925/000 silver pendant with Mount Shasta Opal from USA.

Mount Shasta Opal is an opaque white to off white common Opal, often with dark blue/black dendritic inclusions, found in the area close to Mount Shasta which is part of the cascade range in Siskiyou, California, United States of America that form part of the ‘Ring of Fire’ chain of volcanoes. Mount Shasta has a long history of being a ‘sacred’ mountain and is said to be one of the ‘power centres’ of our planet. The whole surrounding area has a ‘special’ energy with which this otherwise common stone is imbued. The frequency of Mount Shasta Opal connects to the crown and base chakras helping one to integrate higher energies into one’s physical vehicle. This helps one to become more emotionally balanced as one is able to have greater understanding of one’s life’s experiences and look upon them as being part of one’s growth.

The mineral opal is an amorphous variety of quartz, SiO2nH2O, hydrated silica with a water content of up to 20%. Opal can be colorless, white, milky blue, gray, red, yellow, green, brown and black. Often many of these colors can be seen immediately, caused by interference and diffraction of light passing through minute, regularly arranged openings within the opal's microstructure, known as Bragg's lattice. These openings are filled with secondary silica and form thin lamellae within the opal during hardening. The term opalescence is used to describe this unique and beautiful phenomenon, although play of colors would be a better term. Opal is one of the minerals that form or can replace fossils. The resulting fossils are saved by collectors. "Opal" is derived from the Old Indian word úpala, which means gemstone. A distinction is made between the glittering precious opals, the yellow-red fire opals and the ordinary opals. Their physical properties show important differences. The opal is the official gemstone of South Australia. Opal has been worked as a gemstone since ancient times.