Using Opals for Energy Healing: A Full Guide for You (Updated)

Opal is a mesmerizing stone that’s also known as one of the few stones with multiple chakras in one. If you’ve been smitten by the beauty and charm of opal, you might have a thousand questions about it like I had the first time too.

Is opal gemstone powerful? How is it formed on the earth? What can it do for you? Who should wear it? How to use it? Is there a good way to charge it? How many types of opals are there?🧐

Opal actually looks enchanting due to the amount of water inside it. The stone of inspiration and creativity, sometimes you just need one opal stone to balance "all" your chakras at once. Opal can help you detox, heal your liver, and heal a lot of the problems.

Read on to find answers to all your questions on opal meanings, characteristics, varieties, how it works for you physically and spiritually.

Here’s a blurb of all the topics we will cover to unlock everything about opals today:

• What are opals? How is it formed?
• What are the features of opals?
• How to identify a real opal from a fake one?
• What’s the way to use opals for healing?
• What are the types of opals?
• How do you use opal jewelry for healing yourself?
• How to use opals with other precious gemstones?

Understanding the basics of opals

From its name to powers, everything about opal is deeply engaging. It may be called Cupid’s tone, mood stone, or eye stone around the world and often brings passion, harmony, and divination with it.

The earliest opals date back to 4,000 B.C and are actually amulets found by geologists. There have also been opals used by Ethiopians that go back to 2,000 B.C. Opal is actually an amorphous form (formless) of hydrated silica. It shows an iridescence called opalescence.

This non-crystal silica is believed to come from the Latin word "opalus" meaning "shiny jewel". However, that’s not the only origin of the word.

If you ask me, the etymology of opal is one of the most debated topics among opal enthusiasts. Some argue it comes from the Sanskrit word "Upala" meaning "precious stone". In fact, this is the most believable story because Roman scriptures from 250 B.C also agree with the Sanskrit origin. Yet others even say opal comes from the Greek word "opallios" meaning "sight of changing colors".

Characteristics of opal

Opal contains 20% to even 31% water but what makes it special is the way opal can awaken talents and strengths. This is a stone that takes millions of years to form with many unique properties and that’s why awakens the dormant values within each user.

Let’s take a look at the traits of opals below.

• Chakra: Because opals are seen with all the colors, it’s great for several chakras at once. That means you can charge multiple chakras with a single opal!
• Zodiac Sign: Being the birthstone for October borns, opal is perfect for Libras and Scorpios.
• Mohs Hardness: You’ll find opal stones that are as soft as 6 or as hard as 6.5.
• Element: Water is the base element of opal and hence the seed mantra for all types of opal is "Vam".
• Deities: Ruled by the ancient Roman goddess Cardea of Hinge, opal brings protection for the family. It’s also ruled by the Spring Greek goddess Persephone.
• Colors: From colorless to orange, green, blue, yellow, pink, white, black, and brown.
• Flowers: Marigold is the core flower of the gemstone opal and the second flower is Cosmos.
• Herbs: Honey, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, and saffron are all great to pair with the opal healing stone. Eucalyptus is a good essential oil for improving the absorption of opal powers.
• Opal is for which planet: Venus and Mars rule the gemstone opal. Venus is the planet of love whereas Mars helps to manifest your desires.

How are opals formed? How big can opals get?

Opal forms in ellipse-like or elongated shapes ranging from a few centimeters to a few meters. It could exist in one layer of the sandstone or throughout it. The process takes 65 to 145 million and forms in the cretaceous layer from the time of Dinosaurs.

The biggest ever opal stone is called Olympic Australis after its origin that’s in Coober Pedy. The stone weighed up to 17,000 carats or 7.5 lbs at the time. It was 28 cm or 11 inches in length, 12 cm or 4.7 inches in height, and a width of 11 cm or 4.3 inches.

How can you tell a real opal?

In order to buy genuine opal stone, you can try to find answers to the following series of questions to find the authenticity of the opal stone. Don’t forget to bookmark it until you’ve got it memorized too!

