History
Obsidian gets its English name from a mistranslation of Natural History by Pliny the Elder (the guy who died at Pompeii):
“Among the various kinds of glass, we may also reckon Obsian glass, a substance very similar to the stone which Obsius [mistranslated as Obsidius] discovered in Æthiopia. This stone is of a very dark color, and sometimes transparent … Many persons use it for jewelery, and I myself have seen solid statues in this material of the late Emperor Augustus …. Xenocrates says that Obsian stone is found in India also, and in Samnium in Italy; and that it is a natural product of Spain, upon the coasts which border on the Ocean.”
Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed in swiftly cooling lava that has a high silica content. It is not considered a true mineral, as it does not have an entirely consistent chemical content and it does not form crystals.Color in obsidian varies, depending on impurities in the parent lava formation. Golden sheen obsidian is formed when patterns of gas bubbles are aligned along layers created by the flowing lava before it solidified.
The chemical make-up of obsidian also varies among volcanic sources–sometimes even different eruptions of the same volcano have different chemical types. This makes obsidian tools or weapons a valuable resource to archaeologists for tracking trade routes or dating graves and settlements, as their source volcano and eruption can be determined through analysis.
Metaphysical Properties
Golden sheen obsidian is believed, by crystal practitioners, to be particularly suitable for scrying. It is also thought to be ideal for balancing energy fields and releasing the ego. The reflective nature of obsidian makes it one of the first stones used in self-reflective meditation, internal growth and self-understanding. The stone is not thought to give energy, but to help seekers discover where healing needs to happen.
Golden sheen obsidian is affiliated with the root chakra, though it is said to have applications to the solar plexus and third eye chakras. It is assigned to the western astrological sign Sagittarius.
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