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. 

tarot of the week-queen of swords

Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place. ― Sarah Dessen

The Court Cards of the Minor Arcana work in one of two ways--they either represent people in your life, or aspects of the Self. These sixteen cards (four in each suit) hold attributes of the suit and of the Court position (King, Queen, Knight or Page), and in this way give us markers as to who this person might be. Each Court Card, individually, has its own sort of reputation. And the Queen of Swords most definitely has a reputation... 

Here is the beautiful Queen of Swords, faced to the future (in a Tarot reading, this is the Future), reaching out. Her sword is pointed up to the Heavens. Her feet are planted on earth. So much of the detail of this card tells us about this Queen. Firstly, the one most noted in Tarot circles is her Victorian mourning bracelet. It tells us this Queen is mourning the King, or a child, or even a divorce. Her reputation is one of ruling alone.

This grief (and if you have ever felt profound grief might understand this aspect of the queen) informs her every decision. She is determined to make decisions based on prioritizing what is important and what is merely noise. This is what anchors her, so to speak. She is not someone grieving in a way that is maudlin, or overly emotional. Her pain is written on her no-nonsense sensibilities, informs her decisions, but she does not wear her heart on her sleeve, and she never feels herself a victim. 

So, this Queen is independent, self-assured, knowledgable. I often refer to this aspect of the Queen first in my readings, because grief has reprioritized the Queen's life. All swords have a reputation for cutting through the bullshit, but the Queen has that reputation in spades. She has no time to hear petty grievances. Her time is too precious. And so, she can be someone who speaks her truth, uses few words to do it, but is a powerful, wise woman. People listen. Often, she has a reputation to those who do not know her of being a bitch, but to those around her, they accept her way is straight-forward, honest, and respectable.

Swords are quite intellectual as a suit, and so this Queen is run by her logic, intellect, and quick wit. Her heart chakra faces toward the future. That is her passion, after all, to create the future she wants. Her strength is her mind, so turn to this queen to figure out how things work, analysis, judgment and plans forward. And so, she isn't someone who is terribly reflective or stuck in the past. Her experience and the strength of her decisions make her someone to regard with great respect.  

Swords are also the Air sign of the Tarot, so look for this woman to be Libra, Aquarius, Gemini. She may be a writer, librarian, communicator, teacher. 

A great affirmation for this card might be: 

I know my truth and speak it with authority and wisdom. 

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. 

tarot of the week-the hanged man

The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed. — Ernest Hemingway

So many of the cards of the Tarot possess dual meaning, ambiguity, and intrigue, but perhaps none embody paradox more than the Hanged Man. Just hearing about a hanging evokes fear, condemnation, punishment, but the Hanged Man is a card of mystery, sacrifice, and grace. The Hanged Man is number XII of the Major Arcana, and on the Fool's Journey, the card that resides between Justice and Death. But the judgment and punishment of the Hanged Man is truly a self-imposed experience, which is precisely what makes this card so rich in symbolism.

The Hanged Man shows a man, presumably the Fool (for he wears the same clothes as the 0 card of the Tarot,) hanging by one foot. Leaves grow around the edges of the gallows. His face is downright serene, still, calm. There is no suffering here. His arms are behind his back, and his head is radiating with light. A symbol of enlightenment. This position, most Tarot readers assume, is a loose hanging, one from which he could easily escape. But the Hanged Man has no such design, he is there for a reason.

The themes of the Hanged Man are sacrifice, perspective, and transition. The Hanged Man relinquishes his control to gain new insight. If he has put himself in this position, he can remove himself, but he doesn't. This is his path to enlightenment, to see things from not only from a different perspective, but also from one that is based on his absolute acceptance of himself. It's terribly important to remember that you surrender to win here. And in this way, you are asked to sacrifice the quick fix, the impermanent feeling for the long term spiritual growth. In this way, what the Hanged Man reminds us is that we must move into suffering, rather than out of it.

We allow ourselves to be seen as vulnerable, to accept our imperfection, to embrace vulnerability as the starting point of spiritual growth, and further to enlightenment. This reminds me of the teachings of Pema Chodron about learning to sit in emotions that make us uncomfortable, and get curious about them. This is the punishment, if we can even call it that. As humans, we are constantly trying to shift out of emotions we have deemed negative, or wrong. We are constantly trying to shift out of suffering. Suffering is the first noble truth of our human existence. It is, dare I say, why we are here. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and the core of that human experience is weathering suffering. We will suffer.

In the same way, we are asked to look at things from a new perspective and get immensely curious about ourselves. Another paradox here, I suppose, is that this curiosity about ourselves actually creates connection with other people. We first gain compassion for ourselves, then for others, which ultimately helps alleviate our suffering. We surrender to win again, or rather we suffer to alleviate suffering. I think in this way, we must shoot our hostage, as they say. We must take the piece we have been using as our excuse OUT of the equation. We must expose our vulnerability and embrace who we authentically are. This is where the gallows come in. We put ourselves up to scrutiny. We do it in front of others by embracing our own imperfections as PART of what makes us human. 

