#copal

Carnelian is another MC1R mutation, so it compromises the eumelanin production just like amber and russet. The difference is that carnelian isn't fully recessive: it's intermediate, but only in tabbies. If i understand correctly, solid carnelian heterozygotes (aa Eec) are simple blacks (blues, black smokes ect), but tabbies (A_ Eec) are golden.

The authors of the paper that described the carnelian mutation introduced four different colors, corresponding with the A_ ecec ii, aa ecec ii, A_ Eec ii and A_ Eec I_ genotypes:

Carnelian agouti. This is an orange cat with darker orange pattern and lighened throat. There's no black pigment in the coat at all.

Carnelian non-agouti. Similarly orange cat with a tabby pattern (but weakened on the face). The throat has no lightening. No black pigment here either.

Gold carnelian carrier. Yellow-to-brown with some black tipping and darker brown tabby pattern. There's some brightening in color with age.

Silver carnelian carrier. The cat has silver tones on the back and golden on the underside, with a gradiant between the two. Black tipping is present.

LOOF standards also reflect this, giving heterozygotes the name "copal":

Carnelian: cats that are non particolor, non amber (E/-) with or without inhibitor gene (I/- or i/i), agouti or not (A/A, A/a or a/a), homozygous for ec carnelian mutation (ec/ec).

Copal: cats that are non particolor, non amber (E/-) with or without inhibitor gene (I/- or i/i), agouti (A/A or A/a), heterozygous for ec mutation (E/ec).

To see how these actually look like, here's a carnelian tabby, Fantasya of Planet Lumens, and her ny ("black golden") tabby daughter, Sakura of Planet Lumens, obligate carnelian heterozygote:

Offerings for the Dead

season 9, episode 11: First Born.

Crowley appears next to Dean in a bar, holding a red carnation presumably taken from a jar on the table.

Red carnations make good cut flowers and a cheaper alternative to roses. Symbolically, different colored carnations signify different things; both pink carnations and white ones have been on Supernatural before. Red carnations may stand for socialism, the labor movement, revolution, or mourning, as well as love and passion like all red flowers. US President McKinley considered red carnation to be his lucky flower; he was assassinated in 1901, whereupon red carnation was made the state flower of Ohio. The musical Hadestown uses red carnations both in promotional materials and on stage, likely in reference to the show's themes of labor and revolution. The flower's presence in this shot may relate to mourning or Crowley's political standing as the disputed King of Hell.

Later, Tara offers up a beautiful handwritten recipe for a weapon-location spell and the corresponding array of components, minus one. Fortunately for me, most of these components are plants! The jars she pulls from her wall safe don't look like much, but the recipe calls for wolfsbane, Angelica Archangelica, Oil of Copal, sacred juniper branch, essence of kraken, flower urchin spike, and Psilocybe Semilanceata, in that order.

Wolfsbane has appeared on the show before. Someone evidently deemed it vital to substantiate this section of the spell recipe with the eminently unnecessary information "Queen of poisons," "Aconitum," and "Family Ranunculaceae" in addition to the helpful directions "Use flower center only. Use also roots and stems from below ground." The taxonomy is correct, just useless, and being poisonous is the plant's best known attribute. The directions are more telling. The flower centers are in a sense decentralized; there are nectaries enclosed in the upper "hood" of the flower and reproductive organs open to the air below. Even if an insect manages to make its way through the flower, whether by climbing into or chewing through the hood, the nectar contains alkaloids toxic to some seekers. Allegorically, or magically, this could align with the search for the weapon. Furthermore, the roots are where wolfsbane's toxins are most concentrated; this suggests emphasis on the more poisonous parts of the plant, likely symbolic of the weapon the spell is intended to locate.

Angelica Archangelica is the binomial given to garden angelica. In contrast to wolfsbane, angelica is edible, though easily confused for several poisonous plants. The show writers likely selected angelica solely for the broader thematic relevance of its name, which is fully unrelated to the weapon-location spell's purpose, and would have been far better suited to the angel-tracking spell Sam and Castiel attempt later.

Oil of Copal likely refers to an oil extracted from the resin of a copal tree. Three distinct species produce copal resin. Protium copal is native to Central America; Hymenaea courbaril commonly grows in Central and South America; Hymenaea verrucosa is native to East Africa. Incense is made from all three. My extremely cursory research suggests that copal oil is extracted from copal resin via steam; the spell recipe says "Oleoresin derived from steam of Holy Water," which I choose to interpret as corroboration. Oleoresin is a combination of oil and resin secreted by trees in self-defense. The magical function of this ingredient is unclear, but it likely contains some divine power and smells nice.

