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. 

hemimorphite

Last night, on Talk-N-Angels with Rita Strough, we talked about crystals, moon cycles, tarot and all the things I do here at the Moon + Stone Healing. It was a wonderful experience, and I just loved being on the radio. It suits me perfectly, perhaps because I love listening to podcasts and blog talk radio myself. You can listen to the show if you missed it. But on the show last night, Rita asked me about her beloved hemimorphite, and I pulled out my hemimorphite, and we had a hemimorphite love fest. So, when I was deciding what stone to choose for today's blog post, it immediately hit me that I should go more in-depth and really discuss hemimorphite.

The vibrant blue color of this hemimorphite resonates with the throat chakra, as well as the heart and third eye. Hemimorphite comes in whites, which work on the higher chakras, crown-soul star, and brown, which works well with communication with Elementals and Nature.

Hemimorphite is a feel-good stone, with a Moh's hardness of 4.5-5. (A good rule of thumb is that any stone with a Moh's hardness below 5 shouldn't get wet.) What I mean by feel-good stone is that it balances the aura and etheric field, bringing up your vibration. But most importantly, Hemimorphite is an activation and ascension stone. As Naisha Ahsian says, it helps "integrate more Light into the energetic, emotional and physical bodies." It beautifully opens the heart, throat and third eye, as well as bridging to the higher chakras (crown, transpersonal and etheric chakras so the eighth chakra and beyond) and assists in open psychic channels, including mediumship, angel communication, channeling, and connecting with your spirit guide.

Hemimorphite is a great stone for healers, as it helps with a stream of well-managed compassion and empathy, not only for someone we are near, but for ourselves. It is as though hemimorphite shepherds our emotions, guiding them into feeling and expression in a way that is for our Highest Good. It can transmute that experience into one of positivity, allowing one to be present in a compassionate, rather than punishing way.

Last night, on the show, I said hemimorphite opens the throat and crown, which is my own personal experience with hemimorphite. For others, it might resonate with just the throat, heart and/or third eye. Another thing I talked about with throat chakra stones it the way in which is helps psychic work, because throat chakra issues are not simply about speaking one's truth, though that is MOST certainly part of throat chakra work, but it is also about listening to one's truth. Hearing the truth is sometimes the hardest part of our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical work. No one wants to hear that something they are attached to isn't working for them anymore. (I'm thinking ice cream when I am writing about this.) 

But with the high vibration of hemimorphite,  we can listen with compassion and purpose, radiating Light in situations that can be painful. I actually found hemimorphite through Rita. She brought it to a Harmonic Healing with the Angels circle, and I felt its vibration immediately when I held it. Awesome, powerful, yet gentle. I went out the next day to find a piece. It has been essential to my meditation and healing work.

A good affirmation for hemimorphite is adapted from Naisha Ahsian's Book of Stones. 

I joyfully accept the full spectrum of emotions, I call forth the activation of my inner Light. I live in compassionate empathy with all souls, embodied and discarnate. 

Please let me know what you think of these crystal posts, and share your own experience with hemimorphite in the comment section. Love to all.  

malachite

My sister and I began collecting stones and crystals when we were young girls. My first stone was a lapis lazuli, and my sister's first stone was malachite. They were the two stones we first held, and talked to, and whose vibration we resonated with. Malachite's rich green color felt earthy, homey, protective, but I admit that the name alone, mal- as its prefix, made me imagine its qualities as more sinister in nature. (Cue maniacal laughter and creepy organ.)  But the mal comes from the Greek either for soft (malakos), which makes sense with a Moh's hardness of 3.5, or resembling the mallow plant (malache), but with no evil intent. 

