pyrite

I have to admit that prior to becoming a crystal healer, or even becoming an adult, Pyrite was one of those geological words I actually knew. And whenever I was hiking and caught a glimpse of gold in the wild, "Fool's Gold," I would scream like an Old Tymey Prospector, quoting Little House on the Prairie. As a crystal healer, though, Pyrite though has become one of my closest crystal allies. I use Pyrite often and plentifully in crystal healing sessions, in meditation and in mojo bags.

Pyrite is an iron sulfide with a Mohs hardness of 6-6.5. If you have purchased Pyrite, you might have seen wee little cubes of it, because its crystal patterns is cubic, as well as octahedral, and pyritohedral. (Don't you love when you have little cubes of crystals!?!?) It is a perfect golden color, and it comes from the Greek for fire, because when you strike two pieces, you can create a spark. (Good to know if you are on a crystal healing adventure in the wild!)

Pyrite traditionally works with the Solar Plexus chakra for manifestation, action, willpower, creativity and confidence. Many people feel it is a masculine stone, which helps strengthen masculine energy (great for people who need to balance Feminine/Masculine energy) or for those who might want to work with God energy/Father Sky. I also use Pyrite on the Earth Star Chakra to help ground those feelings of not enoughness. Naisha Ahsian groups Hematite, Pyrite and Cuprite as an Earthing triad--balancing male and female polarities and manifesting one's spiritual path in alignment with Mother Earth, as Naisha says.

Based on her recommendation, I have worked with them together, and find it a wonderfully balancing team. I'm going to write more about this in my newsletter this week. For my personal work, Pyrite is a huge ally for manifestation and creative work, and making dreams come true. I love the strength of Pyrite's energy. It is a powerful stone that commands attention, and in that way can help you command attention. I often use it when I am helping men get in touch with their masculinity, which believe it or not is a huge issue. How to be emotional and masculine. We don't talk much about the difference between crystal healing on men and women, but I do use different stones on men and women. (I also use different stones for each individual.) But Pyrite is my go-to solar plexus stone for men.

It is a wonderful ally for Persistence. When you are energetically waning, Pyrite is a great tool. As I read somewhere, if you can't have a nap, grab some Pyrite.  But in terms of creative projects that have lost their fire within your belly, Pyrite can help rekindle energy to finish. In fact, Pyrite is wonderful for any creative project--art, music, writing, performance. A grid with Pyrite is also an awesome way to go to work with its energy. It resonates beautifully with Citrine. And with Carnelian for creative and sexual power. (That is a powerful combination for the bedroom.) It's wonderful for the memory (perhaps that is what persistence is, the continued and extended memory of your passion). It is also a stone of the leader,so use it when you need to bring in those qualities. One of my beautiful Tarot colleagues said that she sees Tarot cards as symbols in her other psychic work, and when I was writing this, I saw the Emperor. The Emperor is the energy of Pyrite.

I hope you connect with my thoughts on Pyrite. I would love to hear what you think and how you have worked with Pyrite. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to read more. This week I'm going to talk about balancing feminine and male energies, including some great meditations to do so. 

mercury retrograde

Since today (February 6, 2014) kicks off a three-week Mercury Retrograde period, I decided to cover some stones to help you deal with the unnerving effects of this period. 

What is Mercury Retrograde? It is actually a giant planetary optical illusion. All planets revolve around the Sun, but there are times when it appears from Earth, because of our motion around the Sun, that a planet will stop and go backwards, then stop again and move forward, or go direct. This isn't happening at all. It is physics. Think of when you are at a stop light, and are rolling forward very slowly, and the car next to you is moving more slowly than even you, it actually can appear that the other car is rolling backward. We are actually overtaking Mercury on the orbital highway, so to speak, so this is why Mercury seems to move backward. All planets move around the Sun in orbits, but because Earth perceives this retrograde, astrologers believe it affects us Earthlings. By the way, this happens to all planets from our point of view on planet Earth.  In the beginning of 2014, Venus went Retrograde, and astrologers suggested that we not get any new hairstyles, or changes in our appearance. "No plastic surgery!" they warned, since Venus rules appearances and beauty. Mercury is perhaps the most well-known retrograde, because it happens three times a year, and is closest to the Sun. 

Mercury is the messenger God in Ancient Greek mythology, and so the planet rules communications--electronic, telephone and in person communication. It affects electronics, or those things that deliver messages (messengers). So computers go on the fritz, phones drop in toilets. Last summer, my dishwasher had a wee clog, and my husband pulled it out to fix it, lost a little itty bitty screw, and we had to buy a whole new dishwasher (apparently, they don't sell just the screw. Go figure). Mercury Retrograde warns not to sign any contracts. I signed our house contract during the last Mercury Retrograde in November, and I can attest that it was a nightmare (still is a nightmare). We have confusions, misunderstandings, arguments, taking things personally...oy. So, any texts, emails or communications you receive during this time, breathe. Apply the Four Agreements--be impeccable with your word. Don't take anything personally. Don't assume. Do your best.

One of my mentors and favorite teachers Athena from Sage Goddess actually enjoys Mercury Retrograde. Read her wonderful article on it. I wouldn't exactly say I enjoy it, but I have learned the hard way to respect the power of Mercury Retrograde, and work with the energy through crystal healing. It truly is a time to slow down. Do your homework on any project. We don't make decisions impulsively in Mercury Retrograde. We plod along, which ultimately serves our Highest Good. It can be a wonderful period of reflection, self-care and bear medicine.

I would avoid making plans during this period. As they say, "We plan, and God laughs." This is particularly true during Mercury Retrograde, so just bow out politely, or be non-committal. If you don't want to say, "It's Mercury Retrograde! ARE YOU NUTS?!?" Just say that you are taking time for yourself right now. There is nothing wrong with that. You deserve time alone. My suggestion, if you are interested in Astrology and the moon cycles, is also to see how this Retrograde period is interacting with the rest of the sky. This piece describes the way Mercury Retrograde manifests in each sign. This cycle we are in Aquarius (until the 18th of February) and then in Pisces for a few days is about freedom and independence and intellectual battles. This does help tailor our stones too.

But let's get a base line for what stones to use in a Mercury Retrograde. Firstly, we want to use some grounding stones to help us focus on our connection with Mother Earth and our inner Higher Selves. Any Retrograde period can make us feel turned around, which causes us to feel ungrounded. For this, I suggest Hematite + Pyrite as a combination. In the last few months, I have felt strongly that these two metallic stones work in harmony as a kind of Yin Yang grounding couple, actually functioning as two sides of the plug, so to speak, into Mother Earth. Working with Hematite alone can be very beneficial as well. You don't have to have everything I suggest to make this work, just use what you have and improvise. If I say grounding stone, and you only have obsidian, use it! I also love Smoky Quartz for this time period, and a Smoky Citrine is even better. Smoky Quartz is a wonderful enhancer and ally when working with other stones, so I love seeing this in a grid with other other Mercury Retrograde stones. I always suggest Black Tourmaline for an EMF absorber,and so consider it during this time period when electronics go haywire!

Because Mercury Retrograde rules communication, it only stands to reason that we use Throat Chakra stones like Aquamarine, Blue Lace Agate, Hemimorphite, Amazonite, and my favorite for Mercury Retrograde is Fluorite, often called the stone of the student. It really helps with clarity and understanding. 

So, how do we work with these stones in a Mercury Retrograde period? We can carry some grounding stones with communication stones in a little mojo bag. I don't like to carry more than three stones at one time. So maybe Hematite, Smoky Quartz and Aquamarine in a mojo bag. Or Blue Lace Agate, Smoky Quartz and Ametrine. You can wear some grounding jewelry. I was actually thinking of creating some Mercury Retrograde earrings to wear during this period! But wearing some gemstone bracelets like Hematite, or Black Tourmaline with an Amazonite, might be a wonderful way to work with these stones' energies. You can sleep with them, carry them in your pocket, bathe with them, drink them in a gem water (be sure to check a toxic stone list before doing this. Black Tourmaline is not recommended for waters.) My favorite way to work with stones during  a time period is to create a grid that holds the energy and counteracts some of the effects of Mercury Retrograde. 

An easy and helpful grid for ANY time of the year, but particularly Mercury Retrograde, is a grounding grid. I suggest this grid for businesses where lots of energies are coming and going or for time periods that are chaotic, like moving house, or job changes. 

