THE OPAL
THE OPAL IN ASTRO-PHILOSOPHY: PETRUS ARLENSIS DESCRIBES THE OPAL:
PLINY’S POETICAL OPINION: THE PAEDEROS CHILD BEAUTIFUL AS LOVE: THE
ORPHAN: ROMAN SENATOR AND HIS OPAL: OPHTHALMIOS THE EYE STONE:
OPINION OF MEDIAEVAL WRITERS: THE BAY TREE: ALBERTUS MAGNUS AND THE
OPALS THAT SPARKLED IN DARKNESS: THE ZODIACAL SIGN OF ROYALTY AND
THE OPAL: KERAUNIOS OR THE THUNDER STONE: THE BEAUTY STONE: THE
STONE OF HOPE, ACHIEVEMENT AND LOVE: THE LARGE HUNGARIAN OPAL:
AUSTRALIAN OPAL FIELDS: SIR DAVID BREWSTER’S THEORY OF COLOURS IN
OPALS: DR. G. F. H. SMITH’S EXPLANATION: SENSITIVENESS OF THE OPAL:
SUPERSTITION AGAINST OPAL: THE PLAGUE AT VENICE: THE “BURNING OF
TROY”: THE CRIMEAN WAR: SCOTT’S ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN: COMBINATIONS OF
DIAMONDS AND OPALS: DESTRUCTION OF THE VANITIES AT FLORENCE: STORY
OF THE OPAL OF ALFONZO XII OF SPAIN: A CHOLERA STONE FATAL TO THE
KING AND TO ALL WHO RECEIVED IT FROM HIM ACCORDING TO ASTROLOGICAL
SCIENCE: THE BARON’S OPAL OF FORTUNE.
OPAL
“_Everyone knows how capriciously the colours of a fine opal vary from
day to day and how rare the lights are which fully bring them out._”
RUSKIN.
The word “opal” is derived from the Latin OPALUS, and is identified with
the Sanscrit UPALA, a precious stone. It appears under the forms opale,
opall, opalle, opalis, ophal.
This beautiful inimitable gem is a hydrous silica, and is allied to the
non-metallic minerals of the agate family from which, however, it
differs in brilliancy, lustre and degree of hardness. It is sensitive to
the action of strong chemicals and does not present, like other
minerals, crystalline form. As a gem of the Sun it exhibits flows of
fire like the sun at midsummer—as a gem of Venus its delicate beauty
radiates her colourful charms, and as a gem of Uranus its refusal to
submit to the all-embracing law of mineral structure harmonizes with the
iconoclastic character of that planet according to astro-philosophy.
Ancient and modern poets unite in singing the praises of the opal.
Onomacritus, known as the religious poet of the ancient Greeks, over
2,400 years ago wrote that “the delicate colour and tenderness of the
opal reminded him of a loving and beautiful child.” Joshua Sylvester
(16th century) writes of “the opal-coloured morn,” and the poet Campbell
of a time when “the opal morn just flushed the sky,” thus echoing
William Drummond of Hawthornden’s:
“_Aurora ... with her opal light
Night’s horrours checketh, putting stars to flight._”
Emerson writes of the “opal-coloured days,” and Poe with true poetic
fancy sees even the air opal tinted:
“_A wreath that twined each starry form around
And all the opal’d air in colour bound._”
Shakespeare in “Twelfth Night” links the mind of the Duke with the opal
(written “opall” in early editions). Boetius, Cardanus and a host of
writers pay their tributes to the “orphan” of the Greeks, and Petrus
Arlensis writes: “The various colours in the opal tend greatly to the
delectation of the sight; nay, more, they have the greatest efficacy in
cheering the heart, and the inward parts especially rejoice the eyes of
the beholders. One in particular came into my hands in which such
beauty, loveliness and grace shone forth that it could truly boast that
it forcibly drew all other gems to itself, while it surprised,
astonished and held captive without escape or intermission the hearts of
all who beheld it. It was of the size of a filbert and clasped in the
claws of a golden eagle wrought with wonderful art; and had such vivid
and various colours that all the beauties of the heavens might be viewed
within it. Grace went out from it, majesty shot forth from its almost
divine splendour. It sent forth such bright and piercing rays that it
struck terror into all beholders. In a word it bestowed upon the wearer
the qualities granted by Nature to itself, for by an invisible dart it
penetrated the souls and dazzled the eyes of all who saw it: appalled
all hearts, however bold and courageous: in fine, it filled with
trembling the bodies of the bystanders and forced them by a fatal
impulse to love, honour and worship it. I have seen, I have felt, I call
God to witness: of a truth such a stone is to be valued at an
inestimable amount.”
