Pointed Black Obsidian Base Cut

Every so often life asks us to look squarely at something we have been stepping around, a habit, an old hurt, a conversation we would rather avoid, and when that day comes, we hold black obsidian while we do it. Black obsidian is born when lava cools so fast that no crystal can grow, and what is left is glass. Polished, it is a black so deep and glossy that it becomes a mirror; broken, it leaves an edge so keen that people shaped it into blades and arrowheads for thousands of years. We have been looking into that dark surface for a very long time. The Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, whose name means "smoking mirror", is often shown wearing obsidian mirrors. Mexican obsidian crossed the ocean too: in the sixteenth century John Dee, a confidant of Queen Elizabeth I, gazed into a mirror made from it, hoping to contact the spirit world. His mirror is in the British Museum today.

Hindu and Vedic teaching places black obsidian at the Root Chakra, low in the body, where we meet the earth.

We keep it close when we need to hold our own against whatever drains us, and reach for it when a heavy mood needs clearing. Its deeper gift is the one we began with: a clear look at what we have been stepping around. Black obsidian stays with us while we face what is in front of us, feet firmly on the ground.

Ask us about protection and black obsidian will be one of the first stones we bring out. A polished piece feels cool and serious in the hand, and you will catch your own reflection in it before you have quite decided to look. Our rough pieces show smooth, curving scoops where they broke, the way thick glass does, and the arrowheads we stock were made by working that same fracture deliberately.

A bracelet or pointed pendant keeps black obsidian close through a long week, and a tumble goes along in a pocket on days our customers know will wear them down. Customers who scry, or who simply want a few minutes of reflection, often choose the polished sphere, and plenty hold a piece during their grounding work, or keep one beside them for the quieter inner work black obsidian is known for.

Black obsidian is natural glass (Mohs 5-5.5), so it chips if knocked, and raw pieces and arrowheads can have sharp edges; handle those with care. To cleanse it, a rinse in water is fine, and so are smoke, sound and moonlight.