You can also connect this grid to a larger room or house grid by connecting the stones. I used a center stone of Black Tourmaline on a flower of life grid cloth for lower chakras. Radiating from the center are six spokes of black tourmaline rods into a stone, then the other six spokes are Black Obsidian Arrowheads pointing INTO the center of the grid. We are directing energy within, rather than outward. This is important when you want to ground your energy. Out from the Arrowheads are Hematite and Pyrite like the two holders of the reigns of that energy. it is a simple and easy grid. I also sage when doing this grid and sometimes do a Shamanic Journey to have guidance on what stones or animals to use in grounding. I also have this bust of my Spirit Guide that I use to include him in my work during this time period of Mercury Retrograde. I don't think communication mix-ups happen to you and your guides during Mercury Retrograde.

I also love working with the Medicine Wheel grids for grounding and spiritual connection to ancestor work, Mother Earth and all living beings. This would be a wonderful grid for the Mercury Retrograde period.

This is a large Medicine Wheel grid I put together for meditation work I was performing for grieving mothers.

This grid is as ancient as the people, I believe in my heart of hearts. It is aligned on to magnetic North, and contains a symbol of all the elements. It is truly a working altar, so to speak, and a connector to all the Elements and Mother Earth. Starting East, the direction of Air, dawn, new beginnings, I used Citrine, a feather, sacred tobacco as the herbal offering, and incense; South, direction of Fire, passion and completion, I used Red Jasper, sage as the sacred offering; in the West, the direction of Water, reflection, emotions and contemplation, I used Black Obsidian Arrowheads, this time pointing outward, the sacred offering of Cedar, a bowl of water, and a shell; in the North, the direction of Earth, I used Clear Quartz (though Howlite is traditional, as well as Snowy Quartz), the sacred offering of Sweetgrass, and Wood. I actually used Clear Quartz in the center, and Selenite for the spokes and direction markers.

This next grid I designed specifically for Mercury Retrograde:

This grid's center is a Fluorite pillar. I put a mirror underneath the Fluorite to amplify its energy, radiating out are six double terminated clear quartz crystals with Amazonite, and Fluorite again around the edge. Because I only had four Fluorite tumblies, I used two larger magenta Fluorite pieces on the North/South axis on this grid. The Octahedron is particularly special to me. On the other spokes around the outer edge are Hematite, and inner grid are Pyrite. 

Play. Use your intuition. Work with different crystals that are special to you. Whatever you do, share your grids and crystals here. I'd love to see what you are doing for Mercury Retrograde.

scolecite

When I opened my birthday present a few weeks ago from my sister, I just had to burst out laughing. As an identical twin to another psychic, it always cracks me up how we connect, and how Spirit works through us together. There sat this gorgeous Scolecite, and in her gift, there was a miniature version of the Scolecite she gave me. I hadn't worked with Scolecite before, but when I am looking to gift myself or someone else a crystal, I often just hit my favorite stone shop (one with abundant and plentiful stones, not just tumblies), and wander around. Spirit takes me to the nooks and crannies, and I read the names of crystals I have only seen in books. Where I am drawn, I buy. I read later about its properties, if I don't know. I just go with my gut and my eye. I felt Scolecite for my sister. Funnily, my sister felt Scolecite for me a whole other American state away!

Honestly, i didn't even read about it when I got home. I could tell from looking at it and holding it that it had some beautiful properties. Its white color and properties reminded me of Selenite. I knew it resonated with the crown and third eye. I could feel them both pulse when I held the specimen in my non-dominant hand. It is an incredibly peaceful stone, one of tranquility. It was almost as if I could hear the wind in it, a gentle breeze of relaxation.

What I didn't know about Scolecite is that it isn't quite as delicate as Selenite with a Mohs hardness of 5-5.5. it is a Zeolite mineral, which is cool. I also had no idea that Scolecite is a stone that is wonderful for dream work, astral travel, and journeying--all of those things I have been engaging in this past month. When I'm working with it, it is a gentle ally, yet afterward, upon reflection, I should say, it feels like a crown chakra blast. Almost like my guides have plugged me into Spirit, or maybe even my Higher Self is a better description. I have enjoyed my early workings with Scolecite, and would love to hear any of your experience. 

So far the affirmation I have felt with it is:

I open to the peace of my Higher Self.

crystals for angelic communication

Working with Angelic Energy continues to evoke in me a sense of humility, awe and wonder at the universe. For my crystal healing work, I invoke the angels for healing sessions. It is truly amazing to feel their vibration, which is high and clean and absolutely pure. While I do not channel Angels, I do feel them with me, and feel their Divine work in all that I do. I have had angelic communications directly through dream work, the subject of my last newsletter and the upcoming one too. Doreen Virtue is probably the foremost angel communicator and healer in the world, and her books are widely accessible. My friend Rita Strough suggested the book Angelspeake, which was effectively for me too in automatic writing. Those who have gotten a pdf reading from me have experienced some of this automatic writing, and it amazes me still to read what comes out of me. 

A channeled painting of Archangel Azrael, the angel of grief. Copyright, Angie Yingst 2011

This week instead of focusing on one crystal, I thought I would talk about some crystals you can work with to assist in angel communication. These crystals I have used for my angelic work in different areas of my life. As some of you know, I began really opening up to channel while doing artwork. My journey after my daughter died led me immediately into art, writing and painting. At the time, I began practicing tonglen meditation, a type of meditation for compassion and suffering. After asking to take on the suffering of another, I began to paint. What I painted were these little bodhisattvas, or those who achieved enlightenment, but return to help mankind. These little jizos, as they are called, are the bodhisattvas for grieving women. I painted them and painted them and painted them. It has been five years since I began painting jizos, and I have come to understand that in meditation, I began channeling these paintings, and paintings of angels. I have even painted a picture of the Ascended Master who works with me on this tonglen work (Lord Lanto, if you really want to know.) I now go into meditation to do this work, painting ascended masters and angels, aware of what I am doing, and I do use crystals when I am specifically channeling paintings. Some of my work is on this website, as it opened me up to do my psychic readings and understand my gift more. And that is it--whatever aspect you chose to connect with--meditation, painting, channeling, readings, healing work, or dream work, it opens up your channel for other work too. The more you call the Angels in, I have noticed, the more they come even when you don't call them in.

So, what does it mean to use crystals for angel work, or any spiritual work? 

For me, I just find a plethora of ways to use crystals, so try not to get overwhelmed. For angel work in particular, I use one or more of these crystals in this way:

1. In meditation. I will hold the crystal in my non-dominant hand. Sit in a comfortable position (or lie if I am so inclined.) I place my dominant hand either over my non-dominant, or over my heart. I then call the angels in for healing. When I call the angels in, I say their name in threes, so I might say, "Archangel Michael. Archangel Michael. Archangel Michael." Each Archangel has a specific role, and you can ask Michael for example to come in for protection, or to cleanse your aura, or to help cut unhealthy cords of attachment, as he is the Guardian Archangel. Or you might just feel Michael more, even if you are needing work for healing of a stomach issue (even though by the books Raphael would be the one to call in for physical and emotional healing.)  

Another method is to hold the stone, or if you are lying still in meditation, placing the stone on your third eye. I actually do this when I am "feeling" a stone in a metaphysical shop for channeling or psychic work. 

2. Sleeping with the stone for angelic dream work. I have often used guided meditations before bed to call in the angels to work with me in the middle of the night. You can also  just place the stone in your pillow case, under your pillow, next to your bed, or wear in while you sleep.

These Angelite and Black Tourmaline earrings are wonderful tools for day long angelic communication, or when you just want to feel connected to your angels throughout the day.

3. Wearing the stone to use all day. This is by far the coolest and easiest way to use. Not only do you have some gorgeous jewelry on, you also get messages throughout the day. So, call in the angels in the morning. You can call them all in together--Michael, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, Jophiel, Ariel, or anyone you feel most connected. and ask for messages all day. This is a great method if you are open to synchronicity and "coincidences" or rather God Moments. Pay attention to numbers, feathers, pennies, license plates, songs...anything. Just be open!

If you are working with a stone, I suggest only wearing that one stone. I often see people with four or more stones on them in earrings, rings, bracelets. That is totally fine to do, by the way. But if you are focusing on working with one stone, why not just focus on that stone? Then you can feel its energy and really focus on what the messages are for you from this stone. So, take everything else off, and really just feel the stone. Hold it, wear it, and then buy another piece to pocket. And allow God and the Angels to speak through everyone and everything in that one day. Keep a notebook on you and just let it all come.