As they say, suffering is mandatory, but misery is optional. The Hanged Man asks you to sacrifice temporary comfort for long term contentment and enlightenment. The word "sacrifice" means "to make sacred." And so, the Hanged Man asks you to make ALL your experiences sacred, even the ones that evoke the most shame. All are lessons, opportunities for growth, and in that way, we begin to live in the present, and we live in gratitude for each experience, even the one where you are hanging upside down by one foot.

What stands at the center of this card is the Hanged Man's spiritual enlightenment. This is the core of this card. How are you doing to get there? If you pull the Hanged Man, you are asked to be vulnerable, to look at yourself differently than you ever have. Let Go and Let God. Stop controlling and predicting, as Brene Brown says, because vulnerability is the birthplace of joy, creativity, belonging and love. And further, I say, of enlightenment. I love what she says, because it perfectly encapsulates the Hanged man--we cannot numb just the hard feelings in our life. We end up numbing them all. So, the Hanged Man asks you to feel the hard feelings. To sit in them. To get curious about them. And remember that though it is not comfortable, it is also less suffering than not feeling them.

A great affirmation for the Hanged Man might be:

I embrace my vulnerability as my greatest strength. I trust in my Divine path. 

Let me know what you think of this Tarot of the Week, or of the Hanged Man, or anything else on your mind. 

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. 

tarot of the week--four of cups

It is a frightful satire and an epigram on the modern age that the only use it knows for solitude is to make it a punishment, a jail sentence. --Søren Kierkegaard

So much of how we interpret Tarot is based on what we think of as challenges or as rewards. As a mother of two young children, solitude is a gift, a precious pearl, that I savor and fall into with open arms. While others take a moment of quiet as an opportunity to check their phone, call someone, reach out, connect. Such is the vision of the Four of Cups. Solitude and reflection, at times seen as a punishment and other times as a reward, primarily defines this card. What do we do with our time? How are we reflecting? What are we reflecting?

To begin with the numerological implications, four is about stability, like the legs of a table. The balance is from all sides--emotional, physical, mental, spiritual. For the Four of Cups, this is about retreat for emotional stability. But it is far more complex than what meets the eye. 

For introverts, this card is not in the slightest bit off-putting. Here is a solitary figure in retreat, sitting by a tree with arms crossed. For extroverts, this card is often interpreted as a Kierkegaard says, a kind of punishment, or maybe a self-imposed exile. Not a positive time, per se, but one that lacks gratitude and openness. When the figures arms cross the Heart Chakra, we have a certain level of being emotionally closed. Nothing is entering the heart, nothing is leaving it. Often, this position is interpreted as a kind of brooding, or unappreciative position. Certainly, the fourth cup, the one from a cloud (often the symbol as a gift from God, or Divine inspiration, or a new idea) , is right in front of his face, but he cannot or will not look at the option (the last leg of his proverbial table) that is right in front of him.

This closed position coupled with the downward gaze suggests a self-questioning, self-doubt and a kind of depression. I have heard it interpreted as a kind of apathy and passivity that holds the seeker back from emotional growth.  

But that is not the only way to see this card. we often need to close our hearts, not be so receptive to the feelings of others, to truly assess any given situation, particularly one regarding our own emotional well-being. Do I break up with that girl? That is often a question someone poses to the Tarot. Well, assessing that question would be terribly difficult if you were spending 100% of your time with her telling you she loves you. You need the space, both physical and emotional, to really get to the heart of the matter. 

Perhaps the seeker has worked hard, been putting his or her efforts into her work. Maybe she is worn down, worn out, needing time for solitude and reflection. This is the card of an emotional time-out, and a recognition that hard work and dedication gives us the luxury to take time to reflect on our work.  When I say luxury, there is nothing here to suggest that this is a financial or material suffering. In fact, the sky is clear blue, the background is serene, there is no turbulent water (emotionally chaotic symbol)--this turmoil is internal, rather than external. That is important, because this card reminds us that this crisis is self-imposed. Part of the implication of this card's brooding is that the seeker cannot see how good he truly has it. So, this card can come as a reminder that this is all in your head, and this time out or period of reflection, while necessary, is not anything like a punishment. The reflective means end, of course, in emotional stability, as Cups are the suit of emotional stability.

This solitude is often the exact environment in which creative solutions and glorious inspiration comes. The underlying quandary with this card lies in where you are in your time of solitude. Are you using it for enlightenment, or are you using it to wallow in your sorrows?  Are you searching for inspiration, or are you resigned to your lot? Are you able to make decision based on gratitude? And when your time of reflection is complete, are you able to reach out and grab your last cup? Or will you let the opportunity pass you with inaction? When a client pulls this card in a reading for me, I often tell them that the time of solitude and exile needs to be transformed into a time of reflection and enlightenment. You are on your proverbial mountain meditating. Take the time to be enlightened. Open your heart to your Higher Self. Listen to all the wisdom within you. Then take action with trust and confidence.

