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!

New Year's Purification Bath

As hectic as my life has been, I have tried to keep some magickal things going. The main one was a purification bath I set up on January 1st. 2016 was a disaster on multiple levels, and I knew I wanted to come out of that making 2017 a much better year. This was my first step toward doing so.

I started by collecting bath supplies to represent each of the four elements. I used bath salts for earth, a bath bomb for air (because it's fizzy and makes air bubbles), and some bath confetti for fire; it was pink and heart-shaped, so it seemed to convey the idea of fire's emotional passion. For water, I used a very special ingredient. Back in 2015 when there was that major Super Blood Moon Eclipse event, I charged a bottle of water in the moon's energy, focusing on capturing its qualities of profound transformation. I had never used any of it, wanting to save it for particularly significant moments, but I don't know that I can think of a time that has needed more transformational power than 2016 going into 2017, so I poured some of my Blood Moon Eclipse Water into the bath as well.

As always, these ingredients are just things that I used. I had all of them on hand, and did not go out of my way to source anything. Feel free to make substitutions as you like - other bath products, herbs, crystals, whatever works for you. If you don't have your own Eclipse Water, substitutions there are also perfectly acceptable. You could use Storm Water, if you have some, or just empower the water that's already in the tub.

Once I had my ingredients together, I ran the bath water, and then added everything, invoking each element as I did so. I used a small lamp for mood lighting rather than the overhead, and then took my bath! I also find that it's helpful to shower after doing something like that, to make sure that all the soap is out of my hair, but in terms of set-up, it's quite simple. My only other note would be to then thank the elements once the bath is concluded.