It has the rare distinction of being known for mainly negative qualities, rather than positive! According to one medieval lapidary, a text which describes gemstones and their powers, “ Onyx… has bad virtues because he who wears it at the neck or on the back will see devils it causes many frivolities, brings anger and disagreement, but it gives hardiness.” People were advised to instead wear Sardonyx, or if they intended to wear Black Onyx, to wear Carnelian as well. Today Onyx is usually thought of as a black stone. As the nail parings fell into the water, they sank to the bottom and were transformed into Onyx! Her son, Cupid, god of desire, kindly gave her a manicure, using one of his enchanted arrows to do the work. When the world was still new, Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, was sleeping on the banks of the sacred Indus River, in India. In Hebrew, onux means “shining stone.”Īccording to one Roman myth, Onyx stones had a very unique origin story. The name Onyx comes from the Roman onux, meaning “claw or nail,” which is thought to be a reference to a group of relatively common stones such as Alabaster, Pink Chalcedony, and Onyx Marble, all of which have a soft pinkish-white color, similar to the luster of polished fingernails. While today most people think of Onyx as a pure black stone, in ancient times the name Onyx was used to refer to a wide variety of light colored Agates.

Try it in combination with Blue Chalcedony, Carnelian, Chrome Chalcedony, Chrysoprase, Pink Chalcedony and Snow Quartz Onyx’s energy works well with its family – other Chalcedony minerals. When it is black, or striped black and white, it is called Onyx. Microcrystalline quartz can be colorless or appear in every shade of the rainbow. These are typically grouped together under the name Chalcedony, or it’s subcategories Agate and Jasper. Microcrystalline quartz has crystals so small they can only be seen through a microscope. Macrocrystalline quartz has well-formed crystals that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye, for example, Amethyst or Clear Quartz. Quartz is divided into two main groups, macrocrystalline and microcrystalline. There are six main groups of Silicate minerals, and these main groups are further subdivided into secondary subdivisions, such as Quartz and Feldspar. Metaphysical Properties: Black Onyx assists in helping to release negative emotions such as sorrow & grief & can be used to end unhappy or bothersome. Silicates are minerals which contain the elements Silicon (a light gray shiny metal) and Oxygen (a colorless gas). Onyx is the black variety of Chalcedony and a silicate mineral.

Purple onyx stone meaning