If you pull this card in a blockage position, I would work on heart chakra issues as well, using some heart stones to help you open up. Self-love stones like Rhodocrosite, or Rose quartz might be a great addition to your meditations, or even your baths. A great affirmation with this card might be:

I take time to listen to my Higher Self. 

Many apologies for the lack of crystal post and newsletter last week. I have been ill and took a much needed time out from my blog. (No surprises why I pulled the Four of Cups today, right?) I'd love to hear what you think of the Four of Cups and anything else coming up for you. 

tarot of the week--the devil

“We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.” ― Oscar Wilde

Spirit does it again. On the heels of last week's discussion about the Lovers, we are moved into the Devil card, XVth of the Major Arcana. You can tell the mood of a card by its background color, and truly the Devil is a dark card. Its imagery is haunting and overwhelmingly bleak. The Devil lifting his hand to silence or welcome you to Hell, holding a torch in the other, the Devil is replete with bat's wings, eagle's claws and a goat-man's head, perching above two enslaved figures. The figures, if you remember, on the Lovers. The upside pentacle on his forehead tells a story as well. It is the perversion of the material.

We all want for home, safety, security. There is no shame in that desire to provide and keep ourselves safe. But the Devil warns of more ominous attachments to the material--obsessive thinking, alcoholism, overeating, drug abuse, sex addiction, obsessive love, extramarital affairs, these are the attachments to the material that the Devil concerns itself with and warns against. The Devil is associated with the astrological sign Capricorn, and when I pull it, I use it to correspond with Root and Sacral Chakra issues. 

This creature is not the fallen angel, Lucifer, nor is he the Devil we are taught about in traditional Western religion. He is an amalgamation of the aberrant, the feared, the stalking symbol of materialism and attachment. And in this way, as Marcia Masino points out, the Devil is purposely not a being we identify. He is all your fears together. The word Devil means the "Adversary" And often this adversary is ourselves, our own attachments to the material. 

So often when I read for people, cards like the Devil are pulled and people groan or feel fearful at their imagery. But Tarot is not punishing, or changing your course. This is the energy around YOU right now. If you get honest, this is something you know about yourself already. The Devil is a reminder, a warning, that your attachment to things, to the material, to people, and even to fear itself is the problem. This is a reminder that you have shifted from your spiritual center, who you believe yourself to be or maybe who  you want to be. What are your priorities? What are your beliefs, your boundaries, and your moral compass? Because the Devil reminds you that what you are doing is far from those things. You have drifted, the card reminds you, from your Higher Power, or your guides, or Love, if that is your belief, the Universe's plan--most importantly, it reminds you that you have drifted from yourself.

Often, I find this card has come to represent addiction--to something or someone. Sometimes it has come to represent someone else's addiction, and our addiction to their addiction. With the Devil, this often represents addiction to a relationship or another person. But it can be anything--shopping, eating, drinking, drugs, sex, watching television. These soul sedatives, as Athena called them, numb us and block our pathway to our Highest Good. And you know, those things worked for us. Alcohol worked for the alcoholic at some point, possible from extreme self-consciousness or from physical or sexual abuse, from trauma the child is not able to face. It numbs us. But then it stops working, and starts causing the problems--losing jobs, friends, getting arrested, or just feeling depressed or ashamed day after day. We have to remember that the Tarot is not judging us, we are judging honest. Can you get honest? Do you want to get honest about what is holding you back from your true purpose in life?

The work we do along the way to our soul's path is rocky. We often have to face hard truths about ourselves during the course of our lifetime. This Devil card asks you to look at the hard truth of HOW you are using the material. See, eating cupcakes isn't a problem. You enjoy a cupcake. Who doesn't? But what if you are eating a cupcake every time you have a conversation with your mother? Are we facing the truth about those conversations? Are we dealing with them? How are we using the cupcake? So, when you pull the Devil in one of those hard positions, take out the judgment. Remember that the cupcake or the clandestine relationship, or the alcohol worked for you. Thank it, and then tell it that is has ceased being useful for you. That you are ready to feel all the emotions that you are meant to feel. See, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. We feel deeply, passionately. We are here to learn lessons. If we numb those feelings, our lessons are never quite learned, never realized, never actualized.

So, this is what the Devil asks of you. He challenges you to see yourself as your own worst energy.  What are you afraid of? What are you attached to that isn't serving your highest good? What binds you? What keeps you in bondage and makes you feel prisoner? Is it fear itself? And most importantly, what are you willing to let go of to experience true happiness and freedom? Serenity is right there, if only you can take off your chains and grab hold of it.

Marcia Masino has a great affirmation for the Devil card:

I am a Divine Being of Light, a child of God. I am loved, protected, and enveloped in white light. 

What do you think of the Devil? What are you wrestling with? How does the Devil card feel to you?

