Went to a stone store that specializes in high-quality marble. Ordered a huge, polished slab called Spring Rose for the top of my writing desk (it has pastel pink, pastel green, and beige swirls) and a huge, polished slab called Golden Beige for the top of our ancestral altar.

Apparently black marble and white marble are NOT available in the Philippines. I was told by the sales persons that the black and white "marble" that are used in lapidaries to create tombstones are actually GRANITE.

No wonder all of those customized, "marble" pentacles are INERT and generate bad feng shui.

Come to think of it, I note that even food prepped in kitchens that have "granite" counter tops seem to be inert as well.