August 21st, 2016

I've moved back into school, and start classes again tomorrow. While I still have a little time, I've been trying to research some more of my stones for you all.

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Sunstone

Physical Characteristics: Sunstone is a type of plagioclase feldspar, and can be colorless, yellow, red, or copper-colored.

In Nature: Goldstone has been sold as imitation Sunstone, due to the fact that Hematite inclusions common in Sunstone can have a similarly glittery effect. This effect is more properly termed Aventurescence, as it is in Aventurine.

Chemical Composition: (Ca, Na)(Al, Si)2Si2O8

Mohs Scale Hardness: 6 (medium)

Can be Found: Southern Norway, Sweden, USA, Siberia

Healing Properties*: Sunstone increases bodily warmth, and improves metabolism and digestion. Use it to relieve Seasonal Affective Disorder and nightmares, as well as chronic sore throat, cramps, and other aches and pains.

Magickal Properties: Sunstone is a crystal of originality, revealing and nurturing one's talents. It is similarly a stone of independence, and can help one to reduce emotional dependence on others. It helps people establish boundaries and learn to say "no". Use Sunstone to remove emotional "hooks" or "cords" from the energy field binding oneself to others.
Sunstone offers energy and vitality, and as such can be of use to those developing an exercise regime, or whose careers are fast-paced and high-energy. In the workplace, Sunstone fosters opportunity and promotion.
This stone alleviates stress and fear, including fear of the dark, small spaces, and other triggers.

Chakra Association: Root (First) Chakra

Element: Fire

Energy: Projective

Planetary Association: Sun

*Magickal healing should never take the place of seeing a doctor and following any recommended prescriptions, actions, or other advice. Magick works best in tandem with physical efforts, anyway, so don't skimp on those check-ups!

July 17th, 2016

I've had some research on Aventurine written up for a long time now, but I apparently never typed it out. Since I've been posting about the stones I acquired while on vacation, of which a rough piece of Aventurine was one, this seems like as good a time as any to publish this.

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Aventurine

Physical Characteristics: Aventurine is most commonly found as a green, lustrous stone, although orange and brown varieties also exist.

In Nature: This stone's characteristic shine comes from the inclusion of Fuschite, a Muscovite-bearing Mica. The effect is referred to as "aventurescence". Aventurine may be confused with Sunstone or Malachite, while Goldstone, also known as Aventurine Glass, may be sold as imitation Aventurine.

Chemical Composition: K(Al, Cr)2AlSi3O10(OH)2

Mohs Scale Hardness: 7 (high)

Can be Found: Primarily India, Chile, and east of the American Rockies; also Brazil, Russia, Spain, Austria, and Tanzania

Healing Properties*: Green Aventurine is a helpful partner in psychotherapy, treating heart and lung disorders, and increasing muscle flexibility. It also improves eyesight. The stone treats skin disease, such as eczema and other rashes, and eliminates warts. It improves metabolism and the digestive system.

Magickal Properties: Aventurine is a lucky stone, especially the green variety. It brings opportunity, and is most often noted as a stone for gamblers. Additionally, Aventurine strengthens one's sense of self and helps to reinforce a positive outlook. Relieving anxiety, Aventurine soothes the emotions. It enhances a healthy sense of humor and cheerfulness, and may also draw unexpected adventure or luck in love. Aventurine provides balance and can aid in dreaming. It clears the aura, and helps one to find independence. Moreover, the stone encourages creativity, and brings success to artists.

Chakra Association: Sixth (Third Eye) and Seventh (Crown) chakras

Element: Air

Energy: Projective

Planetary Association: Mercury

*Magickal healing should never take the place of seeing a doctor and following any recommended prescriptions, actions, or other advice. Magick works best in tandem with physical efforts, anyway, so don't skimp on those check-ups!

New Stones and Grid

I bought a few stones while we were on vacation, and I was also gifted a few. I saw lots of really neat ones, but I'm happy with what I restricted myself to.

These are the two I bought, actually from the rock shop in Wall Drugstore. Above is an opalized Ammonite fossil, and below is a piece of South Dakota Bubblegum Agate. The Ammonite was a little expensive, but I've never had any Opal before, so I was okay with that.