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. 

tarot of the week-the lovers

The true beloveds of this world are in their lover's eyes lilacs opening, ship lights, school bells, a landscape, remembered conversations, friends, a child's Sunday, lost voices, one's favorite suit, autumn and all seasons, memory, yes, it being the earth and water of existence, memory. - Truman Capote

Spirit has a sense of humor to move from the Nine of Swords' worry and insomnia into the Lovers. Sleepless nights and difficult attachments often stem from love or the perversion of love. We worry. We toil. We obsess, but the root of the Lovers is nothing like worry and toil. It is absolute trust in the Divine and further in the divinity of love and the possibility of connection with another human being. This week, we revisit the Major Arcana with a card most people want to draw--the Lovers.

As we begin to take in the images of the Lovers, we are greeted by two naked people, Man and Woman, standing under Archangel Raphael. Is it Adam and Eve? The first couple? The tree of knowledge stands behind the woman with a snake coiling around its trunk. It reminds us of the No. 15 card of the Major Arcana, the Devil. So, the Devil lingers in the idyllic scene of the Lovers. It is so intertwined with the Devil card, you almost cannot mention one without the other. In fact, just because one wants the Lovers doesn't mean one should get the Lovers. We often draw the Devil when we are trying to will the Lovers to come.

Notice the similar composition and images between the Lovers and the Devil. 

The two cards have very similar layouts. If you look at the Devil card, you notice that the figures on the front are the same as the Lovers. Archangel Raphael presides over the healing of the two Lovers on the No. Six card, while the fallen angel Lucifer presides over the couple on the Devil. Archangel Raphael's hair are leaves, while the pentacle sits on the head of the Devil--both are earthly symbols that mean two entirely different things. The Devil is about attachment to the material, while the leaves represent a kind of harmony with nature and Mother Earth. In this way, the two cards represent two sides of the same coin--love. The Lovers is the ideal love, the blessed love, the harmonious soul mate relationship, while the Devil represents the perversion of love, obsessive love, the attachment to the material, or the superficial, the fear of love, the lack of personal power (this powerlessness comes to represent addiction in the Tarot, also you can see that the female figure has a tail of grapes, meaning she is attached to wine), and of course, addiction. Juxtaposed with the Lovers, the Devil teaches us what love isn't. Or maybe even it is a warning about what love, selfish and self-serving without Spiritual connection, can become.

The Lovers depicts what Marcia Masino calls the mystical rite of Kything, which means to "appear without disguise." Their nakedness represents the absolute vulnerability that becomes the couple's greatest strength. Ms. Masino says "kything is a method of spiritual presence whose purpose is to bring about a loving spiritual connection, union or communion between two or more persons without the spoken word."

The sun shines over the whole scene. There are no secrets, no mysteries, no shadow issues going on. This person who you pull in the Lovers is your soul mate, your twin flame, your partner, your other half. And I think it is important to mention that Archangel Raphael is present in this card. He is the Archangel of Healing and Health. He blesses the two, helps them heal their wounds, nurture their past aches to move into a new spiritual awareness. By our openness with another person, we begin to bear our soul to the Divine. We allow trust to be our guiding force. It is easy in the throes of love, after all, to believe in God and the Divine. Fate, God, Divine pathways and connections, it all makes sense.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and this card is about the beauty of that human experience. The mystery of love enlivens us, invigorates our souls, makes us feel the absolute amazing sensations of being human 100 times more intensely. We are human, and it is beautiful. This is what our experience in a body teaches us. To be present. Remember the heart chakra, after all, is the gateway to Spiritual connection--the bridge between the material concerns of the lower chakras to the spiritual issues of the upper chakras. It is here that we learn to unite them, because in romantic love, we bring together all the lower chakra issues--Security  from the Root Chakra, Sexual satisfaction from the Sacral, and Courage and Strength from the Solar Plexus with the Upper Chakra issues--Listening and Speaking the Truth of your Soul in the Throat, Seeing and opening to your Soul Path in the Third Eye, and finally, opening the connection to the Divine in the Crown. We play all this out through our Heart Chakra in the Lovers.

The presence of the angel is not a mistake. There are six archangels in the Tarot, and they appear in the Major Arcana. This is the ideal, then, the oneness of this trinity--the Lovers--Two Humans and the Angel, symbolizing the Divine. We invite God into our partnership and we are granted a lifelong relationship. It is the power behind healing, as Archangel Raphael reminds us.

A great affirmation for this card might be: 

I open my heart to loving, being loved and trusting in love. 

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. 

tarot of the week--nine of swords

"The night is the hardest time to be alive and 4am knows all my secrets.” ― Poppy Z. Brite

The beauty of the Tarot's rich symbolism is the universality in its messages. There are cards for love, grief, loss, jobs, patronage, success, happy homes, and wills. And of course, the universal experience of insomnia and staying up late in turmoil and grief. None among us is immune to these dark nights of the soul. The Nine of Swords captures this experience perfectly, if not alarmingly.

