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Opal
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stone of happy dreams and changes.
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used to awaken psychic and mystical qualities.
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has been used to invoke visions
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can be used to disperse infections and purify the blood.
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opal's name evolved from the Roman word opalus from the Greek word opallios meaning "to see a change of color"
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the Greek word was a modification of the ancient Indian Sanskrit name for opal, upala, which meant "precious stone."
The specimen below contains all of the colors of blues, golds, oranges, whites and clear with excellent translucency.
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| The deposit at Opal Butte in Morrow County has been
known since the late 1800's. It was of interest only to hobbyists until
recently because people believed most of the opal was unstable. Stability
can be a problem with the opal, crazing can occur when stresses are
created from shrinkage due to water loss. The opals are found in rhyolite
geodes (thundereggs) in a perlite that has altered to a pastel colored
clay. The geodes that contain gem-quality opal are only about 10% of the
total geodes mined and only about 1% of the geodes contain gem-quality
opal with play of color. The remaining geodes contain agate, quartz
crystals, or common opal. The geodes vary greatly in size, from a few
centimeters in diameter to over a meter.
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