CHEMISTRY SiO2
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY Hexagonal, microcrystalline.
REFRACTIVE INDEX 1.544 - 1.553
HARDNESS 7
SPECIFIC GRAVITY 2.651
CLEAVAGE None
HEAT SENSITIVE No
WEARABILITY* Excellent
SPECIAL CARE INSTRUCTIONS None

•  Occurrence: Although onyx can be found worldwide, the most important place it is mined is Brazil.
•  Appearance: Onyx is the name given to chalcedony which is uniform in colour, generally black or white. Onyx should not be confused with onyx marble, a banded stone which is a form of limestone (calcite or aragonite).

Onyx was very popular with the ancient Greeks and Romans. The name comes from the Greek word onux, which means fingernail. The story is that one day frisky Cupid cut the divine fingernails of Venus with an arrowhead while she was sleeping. He left the clippings scattered on the sand and the fates turned them into stone so that no part of the heavenly body would ever perish. True, black isn’t normally the colour one associates with fingernails. (Did Venus wear Vamp?) But in Greek times, almost all colours of chalcedony from fingernail white to dark brown and black were called onyx. Later, the Romans narrowed the term to refer to black and dark brown colours only.

Onyx which is reddish brown and white is known as sardonyx. Sardonyx was highly valued in Rome, especially for seals, because it was said to never stick to the wax. Roman General Publius Cornelius Scipio was known for wearing lots of sardonyx.
 
It is a gemstone that helps channel and clarify intuitive wisdom so that it can be used for practical purposes here in the physical world. Black onyx can help you to find and focus on your dharma, your “true path” and help you to safely, confidently & successfully walk that path. Combining black onyx with moonstone can help to ground and protect you while accessing the psychic centres… in deep meditation, magical ritual and spell work, or during divinatory readings.

Onyx is an excellent stone for initiating the modes of centering and alignment of the total person to the higher powers. It can be used to banish grief, to enhance self control, to stimulate the powers of wise decision making and to encourage happiness and good fortune. It helps one to absorb, from the universe, those energies which are needed. It can be used to provide glimpses of that which lies “beyond” while providing for activation of the memory with respect to ones roots and reality. It helps one to become the master of ones own future.  Onyx is a protective stone worn when facing adversaries in battles or conflicts of all kinds.