4. Bathe with your stones. This is not effective for every stone. Certainly any stone with a Moh's hardness of 5 or smaller cannot go in water effectively, but other than that, throw them in. Amethyst is a great channeling stone and a hearty bath stone. You can put on some candles, angelic music, and meditate in the water. It is a natural opener of your chakras and messages or rather Divine Inspiration often comes in the bath or shower, no?

5. Place them in your space. I always put a little bowl of stones next to my workspace when I am writing, and if I am in a painting session, I often put Angelite right next to my painting space. 

6. Create a grid in the area near your meditation spot, or around your meditation seat. Using clear quartz with stones good for angel communication is a wonderful way to work with these stones. When you activate your grid, state your intention very clearly--to channel angelic communication, or get messages from your angels. Again, I cannot state enough how important it is to trust yourself. Angels often speak in your own voice when you are quiet enough to listen. Their messages are never pushy or demanding, then are often gentle, perhaps persistent, but not demanding.

Angels want to help us, but we simply have to ask for their help. Stones that work beautifully for angelic communication are often throat chakra stones, because listening is governed by the throat chakra. This is certainly not all the stones that work for angelic communication. Doreen Virtue associates each angel with a crystal. I have also found amazing connections with some crown chakra stones, which is what I have included here too. Some wonderful stones for angelic work are: Blue Anhydrite or Angelite, Celestite, Hemimorphite, Selenite, Seraphinite, Danburite, Apophyllite and Clear Quartz. 

I'd love to hear your experience working with your angels, and any stones I have forgotten here. For more information, I really liked this article by Emily's Gems on some deeper techniques for meditation, and some other angel stone ideas.

green aventurine

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.― Anaïs Nin

Every morning, I pull an oracle card or three and journal about the messages, and how they relate to my life. I then make an "Action List" of things I'd like to do based on the suggestions--like a Gratitude List, or a meditation outside. Little achievable things. Today's crystal card was Naisha Ahsian's Crystal Ally card--Aventurine Growth. As I sat with it, thinking about Aventurine, how I work with it, what I use it for, and how plentiful it is, I realized I had not actually written about it on my blog. How could that be possible? Sometimes are most potent and useful allies get taken for granted and neglected (spoken like a true mother and wife here). 

Green Aventurine's tones range from pale green to deep forest green, and these tumblies are great for pockets, mojo bags, and for heart healing work. The larger flat palm stone is one I use in crystal healing sessions for the heart chakra or after psychic surgery. The Green Aventurine bowl in the back is a perfect addition to my altar spaces, and usually holds seasonal herbs, flowers or magickal correspondences. 

Today, I am remedying that. Aventurine belongs to the Quartz family with a Mohs hardness of 7. It works in water, out of water. On the body, in grids. As a crystal healer, Aventurine truly remains one of my crystal workhorses.  Aventurine comes in a number of colors--blue and red, peach and other lighter colors, but most popular is Green Aventurine. The green, Robert Simmons points out, come from microscopic Fuschite particles (while the red is Hematite), which is fascinating to me as I use Fuschite in healing session as a pain remover.

Green Aventurine resonates with the Heart Chakra, and helps one feel a kind of lightness of being. It subtly bridges the solar plexus (in my experience) by bringing confidence to the heart, helping one envision themselves achieving their heart's desire. In quite another way, the growth that Green Aventurine promotes is one of the heart and emotional body. How do you understand your emotional pain? Aventurine can be a partner in this tremendous work, helping you grow past your own limitations and the trap of suffering. What I mean by that is that suffering can be so all-encompassing, so all-consuming, that one cannot see a way out, or their own role in getting themselves out of the funk. Aventurine, gently, raises the vibration to a place of optimism. In this way, the quote, "Suffering is mandatory, but misery is optional" comes to mind. How and why am I making this suffering miserable? What is the root of my suffering? 

As a growth stone, it is most useful for these massive periods of change. Ironically, it calms the emotional body, helps to maintain a certain balance through the rockiest of journeys. The way in which Green Aventurine works is by helping you feel what you need to feel. It is my prayer in the morning--May I see what I need to see, say what I need to say, feel what I need to feel and do what I need to do for the Highest Good of all. Whenever we talk about feeling what we need to feel and growth, we have to remember that with the element of bringing in energy, we also must release. Aventurine soothes those wounds and facilitates the letting go of friendships, relationships, and situations that are no longer serving your Highest Good. In the next few weeks, i am going to be exploring this idea of release in my newsletter. Releasing challenges all our sense of loyalty, stamina, and self. Naisha Ahsian calls it understanding the truth of impermanence, which is not how I would have naturally articulated it, but is absolutely the nugget of this growth.

Green Aventurine also has the reputation as a healer, and I use it for healing wounds in psychic surgery and cord cutting. It is also a wonderful tool for those who have gone through physical surgery, or cardiac issues. I also use it on other areas of pain or aches caused by disruptions in the etheric body, for example, if you are holding resentment that manifests as hip pain, I might put the stone over the hip. I think of growth in this way as growth of one's positive and healing properties to overcome the wound. It bridges the wound and the heart.

Because it is so associated with growth as a concept, it is often used in manifestation work--grids, mojo bags, healing layouts. The green, the color of money, doesn't hurt either, as often magick practitioners recommend green for money and growth.  It's a great stone to pocket for job interviews, or poker night, or even a romantic date. And I use it in my Abundance grids all the time.

An affirmation for Green Aventurine might be:

I welcome my spiritual, financial and emotional growth with optimism and joy.

rhodochrosite

This week I mentioned Rhodochrosite in my Tarot of the Week for the Three of Swords, and with some hard heart situations for me this week, as well as the holidays coming up, I thought it was the perfect time to discuss the tunning Rhodochrosite.

A few years before I began taking my coursework for my Crystal Healing Certification, I had a normal kind of week. My third eye was very open to signs, coincidence and messages from my guides. Really, what I had been doing was intensely working with crystals to open my third eye.  At the time, I didn't much work with heart chakra stones on my own. Funnily, though, when working with other healers, they all felt that my heart was almost entirely closed. Years of grief and isolation closed up my ability to give and receive love properly. Man, did I really have that upside down! The heart is the way to the third eye. All the lower chakras are keys to psychic work. In fact, you must must must balance the other chakras. It is imperative to not only good physical health, but psychic, emotional and mental health. I didn't know. All I wanted was to have these messages I had been getting all my life to be clear, for me to see what I needed to see. Clarity was my goal.

For that week, it seemed every book I opened mentioned Rhodochrosite. A crystal card would fall out of the pack and inevitably there would be Rhodochrosite staring at me from the floor.  I turned on one of my favorite Blog Talk Radio show and they mentioned Rhodochrosite, which is strange, because it is not a common stone, per se. It culminated to a weekend class I took where the instructor was wearing a massive pendant of, you guessed it, Rhodochrosite. It was so stunningly beautiful, so rich in texture and color, I was in love. And in that one week, I had no less that six signs about Rhodochrosite. A few weeks later, at a gem show, I found an entire jar of natural Rhodochrosite, and bought it up, then began working with it.

It was then that I really heard the message my guides had been telling me. Fix the heart, and the psychic abilities will follow. And so, in earnest, I began really focusing on any heart blockages. See, I thought that if my heart was open, I would be a gaping wound, ready to be easily injured. That also is a heart chakra imbalance, the one of being too open.

This long opening (sorry!) is a way of reminding you to pay attention to your guides, and the crystals they are bringing into your life. Let every interaction be a conversation with your guides, angels, and the Divine.  If you spend a day in that kind of receptive space, it is amazing what you find out about how to heal your own spirit, and truly, how to be of service to others. When I began reading and working with Rhodochrosite, I simply could not believe how perfect it was for me and where I was in my healing. This is why I think it is so important for people to head to a crystal shop and just take off your reading glasses, so to speak. Just go where you want to go, touch the stones you want to touch, place them on your third eye or heart,and feel the energy. Choose based on what you are most attracted to, either visually attracted to, or vibrationally attracted to. 

So, Rhodochrosite is a stone of self-love and self-compassion. With a Mohs hardness of 3.5-4 (watch for water), it grows in a hexagonal system (trigonal too), and so it is great for five pointed star grids, for my grid students. Where Rhodochrosite's beautiful healing is most felt is in the wake of trauma and healing. It helps gently move the energy away from this fear for survival to trusting again. It is also wonderful to remembering those repressed memories that have created energetic blockages. But without the kind of extreme, demanding memories that mark say working with Malachite. Not that Malachite is bad, but it simply is less gentle than Rhodochrosite for this heart healing work. 

