine a pair of scissors cutting that cord and finally freeing you from the past.
Black obsidian is a beautiful gemstone that can reveal your inner desires and expose your true self. You may be overwhelmed by its raw honesty, but you will discover an entirely new perspective when you fully embrace its revelations and force in helping you move forward.
You can buy a number of stones and keep it in a box with soft lining, or you can wrap them individually with soft cloth. Mixing them with other stones is not ideal as their surface is easily scratched.
Black obsidian jewellery is a fantastic idea to keep the stone close to your body. It can give you protection, provide integrity and honesty in your life, and absorb negativity. This black obsidian necklace is a beautiful gift you can give yourself, and for anyone who needs to move on from the past and wants to move forward. You can click on this link to find this beautiful black obsidian necklace.
Fun F
Obsidian and Native Peoples
Obsidian was very useful to native peoples since they could use it to make knives and spear tips and arrowheads.
Obsidian arrowheads were a popular trading item since they were so necessary to life but since obsidian comes from volcanoes, not every tribe had access to the raw materials.
This makes obsidian superb for tracing Amerindian trading paths. Each flow of obsidian has a distinct chemical signature, so pieces that come from it can be traced. This uncovered something amazing, obsidian arrowheads would travel hundreds of miles across country.
Obsidian with Conchoidal Fracture
A big part of what makes obsidian great for arrowheads is the unique way it breaks. When hit just right obsidian breaks along curves.
You’ll see a similar effect when a pebble hits your windshield and it fractures, usually into concentric circles. Obsidian’s way of breaking is called a conchoidal fracture.
Because obsidian breaks this way it can be formed into shapes by someone consistently and precisely tapping it with another rock. It takes a lot of skill, but master craftsmen have done it for centuries to create survival utensils. Most minerals and rocks have more orderly alignments of atoms which causes them to break more easily along some planes more than others, which is why sometimes you’ll find naturally formed minerals with straight lines or precise crystal shapes. Obsidian’s very un-orderliness is what makes it great for many uses.
What causes the uniqueness of it?
There are a couple of ways obsidian can form. One way is when the volcanic lava suddenly explodes and this explosion sends pieces of molten rock flying through the air, sometimes into the atmosphere where it cools very very quickly.
Another way is when the lava flows out of the volcano, the top is exposed to the air and can cool quickly and become a sort of obsidian cap.
Obsidian is also formed when lava flows into water, such as the deep hot smokers beneath the ocean or if lava rolls into a lake or the ocean.
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