Beautiful, translucent Apache Tears. My father had given me several of these as child, but over the years they became lost. They're small nodules of a certain kind of black Obsidian, a type of volcanic glass that is only found in Arizona, parts of the South Western United States, and in Mexico. It is composed of feldspar, hornblende, biotite and quartz, and was formed by rhythmic crystallization that produces a separation of light and dark materials. Their name comes from an Native American Indian legend. It was said that certain members of this tribe were pursued by the U.S. Cavalry... and although they fought bravely, they were greatly outnumbered. Rather than be captured by the white men, they jumped off a cliff that overlooks Superior, Arizona to their deaths. The distraught women of the tribe cried dark tears of grief... which fell to the earth, and transformed into these dark, spherical shaped stones.
Apache Tears are said to heal grief and be a strong grounding and protective stone to the one who carries them. They are a stone of good luck which promotes emotional balance and protects one from being taken advantage of. They bring to light that which is hidden from the conscious mind. It dissolves suppressed negative patterns and purifies them while promoting forgiveness. It can create a somewhat radical behavior change as new positive attitudes replace old, negative, egocentric patterns. I was missing mine, so I ordered some off of Ebay.... and when the package arrived, instead of the ten I had ordered... I got twenty-one of them. The seller (who is from Phoenix, Arizona) had thrown in an extra eleven. What a wonderful surprise. <3
