The Opal Birthstone - October Birthdays

Not taking anything away from other birthstones, but I have to say that the Opal Birthstone is one of the most beautiful stones available. Its beauty is in its specialized features in that it reflects and retracts light so it's an ever changing color; there are few other stones out there in the world that can compare to its beauty.

The Opal stone was selected as the birthstone for October, the meaning of the word Opal was taken from the Greek word "opallus" which means to see changing colors, and the birthstone fits this description perfectly as a variety of different beautiful colors can be captured and reflected in a Opal birthstone, it has a bright glow that no other birthstone matches.

The birthstone itself is considered a mineral and can be found right underneath the earth in areas that were subject to geothermal springs. The majority of Opal birthstones today come from Nevada, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and a few other locations.

The Opal stone can come in a lot of different colors because of the environment and location in which they were formed, and each stone will always be a one of a kind unique stone, there are never two Opal stones that are alike.

• Crystal Opal - This covers any Opal stones that have a transparent body tone, which can include both black or white crystal.
• Fire Opal - Covers any Opal stone with an abundance of red/orange color.
• The Black Opal - The stone has a darker tone than all of the other types of Opal stone, it still reflects and retracts light, but because of the dark color of the stone it's naturally not as colorful as other Opal stones.
• White Opal - One of the most beautiful types of Opal stone, it has a milky white tone that almost reminds you of an elegant rare pearl.
• Boulder Opal - Extremely dark in color, but also extremely beautiful.

What benefits is the Opal birthstone known for?

Some cultures saw the Opal as a form of "Watch Stone", in that it helped keep watch over royal families. Another popular notion is that the Opal was a strong symbol of pure innocence and purity, which lead a lot of women in the medieval ages to wear the stone to help protect themselves from those things that were tainted in the world. There were others that believed the Opal stone enhanced their view of the world and made them see things in a different light and at the same time felt that it contained powers to deter evil and fear.

The Opal stone has had some extremely interesting folklore associated with it in the past, and it continues to marvel us to this day, which is what makes it such a unique stone.