Creating Your Crystal Conjuring Shrine

Put your shrine together on a low table covered with a white scarf. Set rainbow candles in an arc and then add black and white candles. Prepare a heatproof bowl containing amber incense (good for creativity and healing), and place it in the center of the rainbow, surrounded by quartz. 

Prosperity stones should be placed to the far left on the altar, in the money corner. Romance crystals should sit to the far right on the altar. 

The rest of your altar should consist of personally meaningful symbols. They should reflect your spiritual aspirations. I keep fresh wildflowers in a vase, a statue of a goddess, abalone shells, a magnetite obelisk, and a rock-quartz crystal ball on my altar. You can use just about anything—photos of loved ones, religious images, and so forth. An obelisk or pyramid on your altar can be used for writing out desires and wishes. 

With your altar, you can create a bridge between your outer and inner worlds. It can even be a place where you commune with the deepest and most hidden parts of yourself. An altar is where you can honor the rhythms of the season and the rhythms of your own life. An altar is a touchstone, a place to see the sacred and incorporate it into your life each and every day. It can be your special corner of the world where you can rest and connect with your spiritual center. Creating and augmenting your altar every day is one of the most soul-nourishing acts you can do.

Crystal Visualization

Crystals are also powerful amplifiers. Berry, another priestess in Z’s circle, taught me that crystals store and back up our thoughts. She pointed out that it is very important to clear out any thoughts of negativity when working with crystals, as many can store this bad energy and emanate it in all directions. She taught me to be clear in my thinking when working with crystals so that all influences would be both positive and good. You see, crystals affect the energy of the body as well as the energy of the mind.

Berry showed me a technique for measuring this amplification. She had me choose two seedlings; I chose two tomato plants of the same size. Then, I was instructed to treat the plants exactly the same way in terms of water, light and food. I placed the same quartz crystal I used in the water-transformation test beside the left tomato seedling, which I placed 4 feet apart from the other seedling. When I tended the plants each day, I gave them exactly the same basic necessities, but Berry instructed me to take the crystal beside the leftmost seedling and hold it in my left hand while talking to the plant. It felt a bit silly at first, I admit. But soon, it became the most natural thing in the world to speak with the tomato plant and tell it what a wonderful tomato plant it was and how excited I would be to eventually taste its fruit. Also, I visualized it growing hearty and strong and loaded with tomatoes ripening for salad. Perhaps the most important step in the process was to send positive thought energy to the seedling. The seedling on the right received no daily chats or crystal vibes. After a month, you could tell an enormous difference. Both plants were healthy, but the plant on the left was much bigger and bushier. The crystal had clearly amplified the energy.

Crystals are not only used in batteries; they are batteries in their own right. Crystals become charged with energy and store that energy. Some crystal gazers also believe we can store information in crystals. The shamanic crystal skulls of the Mayans have caused people who have handled them to have many dreams and visions that seemed to be recordings of historic events. These crystal skulls are theorized to be depositors of all the knowledge of the Mayans—crude computers, if you will.

Again, using crystals to store energy must be approached mindfully and with great consciousness. If you are very happy one day, remember to pour some of that bliss into a crystal, and it will remain there as a source for some happiness on a blue day. Do not send negative energy into a crystal, as it will store the bad along with the good and be a negative transmitter.

Very advanced crystal wielders also use crystal batteries for transfer of energy and even for telepathy, which, I must confess, goes well beyond my skill level.

Experimenting on Your Own

There are so many kinds of rituals, from everyday actions to special incantations for high holy days such as Beltane (May Day) and Samhain (All Hallows Eve). You have sampled just a few spells and rituals here and have learned how you can wield gem magic in your life. After you have been practicing these crystal conjurations for a while, you can experiment with new variations, and they will most likely come naturally to you. Try the stones you are attracted to for your altar, and if you feel an affinity for a certain crystal, explore it in the resource section of this book and then discover for yourself how you can use that stone to suit your needs. Just think about the positive change you want in your life and create your personal spell book.