Interestingly, Naisha Ahsian notes that it is a great heart bridge for lower chakra and upper chakra work, which is exactly why my guides were probably pushing this stone at that exact time. For me, the key to Rhodochrosite, what made it such a game changer in my life, lies in the concept of self-compassion. There is a wonderful book by a psychologist Laura Neff called Self-Compassion. She lays out very specific ways to work with this concept. For me, Rhodochrosite IS the stone of self-compassion. If we see self-compassion tweaked and moved into an unhealthy place, it is self-pity. Self-pity, I like to say, is self-compassion run riot. Self-compassion isn't "Poor Me;" it is an acknowledgement that what we went through was suffering. We sit with it without running the story line over and over again. We simply let ourselves feel the grief, as we would with another. We hold ourselves. And then we move to the next feelings. Rhodochrosite remains the best ally we have for this heart chakra work.

Personally, I think Rhodochrosite resonates beautifully with the energy of Dravite, or Champagne Tourmaline, and Almandine Garnet. These are Root Chakra stones that really can support and ground your self-compassion work. The grids I have created when doing self-compassion and healing work have included these three stones. 

A beautiful affirmation for Rhodochrosite is

I heal all wounds from this life, past lives and future lives with compassion, attention and love.

fluorite

Sometimes the best thing to do with a crystal is to get seventh grade science class on that baby. I dare one to look at a Fluorite under UV light (black light) without ooing and aahing. Fluorite, crystal of the week, is so named for its fluorescence. Fluorite comes in a variety of colors from clear to pink to green to purple. And most colors in between. Most people know Fluorite by its multi-colored pieces containing purple to green in the same piece. Yes, a beautiful stone by any right.

Fluorite has a natural octahedral growth pattern (or cubic), and in this way beautifully lends itself to work with sacred geometry. You can find natural octahedral pieces of Fluorite and woweeee...just hold it. Mama. Fluorite does have a Mohs hardness of 4, and should avoid water.

So, what does one use Fluorite for? It is a wonderful tool for students, academics, scholars and anyone looking for mental clarity and acuity. Fluorite balances the aura, and helps cleanse any debris that lingers and clouds the aura (hence the mental clearing aspect of Fluorite work). If you work with Tarot, this is the stone for Swords--a wonderful, Airy ally. If you think about the suit of Swords, in its highest manifestations, then you understand Fluorite. It is about logical, mental stamina, decision making, coherence, thought and perception. It is a great stone for focus. So, if you are feeling all over the place, use Fluorite to help you focus on one goal at a time. Purple and Magenta Fluorites are wonderful to Crown and upper chakra work, opening the transpersonal chakras to connect with guides. Also Fluorite is an awesome ally for psychic work. I use it in crystal healing session where I feel muddy energy with my client, helping to cleanse the aura before I delve deeper into chakra work. 

Different colors of Fluorite have different strengths on the body, etheric body and chakras. Green and pink are wonderful for the heart chakra, especially heart work that lightens the connection to others. It also helps connect the heart with the mind, bringing work into heartcenteredness. 

I love Naisha Ahsian's affirmation for Fluorite from the Book of Stones:

My mind and heart are awake, alert, clear and active, working in unison to make the optimal choices for my life purpose.

Tell me about your experiences with Fluorite, or anything else in your mind.

blue kyanite

Sometimes it surprises me that I haven't covered a crystal yet. Blue Kyanite remains one of my favorite crystals to work with--it is an ally on some many levels. I find sensitive people immediate entrain with Blue Kyanite's high vibration, making it a favorite for psychics and intuitives.

It's no surprise really. It's blue/indigo color beautifully resonates with the Third Eye. Kyanite actually comes in colors ranging from white to blue to black, and all the colors in between. But most frequently, metaphysical uses of Kyanite center around those three colors. Today, i am covering just the Blue variety.

Blue Kyanite works as a balancer of ALL the chakras, amazingly. When placed on the third eye, it balances and opens the chakras and helps facilitate higher consciousness work. With a Mohs hardness of 4.5, it grows in blade-like fans, and can be quite delicate. So, be careful taking it near water and dropping it certainly shatters Kyanite.

One way I work with Blue Kyanite is for lucid dreaming. It opens the third eye, but maintains a resonance that helps one integrate information from Higher Realms and sources. It is also wonderful as a throat chakra and third eye bridge, helping one communicate complex spiritual and emotional issues. Because it balances all the chakras, it is a wonderful ally for meditation and moving to states of higher consciousness. You raise the vibration of the entire body, and then use that high frequency to entrain to that knowledge's frequency. It also is a wonderful tool for integration. What I mean by that is integrating knowledge into the practical everyday, or integrating experiences into your consciousness. We experience this phenomenon often with traumas or grief, where the loss feels unbelievably and we repeat the event in our head. Working with Kyanite helps integrate that experience as part of your understanding, as a stepping stone to acceptance. My teacher Hibiscus Moon suggests using it as a bridge for the transpersonal chakras (8-14). 

A wonderful affirmation for Kyanite might be:

I open to all consciousness and understand my place in the Universe.

smoky quartz

Every so often, I find myself obsessively looking for certain crystals apropos of nothing in particular. It is as though my body craves certain crystals. I google, check ebay, Etsy, all my crystal shops. Lately, this crystal has been Smoky Quartz, which isn't too surprising given how much I have been running and all the changes my family is experiencing.

Smoky Quartz, as the name implies, is a variety of Quartz. With a Mohs' hardness of 7, it is a workhorse of grounding stones. Ranging from light grey, nearly clear to browns to nearly black, Smoky Quartz resonates with the Root and Earth Star chakras. Part of my teacher's Sacred Grounding Trio (Smoky Quartz, Hematite + Black Tourmaline, if you are keeping track), Smoky Quartz is a go-to for grounding, psychic protection, transmutation and manifestation. When I use Smoky Quartz, I imagine it holding the smoke of sage or clearing bundles powerfully grounding, dispelling and transmuting any negative energy.

In the last week, a few people have asked me what transmutation means? And I realize that I use that word freely without ever defining it. Transmutation means to change or transform, alter in form or energy. And so, when I talk about transmutation, it means to transform the energy from heavy to light, lower vibration to higher. Not better or worse, just different. 

Smoky Quartz is a beautiful transmuter of negativity, and can raise your bad mood quickly and effectively. Most people don't realize it is even happening, but their mood lifts. Smoky Quartz works synergistically with Mother Earth to create a kind of energetic conduit between earth and the human, grounding the negative energy, transmuting it, then drawing light energy back up. This is how I see it in my mind's eye, but see how you see this energy work. I use it in crystal healing sessions to help draw out those little grey bubbles trapped between the Physical and Etheric fields, and to ground and resonate with the root and earth star chakras, particularly when I am using other Quartz family crystals. 

My Abundance basket sit in the center of either my living room or dining room and contains manifestation + creativity stones of Citrine, Carnelian, Tiger's Eye + Smoky Quartz.

Smoky Quartz is a wonderful ally for manifestation. It helps to ground your dreams, and help you see the practical, earth-based ways to manifest. I use Smoky Quartz in nearly all of my manifestation and abundance grids and baskets as it grounds my dreams into reality and helps to practically realize your dreams. Robert Simmons thinks this is particularly true of Smoky Quartz with Rutile threads running through it. last night, I bought a specimen piece of Smoky Quartz with Spessartine Garnet, which is going to be an amazing ally in this regard. I just know it.

Working with Smoky Quartz is really a no-brainer, as it is easy to come by, beautiful, gentle, and works beautifully as an EMF strengthener. Again, the Sacred Grounding Trio is a great pocket mojo bag as you engage with the world. An affirmation for Smoky Quartz might be:

I am grounded and focused on manifesting my dreams.

apophyllite

I don't know when I first touched Apophyllite. I do know that my sister brought a piece to my house and asked if I wanted to work with it. I placed the stone in my non-dominant hand and closed my eyes, and like a whoooosh, the vibration was so intense, so immediate, I needed to know more about this gorgeous stone. She has since gone on to buy a few more Apophyllite and began working with it herself. So often we read about a stone, then buy it. How fortunate I was to feel the stone before knowing anything about Apophyllite.