[Illustration:
Opals of Wonderful Colour
Kelsey I. Newman Collection
]
Turning back again, we read Pliny’s poetical opinion that “the opal is
made up of the glories of the most precious gems which make description
so difficult. For amongst them is the gentler fire of the ruby, the rich
purple of the amethyst, the sea-green of the emerald, glittering
together in union indescribable. Others by the intensity of their hues
equal all the painter’s colours, others the flame of burning brimstone
or of fire quickened by oil.” In admiration the Romans called the gem
Cupid-Paederos, child beautiful as love, and it was also known as
Orphanus, the orphan, because of its isolated glory. Leonardus wrote
that it partook of all the virtues of those stones whose colours it
showed, and Porta said that it not only drove away despondency but
malignant affections also. So highly valued was the stone in the ancient
world that the Roman Senator Nonius, who wore an opal ring worth 20,000
sesterces, preferred to be exiled by Marcus Antonius, who wished to
purchase it to present to the Egyptian Queen Kleopatra, to giving it up.
This famous ring was some few years back discovered in the tomb of the
firm-willed senator of old Rome.
Opal was called OPTHALMIOS or Eye Stone in the Middle Ages, and in the
time of Queen Elizabeth it was written ophal and opall. Our “Rare” Ben
Jonson writes of an opal “wrapped in a bay leaf in my left fist to charm
their eyes with.” The opal—ophthalmis lapis—was famous as an eyestone,
taking precedence over the emerald and all gems credited with such
virtue. It was advised by mediaeval writers that it be wrapped in a bay
leaf to sharpen the sight of the owner and to blunt that of others with
whom he came in contact: hence also its reputed virtue of bestowing the
gift of invisibility which earned it the name “Patronus furum,” the
patron of thieves.
The Bay tree is identified in astro-philosophy as a tree of the Sun and
the zodiacal Leo (House of the Sun), and is an ancient recognized charm
against evil forces, thunder, lightning and the afflictions of Saturn
which is the heavenly symbol of darkness, as the Sun is the heavenly
symbol of light. Albertus Magnus, regarding the opal as a symbol of the
loveliness of light, says that “at one time, but not in our age, it
sparkled in the dark.” The zodiacal Leo or Lion is the ancient
recognized sign of royalty and old writers say that kingly government
was established on the earth in the Leonine age. Alluding to the great
translucent opal in the Crown of the Holy Roman Empire, Albertus said
that it safeguarded the honour of the kings. The stone was always
considered to protect the wearer from cholera, kidney troubles, and
similar diseases, to soothe the heart, the eyes and the nerves, and to
protect from the lightning stroke. The belief in its power to ward off
lightning was universal in the ancient world when amongst the people it
was believed to have fallen from the heavens during thunder storms—hence
its old name, KERAUNIOS, Thunder Stone, amongst the Greeks, and
CERAUNIUM amongst the Romans. The opal was essentially the stone of
beauty, which coveted gift it bestowed upon the wearer who, however,
must have entered earth life with the Sun in Leo (approximately between
July 24th and August 24th), Libra (September 24th to October 24th) or
Aquarius (January 21st to February 19th). It favoured children, the
theatre, amusements, friendships, and the feelings. Held between the
eyes it gave proper direction to the thoughts. Held in the left hand and
gazed upon it favoured the desires. It is the stone of hope and
achievement and has been truly described as the “gem of the gods.” Above
all, it is a stone of love, but if the lover be false its influence is
reversed, and the opal proves a sorry gem for faithless lovers. Mr.
Emanuel comments on the two fine opals which were amongst the imperial
jewels of France, one of which was set in the clasp of the royal cloak.
