Onyx

Onyx is a dis­tinct vari­ety of agate with its lay­ers formed in par­al­lel with one an­oth­er. As a gen­er­al rule, this stone is black-and-white or black-and-gray. There are also onyxes of brown­ish, green, and or­ange tints, as well as trans­par­ent onyxes with rose, green­ish-yel­low or golden stripes. Chalcedony (the ba­sic min­er­al com­pon­ent of onyx) is of gray­ish col­or, and vari­ous mix­tures of chlor­ides, iron, and oth­er min­er­als give it dif­fer­ent tints. There is also the marble onyx, which is a com­pletely dif­fer­ent stone not re­lated to the true onyx.

The most famous art piece made of onyx is the Great Chalice – the cup which belongs to Uspenski Cathedral in Moscow. This cup was made in Rome and was brought to Novgorod in 1006. A few centuries later, after the seizure of Novgorod, the Russian Tzar Ivan the Terrible took it to Moscow where it has been stored for centuries.

Onyx is the stone of war­ri­ors and fight­ers. It helps to con­cen­trate one’s will and forces, to reach the goal, to de­fend one’s opin­ion, and to main­tain con­trol and mo­mentum. Onyx, if worn daily, is the only stone be­lieved to de­fend against a curse. On the oth­er hand, it’s also be­lieved to cause night­mares and in­som­nia. Onyx is cap­able to quash ro­mantic feel­ings and even to break apart couples in love. Onyx is also be­lieved to cure vari­ous dis­eases, to strengthen memory, and to im­prove hear­ing and sight.