Clear Apophyllite resonates with the Crown and Third Eye chakras, and is an excellent ally in the realms of connection with Spirit Guides, Angels and other dimensional beings. It is awesome for increasing psychic ability. Some see each stone as a "temple" one can enter for esoteric knowledge.

The primary use for Apophyllite is mediation. I don't often use it in my crystal healing practice, though I occasionally do put the points in the Transpersonal Chakras (8-14) to enhance Reiki energy. Apophyllite is considered the Stone of Reiki, and it certainly opens my channel when I am performing Reiki on another person. But mostly, I use Apophyllite for me. It is a natural connector to the angelic realm and angel communication. It also works to open the Heart Chakra to Divine unconditional love, and I think would be an excellent connector to Saint-Germain's Violet Flame, or the Pink Flame of Divine Love, or Mother Mary's Blue Diamond for any of those LaHoChi practitioners out there.

I also think Apophyllite is an excellent stone for grids or distance Reiki where angelic presence is needed. I often create grids then call in angels to assist in healing. Because it is such a high vibrational stone, it just feel good in healing spaces. As a grid component, it is a wonderful enhancer for spiritual grids, connection grids, opening grids.

A wonderful affirmation for Apophyllite

I open to my Higher Self, my guides and my angels.

lepidolite

Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength. ― Corrie ten Boom

The large stone is Lilac Lepidolite with Green Tourmaline in matrix, the tumblies are Lepidolite. It ranges in color from purple to pink to lavender, though it can be almost clear or grey.

Take a deep breath. Release all cares and worry. Just staring at Lepidolite is calming. I am writing today about a stone I've been working with this last week as our house has been on the market, and we are getting ready to move. Lepidolite has been a personal ally for helping me deal with any worry, anxiety and to find and reconnect with serenity. It certainly has the reputation and healing properties associated with emotional healing and balance. Lepidolite is a soft crystal with a Mohs hardness of 2.5-3 (so, not great for getting wet), and is a lithium containing crystal. Lithium crystals include Tourmalines, Kunzite and Petalite as examples. so Lepidolite resonates really beautifully with these crystals in layouts and in energetic work. 

Lepidolite works beautifully in grids for difficult times. This grid created to ease the transition of a move (focusing on anxiety and worry) has a Lepidolite with Green Tourmaline stone as its center, Lepidolite around the outer grid and Lithium Quartz and Quartz clusters in its inner grid. 

Lepidolite is a wonderful stone to use and work with when you are making changes quickly (which is why it is part of my life right now!) It is great ally for those in recovery as it is a stone of acceptance, serenity and hope. What I love about Lepidolite is its subtle, gentle energy of change. And yet it is powerful in that way. It is supposed to be great for children with Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity. It can also be great for dreamwork and for relief of nightmares.

It resonates, not surprisingly, with both the heart chakra and the third eye. (All those stones that help you see the same situation differently can be used for the third eye.) I often use it in Chakra Balancing Layouts as a third eye stone for those who come in stressed out from their job or life. As a high-Lithium stone, it resonates nicely with Lithium Quartz and Tourmalines like pink tourmaline, red tourmaline, or green tourmaline. Naisha Ahsian talks about Lepidolite's emotional balancing qualities, "Lepidolite assists one in perceiving and releasing past emotional trauma, which one may still be unconsciously holding. It prevents on from using such trauma as a badge of courage or a secret source of pride." WOW. So, in this way, it helps change your identity around a trauma. 

Part of what I have sensed with working with Lepidolite is how it grounds you in the present and in gratitude. I work on people with a calming grid of Lepidolite and Lithium Quartz and so often, they sit up and begin talking about the things they are grateful for, apropos of nothing. I know for me, I have use Lepidolite in meditation and felt very present. I once heard this phrase that thinking of the past is living in guilt, and the future is living in anxiety. Anxiety is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength, carrying two days at once, draining you of the strength to face the thing you worried about. So, I personally use Lepidolite to restart my day. Have you heard that phrase before? You can restart your day at anytime. When I do restart my day, I pick up Lepidolite and meditate, even for as little as five minutes.

In the Book of Stones, they have a separate listing for Lilac Lepidolite, which comes from Zimbabwe (the only place it is found). Those who understand this language might get very excited, but the Lilac Lepidolite blends with the Pink Ray of the Heart and the Violent Flame of Purification (Saint-Germain's Violet flame).  It is an important stone for spiritual work and Divine connection. This Lilac works with the Crown and Heart rather than the Third Eye, and bumps up the soothing relaxing energies of Lepidolite. It is a great spiritual stone, and I think would work well for those who are working with Spiritual Anxieties and releasing vows and issues from Past Lives. It also would be a great ally (any Lepidolite really) for grief and loss.

An great affirmation for Lepidolite might be: 

I release any thoughts that might be inhibiting my deep trust in the Divine. 

The grid featured above is a calming grid featuring Lepidolite, Lithium Quartz and clear Quartz. You can learn to create and use grids in my Crystal Grid class on December 7th at the Crystal Tree in Haddon Township, NJ.  Email me for more information at themoonandstone@gmail.com

black obsidian

Blessed Samhain! For those who do not know, Samhain is the Highest Holy Day for Pagans and Witches. It is when the veil is the thinnest, communion with ancestors comes through all forms. People place apples in their yards for passing spirits, and milk and honey out for the fae and gnomes. It is also New Year's Eve for those who embrace earth-based spirituality and pagan traditions. This day is the last day for drying herbs, which technically marks the end of Harvest. Winter is coming. It is also the traditionally time for Divination through Tarot, crystal balls, scrying, runes, or spirit boards. 

This week, I choose a traditional Samhain crystal, though it is technically not a crystal at all. It is a volcanic glass, or an amorphous solid. With a hardness of 5-5.5, it contains no crystalline structure. But that doesn't mean you can't do some heavy work with Black Obsidian. In fact, it has the reputation of heavy work.

Black Obsidian is an extremely powerful protection stone. Resonating with the root and earth star chakras, it helps eliminate negativity from a space. It cleanses and can seal the aura and helps create a kind of protective EMF shield for you. I use Obsidian when I need a real heavy hitter protector, like if I am going into a large group of people or to a big event, or further if I am meeting with people who might be combative or have expressed resentment or anger toward me in the past.

But my teacher Hibiscus Moon warns against using Obsidian for a extended periods. Without properly preparing oneself to see both those positive and negative aspects of oneself or our reality, as Chronos talks about in this very good Pagan Lore article, Black Obsidian can be extremely difficult to work with. Crystal healers use it to help clients who are unwilling to let go of the past and to do intensive parallel life work, including cord cutting and psychic surgery. But if held onto for long periods, it can ironically challenge us in ways we are not prepared for. Or reliving this past event without releasing it. I have not personally found this stuck quality to be true, but I use it for deep work, then move on. But this is why it can be important to work with crystal healers, who can guide you into doing this intensive work and help you release the things that come up. If you are confused about a stone, or working with a crystal and not getting to where you want to go with it, consult with a crystal healer. It might have something to do with how you are working with it. (Sorry for the public service announcement.)

Black Obsidian, though, is an incredible tool to help us recognize negative patterns in our behaviour and work with us to uncover unconscious motivations.  So, our intention with Obsidian should be to ask it to clear these patterns from our auric field and cellular memory, as Naisha Ahsian says, to help prevent that stuck quality some people talk about.

One of the correspondence for Samhain is with Obsidian as a tool for scrying and ancestor work. And Obsidian is an AWESOME stone for scrying. If you set up some candles and sacred space, gaze into a polished Black Obsidian sphere. This is one way to commune with ancestors and guides. Allow the thoughts that come into your head BE their voice. Because of this ancestral connection, Black Obsidian is a great tool for communing on Samhain.

Black Obsidian has such a deep lore and history in Native American cultures. It was used to make arrowheads for war. And a form of Obsidian called Apache Tears is a stone traditionally used for grief work. I use it in all my grief grids and for grief support.

Blessed Samhain! May your work with Black Obsidian be enlightening!

A great affirmation for Black Obsidian is taken from Naisha Ahsian: 

I cleanse my energy field of negativity and ground myself to the Earth's heart. 

sodalite

Sodalite is a readily available third eye stone.

In this blog, I have tried to mix up the crystals. Sometimes I choose them from Crystal Oracle Cards, other times with crystals I have been using during the week. This one was a little of both, since this week, I worked on third eye layouts for a number of clients. (But I did choose Sodalite for a card tonight!)

