The fascinating history behind October's birthstone
There has been a movement of stones in my life recently and I don’t mean of the kidney persuasion. With several friends recently creating jewelry wrapped around allegedly healing stones, my curiosity was peaked especially since my birthday was approaching.
With the superstitious season upon us, October babies such as myself, may hold their mystical opal birthstones closer to their heart than others. As one who has steadily boasted that my precious is a gem that can only be worn by those born in October, I suddenly found myself wondering where did I get that from and what good does it do?
First, like any good reporter, I Googled it and was surprised to see the story of the opal lore dated back centuries. Associated with the Black Death, the “curse of the opal” became legend during a time when unexplained illness and death was easily blamed on witches and magic. Story has it that a Black Plague patient was wearing an opal and the stone lost all color as soon as the patient passed on.
It was the Romans that then brought the love of the opal back to life. Pliny the Elder, who wrote the first “Natural History of the World”, encouraged onlookers to embrace the stone.
“For in them you shall see the living fire of ruby, the glorious purple of the amethyst, the sea-green of the emerald, all glittering together in an incredible mixture of light,” he wrote.
Other famous figures backed up the opal’s good fortune and desired it in their royal collection. Mark Antony (the Greek general, not Jennifer Lopez’s ex) banished a Senator because he wouldn’t give up his coveted stone to the ruler. Napoleon gifted his beloved Josephine with an opal as it was referred to as the “Cupid Stone” due to its complexion resembling the God Of Love.
The reputation of the October stone was salvaged until 1829 when Sir Walter Scott wrote “Anne of Geierstein”. The main character’s mood changed the color of the stone until it was touched by holy water and lost all color. She was then accused of being a demon and died shortly afterwards. The opal market died shortly thereafter the publication and continued to do so due with help from the diamond merchants.
As opals gained popularity, other gem dealers became nervous about their up and coming competition therefore fueling the fears of bad luck. The bijou juju generally states that the black opal is lucky and the white opal is horribly jinxed. This may be because, according to the National Opal Collection, black opal is the most valued as the white opal is the most common. However, there are more varieties of opals than just black and white.
Boulder opals, also known as “Painted Ladies”, are named appropriately as they are embedded in their host rock and usually include fragments of it. Matrix opal is like boulder, as it is encased in its place of origin, therefore more complicated to separate into a single stone.
There is also precious opal, common opal, fire opal, cats-eye opal, crystal, blue, pink, morado (Spanish for purple), and the list goes on. Many of the opals are named for their origin such as Andamooka opal or Lightning Ridge opal, both found in Australia.
Over 90 percent of opals come from Australia but other countries do contribute such as Ethiopia, Mexico, Hungary, Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Czech Republic. Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Louisiana, California, Arizona, and Texas are a few states that produce as well.
Danae Sweeton, owner and designer of local jewelry company Jasper In June, uses Mexican Fire opal (pictured) and Australian Boulder opal most often because they are natural.
“As we source our stones with local and international lapidaries we have personally met through our travels,” she notes. Danae reassures that they use only all ethically sourced, natural gems.
Since Jasper In June has a stone and a birth month in their name, which is Danae’s favorite stone and her birth month, I was intrigued on how she felt regarding the October stone’s saga.
“We believe in the holistic benefits, but don’t have any real superstitions with stones other than to clean them by the moonlight,” she said as she shined Moonstone, another one of her favorite stones and her birthstone. “This is not superstition though. Crystals can pick up energy around them and therefore need to be cleansed often.”
She added that green stones, such as aventurine and jade, are said to be lucky and we both agreed that it is bad luck for anyone not to be adorned with jewelry.