The Eclectic Lapidary is currently undergoing renovation.
We'll have new issues soon!
INDEX
|
One more story to add to the collection:
My grandfather and I heard the tale, when I was about 8 or 9, of the Apache Tears. We were on a road trip across the Great Plains, on the way to his new house, traveling from Green Bay, Minnesota to Portland, Oregon. His new house was near the mouth of
the Columbia River. Along the way, we collected many
outstanding specimens, especially from the Black Hills of S. Dakota.
While in the hills of the Dakotas, we stopped at a small shop to stretch and refill our water supply. Here I found the beautiful black droplets of obsidian for the first time. The owner of the store, who said he was descended from the Apache, told us
the story.
The obsidian Tears were formed from the actual Tears of the Apache while they were being forced from their homeland. As the soldiers forced them off their sacred land, the women and children wept for their great loss, realizing they would never see their
home again. Their tears and sorrows were so great in number that the very ground of Mother Earth beneath their feet soaked up the tears, in a moment of pity, and formed the beautiful Apache tears. This was so that a glimmer of light would shine through
the
darkness, and make sure that out of such an eclipse one would never forget the sad tale. That is how the obsidian wonders so many of us enjoy today were formed.
In school, I was taught that they were pyroclastics from a long extinct volcano.
If only there were no reason to make such sad tales, we would truly be a civilized society...
|
|
Copyright, 1997 by Patrick Harvey
|
Patrick Harvey
- Living outside of Orlando, watching the wilderness around my place being turned into gas stations...
- Process Engineer in the Aerospace Industry (Trying to get out!)
- Student at Rollins College majoring in Environmental Studies and Growth Managment
- Interested in Rocks, Minerals and Fossils from everywhere!
- Website http://www.ao.net/~ffh/ffhweb/ffhweb.htm (soon to be updated)
Happy Hunting,
Patrick
ffh@ao.net
|
|
