Written in Stone

Gems and crystals can give us messages and warnings or powers of persuasion and perception. Here are a few examples:

    -A fossil or a gem containing a fossil, such as amber, will lengthen your life span.

    -Jasper carved into the shape of an arrow will be a magnet for good luck.

    -If your malachite jewelry chips or breaks, beware! It is warning you of danger.

    -Malachite gives great success to salespeople. Keep a malachite crystal in the cash register and wear it         during trade shows, presentations, and meetings.

    -Moonstone is the dieter’s power stone and helps maintain youthful appearances and attitudes.

    -Serpentine worn around a new mother’s neck helps her flow of milk.

The Language of Jewelry: Rings

Rings represent eternity, unity, reincarnation, safety, union, power, and energy. They symbolize the eternity of the circle shape—the universe. Wearing rings was believed to help ward off any kind of malevolence through their continuity—nothing could get in. A ring binds you with the energy of the stone. In dream psychology, a ring represents the desire for reconciliation of the different parts of your being and personality; it shows you want to be an integrated whole, which is the first step in making it happen. If you want to deepen a friendship, exchange amber rings with your friend to bind you together forever. Why do you think Native Americans wear turquoise rings? They know it is a guardian stone; its power is doubled when it is in a ring.

When wearing a ring, be sure the bottom side of the stone is open to allow greater connection between the stone and your skin. On your left hand, wear ring gems that awaken and release emotions, and on your right hand, wear stones that will enhance your career and your personal goals in life. I know that thumb rings have become a big trend, but you should know that wearing them could block the energy of the thumbs or, even worse, bring out egotism and selfishness.

Your index fingers are indicators of achievement, and wearing the proper gem on that finger can really aid you in striving for your dreams. For wisdom, wear lapis lazuli. For greater love of yourself and others, try pearl, moonstone, or garnet. For success, wear carnelian. For a quiet mind and greater calm, wear sodalite chrysocolla, or turquoise.

Your middle fingers are about ideas and insight as well as intuition; the left hand represents the receiving of ideas, and the right hand represents action and achievement in your life. Wear stones on the middle finger only when you want to get a lot of psychic input from the world around you. For greater sensitivity and creativity, wear amethyst. To awaken your inner and outer beauty, wear ruby. To access your higher good and know your life purpose, wear sapphire or quartz crystal.

The ring finger is about creativity, and, of course, the ring finger on the left hand is your love center and a direct connection to your heart. For deep and loyal ties of love, wear diamond. To express your love, wear moonstone. To inspire creativity, wear emerald. To meet creativity goals, wear tiger’s-eye or cat’s-eye. For practicality in your work and art, wear turquoise. For service to your community and the world, wear opal. For serenity both within and without, wear ruby.

Pinkie fingers represent change. The right gem on your little finger can help you find and pursue new opportunities and change the direction of your whole life. This is a lot of power in one little ring! For better organizational habits, wear pearl. For unwinding and simplifying, wear turquoise. To bring new energy and new prospects, wear aventurine.

The Language of Jewelry

A little thoughtfulness about how and where to wear your crystal and gem jewelry can go a long way toward enhancing your health and happiness. The left side of your body is the most sensitive, or feeling side; the right side is your action side. Information and energy flow into your left side much more quickly, so you can protect yourself by wearing crystals on that side that act as energy guards. Jewelry worn on the right side of your body helps with work, productivity, and success.

Necklaces, Pendants, and Chokers

Perhaps you want to be a better communicator or to sing or simply to express yourself more freely. A blocked throat chakra can result in your feelings and ideas being blocked. So, in this case, you will want to focus on opening up the throat chakra. A necklace or choker can serve this purpose. A strand of pearls not only looks timelessly elegant but also boosts your self-esteem and sociability. The best metals for this use are silver, copper, and gold. You will want to avoid aluminum entirely because it is considered to be a health risk.

Earrings

You can wear one gold earring and one silver earring to rid yourself of the discomfort of a headache. Earrings were once worn to guard ears from potential disease and from hearing bad news. They were also believed to strengthen weak eyes, especially if set with emeralds. Earrings help to balance both hemispheres of the brain and can stabilize the throat chakra. The earlobes are sensory centers on the body and usually benefit from the stimulation of a gem or crystal. Jade and tiger’s-eye are great for reviving and refreshing. You will generally feel quite good with these two earring choices. Sapphires will bring you greater wisdom. However, lapis lazuli and opal can be overstimulating as earrings, so watch carefully and see how your body reacts to them. Some people feel light-headed with these two stones placed so high on the body. Malachite can be too spiritually stimulating as earrings; don’t wear them unless you want to be in a soulful or dreamy reverie. Go for garnet, as garnet earrings will enhance your popularity. And here is a tip that might soon cause a stampede to the jewelry shop: Rose quartz is wonderful for the skin and can even slow aging!

