Opalite is a tricky stone. While the term can refer to some varieties of opal, it’s usually used for a kind of man-made opalescent glass. Like goldstone, this kind of opalite is manufactured in a kiln under very specific conditions.
Nonetheless, crystal healers and practitioners of magic have found uses for both natural and manufactured opalite.
About Opalite
Natural opalite is usually referred to as common opal, and shares many of the same overall properties as other opals. It’s an amorphous variety of silica with a high water content — up to 21%.
Even though it’s made up of the same material as quartz, common opal’s structure makes it a mineraloid, rather than a true mineral. While precious and fire opals show a dazzling iridescence when light hits them, common opal (like milk or wood opals) don’t.
Tiffany stone, an uncommon kind of fluorite combined with opal, calcite, betrandite, and other minerals, is sometimes called opalite. This lovely purple stone is found only in Utah.
Man-made opalite is the most common material sold as “opalite,” despite the fact that it isn’t related to opals. It’s an iridescent white glass that can be distinguished from natural crystals by its uniformity, lack of matrix, and the occasional appearance of air bubbles.
It’s also sometimes sold as opal moonstone, sea opal, opalite crystal, or argenon. More rarely, sellers may try to pass it off as moonstone, opal, or Tiffany stone.
See also: Check out Opalite stones here.
Opalite Healing Properties & Benefits
Emotionally, opalite is used to remove energetic and emotional blockages. It helps people weather transitions, imparts resilience, and facilitates communication.
Physically, it’s used as a general healing stone. More specifically, opalite helps with restful sleep, calms the heart, and improves endurance. It’s considered especially helpful for conditions that are exacerbated by changes in mood.
See also: Check out Opalite jewelry here.
Opalite Magical Properties
As a man-made stone, opalite doesn’t have a long history of use in magic.
It’s magical uses generally dovetail with its healing properties, so it’s generally used during meditation to remove energetic blockages. It can also be found in spells to aid with transitions of various kinds.
Since opalite holds an edge, much like obsidian, it’s often used to make ritual knives. There are tons of absolutely beautiful athames with opalite blades.
How to Cleanse Opalite
Since opalite is glass, it lacks the complex inclusions, internal structures, and chemical composition that make many crystals challenging to cleanse. This means that you can use pretty much any method you prefer.
Some methods for cleansing Opalite include:
- Setting it in the sun. Be careful, however, as intense, direct sunlight may cause the stone to get very hot.
- Setting it in the light of a full moon.
- Burying it in the soil. If you do this outside, place your stone in a basket and bury the basket to keep it from being lost. If you don’t have outdoor space, a plant pot is perfectly fine.
- Holding it in clean, running water. Natural sources of water, including rain, freshwater streams, or the ocean, are the most effective.
- Bathing it in infusions of cleansing herbs.
- Burying it in dried cleansing herbs.
- Burying it in salt. Sea salt is usually preferred here, rather than iodized table salt.
- Fumigating it with cleansing herbs or incense.
- Playing music, bells, chimes, or singing bowls. If you use a singing bowl, avoid placing your opalite directly in the bowl itself.
- Placing the opalite on a selenite stone.
Getting Started With Opalite
As a man-made stone, opalite is inexpensive and abundant. It also generally comes without the same ethical concerns as other stones, though it’s always a good idea to purchase your crystals — man-made or otherwise — from a reputable source.
If at all possible, try to select your stone in person. While opalite has the advantage of looking very consistent from one specimen to the next, you may find that not all of them have the same “feel.” Pick up a stone in your non-dominant hand, and see what kind of energy you detect from it.
Opalite can pick up energy and shift away from its energetic baseline just like anything else, so you’ll want to cleanse your stone as soon as you get it home.
Choose one of the methods above, or, if you have another you prefer, use that instead. The important thing here is that you remove the effects of other people manufacturing, shipping, and handling your opalite before you use it.
With your opalite cleansed, you can start using it. Because of its properties, you may find that it’s most helpful to use it during meditation rather than keep it on you all the time.
Protective stones, like black tourmaline, are very useful when worn as jewelry or kept in a pocket. Since opalite’s primary benefit is easing transitions and removing energetic and emotional blockages, it might help to use it in a peaceful, meditative, healing environment where you can handle any released energy or strong emotions.
Despite the fact that it’s not a crystal, opalite is a beautiful, magical-looking stone that modern crystal enthusiasts flock to.
With its milky iridescence and seeming ability to change colors, it’s a fantastic tool for those who are currently undergoing difficult life changes.
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