Quick Specs
- Brand: Sonavi
- Series: Crystal Scents Ritual Kit
- Type: Stick incense with crystal chips
- Count: 8 incense sticks
- Crystal: Onyx chips
- Sticks: Visible botanical grains
- Scent: Fragrance inspired by onyx
A Banded Stone Named for a Fingernail
Onyx is a layered stone. It is chalcedony, a microcrystalline form of quartz, laid down in straight parallel bands, and sellers also use the name for the solid black form. Sardonyx, the red-brown relative with bands that alternate with black or white, belongs to the same family. The word onyx comes through Latin from the Greek for nail or claw. This kit pairs eight incense sticks with a small bag of onyx chips. The sticks wear a coat of dried plant material that shows as visible botanical grains, and the fragrance is inspired by onyx. The chips are small broken pieces of stone, bagged and packed beside the sticks, and each carries as much or as little of that layering as the piece it was broken from. Onyx is usually cut into cabochons and beads for bracelets, necklaces and rings, and it has been carved into small statues, seals and cameos for thousands of years. A bag of chips is the simplest way to keep a piece of that long record on your desk, where you can handle it while you work.
Onyx has been worked since antiquity. Because the stone forms in layers of contrasting color, a carver can cut away a pale upper band to reach the dark base below and leave a figure standing in relief, which made onyx and sardonyx traditional choices for cameos, intaglios and seals. Greek and Roman carvers used them to cut figures of gods and heroes. In modern crystal practice, onyx is associated with the root chakra and with strength, protection and grounding. Those are lore associations, and they suit the start of a hard day: the call you have been dreading, the budget you keep postponing, the difficult message waiting in your inbox. A chip in your pocket and a stick lit at the desk give you a clear place to begin. Crystal guides present the stone as a steadying one, a mood that fits an office chair as well as an altar. A few chips on the desk also give your hand something solid to hold between emails, and a stick marks the stretch of work you have set yourself.
Practical Ritual Applications
Light a stick before the task you have been avoiding, whatever it is this week. Set a chip on the desk where you can see it, and use it as the spot your attention returns to when your mind drifts. Burn one when you get home after a long day, with the chips in a dish beside the door, and let the stick close the day. A stick also makes a good start to a morning planning session at the kitchen table. Carry two chips in a pocket on days that ask a lot of you, and put them back in the dish by the door when you get home. For more stones in the same family of lore, browse my courage, strength and support stones collection.
How to Burn Onyx Incense Sticks at Your Desk or Doorway
Three steps take you from a laid-out plate to a cooled holder.
- Put the chips down first
Set a small plate or saucer on the desk or beside the door for the chips before you light anything. Stand a heat-resistant holder that catches falling embers on a flat, heat-resistant surface such as a ceramic tile, a hand's width away from the plate and clear of curtains, paper and fabric. Open a window or door for ventilation.
- Light the stick and start the task
Hold the tip to a flame until it catches, let the flame die back so the end glows, and stand the stick in the holder. Begin the task you came to do. When your attention drifts, pick up a chip, hold it for a breath, and return it to the plate before you lean over the holder again.
- Put it out and bag the chips
Stay in the room while the stick burns, and keep it out of reach of children and pets. Before you leave the room, or when the stick has burned down, press the glowing tip into a fireproof dish until it is out, since blowing on a stick can spread sparks. Check that nothing is still smouldering. Once the ash is cold, empty the holder and slide the chips back into their bag.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock the Onyx kit for readers and workers who want a stone with a long record of use and a stick to burn at the start of a hard day. The chips are small pieces, so they work as a token for the desk or the pocket, and the eight sticks give you several sittings. The slim box tucks into a gift bag for a friend who is starting a new job. A sturdy holder completes the kit, and my stick incense burners collection has styles that catch falling embers and ash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Onyx is a banded variety of agate, and the difference lies in the banding. Onyx bands run in straight, parallel lines, and many sources keep the name for stone with that pattern, while agate in general can show wavy or concentric bands. Both are chalcedony, the microcrystalline form of quartz, and black-and-white banded stone can be classed as both.
No. Mexican onyx, onyx marble and cave onyx are names for banded calcite or travertine, a material deposited in layers, and they carry the onyx name because of the banding. Onyx proper is chalcedony, a form of quartz.
Onyx forms in alternating colored bands: black and white is the classic pairing, and sardonyx has red to brown bands alternating with black or white. Solid black stone is sold as black onyx. Much of the solid black onyx on the market is colored by treatment, a practice that dates to antiquity, and banded black-and-white stone is usually natural.
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