The sentence fragments "blessed fire. Burn sacred juniper branch" appear in the oil of copal section, with a note in the left margin reading "Best gathered amongst black rock." Some juniper trees can certainly grow in rocky terrain. The word 'gathered' implies multiple branches. The purpose of their burning isn't specified; perhaps to boil the holy water with which the oil is extracted from the copal resin? It is also unclear whether "sacred juniper" denotes a particular species within the Juniperus genus or any juniper held to have spiritual significance; the former would likely be easier to harvest. Juniper is, however, lacking in symbolism and literary reference. Its most notable characteristic for our analysis perhaps is having berries which can be distilled by steam into oil.

Essence of kraken is deeply mysterious; there is an utter paucity of information from both the recipe and characters. Tara says she never found any such essence; Crowley says he has a warehouse full of it; they both fail to mention what it is or how it is made. The only written direction is "Contain in a vial, pure and uncut," which doesn't even clarify whether the substance is solid or liquid! This deplorable dearth of description makes it impossible to determine with any real certainty whether essence of kraken is a euphemism for a plant, but given the Cthulu doodle in the margin, it's probably just some damn squid ink. It would be pretty cool to see some hunters go after a sea monster for once, though, or anything fully inhuman.

Flower urchin, by contrast, is verifiably not a plant. As the name implies, it is a venomous sea urchin. Interestingly, the spines do not deploy the urchin's venom. According to Wikipedia: "Instead, the venom is administered through the flower-like globiferous pedicellariae." The spell recipe's instruction to use a spine is therefore inconsistent with the emphasis on toxicity implied by the collection directions provided for wolfsbane. Perhaps the writers simply did not dig up this bit of biology; perhaps they deemed it too confusing. Additionally, the recipe declares "best black," but as far as I can tell, no part of this species of urchin is ever black.

Psilocybe Semilanceata, or liberty cap (as the recipe discloses), is a species of fungus, so named for the resemblance of the mushrooms it bears to Phrygian caps, which became a symbol of liberty upon being confused with the pileus worn by freed Roman slaves. Fungi are of course not plants, but at least resemble plants in their relatively immobile, vegetative behavior, and practical applications for human life. Mushrooms specifically are the short-lived above-ground reproductive organs of fungi otherwise composed of root-like mycelium structures, similar to ephemeral plants. Liberty cap mushrooms in particular are potently psychoactive. Possession and use of this species is predictably restricted in many countries, but clearly that hasn't stopped Tara. The recipe dictates "Count odd number, best to use 13." Presumably this means 13 mushrooms. The fungus' purpose in the spell is unclear; effects include visual hallucinations comparable to LSD, elevated heart rate, spasms, and bad moods, which do not transparently correspond to either location-seeking or weaponry.

I went to a rock shop at the mall recently so I thought I would make a guide for all the crystal healing girlies (gender neutral) so you guys know if what you're getting is what they say it is. Now, there's probably going to be some stuff I missed but this should cover some of the more common things, and some of the stuff that stuck out to me while I wandered the store. So here is some advice from a geologist on how to spot fake or misleading rocks when at the store.

Note: This does not extend to cut gemstones. Gemology is a whole separate field and while I know a lot about rocks and minerals, cut gems are a whole separate ballpark and you'll need a gemstone expert to tell you what to look out for. This is for hand specimens, primarily rough, tumbled, or polished.

Turquoise

Not everything that's labeled as turquoise is actually turquoise the mineral, some of it is just a rock that is turquoise the color. The most common example is going to be howlite, a naturally white rock which can easily be dyed. Here are some examples of dyed howlite.

Another mineral which could be dyed to look like turquoise is magnesite. That looks like this.

Now, both of these minerals can look similar to turquoise (and it can be hard to see the difference on images alone) but there are some ways you can tell if you're looking at real turquoise or not. One is to look at the matrix as it's not the same for all three minerals. Howlite is also slightly harder than turquoise (6.5 vs. turquoise's 5-6) while magnesite is much softer at 3.5-4.5, but most shops don't like you scratching their rocks. And if they're polished, the polish will mess up your scratch test. Turquoise can also be heavier than a comparable size of howlite while magnesite is heavier than both of them

Best indicator is price. Real turquoise is much more expensive, especially for good quality pieces. The large chunk of magnesite sold on an auction website for $41. Real turquoise that size could easily sell for around 10 times that price.