A readily accessible and great stone for third eye work is Sodalite. In all my crystal writing, I haven't written about any third eye stones, which is flabbergasting (though Labradorite is certainly good for third eye work.) Most basic chakra stone kits include Sodalite as either their third eye or throat chakra stone. I always include it for the third eye, because it resonates so beautifully with that chakra. Sodalite is a deep blue, certainly indigo. It has a Moh's hardness of 5.5-6, so it can be put in water. Most Sodalite has white Calcite running through it, which gives it the cool veining.

Sodalite is great for meditation, journeying, lucid dreaming and other dream work, and great for any third eye opening work like hypnosis or trance. it is great for psychics and psychic work dealing with a tool, like astrologers, numerologists, tarot and card readers, tea leaf interpreters, palmists...it helps identify archetypal patterns and symbolism, which is why it helps those psychics more than mediums or channels. it helps you recognize patterns, so another bonus for psychic work.

Sodalite is a stone of the NOW. Be Here Now, so to speak, hold a Sodalite to ground that energy in the present, yet find insight and pattern. In this way, it is a great stone for writers as well, teachers, psychologists. use your intuition, but don't consider yourself psychic? Sodalite doesn't discriminate. You can use it to enhance any intuitive work, including those in sales. I have been saying this a great deal in readings and crystal healing sessions, because so often I pick up on someone's intuitive abilities, and they argue with me about how they are NOT psychic. But intuition comes in many forms. I find the most intuitive and empathic of us learn to shield so strongly, they don't recognize how intuitive they truly are. That is a learned ability and a protective mechanism. You can also learn to open and shield, but that might be another blog post all together.  Still, we all use our intuitive abilities. We read people's moods, their vibes, we can tell when someone needs to be pushed, or we need to back off. This is all intuitive skills. Sodalite can help  you with those kinds of gifts.

A great affirmation for Sodalite might be: 

I open my intuition fully in the present moment. 

hematite

So much of my crystal healing arsenal is made up of grounding stones. It is just so vitally important to connect to Mama Earth and help shield and protect your electromagnetic field (EMF). Not only for empaths, but everyone should be mindful of their delicate auras. Hematite is one of the most effective grounding stones, and it is so easily accessible. There is no excuse to have one or ten of them in your house.  

So, what is hematite? It is iron oxide, named after the Greek word for blood (it actually streaks red, though most people know it as a metallic silver looking heavy stone). Almost like gunmetal silver, it is just an awesome balancer, grounder, purifier. Resonating with the root chakra, it is also an awesome ally for the Earth Star chakra as well. It works well, when places on the feet for grounding as well as in the hands After all, our Earth's core is iron, so scientists think. What is better for connecting you with the energy of the Earth than Hematite? My crystal mentor, Hibiscus Moon, calls the Earth the largest crystal around. 

Hematite helps battle those spacey EMF disturbances and pollution through electronic devices, cell phones, radio, television, computer work, even other people. If you google electro magnetic symptoms, you can see how many symptoms we take for granted as something we need to "deal with" are really EMF pollution symptoms. Hematite is a great shielder of EM pollution. In that way, Hematite helps with many autoimmune disorders, and with polarity issues that stem from electronic overload. Grounding is so vitally important with this, because EM suffering is really an issue of not being grounded enough. I could talk for days about grounding. Google it. Check out my teacher's amazing work and videos on grounding. She really is an expert in that area.

Hematite also is a stone of integration--Light and Dark, Highest Self and Shadow Self, Male and Female, Spirit and Body. Through this Hematite work, we can bring all these divergent selves into one unified manifestor. That is how we manifest, in fact. Many of us in the spiritual community, or on a spiritual path, have amazing ideas, but we often just build castles in the sky. Hematite can help us design an earth based branch of that dream. But truly, Hematite is a quick grounder and a long-term grounder. Hematite helps nail us to reality. Anyone who has had one of my transmuting shields knows what being gridded with hematite feels like--like being pinned to Mother Earth, or swaddled almost in protective Mother Earth energy. It is such a safe, warm feeling and so vitally important to intuitives and empaths. I cannot stress enough how important Hematite can be to those who are sensitive. Grab it. Pair it with some other strong grounding stones like Black Tourmaline or Smoky Quartz or Onyx. And learn what it feels like to ground and connect with Mama Earth.

A great affirmation for Hematite might be:

I ground my Light energy to Mother Earth. 

garnet

Garnet's deep red resonates with the root chakra, and can appear almost black. 

Throughout the month, as I work with clients and friends to develop crystal mojo bags, or medicine bundles, I am thinking about crystals and their attributes constantly. Last week's meeting with the Devil, coupled with a medicine bundle I was creating, brought Garnet to the forefront of my consciousness. Garnet, what an amazing stone!! Both the Devil and Garnet are symbols of Capricorn, which makes sense. Both are about the material, about earthing, in some ways.

There are many types of Garnet--Black Andradite Garnet, Rhodolite Garnet, Grossular Garnet (which is green), Spessartine Garnet, Uvarovite, but the one I will be talking about is Almadine Garnet, the one  you are most likely to find at your local crystal shop or metaphysical shop. Garnet has a Moh's Hardness of 7.5, and its name derives from the Latin granatum, meaning "pomegranate" since its color resembles the seed of the pomegranate. Like Lapis, Malachite and other ancient stones, Garnet is a stone of the ancient. A necklace of garnet was found in a grave from 3000 BCE, which really does speak to its hardness and durability.

Garnet is a stone of earth, resonating with the Root Chakra, and strengthening our Base and Earth Stone Chakras, making it an excellent stone for those feeling ungrounded, airy, or spacey. I just cannot talk about how important grounding is--for spiritual work, for healing work, for everyday existence. Garnet is an amazing ally in that realm, because it is a protective stone, but it also stimulates the heart. If you know anything about kundalini energy, the Garnet is an activator of the kundalini in the base of the spine.

So, let's talk about grounding and love, because that is part of the reason I chose Garnet this week. Garnet has the unique and beautiful resonance to help strengthen love relationships that are safe. It is a stone, as Naisha Ahsian says, of physical love. Physical love does not just mean sex, but the physical act of making a home, working together, building a family and future. When we combine those beautiful frequencies of base and heart, we create homes, safety, and security. Garnet also helps our heart desires manifest into reality. This is a great stone for someone working on their marriage. It firstly grounds one in reality, helping to alleviate stress and anxiety, but it also grounds one in the present moment. This is part of the gift of earthing. We feel Mother Earth's love for us, holding us, supporting us. We fall into that place of unconditional love that Earth and the Divine feel for us. We understand our integral role in nature and in our universe (the community as well), and the present. It helps us be here now. And so this beautiful stone, if we work with it, can help us be present in our relationships, cording us to Mother Earth and our long term goals.  

Because of its beautiful earthing qualities, Garnet works beautifully for psychic protection. Robert Simmons suggests to combine it with Black Andradite Garnet for extra ooomph for psychic protection and grounding.

A beautiful affirmation for Garnet might be

I am grounded in the present. I am held and loved. I hold and love. 

carnelian

Colors range from deep red to light orange almost yellow in Carnelian. As a Quartz (Chalcedony is in the Quartz family), it resonates beautifully with the other quartzes, so it is great with those quartzes to enhance its power.

Carnelian's amazingly beautiful redness draws people to her beauty. She looks like fire and passion. Carnelian awakens our own fire and passion, stimulating the sacral chakra (also the root and the solar plexus.) Carnelian is a go-to crystal for this chakra. Part of the Chalcedony family with a Moh's hardness of 7, Carnelian activates all of the three lower chakras, which makes it a great stone to have around the house. And you can see the three fire colors in this stone--sometimes deep red to orange to the flames of yellow. It is great for building passion, confidence, and activating a sense of purpose, making it an ideal stone of fire and action. Great for manifestation work, Carnelian is particularly powerful when it is coupled with a strong regimen of prayer and meditation. "God moves mountains, but you better bring a shovel," as they say. Though Carnelian is about the shovel work, everything flows much more smoothly, and just works better, when you invite the Divine into your soul work. So, think of this as a facilitator of turning your will over to God.

The Sacral Chakra is the seat of creativity, relationships, emotions, and sexuality. I love the connections between the Tarot of the Week and the Crystal of the Week, because the Lovers and Carnelian suit each other perfectly. Though I didn't discuss it much, the Lovers is a card of sexuality. Sexuality resides in the sacral chakra, the one right over your pubic bone and under your belly button. It resonates to the color orange. 

