Stone of Self-Belief: Hematite Vanquishes Anxiety

Hematite shores up self-image and self-belief. It also transforms negative energy into positive. Hematite is considered to be yang, a more male energy. My favorite aspect of this shiny wonder is that it assists with both legal problems and astral projection. Hematite is a creativity crystal and a marvelous mental enhancer, increasing the ability to focus, concentrate, think with logic, and remember more clearly and completely. Hematite draws anxiety out of the body and creates calm. In addition to all of these aspects that project outward, hematite contributes to inner work: self-knowledge, deeper consciousness, and wisdom. Like the iron in the earth from which it is formed, hematite grounds. If you feel spacey or disconnected, you should wear hematite.

All About Talismans

Talismans, like amulets, are decorative and magical objects. If you’ve ever read the story of King Arthur, you’ll remember a supernatural sword, called Excalibur, which was given special powers by the Lade of the Lake. It is this sword, a talisman, which gives King Arthur magical powers.

Unlike amulets, which are passive protectors, talismans actively transform the wearer to hold certain powers. Crystals and gems already hold power, but with a talisman, special powers can be naturally occurring, or you can instill powers during a ritual. A talisman can be any object or symbol that you believe possesses mystical qualities.

Talismans are used for many different reasons. They can bring love, luck, wealth, and protect you from death or harm. For instructions on creating a talisman, consult a grimoire, or spell book. Here is a list of sacred stone shapes for amulets and pendulums when you are trying to figure out how you want to create ritual talismans and charms.

To maximize the power of the talisman that you design and make, consider the following tried and true suggestion: Keep in mind that this will work even better if you place the item on your altar to energize it. On a new moon night, light a candle that corresponds with your intention or hope. Green is for abundance, red is for power and love, blue is creative and spiritual vision. Burn the candle for one hour every evening.

I also like to create gifts of love for the special friends in my life. I like to gather seeds and herbs in my travels. If you create good luck talismans for your friends and loved ones, your good intentions will be repaid many times over. I keep a stock of tiny muslin drawstring bags on hand to make the talismans, but the talisman can be even more powerful if you sew the bag by hand and stuff the dried herbs and flowers inside. For a courage talisman, use mullein and borage; for safe travels, use comfrey; for protection, use snapdragon; for healing, use rue; for success, use woodruff; for strength, use mugwort; for beauty, use an acorn. In the appendix on page 320, there are many other options you can choose from in the Language of Flowers chart.

Keep these herbal talismans with you at all times and advise your friends to do the same. These bring good luck when you carry them in a purse, pocket, or even in a string around your neck.

Designing Your Own Fire Rituals

Fire rituals are superb tools for personal transformation, but fire should be handled with great care and understanding of its volatility. Rituals for change, ceremonies invoking the warrior spirit, and rites for ardent passion all are rites associated with fire. Fire gives courage and sparks ideas. Rituals with candle magic are a daily fire ritual you can do to create positive changes in your life.

Rites using firepower could include those for creativity, love and lust, courage, ambition, mysticism, purgation and cleansing, and closure.

Fire Deities

Shiva is the Hindu lord of life. He performs a ritual dance within the circle of flames.

Brigid is an excellent example of how an old pagan goddess was adopted by Christianity. The Celtic tradition’s great triple goddess was known as Brigantia in England, Brigindu in southern France, and Bride in Scotland. According to legend, Saint Brigid was a druid’s daughter, and was baptized by Saint Patrick. Her name means “bright one” and she tended the undying fire of the sun. Her song of invocation, as befitting a fire goddess, is “Brigid, excellent woman, sudden flame, may the bright fiery sun take us to the lasting kingdom.”

Durga, the oldest and fiercest form of the Hindu goddess aspect Devi, sprang into being from the flames in the mouths of the gods. Even though born from them, she was stronger than them all and was given weapons and a lion with which to battle the demon Mahiso. Seizing the demon by the hair, she freed the world from his evil so others could live there. She also rules the intellectual realm.

