[the_old_crowd] OoP: Red Flags/Red Herrings

[Monika Huebner]

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 18:37:22 -0000, "Milz"
<absinthe at ...> wrote:

>3. Okay, this was on the list from May 2001, Opals. Cursed opal 
>necklace in CoS, Madame Maxime's opal necklace (GoF), the bottle with 
>a large opal on the stopper in the Black House (OoP)
>
>The opal references might be a herring (most likely IS a herring). 
>But they seem to be mentioned more that other precious stones in the 
>series....

This doesn't really surprise me. Opals have been said to have magical
powers for many centuries, magicians liked to use them for various
purposes. I have just done a (very) quick Google search and stumbled
over the following webpage:

http://seemall.com/gems/opal2.html

There's more about opals to find there, but this was the most
interesting bit (taken from the above mentioned page):

-- begin citation --
>|Black opals are the tools of choice for magicians
>|and wiccans for power projecting stones. Often worn
>| with special shapes of gold jewelry to further enhance 
>|their magical properties and receptive or projective powers.
>| They have been known for their projective powers for 
>|over fifteen centuries and have been used for their good 
>|luck bringing abilities. Anciently they have been worn near 
>|the heart on necklaces made of gold to ward off evil, 
>|protect one from the evil eye, worn by travelers for safe 
>|journeys to far away lands.
-- end citation --

They are also said to have protective powers for travelling astrally.
Carole, if you are reading this, I know we *did* discuss opals over at
the Outlandish voices, but I couldn't find anything "substantial" in
the archives, though I'm sure someone posted a very insightful message
about the properties of opals (or maybe I'm just dreaming, or it has
been deleted for being OT). Maybe you remember it, too?

Monika