Actually, in this week's newsletter, I write more about the lower chakras and the importance of keeping them well-balanced for spiritual work.  Most people love the upper chakra spiritual and psychic work (our vibration raises pretty high when we are meditating and praying), but it is the lower chakras where the real healing comes into being. We change that programing from our childhood. It is where we hold our traumas and psychic and emotional injuries. The lower chakras is where our most basic needs live and our greatest fears. Carnelian is a perfect ally in this realm, because it connects you to your body, helps you fully inhabit the bones and blood of you.

So, what the heck does that mean?

Have you ever had the sensation, particular mothers might relate to this, that this body no longer belongs to you? Whose belly is that? Who is the old lady in the mirror? Carnelian comes in to reroot you. It helps you enjoy your body--sexually, physically, athletically. 

And let's talk about sexuality a little. Sex is some of the strongest magic (and chakra balancing work) you can do. The sacral is the chakra of relationships, because of that, it also houses the feelings of blame, guilt, power, control, ethics, and honor in relationships. When we have sex, we open that up, break out those emotions housed without our chakra. When you begin to enjoy sex, (and not simply sex with another human, but sex with yourself,) you balance that sacral chakra. That is not to say that sex can't be used to create those emotions or further continue blockages. In fact, so much of our sacral imbalance issues come from sexual trauma, abuse and misuse of its strong medicine. Sex with shame, power, and guilt can help reinforce those blockages. And certainly, the excesses of this chakra are addiction (sexual and other addiction to pleasure) and obsessive attachment. But sex can also be a great healer. Some of us who have experienced emotional releases (crying or laughing during sex) can attest to its powerful healing energy. 

Have you been feeling less than lusty? Carnelian, coupled with Orange Calcite and Zincite, can help awaken that sexuality within you. Lay them on your sacral chakra for a 10 minute period. Carry Carnelian with you, wear it as jewelry. Let yourself be inspired by its strong medicine. A great affirmation for Carnelian is:

 I am a passionate being, filled with Divine inspiration, taking action with confidence.

Let me know what you think of Carnelian's beautiful energy, and any other crystals you want to discuss. I thought this might be a good time to remind you that you can sign up for my newsletter here.  I am also holding a New Moon Circle on October 4th. This will be a small group Moon Cycle Coaching session, where we will work together through the moon cycle of the Shedding Moon of October, We will be intention-setting, releasing and affirming our intentions together in a safe space. The fee is $50/person, and space is limited, so sign up today. Send me an email at themoonandstone@gmail.com if you are interested. 

selenite

When I began writing this blog, I chose crystals based on ones I was working with, or ones I felt people would recognize. Today, I pulled a Crystal Oracle Card, and lo and behold, Selenite. OF COURSE!! Why hadn't a written about selenite before? For crystal healers, Selenite is a go-to essential for our toolkits. I'll get into how and why we use it later, but for a quick overview: Selenite is a crown chakra stone with a Moh's hardness of 2 (So keep it out of water!) It beautifully cleanses the aura and helps purify. Selenite uses the crown chakra as the key to bridge the third eye and crown to the upper chakras.

Starting at 12 o'clock on this photo, the Selenite tower is great for the center of a grid. The long natural Selenite wand can be placed on the spine for alignment. The smaller Selenite wands are great for gridding homes and people during crystal healing sessions, you can also hold one of these pieces for meditation, or when lying on a yoga mat, massage table, or bed, place the Selenite on the crown (either directly on, or pointing out) to facilitate communication with your angels and guides, the two polished Selenite massage wands can be used for massage or to close open portals in the etheric field.

So, let's talk about the crown chakra's role. We talk a great deal about the heart chakra for compassion and love and the third eye for psychic work, but what does the crown govern? The crown governs our spirituality. It is the seat of our Divine connection and wisdom. We have met those people with closed crown chakras. They are spiritual cynics, often feel victims of their circumstances. They can lack purpose or have a stifling fear of their own mortality. Sometimes they are overly afraid of Spirits and ghosts, or the spirit-world. I encounter these people often. They express fear of what I do, often ridiculing it, or putting it in the category of creepy or verboten. We don't conjure Spirits in my religion, they might say. My response is that I conjure noone, I acknowledge Spirit in everything we do. Sometimes crown chakra imbalances, ones that are wide open, come in the form of spiritual addiction. People who psychic hop might be an example of that, or who are so wrapped up in their religious rightness, they no longer live their spiritual tradition.

Crystal healers love Selenite's high vibration and beautiful purifying energy. I use selenite massage wands for closing points in the auric field. I use it for directing energy in a chakra, for moving and helping open any chakra. Robert Simmons says a "Selenite wand pointed at the third eye sends energy that can feel like a gust of wind going through the forehead and out the top of the head." And yes, I agree, Robert Simmons. You can also lay a selenite wand on the spine for a quick chakra alignment. Selenite blends beautifully with other stones, enhancing their power and attributes. So, that makes Selenite ideal in grids. You can literally make a grid on the floor, or a yoga mat, with six or eight Selenite wands. When you lie in the center of it, it is said to bring a quick spiritual ascension and journeying experience. I love selenite in grids for the home. I used to grid my upper floor, where our bedrooms are, in selenite. It is where we dream and pray and work our spiritual questions.

I give Selenite out to friends more often than I care to admit. It is such a high energy, high vibration stone. It makes it a great all-around spiritual stone to work with. It opens you, facilitates communication with your guides, helps you feel connected and Divinely held...what I find most comforting and nourishing about working with Selenite is that I feel confident of my path, helping me to trust that my will is aligned with Divine will.

I love Naisha Ahsian's affirmation for Selenite: 

I move into union with my Higher Self and my interior senses are awakened. 

rose quartz

For creatures such as we, the vastness is  bearable only through love. -Carl Sagan

Self-love, divine love, romantic love, parental love, forgiveness, friendship, compassion, familial love...love love love. It is the seed to spirituality. The Heart Chakra sits at the center of you, not by accident, but because love is the center. It is the bridge from the lower to higher chakras, from existence to ascension, so to speak. And through which I believe, we filter all our experiences. How we are loved of, how we love and how we accept and how we are accepted.

Rose quartz hearts are incredible popular for crystal healing work. The Rose Quartz tower is great for a center point for grids, and can be put directly on the Heart Chakra for blockage releases. Raw rose quartz, shown at the left, is as beautiful as tumbled stones. 

Rose Quartz is THE stone of love, some would say. It is used in grids, jewelry, magic, dream work, love potions, meditations and crystal healing. It is a powerhouse of heart chakra energy, which is why it is so powerful and abundant. Healing the heart, heartbreak and all wounds dealing with trauma, loss and love, Rose Quartz helps to trust, to release boundaries, to open oneself. But its main role is one of compassion--self-compassion, compassion for others, compassion for the world. That is the essence of heart-centeredness. We are called to practice radical compassion and profound love. Rose Quartz resonates beautifully with global love, but also with romantic love, or relationship healing. Use it when you are healing from a break-up, or starting a new relationship. Actually both require great trust and an opening of the heart. 

While Rose Quartz's energy is gentle, it is by no means a pansy. It is a powerful activator of the heart chakra connecting one with Mother Earth. It is great as a connector of people. Place it in a room and feel a lightness of being, an ease. Or if it is a tough room, just an ease.

Naisha Ahsian talks about the heart center as the "strongest generator of Light energy in the body--even stronger than the brain. The energy of Rose Quartz," she goes on to say, "helps the bud of the heart unfold into a thousand-petaled lotus of Light."

Part of what I imagined when I started this series of blog posts about crystals and tarot is to talk about crystals people already think they know as well as ones that my readers may have never heard of. I hemmed and hawed about Rose Quartz. What is there to say? It looks like it feels--gentle, beautiful, high vibrational. In our home, Rose Quartz is a perennial favorite. My six year old daughter Beatrice is perpetually asking me to buy her another Rose Quartz. She loves them, can't get enough of them. It is because children instinctually feel held, calmed, loved with rose quartz. Its beautiful resonance reminds them of that maternal love. Rose Quartz helps adults feel held and loved by the Divine.  

Rose Quartz is an essential crystal for your toolkit. A great affirmation for Rose Quartz from the Book of Stones: 

I open my heart  to receive and express the energy of love. 

moonstone

I love the way Spirit works. I picked a crystal oracle card to choose the stone of the week, and of course, moonstone came to me. Today, the new moon energy, one of new beginnings as we come out of the introspective period of the waning moon, gives us a lift, hopefully. Moonstone is a feldspar with a Moh's hardness of 6-6.5, which means it can handle water among other qualities. Through pictures, it is hard to capture the elegance and beautiful sheen of this stone. It's name comes from the sheen that reminds one of the full moon. It has been used in jewelry for over 2000 years, and was particularly popular in the Art Nouveau period.