In the Middle Ages, though, malachite was often used to ward off the evil eye, and used as a stone of protection. As far as 3000 BCE, malachite was used in Egyptian jewelry and for eye shadow, as well as found in Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. It still is a strong stone for protection. I'm citing Robert Simmons here because this information is straight from Book of Stones. He feels that malachite is one of the strongest stones for protection from negative energies, helping to keep your psychic radar tuned to the right frequencies. So you need to trust your gut when you have some malachite in your auric field. In fact, wear it so you can trust your gut and be able to sense those energies around you that are safe. As Robert Simmons says, you can literally use it as a cloak of invisibility when you are in an emotionally vulnerable place and need to hide from those posing a threat. It also works as a powerful psychic cleanser, drawing out impurities, helping to purify your EMF (electromagnetic field), and recognizing and cutting attachments in your auric field. 

Malachite resonates to the heart chakra. Actually, it resonates to the solar plexus as well, making it a beautiful stone to bridge that lower and upper chakra work. The heart work of malachite helps you manifest your dreams into reality. (Another manifester, cool!) When we think of the heart and solar plexus synthesizing energies, we think of our heart's desire, and our strongest will. So, those stones that resonate with both heart and solar plexus help us visualize and achieve our heart, which is truly our soul path and Highest Good.

So, use it to strengthen your will power for things like weight loss, or boundary keeping. It helps you hold that vision you have, to strengthen your will. With its strong, powerful vibration for the heart tied deeply with that will and fire of the solar plexus, it can be impressive for work those trying to figure out their soul path.

 Malachite is not for the faint of heart, no pun intended. Judy Hall calls malachite merciless, which made me laugh, because stones just raise that vibration, you become merciless, uncovering those deep desires within you and the things in your life no longer serving you. When I work with people to figure out soul paths and that deep discord that spawns the need for change, we often have this brutally emotional time of uncovering and rooting out the things that no longer serve. Manifesting dreams is not simply dreaming them, saying the affirmations and eh voila, it happens. We make a commitment to uncovering those things that are standing in our way of achieving our goals. Because those higher energies (living our soul path is the highest vibration we can have) need room to come in, your vibration is ascending, you are going to be attracting different things and people, and those habits and people not of a higher vibration fall away, sometimes dramatically, sometimes with difficulty and drama. It can be a painful process. Often, it is simply that place of feeling trapped that really is the trap. 

Malachite is an ally, as all stones are, in helping us raise our vibration to a different level, and it is a powerful tool for finding our soul's path. What I mean by that is that when we are dealing with base issues, like safety, security, monetary issues, addictions, etc., those are lower vibrational issues, root + sacral chakra issues, when you use a powerful heart/solar plexus stone, you begin to raise your vibration above the concern, to see it more clearly, more accurately, and give you that last oomph of will to push you into action to change your lot in life. And to change those things that once felt unchangeable. It helps you put cracks in those patterns that feel unbreakable, and truly, it helps you take responsibility for your actions. 

Many crystal writers warn against using malachite alone without a crystal healer. I find that soul path work, and intention setting works best with a coach, spiritual counsellor or crystal healer (or therapist/spiritual advisor/sponsor). But it is okay to use this crystal alone. My suggestion is to use it in small doses. Start meditating with malachite for a few minutes a day. Pick three minutes to start. Ask the stone what you need to learn from it, hold it in your non-dominant hand, and then sit in meditation listening for the answer. Yeah, I know, that sounds corny, but that is how we work with stones. Take notes on how you feel. Often, it is the stones that bring something up in us, that nudge us, or make us feel uncomfortable that are the ones that help us the most. They are trying to raise our vibes, and our vibes are very comfortable right where they are, thank you very much. However you use it, in meditation, in sleep/dream work, worn, or in medicine bundles, do not use malachite directly in elixirs or tonics. It cannot be imbibed as it is a toxic stone. It is fine to wear, but not fine to drink.

A close up of the florettes of malachite. Its banding and beauty enhances the draw to work with it.

