blessed august

Angie talks about the sky medicine, I mean, astrology of the month, pulls a Tarot card archetype for August, and the Earth Medicine allies—Dandelion (that persistent ally wants to hang on for another month); Stone Medicine: Citrine, Dumortierite, and Spirit Quartz as well as work with the medicine of Spider. Remember these earth medicine guides can be tools for this month, and help you do your thang!

Remember I do collective Full Moon + New Moon readings for my membership group as well as a Guided Shamanic Journey with the animal medicine of the month. We also meet each Friday for circle, and you get free bonus of Q&As with me. Check out more information here:

https://themoonandstone.com/monthly-memberships

https://herbiary.com/dandelion-root-tea-caddy-2-5-oz/


summer solstice

Ah, the Northern Hemisphere is starting to heat up on its slow crawl toward summer sostice. The Earth tilts toward the sun, honoring its beautiful fire. Solstice is a perfect time to explore your intentions, dreams, and set goals, like in my Creative Visioning class at Alta View Wellness. For each solstice and equinox, I create a seasonal altar and grid to help me harness that energy and maintain the beautiful vibration of the solar and lunar energy of this time. So much of the celebration of the solstices honor the Sun and the movement around the wheel of the year. 

I thought I would share some solstice stones to include in your Litha or Summer Solstice altars, celebrations and grids to help you harness that gorgeous vibration and work with it around this time. 

Let's start at one o'clock. Fire Agate captures the essence of fire. This stone holds the essence of physicality and strength. It is a stone of vitality and sexuality. So much of that sexual fire translates to creative fire. It inspires, ignites and intensifies one's passions and emotions. I couldn't think of a more apt stone on your Summer Solstice altar.

At five, I included raw Carnelian. My friend Joe from Crystals and Crafts sent me this beauty, which I have been working with in Medicine Bundle since the new moon of the Spring Equinox. The energy of Carnelian  vibrates at a physical level. It helps stimulate the first three chakras, and again ignites a kind of passionate dance with the Self. It's an amazing ally for courage and for self-realization. Creative fire sparks with Carnelian, and because of its help with certain literary homework in our house, it is nicknamed "the Poetry stone", as poetry and writing can't help but flow around Carnelian. I love Carnelian in all its forms, you have probably seen it in a thousand grids in my home, but I particularly love raw Carnelian.  

At six o'clockish, Sunstone beckons the long Solstice sun.  Sunstone stimulates that idea of enlighened leadership. Enlightened leadership utilizes this idea that true leadership is being of service, rather than being in control. And so Sunstone helps align self will and Divine will. It is a strong fire stone, again for Summer Solstice, it is important to honor the element of fire (and often water hand in hand.) Sunstone emanates, as Naisha Ahsian says, the Solar Ray. This is my experience of Sunstone as well, and I often use it in the center of Solstice Tarot readings, and other times I am invoking the sun and Father Sky.

At seven o'clockish is Citrine. This is a natural polished Citrine, and it does have a different vibration than heat treated Citrine, which is not to say one is better than the other. I simply prefer natural Citrine for Solstice altars and work.  It holds that pure fire energy, and emanates a golden ray. Most Citrine has smoky quartz within its matrix, and so that combination is amazingly grounding, helping one truly manifest one's desires and dreams, as it grounds the manifestor into realistically setting goals. 

At nine o'clock, Tangerine Quartz points toward that sexual, creative self. It inspires curiosity, playfulness and innocence. I used to always shy away from stones with fruit in the name. My teacher says most fruity named stones are dyed or faked, but Tangerine Quartz is an exception. This year, as I battle some sacral issues, I have really worked deeply with Tangerine Quartz. My personal specimen has both a past timeline and future timelink, which was incredibly helpful, as I was healing both my present sacral, past traumas and fears held in the womb, and then trying to heal any future trauma there. I love the lightness of being that Tangerine Quartz brought to my womb. It is a place of birth and creativity, not pain and fear. And Tangerine Quartz seemed to capture that for me. Whereas Carnelian can be a strong, masculine feel in the sacral area, Tangerine Quartz feels less violent and war-like. It is more like a gentle hand on the shoulder, rather than a full metal shield for protection there, and it is incredibly healing. 

At the eleven o'clock area here is Dogtooth Calcite, which is also called Stellar Beam Calcite. I just love this rock. My goodness. Stellar Beam is a wonderful ally for connecting with angels and guides. They are a stone of light, and connect the Higher Chakras with Divine Will. I included it with this grouping for Summer Solstice because they carry the golden ray, and in that way, connect with the power of the Sun.

Creating grids is my jam, you know. This Summer Solstice grid is simple and beautiful, and captures the fiery Sun energy for Solstice. Centered with a Carnelian sphere, the first circle includes natural Citrine, the second contains Sunstone, and the third contains Carnelian and white arrowheads to help direct my energy and cut through any blockages arising for me right now. I used a flower of life woods grid from Eternal Glyphics. Another wonderful way to create a grid is to include flowers in the grid itself. Of course, it doesn't last as long, but it is a wonderful addition to a Solstice circle or party.

