Apache Tear
Also Marekanite, Obsidian nodule
A rounded pebble, black and opaque by reflected light, but clear smoky brown all through when held up to a lamp; often frosted grey where the enclosing rock has weathered off
- Crystal system
- Amorphous
- Hardness
- 5-5.5 Mohs
- Handling
- The same volcanic glass as obsidian, brittle and sharp where it chips. A whole nodule is safe in water, but discard any piece that has flaked and never use a chipped one in a drink. Do not let it roll about in a pocket with keys.
- In water
- Safe
What it is held to be for
An Apache tear is a nodule of obsidian weathered free of its rock. Black in the hand, it is clear brown when held up to a lamp. The name comes from a nineteenth-century Arizona story of women weeping for warriors lost at the cliff, their tears falling as stone. It is folk tradition and no older. It is kept for grief carried while ordinary life goes on.
Folk tradition (Arizona)
Correspondences
These are the tradition's ascriptions, not properties of the mineral.
- Planet
- Saturn, Moon
- Element
- Water
- Signs
- Scorpio, Cancer
- Chinese phase
- Water
- Year animal
- Rat, Pig
- Centre
- Heart Anahata
- Sephirah
- Binah
How it is used
Carried loose in a pocket where a hand can close on it during the day. Some keep one stone for each thing they are grieving. Small and plain enough that nobody asks about it, which is much of the point.
Today
Hold it up to a window or a lamp until you can see light through it. Then close your hand and let yourself feel whatever that brought up.
A longer working
Choose an evening when you are not expected anywhere. Set the stone in a dish of dry salt or rice. Say the whole of what happened aloud, in order, from the beginning, and not the shortened version you tell other people. When you have finished, lift the stone out, brush it clean, and throw the salt away outside. Carry the stone for as long as you need it and no longer than that.
Works with
- Herb
- Willow
- Incense
- Sandalwood