Pele, daughter of the Haumea, is the volcano goddess of fire and earth in Hawaii who first learned how to make fire. Luisah Teish tells of a personal encounter with her at a volcano in Maui in her book Jump Up. Many Pele stories involve the goddess appearing as an old woman who asks for a cigarette, then lights it with her magic. 

Rituals of Engagement

Using ritual to create sacred space in your life puts you between the worlds. You are on the threshold where all things are possible. The magic circles is a boundary, separating the sacred and the magical from the mundane. Out of all the rituals marking the passage of life, engagement is unique in that it is a threshold between stages in life. You are no longer single, but you are not quite married, either. As courtship turns into engagement, the relationship has deepened, yet the foundation is not quite solid. You are still in the process of building, exploring, and discovering. Engagement is the marker, the boundary, separating your old life from the new path you will walk with your betrothed.

Rituals of engagement are quite common. Most married people who would never see themselves as any sort of ritualist have performed engagement rituals. Asking for someone’s hand in marriage, accepting the offer, and trading rings are rituals that involve special words and ritualized actions, such as getting down on one knee, that carry life- changing significance.

Unlike marriage, which usually requires an official minister, engagement rituals are private, personal, and often spontaneous. They are simple and heartfelt. They can involve anything your imagination creates. Sometimes the individual who proposes hides a ring in a special place, creating a romantic treasure hunt, or has it as part of the presentation in a romantic dinner. Each ritual can suit the couple’s personality and style.

In a magical context, there are two kind of modern engagement rituals. The first is the question and answer. One person—traditionally the male in heterosexual couples—“pops the question” and presents a ring. The second can be a more magical acceptance of the engagement, where both people are clear, conscious, and purposeful in their magical intent in order to formalize their engagement and walk toward the path of marriage together. This is an approach to getting married through deep discussion and agreement.

The ring is the most important tool in this ritual. Some people get hung up on the size and quality of the ring and its stone, and jewelry companies have come up with creative marketing plans based on your monthly pay to determine the money you should spend on this ring. Obviously, they have their own interests at heart, not yours. To the magically inclined, the price and size of the diamond aren’t as important as the love and magic put into the ritual of choosing and offering it.

Diamond rings are most often used in engagement. The ring is a circle, a wheel, forever turning, an unbroken line. Gold is the metal of the sun and conjures a bright future. Magically, it symbolizes good fortune, success, health, creativity, and immortality. A gold ring is a symbol of a union that will last forever, shining brightly. The sun also rules the diamond. It is a most beloved gem and spiritually is one of the most powerful, for it represents the powers of light and transformation. In a diamond, the blackness of coal has been transformed into purest light and the color spectrum.

To bring out these blessings, consecrate the ring before offering it to your beloved. Wash it in pure water, envisioning all unwanted energies dissolving away. Hold the ring up to the sun and feel the rays of light catalyzing the powers of the gem and the precious metal. Feel it fill with light, and then hold it to your heart. Feel the love you have for your future spouse. Charge the ring with your love, your hopes, dreams, and magical wises. Enchant the ring’s energy to grow as the two of you grow as a couple, increasing your live and blessings. Then put it back into its box, or whatever container you will present it in, and close it. Don’t let anybody else see or touch the ring until you hand it to your love. As you present it, feel the love you have invested in it radiate outward. Let it inspire your heart and mind as you ask, “Will you marry me?" 

The New Moon

The new moon is sometimes called Diana’s Bow, a reference to the Roman goddess of the hunt. The Maiden phase arrives when the moon comes out of the shadows and begins to show its first glimmering crescent of light. The new moon is the time to begin new projects and bring new energy into your life. It is an auspicious time for blessing rituals. I save new ventures to begin them on the new moon. Now is the perfect time to plant a garden, reorganize your office, start a new business, begin an art project, or embark on a new relationship—anything that requires the energy of developing and growing. Budding and building are the key words for the new moon.

New Moon, New Beginnings

This new moon time is a wonderful opportunity to involve yourself in personal improvement and transformation, whether spiritual or health-related, like practicing yoga or following a new diet. The new moon has great advantages for healing. This phase is also marvelous for rituals that draw something to you. Rituals and charms commenced in the new moon can have tangible results by the next new moon. Divinatory rituals performed during the new moon can also bring great clarity.