Swords, associated with the element of Air, represents communication, the mind, rationale, logic and perhaps most importantly, perception. The way we perceive someone's words, their gestures, and often the stories we tell ourselves about the world around us ends up being the trap we have set for ourselves. Swords often have the most alarming challenge cards for people to see, from Three and Five, and Seven to Ten jump to mind, and yet the most important. Those are the ones that remind us that it is ourselves we must battle--from whom we trust to how we hold on to our storylines that have ceased their usefulness long ago, as well as reminding us of our own levels of denial and untruths. Isn't this the ultimate battle? To be absolutely honest about who we are--our deficits and attributes. Can we be objective? Can we analyze ourselves honestly? Can we let go of our illusions and face the music?  The Virtues of Swords are truth and justice. Nothing is more important than being absolutely honest to yourself about yourself. And so Swords challenge you to face the ocean of emotion behind you as we saw in the Two, to cut to the heart of the matter in Three, to ask yourself where your empty victories are in Five, to see what you are getting away with in Seven, to pull off your blindfolds in the Eight, and get real. Though swords are often double-sided and sharp, they also help us "cut" through the bullshit. To begin the quest to self-knowledge and honest self-appraisal.

So, if all this sounds like a little too much challenge for a little ol' Tarot reading, buckle up. The Nine captures this feeling of overwhelming guilt, fear, worry, anxiety, loneliness, and grief. It is a card often associated with insomnia and nightmares. When I pull the Nine for my clients, I often ask if they are having trouble sleeping, worrying about an issue in particular.  Or what their last thought of the day has been? This is what dictates your next morning, dominates your dream work, helps you process your day. And in this way, what are you trying to control that is not your business to control? So, perhaps the greatest lesson of this card is to Let Go and Let God. We have to turn this situation that is keeping us up to God, in whatever manifestation God appears to you.

The card lacks a ton of symbolic information, though there are a few significant markers for you to notice. The carving on the side of the bed is a sword fight, a battle of one man defeating another. Who is the sleeping figure? The defeated or the defeat-or? It does not matter, this card says, because they both end up in the same place. It is the battle that is the issue here, the fighting itself, rather than the outcome. The quilt around the figure contains the symbols of the zodiac and planets, signifying that often we are going through astrological and universal changes that need to be talked about. What is going on astrologically? What moon cycle are we in? Is that contributing to these issues coming up?

Numerologically, the nine is an important number--three threes. But it is a sign of completion. Completion? What? This card seems absolutely unsettled. It is true, but the Nine of Swords asks you to grasp the vulnerability of this card. This is your greatest asset. "The peaceful warrior's way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability, " as the quote goes in the Way of the Peaceful Warrior, and so it is with this card. What is keeping you up at night? This is your greatest asset, your teacher, your master. Remember, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. When taken in this way, our suffering becomes the gift, rather than a burden. What keeps us up at night is our hookable place, as Pema Chodron calls it, the thing we still need to work on. The beauty of the Tarot is that it asks you to shed yourself of these anxieties, to release from the fetters of your own self-limiting thoughts. Where thought goes, energy flows, as my teacher often says, and this card is remind you of where your energy is flowing (toward fear and worry, number one.)

The interesting element of this card is that it often is interpreted to mean that the worst is now behind you. You are in the darkest days. Often the experience of searching out a Tarot reader, or looking for answers in Tarot, is the first step of retaking control of your worries and fears and getting some answers. When we search the energies around your situation, we break it wide open, expose it to the sunlight, release the secret fear/anger/hurt/resentment/worry, and allow it to dry up and blow away. You are ready to dispel of the illusions around your suffering.

If you are working with the Nine of Sword's challenging energy right now, bring a rose quartz into the mix. Use it as a touchstone for true self-compassion. An affirmation for this card might be:

I embrace the lessons of this situation and release all worry to God.

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. 

tarot of the week--two of swords

It probably is no shock to any of you that when I pull the Tarot Card of the Week, I always say, "Oooooooo, two of swords." Or "Oooooo, the Moon." The Two of Swords is one of those cards whose imagery and symbolism absolutely enthrall me. It is so brilliant, succinct and confusing. Truthfully, this card has come to mean many things to many people, and my meaning has drifted afield of the traditional Tarot interpretation. But we'll talk about all the meanings, and you can draw your own conclusion for the beautiful Two of Swords.

With each card, you have layers of meaning--first the numerological implications of the card number, then the suit symbols, then the actual images on the card. Let's start with the number two, which numerologically is about balance, how we relate to others, communication, partnerships, relationships. This is no surprise. I think intuitively, we think of marriages as twos. Two people coming together. The suit of Swords is air and with it comes issues around communication, logic, thought. The Sword challenge cards are quite tortured. Think of the Ten of Swords, where a man is lying in a battlefield with ten swords in his back, or the Eight of  Swords, where there is a bound and blindfolded woman in a jail of swords. These cards are about self-imposed crisis. Those tortured thoughts and the way we trap ourselves. So, swords are often these internal struggles, the growth of our mind and spirit that pushes us to think differently, so we can act differently.

