ONYX

Chemical composition: Silicon dioxide

Color: It is a black agate sometimes beribboned in white. The onyx veined in black and dark brown is called sardonyx.

Principal deposits: South America, India, Germany

Hardness: 6 to 6.5

Density: 2 to 2.5

Etymology and General Characteristics
From the Greek onux, “fingernail.” Legend has it that Cupid was in the midst of cutting Venus’s nails one day as she was sleeping, and the clippings fell onto the ground. The Fates immediately transformed them into stone, for nothing that comes from a goddess’s body should perish. This stone, is connected to the body, to belonging, to being rooted. Onyx presents the same challenges as those related to belonging to the earth or a clan. It is sometimes a stone of discord, of ill feeling in a family. It was reputed to separate lovers.

In China, only slaves could extract onyx: a free man would not have been exposed to the danger of this bad-luck stone. It was reputed to be fatal for pregnant women and was believed to bring on nightmares. However, this sad aura was corrected in antiquity by the Persians, who thought that, on the contrary, onyx helped in childbirth and protected people from the evil eye. Who to believe?

A double stone, a stone of familiarity as well as of family discord, the onyx is both claw and fingernail: it will attack evil and good with the same violence. Moreover, it encourages abrupt changes in mood, even depression. This doesn’t prevent onyx from being very widespread on rings and signet rings.

The aggressiveness produced by this stone is favorable for business people and conquerors. Sardonyx corrects this stone’s aggressive aspect by encouraging friendship or rather complicity, an often temporary alliance against a common enemy or a “whipping boy.” It is the stone of plots and machinations.

Therapeutic Uses
Protects against accidents, helps in concentration, and is the supreme remedy for buzzing in the ears and deafness.

However, it is advisable not to wear this stone continuously. Hold it in your hand for ten minutes several times during the day, which is an excellent practice before a negotiation or a request for a salary increase. Beware of side effects: aggressiveness, gloominess, and depression.

Zodiac Correspondences
Onyx is Scorpio’s favorite stone. It can usefully channel his tendency to have ideas that are too rigid. It will make his anger effective by preventing him “from going too far.”

Capricorn, sometimes too much of an individualist, will recover her team spirit thanks to the onyx.

from Chapter 7

Astrological Correspondences
The correspondence between the stones and the constellations is both obvious and subtle. The combination, for example, of jasper with Cancer “sticks out a mile” for most astrologers.

But beyond this affinity, which seems “to go without saying,” you will discover a stronger degree of resemblance between the stone and the sign if you are willing to take the time to meditate.

The stones associated with the signs that we are presenting below do not necessarily have a curative action, a medical function, or not solely that. It is rather a question of correspondence, of general affinities making it possible to have a harmonious relationship between the planets and their terrestrial sisters, stones. It goes without saying that we can only give general correspondences. They will be refined, and sometimes contradicted by knowledge of the ascendants (rising signs). Each case is special. However, there are major rules that make it possible to trace a satisfying relationship concerning the stones and the signs with which they have an affinity.

CANCER (June 22–July 22 • Water sign • Planet: Moon)
Often hypersensitive, Cancer stays attached to her home. Paradoxically, life often has her travel, whereas she hates to be displaced. She has a hard time with aggressiveness. Cancer is often led to dominate her deep tendencies. This struggle predisposes her to bitterness, gastric problems, ulcers, and nose and throat infections. It’s a sign that will get the greatest benefit from stones that help one find balance. Many Cancers are creators, poets, and painters. Although they have the artist’s determination, they are no less in the direct grip of their feelings.

Jasper: This is a “mother” stone, nurturing the sphere of emotions. It connects Cancers with nature’s deep forces and reveals their hidden strength to them. Their emotions will be transformed into effective energetic power thanks to this stone.

Coral: With its marine roots, coral gives Cancers a feeling of security reinforced by water, this sign’s preferential element. The red will add its energy to this feeling, which will evolve toward a feeling of definite strength.

Opal: Cancers’ favorite stone, opal is constantly beneficial for them. It specifies and reinforces their feelings while directing them toward the joy of living and joviality that is full of humor and sometimes comical.

Moonstone: This stone’s soft vibrations wipe away Cancers’ emotional routines. In correspondence with the planet, the stone makes a particularly harmonious radiance possible and will lead to deepening the premonitions and intuitions of the people born under this sign.

Pearl: It enables Cancers to be able to handle tough blows and the painful events of their existence such as upsets. Their emotional blockages will disappear as if by enchantment in this process that is almost alchemy in its transformation of pain into good, creativity, hope, and pleasure.

Emerald: It completes Cancers’ convivial tendency. It enables them to understand other people better and not be taken in by appearances. Thus, in a friendship or romantic relationship, an emerald stone will enable people born under the sign of Cancer to go straight to the essentials without being distracted or disturbed by their partners’ defenses.