Zodiac Signs and Their Stones: Aries

Aries, First Half: March 20-April 3

Pink diamond is the soul stone of choice for early-born Aries. Aries babies are ruled by the planet Mars. The finest-quality pink diamonds usually come from Western Australia. A secondary precious-crystal stone for this part of Aries is the pink sapphire, also rare.

Sunstone is the power crystal for these Aries folks. Appropriately red with an iridescent glow, sunstone is a gold-flecked good-luck charm for the Mars-ruled. Jasper and heliotrope are the other power stones for this part of the year. These red rocks will amp up your lust for life.

The heart stones for these zodiac pioneers are dolomite, rose quartz, and cinnabar. So, Aries, put rose quartz by your bedside for self-esteem, self-love, and spiritual comfort.

Aries, Last Half: April 4-April 18

Alexandrite is the designated soul stone here. It is not as rare as pink diamond but is very precious indeed—the scarcest of the chrysoberyls. Usually a dark green, alexandrite shows red under certain types of light. This royal stone is fitting for the first sign of the zodiac. Another soul stone for later-born Aries is rhodonite, a pinkish-red crystal that’s a favorite of Carl Faberge’s. This is a bringer of great wealth.

The power stone for this half of Aries is bowenite, a stone of great strength in a mossy green. While many of the crystals assigned to late Aries are red or pink, this one is green, signifying the other side of the planet Mars. Bowenite is especially precious and sacred to the Maori of New Zealand, where some of the finest specimens come from, and was highly prized by the ancient Indians and Persians. Carnelian is second in line as a power stone and was commonly carved ceremoniously by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Phoenicians in the pre-Christian era. Egyptians loved scarabs carved out of the umber-colored chalcedony. Explore the cavalcade of crystal stores on the Internet to find yourself a carnelian carved scarab for a personal power boost.

The heart stone for later-born Aries is the pale pink iridescent stone known as the youngite, which looks like a lighter-colored red jasper. One thousand years before Christ, the Egyptians made much jewelry out of this heart stone.

Excerpted from The Book of Abundance by Cerridwen Greenleaf found on Amazon.

INTENTIONS: USING CANDLES TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR DESTINY

As you may know well, Dear Reader, clarifying and focusing your intention is the ultimate key to success in any spellwork you perform. A clear intention is essential in order for you to channel your power and energy into attracting the outcome you desire. Beginning a ritual with a hazy or vague intent does not offer any direction for your personal power to go, and you may find you are more likely to either fail or be unsatisfied with the end results. Your intentions should be precise and attainable, and once you have mastered setting the perfect intention, your craft will be much more personal and have a more potent effect.

The following blogs will guide you through some strategies for intention setting and give you a framework to customize spells for your specific needs and desires.

Gifted and Talented: Success Accessories for Work

It is no accident that kings, queens, and emperors wore crowns. The ancients expected their leaders to be wise, and a bejeweled crown bestowed the brilliance and power of the gems to the crowned person, While you may not want to wear a tiara to the office or a crown to the grocery store, you can wear hair clips and barrettes with crystals and stones attached for some of the same reasons. Why not be smarter and smartly accessorized? Bejeweled barrettes worn at the temples confer wit and wisdom, a kind of brain-boosting power energy.

• Terrific Tiger’s Eye: Tiger’s Eye can help you filter out mental distractions and is excellent for research.
• Tops Turquoise: Turquoise is a good stone to help keep your mind and thoughts clear.
• Fabulous Fluorite: Fluorite is a true crystal of the mind and is very good for escalating mental focus.
• Brilliant Blue Scapolite: This blue crystal helps with multitasking and managing a great deal of information.
• Super Sodalite: Sodalite brings clarity, insight, and combines logic and intuition; a great combo!

Dream Crystals

Thomas Edison carried quartz crystals with him at all times and called the stones his dream crystals. He believed they inspired his ideas and inventions. Literary legends George Sand and William Butler Yeats also relied on crystals to help spark their considerable creativity.

