Rainbow obsidian is a mostly black or deep brown natural glass that is often referred to as a crystal, although it is not a true crystal due to this stone being variable in composition. This glass is often referred to as a mineraloid.
Rainbow Obsidian Properties
Although natural rainbow obsidian properties tend to lean toward being a crystalline structure, it is actually considered a form of natural glass. Rough rainbow obsidian has rough edges and looks completely black or dark brown until sunlight hits it to reveal its colors.
Polishing or spraying water on it can help reveal its colors better when found outdoors to see if it is rainbow vs black obsidian.
What Color is Rainbow Obsidian?
Raw rainbow obsidian may look mostly black or deep brown at first. If there is a clean side, it can be polished or cleaned to will reveal iridescent bands of blue, yellow, green, pink, gold, bronze, and violet colors.
How is Rainbow Obsidian Formed?
Natural rainbow obsidian is rhyolite in composition formed in volcanic felsic lava flows containing high amounts of silica that cools very quickly. During this process, other crystals are not able to form because of the lava cooling so quickly, resulting in the black and rainbow obsidian volcanic glass being formed.
How Does Rainbow Obsidian Get Its Color?
Rainbow obsidian colors are often formed by inclusions of minerals such as magnetite, quartz, and feldspars. The colors can also be formed by microscopic air bubbles refracting light.
The colors in rainbow obsidian will have a varying degree of depth and spectrum based on the different types of minerals that were present in the lava before it cooled very quickly to form this crystal-like glass.
What Rainbow Obsidian Colors are Rare?
Bright green, blue, and red colors in rainbow obsidian sheen can be rare. The brighter and more vibrant the color can make it rare. Gold, silver, green, blue, and violet colors bands are considered more common.
Where to Find Rainbow Obsidian
Rainbow obsidian can be found near active and inactive ancient volcanic areas of the United States, specifically in Oregon and California, as well as Mexico, Scotland, and Italy.
In Oregon, Glass Bute and Little Glass Bute mountains are the largest obsidian deposits in the world containing all types, including rainbow obsidian.
In California, the most popular places to find vibrant rainbow obsidian is at the Rainbow Mine and Middle Fork Davis Creek.
In Mexico, the rainbow obsidian mostly comes from San Andreas in the Magdalena Municipality in Jalisco at the La Revoltosa Mine.
Forms & Uses
Natural & Cut Forms
Rainbow obsidian can be found raw in its natural rough state in the outdoors. In the raw form, they will have sharp edges and may be covered in dirt. Many tend to have a natural broken edge or a side that exposes the multicolored iridescence when held in the right direction with the sunlight.
Cut forms can be purchased at shops all over the world in the shapes of an arrowhead, egg, heart, sphere, pyramid, and many other custom forms. These arrowheads, eggs, hearts, spheres, and pyramids are cut using high-powered water jet machines and tumble polished to create these shapes.
Another popular form sold is a flat circle, oval, or other flat, smooth shapes that are used as a rainbow obsidian palm stone for meditation.
Jewelry
Rainbow obsidian is used in many types of jewelry due to its beautiful natural colors and mystical looks. Typically, this glass stone can be used to make a necklace, pendant, ring, anklet, and bracelet. Beads are also made for those looking to make their own custom jewelry.
Knives
One of the most unique items made is a rainbow obsidian knife. A rainbow obsidian knife can be made to be extremely sharp, but since this stone is technically a form of glass it is not a hard enough material to be used compared to other materials. This is why the knives sold in stores today are generally purchased for decorative purposes, however, they were once used for blades of weapons in ancient times.
Rainbow Obsidian Meaning
Rainbow obsidian is an emotional healing stone that cleanses out stagnant and stuck emotional energy while helping you self-reflect and connect with your inner strength.
When you’re feeling overwhelmed or inundated with too many different feelings, or are a sensitive type who tends to absorb emotions from the world around you, rainbow obsidian can act as a protective shield to help you create powerful energetic boundaries.
Its gorgeous rainbow sheen helps you find the glimmers of light and beauty even within the darkness, whenever you’re going through a hard time, are feeling low or exhausted.
Rainbow obsidian brings incredible grounding and strengthening to the mind, body, and spirit, encouraging you to move into the depths of your psyche to find the root cause of emotional angst and trauma, so that you can clear it out for good.
Chakra
Rainbow obsidian affects the entire chakra system and your aura, bringing cleansing and protection from head to toe.
It’s especially useful to open and ground your root chakra, connecting it into the heart of the Earth, creating a grounding cord that can become the exit portal for unwanted energy to release out of your body.
Once you feel grounded in your root, you can use rainbow obsidian with any chakra to clear negative, stagnant, and icky energy away, sending it down your grounding cord and back into the ground to be composted.