Here is a new moon ritual to ignite new energy for new projects and new beginnings.

Charoite—Russian Rarity

It is a testimony to the earth that we are still discovering new crystals and gems. Charoite is a fairly recent discovery in the West, which became aware of its existence in 1978, although the Russians unearthed it in 1947 in the Chara River valley in central Siberia. Indeed, the wavy patterning of this purple stone rather resembles a running river. Charoite is found exclusively in the part of Russia at the northern tip of Lake Baikal. Charoite is an intense purple. Since this is such a relatively recent discovery, we are still learning a lot about charoite, but what we know now is that it is a stone of cleansing and purification. It is also rapidly gaining a reputation as a stone of deep transformation. Charoite is being used for chakra healing, uniting the crown and heart chakras. An aura purifier, charoite grounds and integrates. It may be helpful for treating general aches and pains and issues relating to the heart, liver, eyes, and pancreas. This beautiful purple crystal can create the proper atmosphere for unconditional love. To use charoite effectively, you should place it over your heart.

Pyrolusite

This stone has an attractive and dramatic name, from the Greek words pyr (fire) and lousis (washing). The ancients must have thought pyrolusite looked as if it had been washed by fire. Pyrolusite is the thin, fan-shaped black-and-white oxide of manganese usually found at the bottom of a bog or on the ocean floor. It can also grow in the cracks between rocks, in which case it forms lovely, fern-like dendrite crusts.

Pyrolusite is amazing for transformation. It helps get rid of buried emotions and anything that might be interfering with spiritual growth. Pyrolusite will get to the root of a problem and dislodge it. This rock defends the etheric body, or aura, from negative energy and bad energy. Pyrolusite is also good for the metabolism and is helpful for treating bronchitis. Pyrolusite is a stabilizing stone that is excellent for relationships and stimulates the sensual side of life. It is a stone favored by shamans.

Crystal Meditation

Crystals are tools used to heal and transform our lives. I think of them as the tools of the metaphysician. Meta means “beyond” or “above,” and physics is the science of the physical world. So metaphysics literally means “beyond physics,” and there is much that cannot be explained by ordinary science and the laws that have been established. Physics is very much about tracing energy and the origins and effects of it, yet ordinary science and physics cannot necessarily explain how crystals manage and direct energy in powerful ways. They can be used to store, change, amplify, focus, and send energy.

Crystals can be a point for focus, an aid to absolute clarity of thought and intention. I was once told that these stones can be “tuning forks” for the consciousness, a though I just love.

I recommend this meditation exercise for training yourself to gain laser-like focus: Lie on the floor in a place where you will not be distracted. Clear your thoughts and open your mind. Place a small quartz in the center of your forehead. Your pineal gland is located here, as is your third eye—the source of all intuition. After a few moments pass, you should start to have visualizations that are sort of like daydreams, but these messages are from your higher consciousness. I have had friends and workshop mates report that while performing this technique they went into another realm entirely—a fantasy world, a paradise, an unknown and a very appealing place. Nearly everyone reports that they passed through a set of gates. You should perform this meditation for about thirty minutes, but no longer. We don’t want anyone to leave us for too long and remain in reverie.

After you try meditating solo, you may want to participate in activities with a group. At a retreat I organized for Z Budapest at the Ralston White Retreat Center in Mill Valley, California, she led us through a truly magical journey deep into Mother Earth. This was for the purpose of grounding us so we could get the most benefit from the weekend adventure. With Z’s permission, I will share this meditation with you. You can do it with a group of people who have a shared intention. Start by having everyone lie down in a circle formation with their eyes closed. Z’s guided tour follows:

Blessed beings, you are about to enter the Mother, our great earth goddess, Gaia. In your mind, you are standing with bare feet on the ground. You can feel the grass with your toes, the solid earth underneath your feet. Feel the solidity and fastness of the earth fill your body with strength; we are all made of clay. We come from the death, and we are made of earth. Feel your connection to the Mother. We come from the earth, her womb. We are made of stardust and clay and the waters of the ocean. Feel the blood in your veins. The water of life. Know that you are alive. Feel her winds, the breath of life. Breathe deeply ten times, completely filling your lungs and completely emptying your lungs. Breathe and feel your chest rising and falling with each breath.