Personally, I decided to write about malachite this week, because I have been working with malachite on my own healing. I bought a rather large specimen to help heal my Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I wouldn't be much of a crystal healer, if I didn't use stones for my own ailments. Beyond emotional, mental, and spiritual issues, crystals help with physical ailments. Malachite is an anti-inflammatory, and helps draws out impurities. As a crystal healer, I use malachite for people with physical injury as I am doing other crystal work. Malachite helps calm that inflammation and pain. I healed a pulled ligament in my ankle with malachite in two days. (I share this, because I wouldn't have believed it possible.) For my IBS, I lay the stone on my belly for 10-15 minutes every night with a cross of Dravite to help alleviate my pain and other symptoms. It is my third night tonight, and I have to say my physical symptoms have been lessened, not taken away, but lessened. This is intensive work, and I'm grateful for malachite to be on my path with me. And as to the emotional work it is bringing up, I have had some amazing dreams. (Another reputed attribute of malachite, as a dream interpretation aid.) And actually, come to think of it, those dreams are pretty dang clear about what I need to be releasing. Beautiful Malachite.

For Malachite, I love the affirmation of Naisha Ashian in the Book of Stones: 

I align my personal will with my understanding of Divine will, and I move forward with clarity and confidence. 

labradorite

The New Moon in Leo, August 6th, reminded me of the work of the dark moon. New Moons are times of transformation, new beginnings, releasing, and the hard work of change. We often find ourselves withdrawn or rather introspective when the Moon is perfectly aligned with the Sun.  I often talk to people who tell me they are in a funk, or not relating to people, then I say, "Well, it's the new moon. That is to be expected." And they seem surprised and relieved. The New Moon is a great time to do this introspective soul work, and the work of manifestation. Crystals help enhance our own work--soul work, physical work, emotional work, spiritual work, and Divine work.

When I talk of manifestation, I mean, setting intentions for goals that are attainable. When we set intentions to "lose weight," for example, we may start a new diet, or exercise regime, but if we don't get to the cause of our weight, those things may be for naught. So, the work of the New Moon is setting intentions, then allowing yourself to journey to those places of our own Shadow self, the part we hide from others and ourselves. Shadow work is a Jungian idea, and the time when the moon is in shadow is the most auspicious time to work with these shadow issues arising. I often work with people on medicine bundles during the new moon, then throughout the month, we talk about the shadow work arising, the emotional issues coming up for them. What is blocking you from being everything you want to be? Setting intentions in the new moon helps you identify and work on these issues. This is the true work of the new moon. 

Labradorite is a stone of the Dark Moon, as Athena says. It is the gatekeeper for shadow work, and it is sometimes referred to as the Magician's stone--the magic of our own potential, intuition, and power. What does this mean? It means, labradorite perfectly complements the New Moon energy, helping you gently uncover your hookable places, and open to your Higher Self and the secret knowledge that helps you grow. Labradorite is difficult to capture on film, because it has an amazing labradoresence--flashing rainbows, purples, greens, blues, golds, oranges, red...yet remains dark.

Intention-setting and manifestation is not the only way to use labradorite in the new moon. This is a great time for journeying and deeper meditations. If you are someone building their intuitive gifts, including psychic abilities of the clairs, channeling, past-life recall, as well as other psychic tools, labradorite is a great stone for your toolkit. It helps you move between different dimensions, realms and realities with relative ease. When I said it is the gatekeeper of shadow work, labradorite helps you recognize that duality in yourself (and sometimes others) with clarity and wisdom. We don't go into arenas of shadow work lightly. We must hold it in high regard, being purposeful and respectful of the darkness and pain within us all. 

For people who want to work with labradorite, I often recommend holding the stone (in your non-dominant hand) in meditation. Asking labradorite what you need to see right now for your Highest Good. And let the visions come. Don't fret if you don't get the answers immediately. It often takes time to discern the voice of our Higher Self and trust our answers. Keep the stone in your pocket throughout the day, because labradorite assists in coincidence and synchronicity. So, once the question is asked, allow synchronicities and coincidence to speak to you throughout the whole day. Watch where your shadow issues rise. Recognize those things that no longer serve you. The New Moon is a perfect time to release those things, so allow labradorite to be your companion. You can also place labradorite on the third eye to assist in seeing what you need to see. You can feel the rush as your vibration rises to labradorites. Labradorite also is great for dreamwork. Take it to bed with you, place it under your pillow. Then write your dreams, visions, and inspiriations in a journal. Working with labradorite and a dream journal opens you up to working on those issues blocking your intuition, or the intuitive messages you are not hearing during the day.

