In the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime Legend, the Aboriginal tribes in South Australia believed that their ancestral being conveyed himself to earth by a great rainbow, which in turn colored the rocks and stones where it had rested.  The Opal outcrops were sacred and used as ceremonial grounds due to the mystical association with the creator, and the great rainbow in which it was believed he would some day reappear.

In the Middle Ages, opal was considered a stone that could provide great luck because it was believed to possess all the virtues of each gemstone whose color was represented in the color spectrum of the opal It was also said to confer the power of invisibility if wrapped in a fresh bay leaf and held in the hand.

In Medieval times Opal was thought to ward off illness and aid eyesight. It was a guaranteed remedy for all eye troubles and then there was the lore that opal could bestow the power of invisibility upon its owner.

Plato tells a story about the opal ring of Gyges, which conferred invisibility on its wearer. The shepherd Gyges, who found it in a cave, used its power to seduce the Queen, kill the King and take his place.  According to the legend, Gyges was shepherd in the service of King of Lydia. After an earthquake, a cave was revealed in a mountainside where Gyges was feeding his flock. Entering the cave, Gyges discovered a bronze horse containing a corpse, larger than that of a man, who wore an opal ring, which Gyges pocketed. He discovered that the ring gave him the power to become invisible by adjusting it. Gyges then arranged to be chosen as one of the messengers who reported to the king as to the status of the flocks. Arriving at the palace, Gyges used his new power of invisibility to seduce the queen, and with her help he murdered the king, and became king of Lydia himself.

Napoleon presented his Empress Josephine with the “Burning of Troy”, a magnificent opal with brilliant red flashes.

Red Opal

As a vision stone, opal helps one see possibilities all the possibilities in a situation and discover a broader view.

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Want to know more about the mythology and legends behind gemstones?  Grab my ebook Stories of the Stones here