Now feel your backbone connecting to the earth; you feel a cord connecting you and your life to the earth. Concentrate on the cord until you can feel it running all the way through you and deep into the earth. Tug on the cord; feel it give. Now, take the cord in your hands and follow it down, down deep into the earth. It is dark as you go down and down, but do not be frightened. Trust in the universe and keep descending into the bosom of the Mother. Down we go, not falling but moving purposefully, gracefully, following the cord of the earth. Now you see light. Keep moving toward the light and keep holding the cord as it leads you to the shining distance.

The light grows nearer, and you see that it is an opening, a cave, a safe place in which to shelter. Enter the cave. It is filled with light, firelight reflected off a thousand crystal points. An old woman sits as the fire, warming her bones in her warm and dry cave. It is beautiful, more beautiful than the palace of any king or the castle of any queen. It is the crystal cave of the Goddess, and you are with her. Show your respect to the Goddess and light the incense at her altar at the side of the cave, piled up with many shimmering stones and priceless gems, the bounty and beauty of our generous benefactor.

Sit quietly and head the special message she has for you. You are her child, and she has dreamed a dream for you. Now we listen and breathe. Blessed be.

Z led us back to the circle, and after that, nobody’s life was ever the same. In my experience with this particular guided visualization, I could smell the incense as we lit it. All the women at this retreat had profound experiences with Z Budapest and the Goddess that day. It helped greatly to have such a skilled guide as the Dianic priestess, Ms. Budapest, with her purring Hungarian accent. But with caring intention and the willingness to really let go, we can all achieve marvelous breakthroughs with these meditative exercises.

On that day, I received a very specific insight from the Goddess to go back to graduate school and pursue my abandoned dream of a master’s degree in medieval studies. I felt exhilarated by this resolute in my decision. I felt alive with purpose and so blessed to be pursuing both my scholarship and my spirituality. I remember that the reality of working full-time and going back to school at night wasn’t easy, but whenever I started to stumble on my path, I remembered back to the crystal cave and my time with the great glowing Goddess in her magnificent crystal cave, and I immediately felt stronger.

Here is an exercise I learned long ago from my mentor in all things magical, Z Budapest, for the transformation of energy: Fill a bowl with 2 cups of water, preferably distilled or, better yet, good old rainwater. Put a chunk of clear quartz crystal that weighs at least 6 ounces into the water basin. Take another bowl of the same size and fill it with the exact same kind of water and place it in another room at least 15 feet away from the bowl containing the crystal. After one full day and night, fill two glasses with the water from each bowl; you will marvel at the difference in taste. What makes the difference? There is a molecular change in the water containing the crystal. The water is transformed.

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!

Rings of Rejuvenation

Gemstones and crystals have transformative powers and magic that has been worked with since olden days. Bring birthstone blessings into your life by using these Rings of Rejuvenation.

• *  Sapphire has violet energy. Worn on the first Saturday of the month on the middle finger of the right hand two hours before sunset, the stone is said to be a curative for kidney ailments, epilepsy, tumors, and sciatica.

• *  Diamond, which contains rays of indigo light, is good for maintaining the health of the eyes and nose, managing asthma and laziness, and maintaining sobriety, especially if worn on the right pinkie on Friday during the waxing moon.

• *  Emerald has green light rays and can help with the heart, ulcers, cancer, asthma, and influenza. Wear emerald on the right pinkie on Wednesday two hours after dawn.

• *  Pearls radiate orange rays and operate as a curative if worn on Monday morning by the individual afflicted with insanity, diabetes, colic, or fever.

• *  Topaz has blue rays and helps with laryngitis, paralysis, hysteria, scarlet fever, and assorted glandular disorders if worn on the right ring finger on Thursday mornings.