An affirmation to work with labradorite during the new moon is:

I open to the magic of my own intuition and Higher Self.

citrine

Ah, Citrine! You gorgeous rock, you!

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. 

black tourmaline

There is no crystal I recommend more often than black tourmaline, as a grounding powerhouse and an energetic cleanser and purifier. When I am in a crystal healing session, I do an energetic scan as par for the course, I so often feel the lack of grounding, the breaks in the etheric field, and the attachments that have just been hanging out sapping the energy of my amazing empathic clients. Even the most seasoned of practitioner forgets to ground and protect her etheric field.  We often do so as we prepare for healing work, circles, or ritual, then forget to ground and protect our auric field when we hit the market. 

When empaths, intuitives and even compassionate people engage in the outside world, we absorb the energy around us. There is no doubt of that. Think about when someone cuts you off in traffic, and your anger rises and turns into a day-long series of annoyances. Or when we have a friend who complains or obsesses about one issue, we leave the meeting feeling down, or needing a nap. That is a shielding issue. We always, always, need to protect and shield our energy, not just when we are going into a particular toxic situation, but when engaging with the world. This is particularly true as healers and intuitives, because when our energy isn't clear and high vibrational, we bring down the energy of our clients or our loved ones. We are of little use to others when we aren't grounded and shielded. If you have ever have had energy work by someone who is negative, you know exactly what I mean. For these reasons, and so many more, shielding ourselves is so incredibly important. 

For me, black tourmaline remains probably my most important ally in my protection toolkit. It is awesome for grounding, for protecting the Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF), for transmuting negative energy into positive energy. Sometimes called Schorl, black tourmaline has Moh's hardness of 7-7.5, meaning it can handle water as well as earth. 

Black tourmaline resonates with the root chakra, and the earth star chakra, which governs our connection to the earth. The earth star chakra is about six inches under our feet. When we are horizontal, lay stones about six inches below the feet, but when vertical, you can place the stone between your feet. When we feel deeply affected by global changes, societal injustice, environment causes, or just the opposite (feel nothing toward those concerns), we need to look at our Earth Star chakra, and black tourmaline is a beautiful helper in this realm. Black Tourmaline is used as a grounding stone, put at the earth star, it helps us to connect to Mother Earth energy and draw up her energy by rooting us into her loving body. It helps transmute and purify negative energy. Perfect for empaths, intuitives and psychics, and those engaged in healing work. It also helps to counter stress, addictive behavior and anxiety, so it is great for workplace. I also keep my large black tourmaline in matrix next to my computer to absorb the EMF floating out of my computer, bombarding my person.

Black tourmaline is the center stone for my house grid.  

Black tourmaline is a perfect gridding stone. I have gridding my property in all four corners and my entire house (both floors) with black tourmaline, connecting it with a large center black tourmaline. This helps transmute the negative energy coming into my home. Often, people remark that my home feels so positive, cozy, and comfty, and I attribute much of that to the awesome black tourmaline energy that immediately transmutes all that stress coming in.  

If you know me in real life, you know that I am usually wearing a black tourmaline around my neck. It is part of my daily shielding and protecting ritual. I place a black tourmaline between my feet and put my tourmaline around my neck. I say a prayer of gratitude for this day and surround myself with white light, like an egg. I ask my angels and guides to protect and shield my energy this day.

I love Naisha Ahsian's affirmation from the Book of Stones (if you buy one crystal book, that is the one to get.) I usually write my own affirmations, but hers is so perfect, I'm passing it on to you.

I banish all negative attachments, within and without. I am purified, grounded, and centered upon the Earth.

I am happy to answer any questions on how to use black tourmaline, in the comment section.