Data has also been gathered to show the effectiveness of quartz in certain healing techniques, such as chakra therapy, acupressure, and light-ray therapy, as we will discuss in depth later. But the simplest way to promote healing with crystal is to wear a stone.

Quartz can take the form of great hexagonal stones or crystals so small that only a microscope can see them. Quartz can appear in clusters or singly. It can also appear in every hue of the rainbow. The gorgeous and varied hues of quartz come from electrostatic energy, which now can be altered through technology. I, however, prefer the simple beauty provided by Mother Nature herself.

Quartz is the largest of the crystal families, and we can be grateful for that since it is such a powerful healer. Moreover, it is an energy regulator for the human body, affecting the vibrations of the aura, or energy field that surrounds all living beings.

Tranquility Touchstones: Crystal Cairns

I am sure you will come to find this to be true: certain crystals can be touchstones in your life and bring multitudinous benefits, both emotional and spiritual. Find spots in your home or office where you can incorporate them into your every day, whether at a shrine, on your nightstand, or stacked in a corner on your desk as a sort of crystal cairn. This can be your special corner of the world where you can renew and connect with your spiritual center. Picking up and holding your touchstones can be one of the most soul-nourishing small acts of self-care you can do.

Following is a list of different crystals and what their presence will bring you:

Inspiration: Amazonite, aventurine, carnelian, chrysolite, chrysoprase, citrine, green tourmaline, malachite, yellow fluorite

Intuition: amethyst, azurite, celestite, lapis lazuli, moonstone, selenite, smoky quartz, sodalite, star sapphire, yellow calcite

Love: amethyst, magnetite, rhodochrosite, rose quartz, twinned rock crystals

Abundance: bloodstone, carnelian, citrine, dendritic agate, diamond, garnet, hawk’s-eye, moss agate, peridot, ruby, tigers-eye, topaz, yellow sapphire

Protection: amber, apache tear, chalcedony, citrine, green calcite, jade, jet, smoky quartz

Self-belief: azurite, chalcedony, chrysocolla, green tourmaline, hematite, rutilated quartz, tiger’s-eye

Serenity: amber, aventurine, blue jade, dioptase, Herkimer diamond, jasper, kunzite, moonstone, onyx, peridot, quartz, rhodonite

Confidence: carnelian, obsidian, quartz, selenite, sodalite, topaz

Positive Energy: agate, aventurine, bloodstone, calcite, chalcedony, citrine, dioptase, emerald, garnet, orange calcite, ruby, topaz

Deep wisdom: emerald, fluorite, Herkimer diamond, moldavite, serpentine, yellow calcite

5 Minute Magic: Turquoise Wish-Spell

Another charm for solvency is to take seven tiny turquoise stones in the palm of your hand and speak this wish spell aloud:

    Luck be quick,

    luck be kind,

    and, by lucky seven,

    good luck will be mine.

    Blessed be.

Place the seven small stones in your wallet or purse; more cash is on the way.

Pouch of Plenty: Crystal Charm Bags

A charm bag is a little bag or pouch filled with objects charged with magic for a specific intent. You can charge them by placing them on your altar for 24 hours or with spell work.

Gather together:

• Small muslin or cloth bags/pouch (that could fit in the palm of your hand)
• 3 pebble-sized crystals of green jade or peridot or turquoise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Bolline
• Dried basil leaves, one teaspoonful
• Green candle
• Thyme or cinnamon incense
• A length of green cord or string, a foot in length

Set the string aside and place everything else on your altar. Stand at your altar and light a green candle and thyme or cinnamon incense. Pick up the pouch and smudge it in the sweet smoke of the incense while saying the following spell:

    My life is blessed and this I know.

    Into this bag, prosperity will flow.

    I see the future is bright wherever I go,

    My life is blessed; this much I know.
    
    With harm to none; so mote it be.

Using your bolline, cut the cinnamon stick into three pieces. Cut the green cord into 3 pieces. Place the basil, pebbles, and cinnamon into the pouch. Now take the green cord, one length at a time, and tie at the end of the bag securely, wrapping it around six times and with a bow. Keep it with you in your pocket and into your life, money will flow.