Obsidian: Meaning, Properties and How to Use It
Obsidian is volcanic glass, and tradition reads it as the stone that does not let you lie to yourself. It is credited with protection of a confronting kind, cutting through a story you have been telling instead of soothing you. Polished into mirrors, it has been a scrying surface for at least three thousand years.
What tradition says
What is Obsidian known for?
Aztec workshops turned obsidian into blades, mirrors and the god Tezcatlipoca, whose name means smoking mirror. John Dee kept a Mexican obsidian mirror for his spirit work, and it sits in the British Museum still. The lore keeps that edge. Writers warn that obsidian shows you what you have been avoiding and call it a stone for people who are ready, which is an unusually honest caveat for the genre.
The practice
How do you use Obsidian?
Work with it in short sessions rather than carrying it all day.
Hold a polished piece in both hands, ask one direct question and sit with whatever answers.
Keep a sphere or mirror face down between sessions.
For grounding, stand still for a minute with a stone under each bare foot.
Read here as a language of symbols. Medical, legal and financial questions belong with a professional.
Two more
What does Obsidian pair with?
Stones are kept in small sets rather than alone, and these two are the usual company for this one.
What it is kept for
What do people reach for Obsidian for?
The same stone, read through the thing you came here with.
Questions
What else do people ask about Obsidian?
What is the difference between obsidian and black tourmaline?
Tradition gives them different jobs. Tourmaline is described as a quiet shield you set down and forget. Obsidian is described as active, the stone that shows you the thing rather than filtering it out. Beginners usually find tourmaline easier to live with.
Can obsidian go in water?
A quick cool rinse is fine. Long soaking gets into the tiny fractures every glass has, and hot water can crack it outright. Drying it properly matters more than most people think, because water left in a chip line will eventually widen it.
Next in the library
The stones beside this one.
Two ways on
One stone is a reminder, a library is a map.
A hundred and four stones and sixty four everyday uses, sorted the way a week arrives. If you came here through the body rather than the mineral, the seven chakras are the other way in.
- 104
- stones, each with what tradition says
- 64
- everyday uses, six stones under each
- 7
- centres, the same set read through the body