• Where is it from? If the opal you have is from Ethiopia or Australia, it might be a genuine piece. But those coming from Hong Kong and Russia are often fake opals and should avoid them at all costs.
• How’s the symmetry? Symmetry doesn’t get perfect for natural opals as much as machines do it like in the case of fake polished pieces.
• How does it look? If the stone is transparent with different layers inside it, it’s most probably a genuine piece.
• What do you see inside the opal? The real thing has layers of color when you peek inside while the duplicates are just a splitter splatter of colors without any depth.
• Is the back of the stone covered? It’s best to get an opal with an exposed back so that it’s open for observation to check if the back proves it’s a real stone or it’s just a back cover that you’re appreciating.
• How much do you need to pay? A real opal stone costs over $100 while duplicate ones go for $20 or $40.

When in doubt, you can also get the opal stone in question certified by an experienced jeweler that you know.

The relationship between opals and energy healing

Being a naturally enchanting stone with all the colors in the world, opals have been used in several energy rituals like divination and fortune-telling or protection amulets as well as much more. From its physical traits to spiritual qualities, opals have great characteristics that make them ideal for energy healing practices.

Let’s look at their benefits and effects ahead.

What are the benefits of opal healing stones?

Make you invisible when wrapped in a bay leaf

1. Insulin regulation: Physically your body will show an overall balance in glucose and blood sugar levels after opal comes into your life.
2. Instill passion: Opal is a multi-chakra stone and can help you attract your true love towards you. It makes you genuine and passionate about your desires too.😊
3. Detox the body: Because opal can heal the liver, it’s great for detoxing toxins from the body, especially after physical or emotional stress.
4. Help during PMS: From relieving abdominal pain to making your feel cozy, opal can help in keeping you calm during times of hormonal imbalances such as periods.
5. Eases tensions: Opal can help in soothing your nerves and stopping panic attacks early on. It’s cooling for your eyes when kept on top of them during meditation and excellent for rekindling sexual fire when kept in the bedroom.
6. Helps pets: If your pet is in discomfort, opal can be used as an extra step to help it heal along with medications. That’s because it’s a powerful stone for pet chakra systems.
7. Sound sleep: From ensuring your fall into a deep sleep to seeing good dreams, opals are also good for those who are seeing nightmares regularly.
8. Unleashes creativity: Those who use opals will feel inspired and bright besides feeling imaginative and quick-witted.
9. Brings good luck: Opal can attract good luck to come your way whether it’s about a new job you want or impressing your crush.🌞
10. Stops EMF radiations: One of the best ways how wearing opal can help you is by stopping negative energies including EMF radiations from touching you.

Who should wear opal?

People born under the zodiac signs of Scorpio and Libra do generally great by wearing opal stones or keeping them close to them. If you’ve consulted an astrologist and they’ve told you about Venus in your horoscope, this is the stone to smoothen your journey in life.

Because it’s a Venus stone, it’s best to wear it on Friday mornings on the ring finger of your dominant hand. You can also wear it on the middle finger for charging your chakra system.

Who should not wear opal?

If you’ve been feeling distracted after wearing opal, get your horoscope checked. This generally happens when Venus is in the 12^th, 8^th, or the 3^rd house in your birth chart. Wearing opal can bring undue hurdles for such a person. However, you can find an escape from it by gifting opal stone to a close one.

Opal varieties and their healing powers

What are the various types of opals? From colors to how it’s formed and powers, there are many ways to distinguish opals. We’ll look at them in detail below.

1. Black opal: Generally found in Australia at Lightning Ridge, black opal forms from volcanic ash. The black opal powers up the root chakra and it’s great for personal safety, gaining insight, and finding your destiny.
2. Yellow opal: Awakening the solar plexus chakra is the main benefit of using yellow opals. They are great for healing liver problems and digestive issues.
3. Violet opal: If you see an opal with predominantly violet color, it’s the right stone to use for charging your third eye chakra energies.
4. White opal: A crown chakra opal, white opals may be seen with green and yellow shiny speckles. They can help in healing headaches and even help you on your spiritual journey.
5. Red opal: These are sacral or root chakra stones with a red shimmer all over and illuminating specks of blue and green.
6. Blue opal: Primarily used for opening a blocked throat chakra, blue opals are also called Peruvian opals. They show blue, as well as deep blue colors and, are best used for telepathic communication.
7. Cherry opal: Showing streaks of red to orange-red, cherry opal is a unique stone with a long list of benefits like grounding effects and concentration skills.😊
8. Golden opal: Basically orange opal without any fiery colors is golden opal. It’s a great healing stone for releasing negative energies besides healing the sacral and solar plexus chakras.
9. Green opal: If you’re looking for warmth and solace, the green opal will also heal your heart chakra. It’s best for seeing good dreams, calming down, and even happiness.
10. Pink opal: Another heart chakra stone, pink opal is often called the Andean opal owing to its location. Such a stone is gorgeous with swirls of pink and tones such as beige, black, and blue. It’s a great tool for unlocking the unknown like through astral travel.
11. Clear opal: Also called Mueller’s glass, clear opal stones are also known as crystal opal. Such an opal shows different chakra tones at once and can be used as a boosting stone for most healing energy rituals.
12. Wax opals: These are resinous-looking opals with a yellowish-brown color tone and honey-yellow resin-like appearance. They are great for balancing the lower chakras, especially when going through grief and mourning.
13. Star opals: Opal stones that display the effect of asterism where you can see a star on the stone upon illumination by the light source are called star opals.
14. Fire opal: 🔥Also called girasol in gemstone circles, fire opals are the most scintillating stones and they work on your sacral chakra. You can hone your passion, heal fertility problems, and improve blood circulation with this stone.

