smoky quartz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am grounded and focused on manifesting my dreams.

tarot of the week-six of wands

The Suit of Wands embodies those qualities we associate with fire and fire signs--passion, drive, ambition, showmanship, motivation, competition, charm and at the worst egotism, arrogance and pride. The Tarot constantly challenges us on the experiences we most fall into and most deeply rely upon. This is particularly so in the Six of Wands, the card of Victory. Not Empty Victories, like the Five of Swords, but triumph at its most pure--the hard-won. We see the rider through the crowd of Wands, undoubtedly, the wands of war, heralding his win. His head is crowned with laurels and he holds a Victory Wreath up high. It is sometimes said that this is the Victory over the Five, which is a card of conflict and drama. The Six marks the Victory of that battle.

But as with all good things, our Victory is short-lived in the reproaches of the Tarot. When coming on the heels of a challenge, this card marks a win, positive outcome, a victory. And if winning is everything, then this is a wonderful card for you. But the challenge here is to temper your wins and check yourself. It is undoubtedly positive. It just reminds you, quickly, thoroughly, to stay small. Remain humble. Embrace, not the victory march, but the tenacity, the stay-puttedness, and ambition, that gained  you the victory, not your adoring and admiring public.

Humility is not a quality known for those with fiery tendencies. I would dare say that most fire signs regard humility as an attribute of loss, a quality you grow out of suffering, but this card asks you to tap deeply into your wins, your pride, and your successes to find humility. Because this card could also be labeled the Card of Self-Aggrandizement. And so it warns that your pride could unravel the exact thing you are celebrating. Pride causes the imbalance and later the defeat you avoided earlier.

Make no mistake, the Six of Wands is a positive card of winning. It heralds wins in any endeavor, and so when someone seeks an answer, you can tell them with the Six of Wands that they have the tenacity and strength to win any competition. Any challenge is theirs to own. But remind them to watch their ego.

A great affirmation might be:

I embrace grace and dignity in all my endeavors.

apophyllite

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

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

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

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

A wonderful affirmation for Apophyllite

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

tarot of the week-seven of swords

"My guiding principle is this: Guilt is never to be doubted.” ― Franz Kafka

The issues of the Minor Arcana often have to deal with those daily toils and challenges. None face us more frustratingly than those of the Swords, which often appear as challenges of our own perception.

The Seven of Swords, often referred to as the Thief Card, begs us to use our intuitive skills to read--is this perception or reality? The card shows a man, wearing a fez, tiptoeing away from camp with all the Swords in his hand. He sneakily checks behind him. Is anyone following? The others in the background of this card are busy with war and battle. He is taking advantage of this preoccupation to steal the very weapons they will use for defense.

But who wins here? Certainly not the thief. His guilt and secrets condemn him. And so, this card often is a call to examine one's motivations. Where are deceiving yourself? As Kafka says, "Guilt is never to be doubted." When you want to figure out where you are most hookable, what is the part of your life you feel most guilty about? Where do you feel less than ethical? Where do you feel like you are getting away with something?

Sometimes, but not always, this can mean that you are being deceived. It begs you to open your eyes and check the motivations and behaviors of those around you. Swords are about communication, and this card sometimes comes when someone is sweet-talking you, telling you everything you want to hear. This is the card of liars, thieves and cheats, so in a relationship reading, make sure you asking the right questions. This card can come when one partner is cheating, or one partner is AFRAID the other is cheating. (See how tricky that suit of perception can be?) And so, who is really suffering? The person unable to trust.

Most often, though, this card is about self-betrayal. Where are you being dishonest? Where are you betraying your own moral compass? Are your actions aligned with truth and integrity? Trust your guilt to be your conscience and deciding factor. Rely on this guilt-o-meter to point to the truth of your behavior, and make amends. This card asks you to stop running away, hiding your true self, cease manipulating people around you, and ultimately, and most spiritually, face the shame. Release it. This is the true blockage to the Divine, to other humans, to your Highest Self. This thief holds his stolen swords right across his heart. This heart blockage can be overcome, by putting down what is shaming you, and facing your demons.

A great meditation for this card might be:

I live my life with the utmost integrity and align my will with the Divine.

lepidolite

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An great affirmation for Lepidolite might be: 

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

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

tarot of the week-the hierophant

The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn. --Marcus Tullius Cicero

When I do readings for other Tarot enthusiasts, I find it absolutely fascinating which cards they react against, which they are drawn to, and which they need. More often than not, the Hierophant inspires strong reactions in people. Most people dislike the Hierophant intensely. Hierophant was actually an Ancient Greek priest, "who interpreted sacred mysteries, especially the priest of the Eleusinian mysteries". And later is became known as "an interpreter of sacred mysteries or arcane knowledge." And then funnily, the image on the Hierophant is the Pope, raising his right hand in benediction. 