These two were gifted to me by a cousin of my mom's, who is an avid crystal collector. The top one is a chunk of rough Aventurine, and the bottom is a chunk of rough Snowflake Obsidian.

Then somewhat out of the blue, I got a message from a friend of mine (whose name and pseudonym I will leave out of this particular story) who was having some trouble with a malevolent entity in her household. I was out of the house at the time, but when I got back, I put together this crystal grid to help deal with the issue.

The crystals are all situated on a circular rug which gives the grid a clear boundary. In the center, my Generator Quartz is sitting on its box to tie together the energies of the other stones and send them out. Around it is a blue circle my friend crocheted a while back to act as a taglock, and then I have two more Quartz points facing the Generator for extra power. On either side are some olive leaves to bring in the power of Athena, and I also added the bird skull I found at Mabon because I felt drawn to include it.

In a ring around that, I alternated Tiger's Eye (and a Fluorite, because I only had three Tiger's Eye) with Smoky Quartz, Ametrine (I couldn't find my Citrine last night, although it has since turned up), Red Jasper, and Rose Quartz, and in the final outer ring are all the protective stones: Snowflake Obsidian, Black Tourmaline, Obsidian, Onyx, Apache Tear, and enough Tektites to bring the total stone count in that ring up to 12.

I was really happy with how it came out, and it seemed to do its job, which was to send protection and energy to my friend, who was really drained by the whole ordeal. 

Today, things have gotten largely back on track, so I took it down as it was a little obvious in the middle of my floor. I cleansed each of the stones before I put them away; I don't know that they would have picked up a lot of negativity all the way over here, but it seemed like a good practice, anyway.

July 9th, 2016

Well, you know what they say about a road paved with good intentions... It seems like every time I think it might be calming down enough that I could update this blog regularly, life decides to have a laugh at my expense. June was very, very busy between a vacation, bridal shower, and almost every conceivable sort of family issue. Anyway, I am back. I have some pictures from our trip that I will share (I'd been hoping to liveblog it, but the hotels we stayed in usually didn't have wifi), at least to start things off.

Mussel shell on a lake shore in Albert Lea, MN.

The Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD.

The Badlands National Park, SD.

Big horned sheep (with a baby!) in the Badlands, SD.

Mt. Rushmore in SD.

Devil's Tower National Park in SD.

Little Bighorn National Cemetery, SD.

Lakota prayer cloths tied to a bush in Little Bighorn, SD.

Sunset over Colombia Falls, MT.

Glacier National Park, MT.

McDonald Falls in Glacier, MT.

Rocks on the riverbank in Glacier, MT.

Mountains on Going to the Sun Rd. in Glacier, MT.

Snow melting into a waterfall in Glacier, MT.

Mammoth Hot Springs at Yellowstone National Park, WY.

An enormous chunk of Aventurine next to my foot; apparently it's a fairly rare stone, but happens to occur in a small town in Montana.

The Paint Pots in Yellowstone, WY.

Blue Star Spring in Yellowstone, WY.

Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone, WY.

Grand Tetons National Park, WY.

Overall, it was a really cool trip. There was a lot of driving, but we got to see lots of amazing scenery and wildlife. I brought home some stones, of course, and a book, which I will eventually get to writing about, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy the photos, and I apologize for the long break from posting.

January 6th, 2014

Hey there, internet. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to A) remember that I have a blog and B) to remember to actually post things on it. Another one is to start keeping a dream diary again - so far so good on that one.

In any case, I do have some news! Quite a bit of news, actually. Most excitingly, I got together with Hazelnut last Saturday for the first time since September. We exchanged Yule gifts - she gave me a copy of The Fairy Bible (review to follow), and then we went over to Gypsy Haven. They've done so much with the place since I was there last, and the energy feels fantastic. While I could easily have emptied my bank account in there, I only made one purchase, albeit a significant one. The pendant, more or less identical to the one pictured, features a lemniscate (the infinity symbol) set with stones coordinating to the seven major chakras. Insofar as I can tell, the stones in descending order are Amethyst, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Aventurine, Tiger's Eye, and two kinds of Agate, but those are my guesses only; the sites selling these over the web are incredibly unspecific. 