Apart from the above, opals can also be differentiated based on their nature of commonality and rarity. Learn more about the types of opals in this article we recently published on JewelryTalk.

How to use opal and opal jewelry for energy healing? Check what experts recommend

You learned how different types of opals can heal different parts of your body, mind, and psyche through the above topics. Get ready to find out how to pick different types of opal jewelry for healing and how to do so in different ways in this section.📝

Types of opal stones for healing

• Raw opals: While raw opals aren’t as shimmering as a polished one, it still looks gorgeous with specks of light in the mother rock.
• Tumbled stones: When opals are polished, their layers of colors come out brilliantly. These are often used as palm stones wherein users hold the stone while chanting affirmation or meditating. Tumbled opals are often polished into different shapes such as the oval, triangle, teardrop, circle, and even square or emerald.
• Opal wands: There are wands made of white opals entirely as well as wooden wands embedded with opal stones that can focus the powers of opal expertly.
• Faceted stones: Generally used for making jewelry, these may be used for rings, earrings, pendants, and more. They are polished thoroughly!

Wearing opal jewelry for healing

How to wear different opal jewelry to heal different parts of you?

• Necklaces: In the past, gemstone necklaces were actually worn as amulets for protection. You can wear the throat chakra or heart chakra opal on your neck to keep these chakras charged as well.
• Earrings: For mental clarity and awakening of higher chakras, opal earrings of colors violet and white are the best.👍🏻
• Tiara: Keeping crystals on your forehead or top of the head can keep the crown and third eye chakras tuned besides keeping you alert. It’s how you can do shamanic journeys too.
• Anklets: One of the best ways to find grounding is by wearing opal crystal jewelry on your lower half of the body and that’s why healing stone anklets are a great fit for this exact purpose.
• Pendants and chains: If you can find long chains with crystal lockets, they can be used to relieve stress by working on the heart, solar plexus, and sacral chakras.  
• Rings: One of the best ways to help the power of the opal stone bring luck into your life, opal rings are also great for balancing your mind.
• Bracelets: The best way to tackle problems of anxiety is with an opal bracelet because it cleans your aura and brightens it up with traits like confidence.

Combining opals and other stones for healing: What're the best practices?

Opals are easy to combine with other healing stones. It’s an easy way to amplify your energy rituals. In general, some stones go with others without any problem. Usually, these are gemstones of a similar shade, crystals of the same element, stones with the same zodiac signs, healing stones with the same chakra, or healing crystals within the same mineral category.

Let’s look at the best stones to combine with opal!

Fire agate and fire opal

Two fiery stones, each with its own set of unique powers. Fire agate and fire opal can light passion like no other crystal. It’s a great combo for powering your crystal grid and manifesting desires. If you look at fire agate vs. fire opal, they are both different. But both fire agate and fire opal can be used for unblocking higher chakras.

Can opal and diamond be worn together?

Definitely. Opals go great with diamonds but take care to treat such jewelry delicately because opals are softer than diamonds.⚠️ There’s no clash of powers or energies when you wear jewelry that consists of both opal and diamond.

Can I wear opal and emerald together?

When you wear opal and emerald at once, you gain the power trio Saturn, Venus, and Mercury. It’s great for attracting luck, love, and truth to your life.