Funnily, all my moonstones are small pieces I use in my medicine bundles because they are so great for intention-setting and intuitive work.Hopefully, you can still see the sheen in this photo. I also have moonstone earrings for sale in my shop. Perfect for feeling goddess-y on the Full Moon.

But today, moonstone is considered the stone of the goddess. Mystery, intuition, dreams, insight swirl around moonstone. It resonates with the third eye chakra and the crown chakra. Whether it is with Tarot or crystals, moon energy is equated with the Feminine, and further the Divine Feminine. This connection spawns from woman's deep connection to the moon and moon cycles. Women often are aligned in their menstrual periods with the moon--bleeding on the new moon or waning moon, fertile on the full or waxing moon. Our twenty-eight day cycles are much like the moon. And then further, women cycle up to each other when they work and live together. (I cycled up with a friend in England. Have no idea how that happened.)

The way we feel as women during those cycles helps us determine the way we can work with the moon. When we are bleeding, we often feel introverted, tender, and reflective. It makes sense that this is the time for patience, waiting for Divine timing. While our fertile times give us that energetic push, we want to make love, make painting, make food, make parties. This is when our dreams are being birthed, we are seeing the fruits of our reflection and patience. Moonstone helps us balance that moon connection directing our energy toward our plans and dreams. It helps us to notice and pay attention to our connection to the Moon and the cycles in our lives. When we do that, our wisdom becomes deeper, more connected to Mama Earth and ultimately to the self-knowledge that helps us grow spiritually and emotionally.

For men, moonstone does help balance the feminine side, a step towards wholeness and self-knowledge, ultimately bringing emotional balance. Moonstone is a highly intuitive stone and it is great for awakening kundalini energy and clairvoyance. It is a wonderful dream stone, so sleeping with it during the new moon and full moon periods help you with deeper wisdom. 

Moonstone makes beautiful jewelry, and wearing one with other stones like Labradorite can increase that Divine Feminine and Goddess connection, as well as psychic abilities and intuition. Moonstone comes in a number of colors including Cat's Eye, Gray, Black, Peach, White and Rainbow--reflecting the color of its extraordinary sheen. Rainbow moonstone is particularly prized for its prismatic quality, and it works as a psychic protective stone (along with the properties mentioned) It is also wonderful for aligning the chakras and resonating on a higher vibration than other moonstones. A wonderful affirmation for moonstone is:

I open myself to my intuitive abilities, my connection to the Divine Feminine, and understanding of the cycles of the Moon.

What about you? How have you worked with moonstone? What gifts have moonstone brought to your experience?

amethyst

As I began exploring stones and crystals on my blog, I wanted to start with some stones my readers might be familiar with, but might not know how to work with energetically. Last week's, hemimorphite certainly isn't the most well-known of stones, but after my discussion with Rita on Talk-N-Angels, I thought I should cover it. I know whenever I'm listening to a podcast about crystals (Okay, I'm a bit of a podcast nerd) I just want to see what stones they are talking about. So, this week, I'm going back to the quartz family with a familiar stone to most people--amethyst. 

Amethyst draws you in with its beautiful color, which ranges from pale lavender to a deep purple. And a deep deep purple that appears almost black. There is a type of amethyst called chevron amethyst, which is banded in a chevron pattern. Gorgeousness. It has a Moh's hardness of 7 and is indeed a member of the quartz family, making it resonate beautifully with other quartz stones like citrine, clear quartz, smoky quartz, aventurine, chalcedony, agates, carnelian, among others. Amethyst, like malachite and lapis lazuli, has a rich history and mythology. It is said to be in the ninth stone on the breastplate of the high priest of Israel. And amethyst was one of the stones where each of the twelve tribes were written. In medieval times, soldiers wore it as protection on the battle field. As far back as the Neolithic era, 25,000 BCE, amethyst was found in archaeological digs as part of gravesites and ritual. Through the Common Era, amethyst was seen as a stone of royalty, and used in crowns and rings of Kings and Queens. 

Amethyst's name is derived from the Greek word for drunk (methustos).  Actually, amethyst is a translation of amethustos, or not drunken.  The Ancient Greek wore amethyst, and made wine glasses from amethyst, because they believed amethyst prevented intoxication. Indeed, amethyst today is considered the stone of sobriety, worn to help balance the mind, and bring clarity. It also emits calming energy, which helps relieve the frustration that often brings the first drink. I am personally working on a list of stones to be used with each of the Twelve Steps and the virtues associated with each step. I think amethyst is a beautiful first step stone, and one that works well with each stage of recovery.

The belief of amethyst's power of sobriety may stem from the myth of Amethyst in Ancient Greek Mythology, which may or may not have first derived from the French poet, Remy Belleau, who wrote often about crystals and precious stones. I can't find any documentation besides Wiki either way, so I am just sharing the entire mythology part of from Wikipedia page on amethyst.

In his poem "L'Amethyste, ou les Amours de Bacchus et d'Amethyste" (Amethyst or the loves of Bacchus and Amethyste), the French poet Remy Belleau (1528–1577) invented a myth in which Bacchus, the god of intoxication, of wine, and grapes was pursuing a maiden named Amethyste, who refused his affections. Amethyste prayed to the gods to remain chaste, a prayer which the chaste goddess Diana answered, transforming her into a white stone. Humbled by Amethyste's desire to remain chaste, Bacchus poured wine over the stone as an offering, dyeing the crystals purple.[16][17]

Variations of the story include that Dionysus had been insulted by a mortal and swore to slay the next mortal who crossed his path, creating fierce tigers to carry out his wrath. The mortal turned out to be a beautiful young woman, Amethystos, who was on her way to pay tribute to Artemis. Her life was spared by Artemis, who transformed the maiden into a statue of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the brutal claws. Dionysus wept tears of wine in remorse for his action at the sight of the beautiful statue. The god's tears then stained the quartz purple.[18]

This myth and its variations are not found in classical sources. Although the titan Rhea does present Dionysus with an amethyst stone to preserve the wine-drinker's sanity in historical text.[19]

Because of its association as an anti-intoxicant, in medieval times, it was said to also prevent the intoxication of love, so priests and monks often wore amethyst as a symbol for their vows of chastity. It has strong spiritual roots. Even Buddhists in Tibet used amethyst in prayer beads and carvings.

This makes perfect sense to me, because amethyst is a beautiful meditation ally, because it resonates and stimulates the crown chakra, as well as the third eye. It is also an incredibly protective stone, and I encourage people to use it in their toolkit of protection right alongside black tourmaline, onyx, smoky quartz, and other stones. It enhances your intuitive abilities and helps you activate your Higher Self. It is wonderful in environments, and works well in grids for protection and transmuting energy. Or just sitting in a room that you want purified and high vibrational. So, a large cluster of amethyst is a great addition to any room, but particularly a room for healers. It helps shield energy, as well as assist healing. One of the most beautiful aspects of amethyst is how it gently helps you see the root of your dis-ease. Naisha Ahsian says that amethyst assists "in eliminating emotion-based decision-making, allowing one to take actions based on higher guidance and spiritual understanding." WOWEE!

Amethyst works well with other stones. This grid, created with a flower of life grid pattern is used to stimulate upper chakra work and for meditation. Amethyst works beautifully in grids for addiction, protection, healing, health, disease, emotional balance and a whole host of other things. I personally love using amethyst in grid with black tourmaline as a protector, purifier, and transmuter of negative energy.

Because it works so hard for you, work hard for you amethyst by re-tuning it fairly often with a tuning fork, singing bowl or other resonator. Amethyst is particularly sensitive to sunlight, so be kind to her and help amethyst keep its beautiful color by keeping her out of sunlight. Amethyst is able to withstand water, so cleanse her through running water of the ocean, a stream or other natural body of water, and of course, you can set amethyst out in full moon light to soak up all that wisdom. 

A beautiful affirmation for amethyst comes from Naisha Ahsian's work in Book of Stones.

I am purified, uplifted and protected through my connection to the Divine. 

I would love to hear your thoughts and experience with amethyst, so share below in the comment section. Or ask to hear about any stone of interest to you. With love.