At any rate, I love it because the lemniscate is a symbol of neurodivergence, as well as an inside joke with my girlfriend. I love gemstones, I need more chakra-related jewelry, and it's also really satisfying to rub the smooth texture of the stones.

We hung out and talked at the store for a while with the owners, and then we all went over to the local drum circle. It was so nice to be back - I hadn't been in a year, at least, and everyone was so friendly, as always. It's truly a great opportunity to recharge my energy. One woman had a rain drum and thunder sticks that her husband had made her, so we closed the evening with a rainstorm drum session, and it was totally amazing. 

In conclusion, I really need to get back to doing more witchy things. I've missed this.

August 18th, 2013

Meet my medicine pouch. I got it at the Faery Fest and am more than pleased with my purchase. The leather bag, empowered to reduce stress (because Goddess knows I deal with a lot of it), has a small Quartz crystal wand tied to it and contains six other small stones. The pouch came with a little blurb explaining the role each stone plays in stress-reduction. In the order they appear in the picture, top to bottom:

• Aventurine: Fosters a feeling of serenity and dissolves distressing feelings
  
• Chrysocolla: Helps one remain calm under sudden or intense stress
  
• Dumortierite: Instils a "take-it-easy" attitude and helps one to be more relaxed
  
• Moonstone: Balances and soothes changing emotions and nerves
  
• Rose Quartz: Opens the heart
  
• Sunstone: Instils a sunny attitude

The provided sheet also described how best to cleanse and empower the stones. According to the given instructions, one ought to either place the stones on the soil of a healthy house plant or leave them in direct sunlight for at least two hours. In this case, it seems wiser not to run them under water because the stones are so tiny - don't want one going down the drain by accident! I was already in the middle of cleansing all my other stones with some holy water yesterday, so I just went ahead and did the same with these.
Once cleansed, one should hold the stones in one's palm and imagine oneself surrounded by bright white light. Center and repeat the following (or similar) affirmation three times: "I feel calm, happy, and free as I easily let go and focus on my Life Force energy".

May 7th, 2013

Goldstone

 

 

Physical Characteristics: Goldstone is created when Silica, Copper oxides, and other metals are melted together. A chemical reaction occurs, causing elemental Copper to precipitate out, and the vat of melted material is sealed until it cools. The finished product is one of a sienna-colored glass with glittering copper suspended throughout it. Varieties using Cobalt instead of Copper may appear a dark blue.

In Nature: THIS STONE DOES NOT OCCUR IN NATURE. According to legend, Italian monks practicing alchemy created this stone instead of the gold they were seeking; whether this is true or not, the best-known producer of Goldstone is an Italian family.

Chemical Composition: SiO2 + Cu

Mohs Scale Hardness: 5 - 6 (low - middle)

Can be Found: Anywhere where someone has a mind to make it, but predominately Italy and China

Healing Properties*: Since this stone contains Copper, it can be used to increase bloodflow and reduce inflammation. It also protects one from ulcers and bacterial infections. Called by some a "Master Healer", Goldstone stimulates the flow of healing energy through the hands, and may assist in long-distance healings.

Magickal Properties: In some ways, Goldstone acts like Sunstone, especially in that it alleviates depression. It promotes calm, and channels energy well, such that it may be employed to charge other stones or generate energy for spellwork. The stone deflects negativity, and assists in reaching lofty goals. In addition to the aspects of physical health listed above, Goldstone may also help to heal spiritual crises, enhancing faith and belief. It balances and grounds one's energy, and, in accordance with its alchemical associations, can be used for personal transformation. Associated with Aventurine (indeed, it is sometimes called Aventurine Glass), Goldstone shares its connections to good fortune, especially in gambling and matters of money, and in travel, both astral and physical. 

Chakra Association: Goldstone is associated with the Second (Sacral) chakra.

Element: Water

Energy: Receptive

Planetary Association: Venus

*Magickal healing should never take the place of seeing a doctor and following any recommended prescriptions, actions, or other advice. Magick works best in tandem with physical efforts, anyway, so don't skimp on those check-ups!