The opal, astrologically considered, is one of the fortunate gems for
France. A beautiful uncut opal discovered at Czernovitza in Hungary has
been valued at over £50,000 sterling; this specimen, in length 5 inches
by 2½ and weighing 3,000 carats, was placed in the Museum of Natural
History at Vienna. The mines at Czernovitza are known to have been
worked over 500 years ago, and at a more remote period they no doubt
supplied the ancient world. There is little doubt, however, that the
wonderful opals from Australia’s fields have eclipsed anything yet
found. The White Cliffs, the Lightning Ridge, and the newer field out
North West are responsible for some of the most beautiful gems that have
ever been unearthed. A kangaroo hunter accidentally discovered the White
Cliffs field in New South Wales over 40 years ago whilst following the
trail of a kangaroo. Rich “blacks” were discovered later in the iron
sandstone of Lightning Ridge (New South Wales) and the new fields North
West of Tarcoola are yielding white and light varieties. Opal country is
dry and dreary and the diggers deserve all they find. Sir David
Brewster’s theory of the colour blends which flash from an opal is that
“the stone is internally traversed with undulating fissures of
microscopic minuteness upon which refraction and decomposition of light
takes place. The variations in the nature of these minute cavities cause
the appearance of the opal to vary considerably, and the different
effects of colour thus produced are technically known as the pattern of
the gem.” Hauy held that colour in the opal is caused by thin films of
air which fill the interior cavities. Dr. G. F. Herbert Smith writes
“that the colouration is not due to ordinary absorption but to the
action of cracks in the stone. This is shown by the fact that the
transmitted light is complementary to the reflected light; the blue
opal, for instance, is a yellow when held up so that light has passed
through it.... Opal differs,” he says, “from the rest of the principal
gem stones in being not a crystalline body but a solidified jelly, and
it depends for its attractiveness upon the characteristic play of colour
known, in consequence, as opalescence which arises from a peculiarity in
the structure. Opal is mainly silica (SiO_{2}) in composition, but it
contains in addition an amount of water, thereby differing slightly in
refractivity from the original substance. The structure not being quite
homogeneous, each crack has the same action upon light as a soap-film
and gives rise to precisely similar phenomena: the thinner and more
uniform the cracks, the greater the splendour of the chromatic display,
the particular tint depending upon the direction in which the stone is
viewed. The cracks in certain opals are not filled up, and therefore
contain air.” The opal is a very sensitive gem and should not be put
near strong acids nor greasy substances. The heat of the body improves
its lustre for the opal is essentially a stone to be worn, but it is
unsafe to put these gems near liquids or to submit them to fire.
“_Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch as the
sunbeam._”
MILTON.
Perhaps against no other gem has the bigotry of superstitious ignorance
so prevailed as against the wonderful opal. The reason for it dates no
further back apparently than the 14th century. It was at this time that
the dreaded “Black Death” was carrying off thousands of people in
Europe. The year 1348, an astrological Martial sub-cycle, saw Venice
assailed by destructive earthquakes, tidal waves and the Plague. The
epidemic in a few months carried off two-fifths of the population of the
city, sparing neither rich nor poor, young nor old. It is said that at
this time the opal was a favourite gem with Italian jewellers, being
much used in their work. It is further said that opals worn by those
stricken became suddenly brilliant and that the lustre entirely departed
with the death of the wearer. Story further tells that the opal then
became an object of dread and was associated with the death of the
victim. On the astrological side it might be considered that the city of
Venice comes under the watery Cancer, and can not, therefore, claim the
opal as its jewel. But, admitting that under special and rare conditions
certain diseases can influence the opal if worn on the body, the truth
of the Venice story can be reasonably doubted. Another theory of the
origin of the superstition is traced to the rigorous order of Jerome
Savonarola for the destruction of the vanities in the year 1497. This
remarkable ascetic caused great bonfires to be lighted in various parts
of the city of Florence, the largest in the Piazza Signoria. Into these
bonfires were thrown works of art and beauty, pictures, statues, jewels
and beautiful raiment. The fanatical spirit so gained ground owing to
the impassioned preaching of Savonarola that women threw into the flames
their costliest jewels, authors their books, students their manuscripts
and poets their love songs. It is assumed that the opal, the gem and
symbol of the beauties of Venus came under the ban and history relates
that the most direct onslaughts were made on the pictures and statues of
the goddess. Astrologers show that the year 1497 was dominated by the
planet of war and destruction, Mars, and it is deplorable that so many
wonderful works were sacrificed during that unhappy period. The artist
F. W. W. Topham, R. I., has illustrated this event in his well-known
painting “Renouncing the Vanities by Order of Savonarola,” which picture
now hangs in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. There is also a story
which tells that during the Crimean War the gem was popular with the
English army and navy and that it was found in quantities on the bodies
of the slain. Sir Walter Scott’s romantic story “Anne of Geierstein,”
was a powerful influence in advancing the superstition against the opal,
although Sir Walter alluded to the Mexican Opal known as Girasol and not
to the better known precious opal. Even whilst these superstitions were
growing, to dream of an opal was regarded as an indication of great
possessions, of the favour of ladies and people of influence, and—if the
stone be dark—of sudden happenings of a beneficial nature. Another
modern superstition says that it is not fortunate to set opals and
diamonds together in jewels. Quabalistically, opals and diamonds are set
down as particularly harmonious stones which, in combination, have a
fortunate and positive-negative influence. Astrologically the diamond is
attached to the zodiacal signs Aries, Leo and Libra, and the opal to
Leo, Libra and Aquarius, and astrology is absolutely the special guide
to talismanic construction. The fine fiery opal known as the “Burning of
Troy” given by Napoleon to Josephine, is sometimes quoted as evidence of
the evil power of opals. It rather provides peculiar testimony in favour
of old talismanic lore. This opal was lost and has never since been
found—opals would be regarded as unfavourable for Josephine. Passing
over trivial superstitions containing neither truth nor interest, we may
conclude this section with the story of the Grand Opal of Spain which is
said to have brought disaster to the Royal House:
[Illustration:
HOROSCOPE OF ALFONZO XII
Astrologically the opal would be accounted unfortunate for this King.
