Opal—and the Silly Superstition I Can’t Shake

Australian opal history is full of grand tales, superstitions and hard yakka (hard work). Read about it all here, or submit your own!

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PinkDiamond
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Opal—and the Silly Superstition I Can’t Shake

Post by PinkDiamond »

While this seems hilarious to us, many people are superstitious in general, and especially so about opals, like the author of this article. It's sad because she loves opals, and yet a negative comment made to her when she was young, about her not being born in October, accompanied by a warning not to wear them, has shaped her life in such a way that it crippled her love of opals to the point that it takes a back seat to the superstition, and keeps her from being able to wear a pair of opal earrings she has that she loves.

I'm blessed to not be superstitious, but my paternal grandmother was extremely superstitious, and lucky when it came to raffles, if you believe in luck, per se, so I understand the author's trepidation, but when we allow unwanted fears to consume us, our minds will inevitably seek out verification for whatever notion we hold about something, and find all sorts of ways to prove the negative thought to us resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy, which feeds the superstition and makes them even harder to overcome.

That said, she's asking for good luck opal stories to counter the fear, so if any of y'all have any ideas or words of wisdom, you might want to add your thoughts to comments. She's watching them, and got her fingers crossed :lol: so it's up to us to turn this girl into an opalholic and feed her appetite for opals. 8-)

My favorite of the lot is the second pic which I show you Image and you can use the link to drool over the rest and choose your own favorite. Enjoy! :)

Opal—and the Silly Superstition I Can’t Shake
October 2, 2019 by Brittany Siminitz

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"I’ve been lying to you.

Well, sort of. For years I have been writing about my favorite opal pieces—how incredible they are and how badly I would love to have them in my own jewelry box. But all the while there has been another side to the story, an embarrassing little secret: Even if I somehow managed to procure one of these pieces, chances are, I wouldn’t wear it.

It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that I’m annoyingly superstitious. I use the word annoyingly because I don’t worry about black cats, stepping on cracks, or walking under ladders—of course not. My superstition has to hit me where it hurts: I’m a woman who loves jewelry and is afraid to wear opals.

You know the old wives’ tale, the one that says not to wear opal unless it’s your birthstone? Where did that even come from? Though unfounded, the idea can be traced back to a Gothic novel from 1829 by Sir Walter Scott—at least, that is according to what mineralogist George Kunz believes to be the source of all this evil (you can read more about that from the International Gem Society here).

All I know is, I have this awesome pair of tiny opal stud earrings from Wwake that have been worn only a handful of times and they deserve so much more.

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Ring in 18k yellow gold with 8.25 ct. opal, 0.24 ct. t.w. sapphires, 0.1 ct. t.w. yellow sapphires, 0.16 ct. t.w. tsavorite, 0.22 ct. t.w. spinel, and 0.8 ct. t.w. diamonds, $39,600; Omi Privé

As a logical person, I should just be able to acknowledge that this is nothing more than folklore and move on, right? The closest I’ve come to that was this year at JCK Las Vegas while visiting with Julie Romanenko of Just Jules. The designer had this charm I wanted to own so badly (still do!)—opal, of course. We both agreed that the superstition was baloney, but if I must worry about it, I do have some sort of connection to October. I wasn’t born during the month, so the opal isn’t my birthstone—but ... "

https://www.jckonline.com/editorial-art ... erstition/
PinkDiamond
ISG Registered Gemologist


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Re: Opal—and the Silly Superstition I Can’t Shake

Post by SwordfishMining »

Interesting article. I had to babble about the big lie all Virgin Valley opal crazes when i shared it on facebook.
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Re: Opal—and the Silly Superstition I Can’t Shake

Post by OpalSpectrum »

good I was born in October LOL
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