Obsidian Egg

History of Obsidian

Its use dates back to prehistory, where it was already used both for making weapons and for making ornaments.

In ancient times, obsidian was highly valued thanks to its conchoidal fracture, which allows creating very sharp points and cutting tools. It was also used as an amulet and as ornamentation. Mesoamerican cultures polished obsidian to make mirrors, as it has a glassy and reflective shine.

In the Mediterranean, starting in the Copper Age, stone began to be replaced by metal for the manufacture of weapons, something that did not happen in the New World. In America, the abundance of obsidian and its simple carving made this material the preferred material for making weapons; Upon the arrival of the Spanish to the continent, the Aztecs were just beginning to use copper to make their arrowheads. Bernardino López himself describes “his enormous spears and his throwing javelins, with their transparent obsidian tips.”

Some phrases by Pliny the Elder refer to volcanic glass, called “obsian” due to its resemblance to a stone (obsiānus lapis) discovered by the Roman explorer Obsius in Ethiopia. The name obsidian comes from the Latin “lapis obsianus”, “obsidian stone”, which derives from Obsius, to which Pliny refers (1st century AD).

Currently obsidian is used in jewelry making, ornamentation and also in the manufacture of cutting blades for surgery.

How to clean obsidian stone

Keeping stones or minerals energetically clean is essential for them to fulfill their function. Cleaning the stones regularly and properly eliminates the negative energy that the stone has been storing and “resets” its properties.

It is also very important to do a first cleaning of the newly acquired obsidian stones, since we cannot know where they have been and they could have been carrying toxic energies.