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Obsidian projectile point.. Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy.
Despite being sharper, prismatic obsidian is also considerably more brittle than steel; obsidian blades of the type used on the macuahuitl tended to shatter on impact with other obsidian blades, steel swords or plate armour. Obsidian blades also have difficulty penetrating European mail. The thin, replaceable blades used on the macuahuitl were ...
The fifth and larger one (about nine inches in diameter) is covered with a red cloth, placed on the Holy Table, and is used to support the "Shew-Stone" or "Speculum" (crystal or other device used for scrying). Scrying is an essential element of the magical system. Dee and Kelly's technique was to gaze into a concave obsidian mirror.
Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific alternative-medicine practice that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as quartz, agate, amethyst or opal. Despite the common use of the term "crystal", many popular stones used in crystal healing, such as obsidian, are not technically crystals. Adherents of the practice claim that these have healing ...
The use of obsidian tools was present in Japan near areas of volcanic activity. [50] [51] Obsidian was mined during the Jōmon period. Obsidian has also been found in Gilat, a site in the western Negev in Israel. Eight obsidian artifacts dating to the Chalcolithic Age found at this site were traced to obsidian sources in Anatolia.
The obsidian mirror was a metaphor for rulership and power among the Aztecs. [76] Aztec rulers used a double-sided obsidian mirror to oversee their subjects; by gazing into one side the ruler could see how his subjects were comporting themselves and in the other side his subjects could see themselves reflected back. [7]
The scope of religious cosmology is more inclusive than a strictly scientific cosmology (physical cosmology and quantum cosmology) in that religious cosmology is not limited to experiential observation, testing of hypotheses, and proposals of theories; for example, religious cosmology may explain why everything is the way it is or seems to be ...
The tecpatl or sacrificial knife, was an important element in Aztec rituals. The tecpatl was used by Aztec priests to open the chest of the victims of human sacrifice to extract the heart that would feed the gods, in the hope that the offerings would bring blessings to mankind. [7]