Chains

Chains represent links between people, the ties that bind you to another. Other mystical associations for chains are happiness and justice; prayer; reason and the soul; communication and command. Plato referred to a chain of being, a golden chain linking the earth to the heavens above, a bond between humans and immortals. Socrates tied our human happiness to the concept of justice with a chain of steel and diamonds. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite compared the practice of prayer to an infinitely luminous chain going from Earth to heaven. An astral cord, akin to a golden chain, binds the spirit to the psyche and binds reason to the soul.

Crystal Meanings

* Amethyst: change is coming

* Black agate: monetary gain

* Red agate: long life and health

* Aventurine: new horizons and positive growth

* Blue lace agate: the need for spiritual and physical healing

* Citrine: the universe offers enlightenment

* Diamond: stability

* Emerald: lushness

* Hematite: new prospects

* Jade: everlasting life

* Red jasper: the need for grounding

* Lapis lazuli: heavenly fortune

* Quartz: clarity where there was none

* Rose quartz: love is in your life

* Ruby: deep passion and personal power

* Sapphire: truth

* Snowflake obsidian: your troubles are at an end

* Tiger’s eye: the situation is not as it appears

* Snow quartz: major changes

Energy-clearing Spell

My friends probably start rolling their eyes when I enthuse about the latest crystal discovery, fossil find, or glamorous geode. I truly can’t help myself as I simply love crystals and will never stop getting excited about these jewels that I consider to be major gifts from our Mother Goddess. She is endlessly generous and shows her love of us with the beauty and power of these sacred stones. Nevertheless, I do urge cleansing any and all new acquisitions so no unknown energy is allowed to permeate your home or impact your life or spellwork in any potentially negative way. All you need is a bowl of salt and you can cleanse your crystal and add it to your witch’s toolkit.

Simply place the crystal in the salt, making sure every surface or facet is touched by the salt, and chant this charm:

    Bones of our Mother,

    Stone of this Earth,

    Now your energy is clear.

    Now your energy is clean.

    Now your energy is here.

    Blessed be.

Your new prize is now ready.

Awesome Altar Stones

Crystals are finally being acknowledged for their power to give greater physical strength and health, and can be added to your healing altar (see page 76). Turquoise stones are grounding, and agates raise the energy level. For good circulation, try carnelian. For keeping life on an even keel, the organic gem family— shells, corals, and abalone—is optimal. For impetus and motivation, work with carnelian. To boost your health and well-being, try red coral for the lungs, bloodstone for the heart, and moonstone during pregnancy.

Quick Tips:

Instant Inspiration

    * To lift your spirits, light a green candle and hold harmony-bringing jade while meditating.

    * Carrying a quartz crystal will create tranquility inside and around you.

    * If you’re feeling overwhelmed or under duress, hold black obsidian. If the stress is caused by an             overabundant workload, keep the obsidian on your desk. Obsidian absorbs the negative.

Sacred Stone Shapes

• Ankh-shaped stones represent the key to life. Use this ancient Egyptian symbol to develop creativity, wisdom, and fertility.

• Clusters are among the most common natural crystal forms and bring balance and harmony into your life.

• Diamond-shaped stones bring the energy of wealth and abundance and are said to attract riches.

• Egg-shaped stones denote creativity and give new ideas to anyone wearing them.

• Heart-shaped stones bring love energy. They promote self-love and romance.

• Holes that form naturally in stones are very auspicious and magical. If you look through the holes by the light of the moon, you should see visions and spirits.

• Human body-shaped stones bring good energy to the body parts being depicted and strengthen those areas.

• Obelisks are four-sided, pyramid-topped shapes and are wonderful energy activators, or manifestors. Write your wish down on paper and place it beneath an obelisk to bring that hope into reality.

• Octahedrons, eight-sided stones, bring order to chaos and are great for analysis and organization. They are also terrific for healing. Carry an octahedron crystal in your pocket if you are unwell, so you can feel better soon.

• Pyramid-shaped stones carry energy upward, toward their pointed tips. I have a beautiful little malachite pyramid that I keep on my computer simply because I love to look at it. When the need arises, however, I can place a dollar bill underneath it and visualize positive money energy flowing up out of the stone.

• Rectangular rocks and crystals represent the energy of God. In addition to symbolizing male energy and the phallus, this shape is symbolic of energy itself and electrical current. It also denotes protection. Rectangular stones are great for love and sex spells.

• Round stones represent the universe and the Goddess. They are symbols of spirituality, connection to the universe, femininity, and, of course, pregnancy. Round crystals can be used in all love spells to cause attraction.

