Crystals 101

Welcome to Crystals 101! 

A large portion of the general population will tell you that the use of crystals for anything other than a fashion statement is just a bunch of hocus-pocus. However, for those that are called to work with crystal energies, it is a completely different story. Formed over millennia within the belly of Mother Earth, crystals harness the energy of the sun, the moon, and the oceans. When this energy is released, the vibrations it creates can do wonderful things.

Crystals have been used for ages to dispel negative energies and act as protectors of our own energy. Black tourmaline not only absorbs negative energies but also repels it. Wearing this crystal is an added layer of spiritual protection. Selenite can quickly cleanse your aura. Crystals are also used for grounding our energies and to help with anxiety. Hematite, with its magnetic properties, will pull you back down to Earth as soon as you touch it. Blue lace agate has a dreamy blue hue that can quickly bring calmness just by looking at it.

If you are just beginning to work with crystals, try picking ones that "call to you" first as they are emitting an energy frequency that is already aligned with yours. Usually, these crystals are ones that you will always want to work with or one that you need in your life at that particular moment.  The ones that we are "meant to work with" are much like that of an animal totem. You can become so attuned to the energy of that crystal, that you can call it to you without actually having it on your person.  If it is a crystal you need for that moment in life, maybe it is meant to bring you peace and calm or help you to heal a broken heart. Let the crystal do its work. 

You can use crystal energy to help manifest your intentions and what you want to create in your life. Crystals pick up on your unique energy. Holding one in your palm while thinking about what you would like to bring forth in your life will program the crystal to that intention. This energy continues to connect with you when placing them in your immediate environment. Every time you bring that intention to mind, the crystals pick up on your energy and will amplify the positive vibes that you’re cultivating.  Green aventurine and pyrite are geat stones for manifesting wealth and financial prosperity.  Try rose quartz to bring in more love and is a wonderful healer.  I suggest getting a book on crystals and their properties.  The Book of Stones by Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian or The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall are both great choices. 

When you are more adept with crystal use and their energies, you can begin to work with crystal grids.  These grids can be for any number of things. In a grid, you may bring together a few types of crystals in a sacred geometry pattern to combine their energies and thus helping to facilitate the working.  You can create your own pattern or use a template. It is easy to find printable ones online or purchase a really nice one on Etsy. Use amethyst, clear quartz, and turquoise for a healing grid.  Utilizing the energies of obsidian, smoky quartz, and black tourmaline, you have yourself one hell of a protective grid. 

Since crystals hold a vibration and charge of their own and can easily pick up on your own energy, they can help to align your chakras. They do this by clearing away blockages so that energy can flow freely between these points within your body. Each chakra has its own vibration so it is important to choose a crystal that will correspond with that chakra’s energy. Generally, “the color rule” holds true for healing the chakras with crystals. Look for crystals that are the same color as the one that is assigned to that chakra. For example, the heart chakra is green so stones like jade, green calcite, and green tourmaline work great. You can also set up a grid arranged in the chakra order with the corresponding crystals to do a full alignment. 

Crystals can easily fit into your everyday life to bring about change, calm anxiety, help with grounding, or help you better attune to your spirit guides.  I typically have a least one on my person, usually in my bra, haha. I know I'm not the only one that stashes them there!  I have a couple of them on my desk at work and they are throughout my home to bring in love, tranquility, and protection. If you're not out of the broom closet yet, you can still use the energy of crystals such as wearing them in jewelry or keeping one in your pocket or purse, or hidden under your bed or couch at home. 

It takes a conscious effort to open your heart and mind to the power of crystals, but once you do, you are sure to find unique crystals that will ROCK your world.

Alright, STOP... Meditate and Breathe

If you are one of those people that believe that meditation is for Buddhist monks and yogis, you need to reevaluate your thinking. Meditation gained popularity among the everyday crowd once they began to learn of its benefits.  For us witches, shamans, empaths, energy workers, and other sensitives, a regular meditation practice is highly beneficial and has been used for centuries.

The foremost reason that sensitives should begin a regular mediation practice would be to reduce stress and/ or anxiety.  For energy workers, these are often symptoms that we take on from other people or as a result of our hypersensitivity to our environment.  By reducing stress and anxiety, one can also lessen the symptoms of other medical conditions associated with them. Studies have shown a reduction in stress-related conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fibromyalgia among those with a habitual meditation practice. They have also shown reductions in blood pressure, social anxiety, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. When we can reduce our stress and anxiety, we will find that our sleep patterns also benefit from this. Those that practice regular meditation reported falling asleep quicker and staying asleep longer which resulted in a more restful night’s sleep, more energy, and an overall better mood. 

Meditation also promotes self-awareness and mental health. Meditation can help you develop a stronger understanding of yourself, helping you grow into your best self. Some meditative practices teach you to recognize thoughts that may be harmful or self-defeating. When you gain awareness of your thought habits, you can then steer them toward more constructive patterns. If you are able to reduce negative or self-defeating thought patterns, depressive episodes may lessen.  One study followed 18 volunteers as they practiced meditation for over three years. The study found that the participants had notable long-term decreases in depression. Another study compared the electrical activity within the brain of individuals that practiced meditation and those that did not.  Those who meditated showed measurable changes in activity in the areas related to positive thinking and optimism.

It has been shown that meditation can lengthen attention span and may help reduce age-related memory loss. Focused-attention meditation is like weight lifting for your attention span.  It helps to increase the strength and endurance of your attention. One study showed that human resource workers that regularly practiced meditation stayed focused on a task longer than those co-workers that did not. It also showed that those that were meditating remembered details of their tasks better than those that were not. Improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may keep your mind young, which in turn can combat age-related memory loss. Kirtan Kriya is a method of meditation that has proven in multiple-age related memory loss studies to improve the participants’ ability to perform memory-related tasks.

On a metaphysical level, going within during meditation can help you to unlock your subconscious. It can show you your fears, help you to open up to your dreams, show you what needs to be healed within you, and better connect you with your own strength and power.  It 

can also awaken your psychic abilities and your own inner guidance.  Meditation is also a way to connect to the Divine.  You may receive messages from Spirit, the Universe, guides, angels, or animal and plant totems.  Being able to connect to these energies is vital to a magickal practice.  Set your intention before you begin your meditation and ask for guidance.  Meditation may also need to be a part of your ritual or spellwork.  It can also serve to ground and center you before beginning your workings.  

If you have tried meditation and are one of those that say, "Oh, I can't' meditate. I've tried and I cannot empty my mind," DO NOT GIVE UP.  There is a reason why it is called a "practice".  You must continue to try and regularly, if I may add, to get into that meditative state.  The more you do it, the more proficient you will become.  If you have ever daydreamed then you have entered an altered state of awareness.  I am pretty sure that I'm not the only one that has daydreamed. The only difference is that meditation is more of a guided experience as opposed to simply drifting.  Another important note, not every meditation is filled with messages, images, or magick.  Let go of those expectations.  Sometimes the messages come later. 

Witches, Shamans, healers, and energy workers have used meditation for centuries.  Along with all of its health benefits, it connects us to ourselves, the beyond, and to Spirit.  Blessed Be...