Number five of the Major Arcana, a number often associated with chaos, or rather adventure or action, the Hierophant has a different feel all together. As you play with Tarot, lay out the five of every suit and the fives of the Major Arcana (Some talk about the XIV as another five, while others include the Devil XV) and place all the five cards in a row. Their theme is one of upset. One numerology article I read, which I absolutely think is right on the money, associates Five with freedom, and the process of how we handle our own freedom. The reaction most people have to the Hierophant is a loss of freedom. This is why I love the quote my Marcus Cicero--our own reactions against authority and institutions is the exact obstacle that blocks us from our growth within those institutions. 

The interpretations of the Hierophant run the gamut, often reflecting the Tarot reader's own relationships with authority and institutions. One thing most of us agree on is that the dominant themes of the Hierophant are hierarchies and institutions (the Church/organized religion, Higher Education, the government, even the institution of marriage), traditions and the rules. There is more here, though, because of the traditions of the Hierophant as "having the ear" of God, or receiving arcane wisdom and esoteric knowledge. I sometimes see this card as being a pathway to a spiritual opening. There is a distinctly spiritual aspect to this card, and it often gets lost in the swirl of our own preconceived notions of the Church and authority in the Church. And so, this card often challenges the reader to set aside his or her own feelings about the Church.

The symbols in this card help us find some deeper understanding of the card. Hand held high in benediction, which is a blessing, a prayer for Divine help, and spiritual guidance. (Interestingly, the Hierophant again appears on the Death card (XIII) where he is pleading with Death on behalf of a mother and child.) Two fingers up, two down, this is the bridge of heaven and earth. We see this on the Magician as the gesture of pointing to Earth and holding his staff up to heaven. On this card, the Pope is blessing two initiates, recognizable by their distinction hair and matching robes, so the Hierophant is also the teacher. He holds a triple cross, which is a traditional staff of the Pope. Again, the two pillars appear on a Major Arcana card--the High Priestess, the Moon, Justice and the Death card (some people see the people on the Devil and the Lovers as pillars as well).  When we see these similar symbols, we make connections, and so these pillars have come to represent Justice and Liberty for some people, or the place we cross into another realm of spiritual understanding. At the feet of the Hierophant are two keys crossed representing the key to knowledge. He holds them. He hands them out. Or maybe you must come through him to find those keys. 

Again, so much of this interpretation is subjection to our own bias or acceptance of Church. Even my language in this article could change the interpretation, for example, I could use the word dogma here and change the entire meaning of the interpretation, or I could use the word knowledge. When I read for people, I often have a feeling of the card's meaning, but I will lead with a question like, "What is your relationship to the Church, or to your religion of origin?" Because this card is often about that relationship. 

So, how do I interpret this card? Many many many ways. If I was meditating with the Hierophant, I would concentrate on spiritual seeking and the pathway of wisdom and knowledge. I focus on the teachers on my spiritual journey, my Reiki teacher, my Tarot friends, my Crystal Teacher, my spiritual mentors. I actually focus on my daily self-care and the rituals of my spiritual work--cleansing the space, strengthening my EMF, grounding, meditation, salt baths, and meditation/prayer time. I think there is a strong undercurrent of ritual in this card. I sometimes advise my clients to begin a daily spiritual practice when they pull this card. Treat their spiritual opening with reverence and ritual. For readings about love, I often refer to marriage often since this card is about Institutions and societally acceptable forms of love. For those about work, I often talk about the Institution of the job, and wrestling with the authority at work. For questions about one's spiritual path, I often recommend returning to a Church. 

The depth of this card is limitless, but one strong element is that this card represents the metaphysical and esoteric knowledge (Arcana means hidden knowledge) available all around us, even in those traditions and religions we dismissed in our rebellious youth if we are willing to look deeper, beyond the scandals and bullshit political dogma perpetuated, to see the spiritual truth. Can we use all our institutions as spiritual teachers? What is part of the spiritual teaching we need is to learn to follow the path laid out in front of us and take direction from all people? Or rather, what if our spiritual lesson is to turn our will and life over to the care of God? And follow direction from a spiritual teacher is our first step in that process?

A great affirmation for this card might be:

I trust in the authority of the Divine and find spiritual lessons in all my experience. 

Do you like what you learn from my Tarot posts? Want more Tarot? For those that live in the South Jersey or Philadelphia area, I am teaching an accelerated Introduction to Tarot at the Crystal Tree in Haddon Township, NJ. Four classes in two weeks starting November 13. You can find out more information here. This class is limited enrollment, so if you are interested, send me an email at themoonandstone@gmail.com now.