May 17th, 2017

I don't believe I ever shared a photo of it, but one of my birthday gifts this year was a piece of Polychrome Jasper from Rebekka's store carved in the shape of a heart. Now that I've had a little free time over my summer vacation, I finally got around to researching its properties.

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Polychrome Jasper 

(aka Desert Jasper)

Physical Characteristics: Polychrome Jasper is so named for the myriad colors it can contain, the list of which includes red, brown, purple, yellow, grey, and teal. These colors are the product of mineral admixtures, usually iron oxides.

In Nature: Jaspers are micro-crystalline, fine-grained, and opaque stones. They are comprised of massive (i.e. formed in a mass) formations of Chalcedony Quartz.

Chemical Composition: SiO2

Mohs Scale Hardness: 7 (medium-high)

Can be Found: Madagascar

Healing Properties*: Use Polychrome Jasper to boost your energy; it may be helpful for managing chronic fatigue, exhaustion as a result of a mental illness, or similar conditions.

Magickal Properties: Polychrome or Desert Jasper is a figure stone, which is to say that certain specimens may appear to show images of people, animals, landscapes, or symbols, and one's associations with that image can impact the properties of the stone. The properties can also vary based on what colors are present (see below). 

Generally, Polychrome Jasper is a stone with fiery energy, associated with action, passion, and liveliness. It can be a powerful tool for transforming one's life trajectory into something more desirable; it can be used similarly for new relationships. Additionally, use Polychrome Jasper for grounding, and for finding peace and self-worth during difficult times.

Color properties:

• Red/Red-orange: Enthusiasm, physical and spiritual vitality
• Rose: New love, romance, and/or relationships
• Purple: Awe, mystery, dream interpretation, renewal
• Teal: Temperance, restoring calm, relieving stress, overcoming conflict, protection in the face of cruelty
• Yellow: Happiness, cheerfulness, contentment

Chakra Association: Root (First), Solar Plexus (Third) chakras

Element: Fire

Energy: Projective

Planetary Association: Earth, Mars

*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!

April 27th, 2017

We all know by now that I am a sucker for crystals, and last week, the lovely Rebekka of bekkathyst.com had a really great coupon running. As a result, I bought myself some little treats to get me through the end of the semester.

I got another Aquamarine and a Rainbow Moonstone, and then I also got a new crystal - Apophyllite. I'm looking forward to researching its properties.

February 14th, 2017

Happy Valentine's Day, to those celebrating it!

I really should have made this post last week, but that's par for the course with my schedule. Rebekka, who I love to buy crystals from, was recently selling Gold Sheen Obsidian daggers in her store here, and I just had to buy one. I've been in the market for a good athame for a long time; I technically have one at home, but it's actually my dad's, and the blade likes to fall out of the hilt, so it's not very practical. I've looked at athames before, but just never really found one I connected with. Knowing my love for crystals, however, I thought I might get along a lot better with an Obsidian piece.

It's so beautiful, and the shimmer only sort of shows up in the photo, but it's absolutely stunning in the light. The blade is about 3" long, and as I predicted, I like it much better than any steel blade I've ever looked at.

There it is, sitting on my altar. As always, Rebekka shipped quickly, and her items are so high quality. I definitely recommend her products!

November 7th, 2016

I'm really excited! A week or two ago, I put down a bid on a crystal auction that Rebekka, who I've ordered crystals and jewelry from before, was having on Tumblr. Her pieces usually sell very high, and I was expecting to get out-bid. Somehow, however, I didn't, and I ended up winning the auction for five beautiful pieces of Spirit Quartz for only $41!. If you've ever bought Spirit Quartz before, then you know it can be quite pricey; the one little piece I had already was $15 or $20 by itself when I bought it. Five pieces for $41 is definitely a deal!

These are my new babies - on the top left is a Clear Spirit Quartz, while the top right is an Amethyst Spirit Quartz. The other three are Citrine Spirit Quartz, and they're all uniquely beautiful. I immediately set them up around the election spell I did the other night to amp up the power (remember, Americans - go vote tomorrow!).

This Amethyst Spirit Quartz I bought at Fairy Fest last year. Now it has friends!

And finally, Rebekka was also doing a little "Trick or Treat" special in October - anyone who ordered something before Halloween got either a bit of Green Jasper or some plastic spiders. I would have loved the Jasper, but the spiders are cute (they'll be good for next Samhain), and I can always use little sachets, so that was a nice bonus, too.

For my post on the specific properties of Spirit Quartz, click here. If you would like to check out Rebekka's shop - and I highly recommend you do - you can find her new website here.

July 23rd, 2015

Oh my goodness, the crystals I ordered arrived today, and I am in love!

Rebekka's products always come very well-packaged, as you can see. The items also come with labels, so there's no confusion about what is what.

This was one of her $10 "Mystery Boxes" (contents reflected by the price), and it's like Yuletide in July! For starters, she threw in a little white tea light, which are always useful to have around for spells and rituals, and then there were the crystals themselves.

Here, a glittering chunk of Black Tourmaline.

Next, seven lovely Amethyst points - maybe now I can look into some crystal grids for dealing with anxiety!

Then, two Selenite wands - I might use one of these next Esbat!

And finally, the pièce de résistance: a palm-sized chunk of Blue Calcite. This is my new baby. It's so beautiful, and the vibration it exudes is astonishing. Expect a post regarding its properties soon. In the meantime, see the following posts on Black Tourmaline, Amethyst, and Selenite for further information.

Please do consider supporting Rebekka's business. Her store can be found here on Etsy, and truly is a quality establishment. I don't believe she has any additional mystery boxes on sale at the moment, but she always has stunning handmade crystal jewelry at very reasonable prices. I know I plan to be buying from her again!

EDIT: Rebekka's store has moved - she now has her own website! Check out her work here.

May 30th, 2015

How is it the end of the month already? Where did the time go? I got back from school for the summer on the 15th. Since then, I've been doing an assortment of things - knitting, mostly, with some crochet and a bit of reading thrown in. This morning, I got to setting my Litha altar up, did a little rearranging on my smaller shrine, and finally - after four years - filled up my notebook version of this blog. More on that later, but for now, a few pictures:

I just bought this pendant off of this Etsy shop; the woman who owns the store, Rebekka, uses only natural, high quality stones, and hand wraps all of them. A lot of her pieces are Labradorite, which are absolutely stunning, but she's also done work in different quartzes (Amethyst, this Tangerine Quartz, etc.), Opals, Aquamarines, and more. She gets her pieces in the mail pretty immediately - the only reason I had to wait a bit on mine was because I ordered it over the holiday weekend - and she sends it through priority mail, so once it ships it arrives quickly as well.

Here I am wearing it. Sorry, the lighting isn't great. I really like it! 

EDIT: Rebekka's store has moved - she now has her own website! Click here to view her work.