The Two of Swords is a beautiful card, all my favorite symbolic elements, which is perhaps which I cannot bear to associate this card with its traditional meanings.Traditionally, this card has come to represent repression and denial. The fear of expressing love or anger or our truth. Remember swords are about communication, so this card can mean a blocked throat chakra often along with a blocked or closed heart chakra. I understand how this card has come to mean this in traditional Tarot interpretation. The woman sits before a calm sea--water always coming to symbolize emotions. The moon harkens of shadow work arising. Her back is turned away from her emotions, she does not want to face or see what she needs to see, as the card is traditionally interpreted. She holds the swords over her heart chakra, protecting her heart center.  But I have trouble solely associating that meaning with this card. 

To me, the Two of Swords is a highly intuitive card. There is nothing tortured or suffering about her position. She seems absolutely in control, staid, trusting of herself. (Here I am referring to the figure of the Rider-Waite deck. Opposed to Two of Swords in the Universal deck, where the woman on the two is absolutely tortured by her repression. In this way, our decks can make a huge difference in our interpretations.) The water is calm, settled. The sky is clear. In Tarot, the backgrounds of the cards deeply dictate the mood and meaning of the fore figures. The blindfold, rather than put on by someone else, seems carefully placed by the only figure in the picture. Perhaps she is training to trust her intuition, or she knows that her eyes are untrustworthy when it comes to her heart. "What do we know about ourselves?" this card asks. Do you know that that handsome man seduces you with charm and cunning, but turns around to deceive you? Do you know he says what you want to hear, but not what you need to know? So, what do you trust? That feeling of dis-trust, feminine intuition if you will, comes for a reason. When we dismiss it, we are trusting our eyes over our gut. Her solar plexus, open and unblocked, is the source of that knowing, and her third eye is blue, illuminated, rather than covered with hair or blindfold.  This is what is shining through her. Strength and intuition. (Use Pietersite for that beautiful combination, if you are looking for Two of Swords energy.)

The two of the Two of Swords means this card is about partnerships, so often this is about protecting our heart.  But the Two of Swords is in a position of waiting--for the time when her swords must be lowered, or when her swords must cut. The Two of Swords asks us to wait, to reflect, to contemplate, to train our minds through meditation and positive affirmation before we move. Watch. Learn. This is the time of preparation. I keep hearing Karate Kid--Wax on. Wax off. In fact, you get the feeling that this woman has been waxing for years, waiting to blossom, open her heart again, or open it for the first time. The moon is a feminine symbol in Tarot, and it definitely rings strong and true in this card, hovering in waxing(!) stage, over the whole scene. There will be a fulfillment here.

The figure is female by all accounts. These feminine symbols often harken to tap into your female intuition, whether you are female or not. That gut feeling, as I said. Perhaps we can see the traditional interpretation of this card as part of her training. She has closed off her feelings, but her defensive posture is absolutely warranted. She needs the protection, and her next move is knowing exactly when to lower her guard. Without the usual cues, she will just know. And it is about knowing when you need to use your swords or not. She is not a knight, in this picture, rather she is dressed in bed clothes. So we are also reminded to watch our dreams and the way Spirit speaks to us, warns us even, of those who can and cannot be trusted in our sleep.

A beautiful affirmation for this card might be:

I am in perfect alignment with my personal integrity. I trust my intuition to protect my heart.

So, let me know what you think of the Two of Swords. How do you interpret it? How is her energy working in your life right now? And please do not forget to comment to win a pair of labradorite and moonstone earrings on this post. Drawing on the Full Moon. Moon blessings.

giveaway

As I began this journey in Crystal Healing, I wanted to explore different aspects for my clients to carry and work with crystals and stones in their daily life. Creating crystal healing jewelry has been an amazing way to combine my love of wearable and affordable art and my stone know-how.  I have listed all my jewelry on the Moon + Stone Healings Etsy site and of course, you can always buy it from the Big Cartel link on this site.

This week, to honor all the moon energy coming your way, I am giving away a pair of labradorite + moonstone earrings.   Just leave a comment on this post telling me what you like, or don't like, about the moon + stone healing, how you found us, what you'd love to read or learn more about from the moon + stone or what draws you to crystals in general, and you will be entered to win a pair of labradorite and moonstone earrings. I will draw a winner on the Full Moon September 19th. If you share this post, come back and comment again for another chance to win. You can enter as many times as you would like.

Good luck, and moon blessings.

Yep, that is always me posing with my earrings...too cheap to hire a real model. I need to work on my smize.

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?

tarot of the week-the moon

What an apt way to begin the week of the New Moon in Virgo on September 5. 

The Moon is the eighteenth card of the Major Arcana, and it brings with it all the mystery and emotion of the actual moon and the lore around her. If the Sun represents clarity in the Tarot, the Moon represents shadows and mystery. And by shadows, I mean the Jungian idea of the shadow self and shadow work. John Elder from Jung's Theory of The Shadow describes it this way:

"The Shadow describes the part of the psyche that an individual would rather not acknowledge. It contains the denied parts of the self. Since the self contains these aspects, they surface in one way or another. Bringing Shadow material into consciousness drains its dark power, and can even recover valuable resources from it. The greatest power, however, comes from having accepted your shadow parts and integrated them as components of your Self."