Rainbow obsidian also has a special connection with the heart chakra, with its beautiful glimmers of pink and green when it hits the light. You can use it to help you clear cords and attachments in the heart space, to clear out debris from old pain and hurts, and to protect your heart’s energy from getting drained or tangled up again.
Anywhere you use this crystal, you can imagine it draining the darkness from that area, releasing it down and out your grounding cord, and replacing it with stunning, healing, vibrant rainbow light. Fill yourself back up with its healing energy that brings strength, conviction, and creativity.
Rainbow obsidian crystal is also a wonderful aura cleanser. After using it to cleanse your chakras, you can envision an egg-shaped shell of energy around you that is protected with the translucent sheen of rainbow light from the obsidian, grounding and protecting you wherever you go.
Healing Properties
Emotional:
If you’re dealing with deep emotional pain and trauma, are depressed, fearful, or anxious, rainbow obsidian is one of the best crystal companions to have by your side.
It moves beyond the surface to help you dig in deeper, bringing awareness to the shadows within you and the pain you’re still holding from the past. Once the light of awareness is on them, you can use this crystal to help you clear past pains for good, to let go of the emotional triggers and reactions that keep you feeling stuck, and help you land in a place of emotional balance and stability.
Rainbow obsidian not only helps you release the trauma you’re holding from this life but can also clear ancestral pain and karmic debt. That is how deep it goes, as a true emotional healer that can help you break cycles of pain that have spanned lifetimes, and reclaim your power as a whole and healed human.
Mental:
A beautiful perspective clearer, rainbow obsidian brings hope to dismayed thoughts and helps you clear through the fog of doubt.
It’s especially helpful in releasing the cyclical, subconscious patterns of thought that keep playing in the back of your mind. Rainbow obsidian helps you shine the light on those patterns so you can start to break through them and recognize how they’ve been keeping you trapped.
Working with it can bring realizations and ahas, helping you redirect your thoughts towards the beautiful rainbow of possibilities ahead.
Physical:
Rainbow obsidian can absorb and deflect pain and stress away from the physical body. It’s a great crystal to lay directly on the body, or you can rub a tumbled piece on any area where there is pain or discomfort.
It has empowering, emboldening energy that strengthens your physical reserves and endurance, especially helpful when you’re feeling exhausted or run down.
You can also use this crystal to clear the negative energy in any physical space as a fixture placed on a desk, table, mantle, or altar, so it can spread its energy far and wide.
Spiritual:
Working with rainbow obsidian can help you reflect on your life and consider what truly makes you happy. It digs deep into the recesses of your soul to help you find out what will bring you true fulfillment, far beyond your surface-level wants and needs.
If you’re feeling purposeless or unenthused about life, this crystal can realign you to your true soul’s purpose and gifts, and begin to clear the things out of your life that have been standing in your way.
Its energy is connected to the heart of the Earth, and the pulse of the darkness within you, to help you discover there are always gems of wisdom, love, and beauty to be found in what feels like a struggle or hardship at first. There are lessons around every corner and hope always to be had when you see through the lens that rainbow obsidian’s energy provides.
What is Rainbow Obsidian Good For?
- Cleansing negative energy
- Protecting your chakras & energetic field
- Connecting with the heart energy of the Earth
- Strengthening and grounding
- Bringing emotional stability
- Releasing old traumas and past pain
- Breaking subconscious patterns of thought
- Restoring and revitalizing your energy
- Creating strong boundaries in relationships
- Emboldening you in love
- Unlocking your purpose and unique gifts
Cleansing & Recharging
Since obsidian absorbs a lot of negative energy, it is good to cleanse and recharge it regularly- once a month for normal upkeep, or anytime after you use it for healing.
As an emotional stone, water is a great element to work with for cleansing. You can run rainbow obsidian underwater for a couple of minutes for a quick cleanse, or submerge it overnight in filtered or saltwater for deeper cleansing.
You can also bury it in some soil for a night, or leave it out under the moonlight to soak up the Earth and cosmic energy and recharge fully.
You can also leave your rainbow obsidian on a bed of pink salt or a selenite slab when not in use, so its energy will constantly be getting cleansed and recharged and it will always be ready whenever you need it.
How to Clean Rainbow Obsidian?
Rainbow obsidian has a hardness of 5-6, which is actually softer than household dust (hardness of 7). Make sure to rinse the stone and use a lint-free cloth to pad it dry. If manually cleaning without water, wipe it gently clean with a lint-free cloth ensuring not to scrub.
Cost
Rainbow obsidian prices generally range from $2 to $100 depending on the colors present and size. Large rainbow obsidian is rare and can be much more expensive the bigger the piece.