Can yellow sapphire and opal be worn together?

No, this is a problematic combination of gemstones to wear. Opal when worn with yellow sapphire poses problems in your life. It can create struggles and hurdles in your life too.

Which stones shouldn’t be worn with opals?

Every healing stone is ruled by different planets and when you combine the wrong stones, clashing energies form and lead to problems. One such combination is opal and quartz. In general, try to avoid Jupiter gemstones as opals are ruled by Venus and Mercury that doesn’t go well with Jupiter.

How to cleanse and charge opals?

Chemically, opal is Si₂nH₂O. If you’re wondering what has that got to do with cleansing opals, it’s everything.

Can opal go in water? Can opal go in the sun? Your opal will fade or crack if you leave it out in the sun for too long and the same will happen if you soak it for long hours in saltwater too.

✅That’s why it’s always best to cleanse opal stones the dry way to quickly rinse under tap or spring water. Don’t use harsh chemicals to clean a natural stone, like an opal in general. If you’re wondering will acetone damage opal, no it’s a safe way to remove things like superglue without damaging your precious stone.

One of the oldest forms to cleanse opal according to Hindu texts is to soak it in a spoon full of curd, honey, Tulsi leaves, Ghee, and holy water from Ganga for up to ten minutes before cleaning it under tap water dry.

The most important thing to do when charging your stones is to the first bond with the stone. You can carry the opal in your pocket or wallet for a few days before hoping to manifest anything with it, especially if it’s a new stone.

For charging your opals, you can use any one of the methods like crystal jewelry, grid, palm stone, feng shui, decor, mantras, meditation, yoga, aromatherapy, and so on based on the individual opal you have.

FAQ on opal healing properties

You might already know Australia is the biggest supplier of opals today. Other originating places of opal include Ethiopia, Nevada in the U.S, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Brazil, Canada, Slovakia, Hungary, Nicaragua, and even Mars.

Do you have any more questions about opals? Perhaps our list below might help!

What is the rarest opal color?

Black opals are the rarest available color in the family of opals. While they may come with speckles of other colors, black opals retain their dark tone predominantly.

On the other hand, the rarest opal is Harlequin Opal from Lightning Ridge with red fire in it. This type of opal can cost $5,000 to $30,000 per carat today.

Do opals glow in the dark?

Ever heard this—"the darker the color of an opal, more light comes through it"? Being composed of 20% water in amorphous silica, there’s a type of opal called the Virgin rainbow opal that really glows in the dark. Moreover, several types of opal display fluorescence under ultraviolet light and most might shine faintly under the same conditions.

Why are opals considered bad luck?

All was well with opal until the Sir Walter Scott novel Anne of Geierstein became a hit back in the mid-19^th century. In the book, when holy water touches the opal stone, an important character also dies while the stone loses its fiery red and becomes colorless.

People stopped buying opals and gem cutters found it a good excuse to stop working on this fragile gem after this controversy. In actuality, there’s no reason or rhyme in this opal myth.👨🏻‍🏫

Can opals be worn in left hand?

If you’re a woman, yes. Astrologists generally recommend men wear opal rings on their left hand while women can wear them on right or left.  

Conclusion

Opals are so amazing that it feels like you’re looking into the heart of the universe when you gaze into one. We learned about the history of opals in Sanskrit to Greek and Latin besides a long list of traits like it’s best for October-born people, it’s a soft stone, and ruled by Venus and Mars. You now also know how to recognize a real opal from a fake.

But the most interesting part is how it helps the body detox, regular blood sugar, relieve during premenstrual symptoms, relax the nerves, and even help you sleep.

In the long run, it can protect you from negativity while helping you tap into your creativity.🤸🏻 It’s a great stone for those with zodiac signs Scorpio and Libra. We also learned about the many types of opals from black to white, violet, red, orange, and fire opals as well as which chakra and healing powers it brings.

There are many types of opals such as raw opals, tumbled stones, faceted stones, and even opal wands for energy healing purposes. You can wear them as necklaces to heal the throat, a tiara to heal the crown and third eye, a long chain or bracelet for solar plexus, and sacral chakras on top of anklets for grounding.

Apart from keeping in the sun and soaking in the water, opals are easy to cleanse and charge. If opals are still confounding to you, share your doubts in the comments below and I’ll get to it as soon as I see it!