In Tarot, the Moon has come to represent this entire notion of the Shadow self and who we are trying to hide. Not in a judgmental or accusatory way, rather the Moon challenges you to look at this part you are hiding, bring it forward, make friends, as John Elder says, "Drain its dark power." It calls us to get honest with ourselves, to find our true motivations, to experience acceptance of all of us.

When I read Tarot, I see a thousand meanings in each card, my gift as an intuitive and seasoned card reader is to figure out which meaning of the card applies to which reading. The Moon is far more than a call to begin the shadow work, though I think it is one of the, if not the, most important aspect of this card. The Moon can be a call for dreamwork, nighttime strength, astral journeying, shamanic journeying. It is a symbol of the Divine Feminine and the Goddess energy. Esoteric knowledge, past life regression...the two pillars in the background of the Moon are said to represent the Conscious and Unconscious Mind, as you travel through to the astral world, the next dimension of consciousness and understanding.

Harkening to that shadow self, when we walk through the pillars, we begin seeing ourselves as Great Spirit sees us, as Divine Beings, Perfect Children of God, Lightbeings. We cease judgement of the Shadow self, and we ask ourselves for acceptance.  But this journey is often mired in fear of the unknown, sometimes even danger feels lurking in these subconscious realms. But this is also a form of self-deception, the fear of knowledge of the self. Should we fear meeting, acknowledging, and releasing that which is not serving us? 

The Moon, in its stripped down meaning, is an incredibly psychic and intuitive card. It is emotional and deep, the ancient and primal self, the Higher Self, even. The dogs baying at the Moon is that part of us that grows afraid at the world around us, the mysteries in ourselves, and also that part that worships all around us. The Moon cautions that not all is what it seems. But its caution is more of a reminder to your Higher Self. "You know this already," the Moon seems to whisper. How are you self-deceiving? With a lover, or friend, or situation you are pushing through out of sheer will and ego-based ends? The Moon is nothing like a sneaky, pushy bastard, rather the Moon is a mentor and teacher challenging you, asking you to prepare.

Because ultimately, the Moon is a card of ascension and spiritual growth. It is not just this toiling work of looking at the aspect of yourself that you think need to be hidden. It is doing that toward an end--toward spiritual growth and readiness for ascension. You are asked to prepare for enlightenment and holiness. Self-awareness is the key to psychic abilities and intuition. It is a trusting of yourself. I don't think being psychic is gifted to only a few, I believe we all have the ability to increase our intuitive abilities. And the Moon is just asking you to prepare by clearing out of the crap that is making you doubt, question, feel undeserving of God's grace. 

It is no mistake that this card follows the Star, a card of hope and dreams. We set on a path toward our dreams, we then have to look at those parts of us that are unwittingly blocking us from our goal. The Moon shadow work is then followed by the Sun, total illumination and understanding of who we are. In many way, this is what I seek to do in my Moon Cycle Coaching--walk with you through the Star, the Moon, and arrive at the Sun. 

So, with the Moon this week, why not begin keeping a dream journal? As your guides and Higher Self for guidance on that which is blocking you from your goals, ask to clearly see the ways in which you are blocking yourself. Then keep a notebook and pen by your bed to jot down your dream before you can even process it. Just start writing. Ask your guides for help remembering your dreams before bed. As a lucid dreamer, I developed techniques for myself to remember and dialogue in my dream life, but I believe these are as individual as dreams themselves. Some crystals and stones you can sleep with to help with dreamwork and recall are moonstone, labradorite, blue apatite, clear quartz, or sugilite (among a ton of other dreamstones that help with dream work.)  A good affirmation for the Moon is:

 I accept and love all parts of me. I am a Divine Being of Light. 

Let me know what you feel about the Moon card in your readings and your experience interpreting this card. I am taking clients for Moon Cycle Coaching right now. You can get in touch at themoonandstone(at)gmail(dot)com. I also want to remind you to sign up for my weekly newsletter where I write an article each week and link to my blog posts of the week. You can sign up here.

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. 

tarot of the week-the emperor

Last week's introduction to the Mother of the Tarot, the Empress, reminded us for the maternal energy of Mama Earth and the maternal intensity within ourselves to nurture our dreams, our creativity, and our inner child. The Emperor, number IV of the major arcana, follows the Empress.

 Regal, staid, authoritative, he acts as the Father of the Tarot.  Paternal energy abounds when Emperor shows up in your reading. The Emperor arrives when you feel empowered, established, knowledgeable, strong, and independent. He is also the archetype of the Leader. Father and leader. Marcia Masino called him the "Christ-figure" of the Major Arcana, the one bringing light. As she explains, "He is the indwelling spiritual ego, the Master causing right instruction and goodwill to be done within the temple." This light within the Emperor resides within all of us. It is the drive to follow our Divine Will. The Emperor is the card which validates our choices. "You know what to do," he says. You are the authority on your Divine path. God lays it  out in front of you. You walk it with authority.

