The Opal

The Opal – a Lucky and Unlucky Jewel

By Charles L Harmon

Opal - good luck or bad luck?

 

For those born in October the opal is said to be a lucky gem. It’s the birthstone (there can be more than one jewel) associated with the month of October. In spite of the luck attached to the opal there is also a condition attached. Only the pure in heart and of good intentions can expect the traditional protection offered by the opal.

There is a comparatively modern tradition that says the opal brings misfortune to its owner. It seems that tradition started, probably unintentionally, by a careless reading of Sir Walter Scott’s novel (1829) “Anne of Geierstein”. That novel features the opal as an enchanted gemstone, the soul of which was bound up with that Lady Heroine of an old legend.

It is generally assumed that Scott didn’t mean to convey the idea that the opal was unlucky, but it must have been taken that way. In his story at first the opal worked magic when it was traded for a man’s soul, but then later he suffered a tragic death.

A long time ago the opal was thought to have great virtues as a talisman. That belief still persists among some Orientals and others, even nowadays.  The superstitious ideas of the East involving opals, held that the opal was alive and endowed with a soul. That soul was attuned with that of its wearer. It expressed gaiety by showing its sparkly characteristics, but on the other hand expressed anger when its wearer was filled with anger by shooting out red gleams.

 

 

Going back as far as the fourteenth century the opal was unfortunately associated with the Black Death. That was true, particularly in Venice, Italy. Back then, it was believed that the owner’s death by the plague was marked by the emitting of fiery hues from the opal for a few seconds. The moment its owner passed away the gemstone grew dim.

 

Unusual Opal Gifts

 

In Scandinavian mythology there is also a superstition that the opal was dangerous to the eyesight. That seems to have come about by the idea that a Norse god fashioned gems, which were believed to be opals, from the eyes from children.

For centuries the superstitious notion that opals dimmed the eyes, or would make one blind was a common thought. At the same time, however, there were others that believed that opals bestowed the gift of invisibility.  For a time, only thieves were said to own opals.

During the middle ages, a time ripe for superstitions, the brilliant redness, considered the fire that burns in the true opal, was regarded as visual evidence of some demonic occupancy. Of course one did not want to be associated with demons so opals had a bad connotation during those times.

Opals are said to have a limited lifetime due to the presence of water inside the gem. Lapidaries seem to agree that opals will start cracking and about a hundred years is a lifetime of an opal before it starts to crack. Of course nowadays maybe there is a bit of a controversy about that.

However you look at it, whether as lucky or unlucky, the venerable opal gemstone has been highly endowed by imaginative minds over the centuries with supernatural and magical powers that probably run into the hundreds.

Copyright © 2010 – 2012 Charles L Harmon

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