You can also create your own gorgeous sun drink with Golden Milk. The main ingredient of Golden Milk is Turmeric, which is an anti-inflammatory. This is my main reason for drinking it. I am new to the whole Golden Milk thing, but I am in love with it. I could bath in it, honestly. Or marry it, even though my husband would be jealous. It is perfect. When I am taking in tea, juice or drinks as medicine, I like to create a wee grid around it, and charge it with Reiki. Not only does it satisfy my ritualistic itch, it slows me down, appreciate the small beauty we can create around us. And I am worth a little grid making, no?

Golden Milk is a simple recipe--a cup of almond milk, coconut milk or other milk product. I don't do dairy, so I made this one with coconut milk. One teaspoon of dried Turmeric, one teaspoon of Ginger, and a sprinkle or two of black pepper. Then honey to taste. I put the milk, turmeric, ginger and pepper in the blender, and mix is up. Then I pour into a saucepan and add raw honey to tast, warming it slowly. It is simply sun in a cup.

I wrote about Summer Solstice visioning in my latest newsletter. You can read that here: Visioning. I am promising to be on the blog more. I also am going to be rewriting/revisiting some old newsletter topics and re-publishing them on my blog, so let me know if you have some oldies, but goodies you are interested in seeing.

citrine

Ah, Citrine! You gorgeous rock, you!

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Yesterday, I worked with a client who is ready to bring her dream into reality, and we pulled together an abundance medicine bundle for her. The first crystal I pulled for her was citrine. We have worked together through this three month cycle, and her first bundle was for self-love & clarity. Working that bundle helped her clearly see her future and what she was ready to release and bring in. I don't just throw citrine into all bundles. Citrine is a manifestor. So, you have to know what you want.

The trick is to know exactly what you want. Align those wishes with the highest good of all. Visualize it clearly. If all you want is money, then money is all you will get. We see this often in Tarot as the cards warn that money is a "neutral resource", our intentions determine the judgment of money's worth in your life. Citrine works when we align our will with Divine Will and choose a path of healing and love. So, when you are ready, citrine is there for you to do the hard work and energy to bring your dream into reality.

As my teacher always says, "Where  thoughts go, energy flows." And that energy flow is facilitated by Citrine's beautiful solar plexus resonance. A brief word about solar plexus, the solar plexus is right above the belly button, and under the heart. There lies our seat of personal power. What does that mean? It gives us the confidence, oomph, push to believe in ourselves. When our solar plexus is balanced, we often feel balanced. People with an imbalance here often feel hopeless, lacking motivation, doubting every move they make. An imbalance causes anger, resentments, and suffer from low self-esteem. The three lower chakras really hold the safety and security to move into lightwork, but if those chakras are off, so are we. I personally hold my weight right over my solar plexus (or I did), until I learned how to dispel that fear and start to believe I deserved to have my dreams be manifest. And I can see my weight shifting and releasing. Amazing stuff, really. If you are feeling some of these imbalances, place citrine right on that chakra as you are lying down. Imagine that energy moving in a slow deliberate circle, watch the blockages open, and the energy flow. This is crystal healing work, laying the stones on your chakras to help you find balance. 

So, what exactly is citrine? It is a crystal in the quartz family (like amethyst, smoky quartz, etc.), and its color ranges from nearly clear yellow, to dark mustard-y yellow to amber to almost orange. The ranges in color reflect the heat-treatment of citrine. My teacher wrote a great piece about heat-treated citrine vs. natural citrine. Citrine is great for helping energy move between the chakras, so you can place citrine points between the solar plexus into your heart chakra to help bring that passion into reality. It clears these blocks between the lower and upper chakras.

Like I said, the yellow vibration of citrine entrains with the solar plexus chakra to assist with self-confidence, clear vision, will power, action, and hard work. It is a creative stone, and creativity here isn't always about the arts, but taking a creative approach to your amazing life. The action that citrine pushes you to make isn't empty action, or rushing forward, but deliberate, purposeful action, which is why it is a great stone for business. It is called the merchant's stone because it does a great job manifesting money, dreams, courage, whatever your heart desires. so, if you have your own business, don't forget to put a piece in your register, or the place where your bill-paying stuff resides. 

I use citrine in my altar to Lakshmi, since she is the goddess of manifestation. And I also use it in a basket on my dining room table to help us manifest our family dreams and security. We always work as a family on those dreams (for the highest good of ALL, we often say, and that means we need to build our dreams together).  It also contains carnelian and smoky quartz, and hand-picked sage. 

There is so much more to say about citrine, but I want to leave you with an affirmation for citrine, taken from Naisha Ahsian's Book of Stones.

I open myself to the inspiration of my creative imagination and through the strength of my will, aligned with Divine will, I manifest my dreams. 

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