where can I find out about obsidian?

Question

what types there are, where are they excavated from, properties of each kind, etc
may it be mexican or any kind

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vw_hyperexchange/obsidian.html

Answer 2

Try the USGS site. Here's the link about obsidian. It tells you about everything.

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/obsidian.html

Answer 3

Color: Usually black

Element: Fire
Metaphysical:

Obsidian is volcanic lava cooled quickly. It is a natural glass. A stone of protection, is was probably one the first stones to be used for arrowheads and knives.

A stone of Honesty, Sincerity and Truth, Obsidian will bring out the Warrior spirit in you. It can help reach into your subconscious, reclaim yourself, and help you find or re-discover forgotten abilities within yourself.

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Protection: It can help to prevent negative energy from effecting you, and also help keep your thoughts from turning negative. (emotionally beating yourself up?) It is also a very grounding stone.
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Insight: Its mirror like surface reveals its special ability to act as a mirror and help you see your own flaws honestly. It doesn't abandon you there, but will also provide insight into correcting those flaws.
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Change: People in 12 Step Programs can use it as a powerful tool of change, aiding your desire to alter behavior, change harmful communication patterns or overcome obsessions.

Obsidians forceful dose of cutting reality can be softened if necessary for shy or timid people by combining it with aventurine, rose quartz, and Chrysocolla.

The other alternative, is to use Snowflake Obsidian, which has many of the same properties, but a softer touch.

Green Obsidian is particularly useful to finding release from people who try to "hook you " or draw you into their personal crises, and redirects their pulling, draining energy to the unlimited field of White Light, giving them access to their own healing, without needing to draw energy from you.

If you have a lot of people who constantly come to you for aid, wearing Green Obsidian will give you an immediate sense of lightness and freedom are it redirects these energies away from you.
Physical:

Relieves pain, Circulation: its energies can help those hands & feet that seem to be constantly cold.
Careers

Entrepreneurs, Inventors,

Keywords: vigor, strength, stamina, constancy, steadfastness, permanence , tenacity, firmness, durability, courage, and self-control.




Sobriety Stones: 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous - Addiction and Recovery

4th Step Stone: Obsidian helps with the ability to see ourselves are we truly are, and then goes one step further, and give us insights into what would be necessary to bring about change.

This is an excellent stone for people seeking to "root out" their "defects of character" as mentioned in the 4th steps.

8th Step Stone: - Removing them. - Its also a very good stone for those of you who feel you have gotten "stuck" or are stagnant in your own personal growth.

Obsidian is an "ego buster" - reveling the truth about ourselves in a none too gentle manner. But sometimes, an illness can be treated with medication, and other times, surgery is required. Obsidian cuts through all our defenses and exposes us naked to ourselves.

The good news, for those of you who though sobriety was getting dull, is that Obsidian will jolt you into reality!



Attuned to Root Chakra

Astrological: Stone of Scorpio.

Answer 4

well anywhere there are vocanoes or used to be there is obsidian .. Obsidian is natural glass that was originally molten magma associated with a volcano. This volcanic glass has an almost total absence of sizable mineral crystals within the glass matrix. When I say "crystals," don't visualize those beautiful pointed prisms of quartz found in geodes. All rocks consist of mixtures of various crystalline minerals. When crystallization occurs, the atoms that comprise a mineral become arranged in regular, geometric patterns that are unique to the specific mineral. Crystal faces form only where there is enough open space in the rock mass to allow the natural geometric forms of the crystals to develop as free faces. Granite is composed entirely of intergrown crystals of quartz, feldspar, mica and other minerals. These relatively large mineral crystals (easily visible to the naked eye) give granite a rough fracture surface.

Like all glass and some other types of naturally occurring rocks, obsidian breaks with a characteristic "conchoidal" fracture. This smooth, curved type of fracture surface occurs because of the near-absence of mineral crystals in the glass. The intersections of conchoidal fracture surfaces can be sharper than a razor. This had obvious advantages for our Stone Age ancestors, who used obsidian extensively for tool making.

Obsidian consists of about 70 percent or more non-crystallized silica (silicon dioxide). It is chemically similar to granite and rhyolite, which also were originally molten. Because obsidian is not comprised of mineral crystals, technically obsidian is not a true "rock." It is really a congealed liquid with minor amounts of microscopic mineral crystals and rock impurities. Obsidian is relatively soft with a typical hardness of 5 to 5.5 on the mineral hardness scale. In comparison, quartz (crystallized silicon dioxide) has a hardness of 7.0.

Obsidian occurs only where geologic processes create volcanoes and where the chemical composition of the magma is rich in silica. Obsidian-bearing volcanoes are typically located in or near areas of crustal instability or mountain building. In North America, obsidian is found only in localized areas of the West, where the processes of plate tectonics have created geologic conditions favorable to volcanism and the formation of obsidian. Obsidian typically forms near the end of a volcanic cycle and is often associated with domes of volcanic rock, such as the hills of Glass Buttes, Oregon.

If obsidian is similar in composition to granite and rhyolite, both of which were originally molten, then why is obsidian glassy? The answer relates to the original cooling rate and water content of the magma. Granite cools very slowly miles below the surface of the earth; this slow cooling over millions of years allows for the formation of sizable mineral crystals within the slowly cooling mass of molten rock. Rhyolite typically cools more rapidly near the earth's surface and contains smaller mineral crystals than granite. When rhyolite magma approaches the earth's surface and the pressure of burial decreases, most of the water in the magma is lost as steam. The resulting silica-rich magma with little remaining water becomes very viscous (thick and pasty) obsidian magma. This magma is so viscous that sizable mineral crystals cannot grow before chilling of the magma "freezes" crystal development.

Some obsidian is erupted as lava flows at the ground surface. These surface flows are so viscous that they flow very slowly. One article I read indicated that "an ant could probably outrun an obsidian lava flow." An excellent example of a relatively recent obsidian flow can be found at Paulina Lake (part of the Newberry Volcano), approximately 30 miles southeast of Bend, Oregon. Portions of this obsidian flow are mixed with layers of pumice, a glassy, bubble-rich, lightweight rock that develops when water vapor (steam) escapes rapidly from the molten glass at or near the ground surface.

Sometimes obsidian of excellent quality develops as surface lava flows. However, the best quality obsidian often forms below the ground surface around volcanic vents. Silica-rich magma squeezes into rock fractures to form layers and lenses of obsidian that are relatively free of dirt, ash and other impurities.

Answer 5

look in the encyclopedia. or a book on geology.