Here are some examples of what turquoise looks like so you can compare.

Blue Obsidian

Look, I'm going to be real with you, there's a very high chance this is just glass. While obsidian can be blueish, it is going to be translucent, not transparent. What that means is that some light will pass through but it won't be clear like glass. If you see a piece labeled blue obsidian and it looks like any of these below, that's glass (and yes, these images I'm pulling from google were all labeled as blue obsidian).

Goldstone and Blue Goldstone

I feel like more people know this but, in case people don't, these are glass. These do not exist in nature. They're pretty, I won't argue with that, but they are entirely man made. So nothing against them, buy them if you like how they look, but if you are looking for natural rocks, these aren't that.

Rainbow Rocks

If you see rocks that have a brilliant rainbow shine to them, they're probably been treated. So things like aura quartz are quartz points or clusters that have been coated with a metal and treated to create pretty colors. I've seen titanium mentioned as one of the primary metals used. Mineral is likely real but the color certainly is not.

Bornite (may also be called Peacock Ore)

Bornite is a very beautiful mineral which can be blue, purple, or a coppery red, with the blue and purple being caused by tarnishing of the surface. However, it oxidizes quickly, becoming black. So if you have a piece which is beautiful all over, no tarnishing or anything, that's acid-treated chalcopyrite. Chalcopyrite tends to be a bronze color but also tarnishes to blue or purple naturally. These are not natural chalcopyrite.

This is san example of natural bornite. It's not nearly as vibrant.

Amber

Amber is often faked using copal (which is modern tree resin), plastic, or glass. Knowing where the amber is from is helpful as there are certain parts of the world which do export amber and those which export fake amber. Other than that, a couple of good tests are a static test and the hot needle test.

The static test is where you rub amber with a piece of work and see if it will statically interact with hair or not. Real amber will but fake amber does not. The hot needle is about what it sounds like. You heat a needle and press it to the amber. Real amber will smell resinous, plastic smells like burnt plastic. Real amber is also lighter than glass and soft enough to be scratched with a copper penny (pre 1982).

Fake amber with a bug in it will also look very beautiful and complete. Real amber will not as the bug was actively trying to not die in amber and struggled. I'll put a couple pictures up that might be fake amber but they can be very hard to tell from a picture alone. Other than the bug thing.

And an example of real amber. Had to include this one because it's absolutely fascinating to me.

Opal

Knowing where the opal is from is very important. Opals from different parts of the world will look different and there are certain areas of the world which are known opal producers. Australia is a world famous exporter of opal. Cooper Pedy is probably one of the most famous localities for Aussie opal, but Mintabie, Andamooka, Lightning Ranch, Jundah, and Quilpie are some other opal localities. Australian opal is also probably either white opal, black opal, or boulder opal. Mexico and Etheopia are where fire opals will be from. Other types of opals will be from certain locations in the world so knowing what type of opal you're looking at and where it's from is important. Any opal without a locality is probably fake, or at least highly sus.

There are also a few ways of looking at an opal to tell if it's real or fake. If there's a repeating pattern, that's probably fake. Columns in the opal are also a sign that it's artificial as real opals are consistent throughout. Also look at the opal from multiple angles, especially for jewelry. You may have a doublet or triplet, which is where a thin layer of real opal is placed on a backing and may have a clear topper (of resin, glass, quartz, or similar material) to make it appear clearer. This has real opal but is not solid opal. Some opal may also be treated to appear better than it is, so if there are dark "soot spots" within the opal then that is a sign it has been treated.

Price is also really useful. Opals are expensive, especially depending on type and locality. If it's cheep, it's probably fake.

Some examples of fake opals (with a couple pictures showing comparable differences).

Doublets

Triplet

Opalite

A nice segue from opal is opalite. It's another synthetic mineral. It's glass. It can be sold on it's own, but can also be played off as opal or moonstone. It does look different from opal and moonstone, but if you don't know to look for it you could be tricked.

Opalite looks glassier than either opal or moonstone. It's also more consistent in it's color throughout. Moonstone, because of it's structure as a feldspar, will have more of a color flash, something similar to labradorite (another feldspar). This is one where pictures are much better than words so let's just show those.

Opalite.