• Square stones represent the earth and are harbingers of plenty and prosperity.

• Triangular stones are guardian stones and protect the wearers.

All About Talismans

A talisman is decorative object, or objet, that also provides protection and has magical properties. A talisman can be any article or symbol that you believe has mystical qualities. As we know, many gems and crystals have special innate powers. With a talisman, the special powers can be naturally present or instilled during a ritual. People often confuse amulets with talismans, but they differ in this significant way: Amulets positively protect the wearer from harm, evil, and negativity. Talismans actively transform the wearer to have certain powers. For example, the supernatural sword Excalibur, imbued with supremacy by the Lady of the Lake, gave King Arthur magical powers.

Grimoires (spell books) offer instruction on making talismans. The reasons for using talismans are many—for love, for wealth, for luck with gambling, for the gift of a silver tongue, for a good memory, for the prevention of death. Whatever you can think of, there is probably a talisman for that exact purpose!

Jewelry That Protects You and Your Loved Ones: Amulets

The term “amulet” comes from the Latin word meaning “defense.” Indeed, amulets are a way to protect yourself that dates back from the earliest human beliefs. Pliny himself subscribed to the use of amulets and wrote about three common kinds used by the Romans of the classical age. A typical amulet of that era was a bit of parchment inscribed with protective words, rolled up in a metal cylinder, and worn around the neck. Evil eyes might be the most global of all amulets, the belief being that they could ward off a hex by simply reflecting it back to its origins. Phallic symbols have always been popular, too, coming in the shapes of horns, hands, and the phallus, of course. Some amulets were devoted to a specific god or goddess, and the wearer of such a piece would be protected by that divine entity.

The peoples of the Mesopotamian plain wore amulets. The Assyrians and Babylonians favored cylindrical seals encrusted with precious stones. They also loved animal talismans for the qualities associated with different animals: lions for courage, bulls for virility, and so on. The ancient Egyptians absolutely depended on their amulets for use in burial displays, and we can see many preserved in the cases of today’s museums. To make their amulets, the Egyptians employed a material called faience, a glazed composition of ground quartz that was typically blue green in color. Wealthier denizens of the Nile, royalty, and the priestly class wore precious and semiprecious gems and crystals as amulets. Lapis lazuli was perhaps the most revered of these and was worn in many shapes, the eye of Horus being the most significant religious icon, followed by the scarab symbolizing rebirth; the frog, symbolizing fertility; and the ankh, representing eternal life.

Organized religions appropriated the idea of amulets from pagan peoples, and it was very popular in medieval times to wear a tiny verse from the Torah, the Bible, or the Koran. Today, many a Catholic wears a medal honoring a given saint, such as Saint Christopher, the patron saint for travelers. Wiccans and modern pagans are great proponents of protective amulets, causing a resurgence in Celtic symbols and imagery.

Amulets are very easy to create and make nice gifts, as long as you believe your friends will truly benefit from them and are aware of the special qualities and powers they hold. To make one, select a crystal that is endowed with the desired energy. Hold it in the palm of your hand until it is warm from your touch. Then, visualize the specific power the stone is offering. If you’re giving your amulet to yourself, wear it as a pendant or tuck it into your pocket or purse for a “guardian to go.” Here is a list of stones from which to choose for the specific kind of safeguard you are in need of:

• Amethyst helps with sobriety by preventing inebriation.

• Aquamarine is good for attracting wisdom and overcoming a fear of water and drowning. It is also a guard against malevolent spirits.

• Bloodstone brings luck and is good to wear during travels.

• Carnelian is to the devil as garlic is to a vampire— keeps him away!

• Chrysolite drives away evil spirits and promotes peaceful sleep, especially if set in gold.

• Diamond in a necklace brings good fortune and lends force and valor. This dazzling stone should always touch the skin and works best when it is received as a gift.

• Emerald can cancel out the power of any magician!

• Jade offers protection, especially for children, and

  guards their health. It also creates prosperity.

• Jasper is reputed to be a defense against the venom of poisonous insects and snakes.

• Jet set in silver will help expel negativity.

• Moonstone is another boon to travelers and brings fortune and fame.

• Turquoise is believed to be great for a horse’s gait if affixed to the animal’s bridle.

Gratitude to Mother Nature

Stones, crystals, and gems are regarded as the purest forms of the earth’s generosity. Whenever you get a new crystal, receive a piece of jewelry with a stone or gem, or decorate your home or garden with rocks and pebbles, show gratitude for these gifts from nature. Simply say, “Thank you, Mother Nature, for this gift.” Your gratitude will be rewarded tenfold, and you will enjoy a shower of crystals and gems in your life from our benefactress Mother Earth, who enjoys getting credit for her good works!