He is also practical, mature, reasoned. A general and an engineer. So, this sense of understanding the Divine path is something that comes from the hard work of shedding ego, releasing the things no longer serving us, and moving forward with knowledge that we have brought the shovel to move mountains. When the Emperor comes, this is the work you have done. Your solid foundation is built of knowledge, truth, fearless self-appraisal, logic, reason, and a bit of compromise that looks nothing like compromise. It looks like honest assessment, as all compromise should be. The truth will bubble to the surface when all the options are boiled in a pot together, and the Emperor is the one to skim it off the top.

In the Fool's journey, we are nurtured by the Empress then brought to the Emperor, the father-figure, the seat of rules, authority, stability, and leadership. He is the card you draw when you need structure and organization, or finally have it. He is the foundation, the stability, the hard organization work of building your leadership qualities, or your business/career, or your household. When you need the rules, or are rebelling against them, or when you are finally coming into a place of power within yourself, the Emperor appears to validate that work.

The crux of the brilliance of Tarot is the many-layered interpretation which we apply to our emotional, physical, and spiritual life through Tarot's deep, rich symbolism. When we pull the Emperor, we decide who this card represents. Is it our leadership, or someone else's? How are we like the Emperor? How are we not? It has often been associated with the astrological sign of Aries, and can sometimes come to represent an Aries man or woman in your life. Or your own father, or someone who has come to take a paternal role in your life. 

A good affirmation for the Emperor is:

I walk my Divine path with full authority and knowledge. 

I'd love to hear your interpretation of the Emperor, or your feelings about this card, the Tarot or any topic you'd like me to cover in this blog. I also urge you to sign up for my newsletter, which links to my blog posts of the week and more information about Moon cycles, tarot, crystal healing and other groovy topics. You can sign up here.

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.  

tarot of the week--the empress

The Triple Goddess symbol shows three cycles of to moon to represent the embodiment of the Maiden, Mother and Crone, the three phases of life, and the path of wisdom.

This week's Tarot card comes at an auspicious time, when the August full moon, the Corn Moon, reaches her full glory this evening. When we track moon cycles with intention-setting or rather align our spiritual work with moon cycles, the full moon is time when our intentions are being birthed, the moon representing the full pregnant belly of the our intention. In the trinity of goddess-based spirituality, represented by the three moon cycles of waxing, full, waning moon, the full center moon represents the mother, while the other two represent the maiden and the crone respectively.  

The Empress is also the embodiment of the mother archetype. She is the only pregnant  figure in the Tarot, and so she has come to represent pregnancy, birth, fertility, and abundance, as well as nurturing, maternal instincts and the goddess. The heart symbol at her feet carved the symbol of woman. It symbolizes that she holds sacred feminine mystery as well as the compassion and nurturing of Mother Earth, but the pregnant belly contains the fruition of masculine and feminine energies coming together. So, she calls the receiver of her messages to blend those parts of themselves too.

Her dress is covered in pomegranate, a symbol of Persephone's journey into the underworld. The pomegranate's etymology literally translates as apple with many seeds, and so the pomegranate symbol is inviting you to plant your seeds. Incidentally, the root of the word seed, granata, is also the root of the garnet, so use garnet to plant those seeds. The pomegranate came to represent abundance, fertility, prosperity and generosity. The wheat at her feet, another symbol of abundance here as well as the goddess Demeter, mother of Persephone. This story of Demeter and Persephone also harkens to the triple goddess as Persephone is seen as the maiden, and Demeter, the mother (the grieving mother) who literally transforms herself into the crone as she grieves her daughter. The Empress' scepter holds the full moon. The moon in Tarot represents this esoteric, mysterious knowledge, the feminine, the shadow. As she wields it with power and magic, so too do we wield power when we hold the knowledge of our own shadows. Her crown is made up of twelve stars, which is sometimes seen as the twelve chakra system. Behind her runs the waterfall, a clear blue pool of emotional stability (water always represents the emotions in Tarot symbology). All this culminates in a kind of mother wisdom, she holds that knowledge and shares it with her children. As Empress, she is mother to all the world. She is the Mother Earth, providing all that we need.

That nurturing aspect of the Empress that runs through her symbology. She calls you to nurture those creative parts of you too. To give birth to your ideas, to allow creative projects and energies to incubate and be born into the world, abundance will follow, she says. Prosperity is yours for the taking, just ask the Empress.  When we pull the Empress, we ask what we need to nurture in ourselves. What creative projects are we raising up? What parts of ourself are ripening? Of course, this card can be literally about mothering--who are we mothering right now? Are we being more mother than wife? Or losing ourselves in mothering? Or are we wanting to be a mother? 

In the deepest roots of this card, we must pull up the nutrients of self-love, self-acceptance and self-worth. Are we mired in self-pity? Or are we nurturing ourselves with self-compassion? This is the heart of this card. Nurture yourself so the true fruits of your dreams can be manifest. 

An beautiful affirmation for this card might be: 

I accept and love myself, just as I am, in alignment with the Divine.