Moonstone.

Citrine

It's probably heat-treated. Natural citrine is very rare, but it can be artificially created by heat-treating amethyst. Just know it's probably heat treated, especially if the color is really nice.

Natural citrine for comparison

Bismuth

If it's rainbow and geometric, those really cool, beautiful pieces that look amazing, it's fake. That's bismuth that's been melted down and allowed to resolidify into those really cool shapes. This is lab grown bismuth.

This is what natural bismuth looks like.

Went to the Jackbox Rock and Mineral show and was able to pick up some beautiful specimen!

Madagascar copal

Crater Agate from Argentina

Basically, I learnt most of the genetics of cats and some rodents from a book called the Colour Inheritance in Small Livestock by Roy Robinson. Printed 2013.

But new genes has since been discovered, part 3

Carnelian (kopal, serdolik)- kurilian bobtail

What is it- starts out reddish, then turns pure red with dark tail tip with age (no dark hairs, except tail tip).

Genetics- co-dominant extension gene, ec (sometimes es). In single is golden, in double is Carnelian.

Notes-

Single tabby with Inhibitor gene looks like bimetallic (single self with I is normal smoke)

Single with wideband gene is brownish golden with dorsoventral paleness.

With self colourpoint is taupe points

Copal/kopal is name for heterozygous (single) carnelian.

Kaparti- laperm, lykoi, randonbred cats in carpathians, Transylvanian breed.

What is it- start light and grizzled with white points. With age is almost black, with white points. Sometimes have black face.

Genetics- dominant,

Notes-

Type of roan

Tempreture based points

With colourpoint- is powdery points

Salmiak- randonbred

What is it- originally called Finnish mutation, it causes a roan effect, with a black head and white spots.

Genetics- KIT gene (white mutation). Recessive

Notes-

Found in Finland and Hungary in randonbred cats

Actualy discovered in 2007, despite the gene being discovered as a KIT mutation in a study only recently.

Named for the Finnish salted Liquorice, which its pattern resembles

Originally thought to be a variant of homogenous Kaparti

Phoenix/pseudo cinnamon- Maine coons

What is it- turns red cats into mahogany

Genetics- dominant.

Notes-

Born golden with blue paws and tail

Changes pads colour and brighter eyes

Opposite to extension gene

In self cats the tabby markings are visible as mahogany on bluish background.

Caramel/apricot- Oriental shorthair, Siamese, Balinese, Oriental Longhairs, Tonkinese, Burmese, Birman and British Shorthair/Longhair

What is it- transforms dilute colours - blue, lilac, fawn, cream - into caramel (in black-based colours) and apricot (in cream cats)

Genetics- Dilute modifier gene (Dm). Dominant in dilute cats. Masked in dense.

Notes-

Have metallic sheen on them.

Doesn't effect dense colours (black, choc, cinnamon, red).

Blue caramel is sometimes called just caramel and cinnamon caramel is sometimes called Taupe.

Pink eyed dilution in cats- two accounts in domestic (both female). In Donskoy (Milkdud)

What is it- It changed black to a fawn/bluish-tan colour and the eyes had a red pupil and gold flecked red/pink irides (iris)

Genetics- recessive, modification of eumelanin. "oculocutaneous albinism with the identification of a splice-site variant in Hermansky–Pudlak Syndrome 5 gene”

Notes-

"Black cat hair (non-agouti) contains numerous small dark brown to black melanin granules uniformly distributed throughout all portions from base to tip of the hair.

Smoke cat hair (non-agouti + inhibitor (silver) gene) has a scarcity of melanin granules at the base of the hair.

Blue cat hair (non-agouti + dilution) has larger basic melanin granules, but still relatively regularly shaped, and a non-uniform distribution of granules.

Chediak-Higashi Smoke cat hair trait has even larger melanin granules than the blue dilution, and they are relatively irregularly shaped. All of the cats were Persian and resembled blue smoke Persians.

The pink-eyed dilute cat hair had very small yellowish-brown melanin granules and very few larger granules. Under the microscope, some lighter banding could be seen on the hairs, but the tip was coloured. The base of the hair was paler than the tip (agouti banding)."

Is not c gene. Like albino

She was a blotched tabby (dominant) with moderate white spotting (dominant) and had a slight kink at the tip of her tail.

Was called flavism and Ukraine chocolate in Donskoy once

Has irregular heats

Has no tapetum lucidum and poor vision