]
When Alfonzo XII of Spain was a wanderer he was deeply attracted by, and
fell in love with the Comtesse de Castiglione, then a reigning beauty.
Immediately Alfonzo became King the Comtesse hastened to greet him with
the fond desire to become his queen. However, when she found that he had
set her aside and married the Princess Mercedes her anger knew no
bounds. Resolving on revenge, she sent Alfonzo “in memory of the old
friendship” a wedding present of a magnificent opal set in a filagree
ring of gold—a style of mounting in great favour with the jewellers of
Spain. The delicacy of the jewel so attracted Queen Mercedes that she
asked the King to grace her finger with it. A few months afterwards she
died of a mysterious illness and Alfonzo gave the ring so admired by her
to Queen Christina, his grandmother, whose death shortly followed. The
King then presented the ring to his sister the Infanta Maria del Pilar,
who was in turn carried off by the same mysterious illness. A few weeks
afterwards the King’s sister-in-law, the youngest daughter of the Duc
and Duchesse de Montpensier, who had asked the King for the ring also
died. The King then placed it on his own finger and in a little time the
same illness which had affected his wife and kindred ended his troubled
earth-life. After these calamities Queen Christina attached the ring to
a chain of gold and set it about the neck of the patron saint of Madrid,
the Virgin of Alumdena. Ancient philosophy would have depreciated the
wearing or giving of an opal by Alfonzo XII of Spain. At this time it
must be remembered that cholera was raging throughout Spain—over 100,000
people died of it during the summer and autumn of 1885. It attacked all
classes from the palace of the King to the hut of the peasant, some
accounts giving the death estimate at 50% of the population. It would be
as obviously ridiculous to hold the opal responsible for this scourge as
it was to do so in the case of the previously noted plague at Venice.
All that may be said is that in this case the opal was not a talisman of
good for King Alfonzo XII of Spain and to those who received it from his
hand, and that in the philosophy of sympathetic attraction and apathetic
repulsion man, stones, metals and all natural objects come under the
same law. We may wonder why the King gave this opal from one of his
relatives to another, but the reputation of the opal as a charm against
cholera (noted in the previous chapter) must have reached the King who,
in the intensity of his worry, used a charm which according to the
ancients would act in his hands fatally instead of beneficially.
In the month of October, 1908, a French Baron sitting in the stalls of
the London Pavilion during Mr. and Mrs. Marriott’s thought-reading
exhibition, handed an opal of uncommon form to Mr. Marriott. Mrs.
Marriott seated on the stage with bandaged eyes gave an accurate
description of it, saying further that it was a stone of fortune to the
owner who was about to become the possessor of over half a million of
money. The Baron, who resided in London for the past 18 years, when
interviewed by a representative of the “Evening News” on the following
day, communicated the fact that a few days before, he had, through the
death of a relative in Mexico become heir to property worth over
£500,000, yielding an income of £25,000 per annum. The Baron who
cherished the opal as his sympathetic luck stone, told the newspaper man
that:
"It is an uncut stone which has been in the possession of my family
since the twelfth century. We have always had the tradition that it
will bring good fortune to any direct descendant of the family in the
male line who holds it.
"A curious stipulation, however, of the tradition is that the person
who has it must possess qualities which have a sympathetic attraction
to the stone in order that its beneficent effect may be felt. On a
flat surface of the opal is a word in old Spanish, now only dimly
seen, which means in English ‘good luck.’
"I have treasured the gem as an heirloom, but have thought little of
the tradition until lately, when a member of the cadet branch of the
family died and left me the immense fortune I have mentioned to you. I
can hardly realize all that it means to me as yet. Up to now my income
has not been much more than £500, and to suddenly find £25,000 a year
at one’s disposal is a little staggering.
“There have been one or two previous instances where my ancestors
while holding the opal have experienced exceptionally good luck, but,
personally, I have not ever paid much regard to the old tradition. You
may imagine, however, that the gem will be most carefully preserved by
me.”
THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN OPAL