Choosing Stones and crystals

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Choosing Stones and crystals

There are all sorts of lists of suggestions for choosing crystals and

stones for various kinds of work. These lists are often useful

guidelines, However, most people do not start working and gathering

crystal helpers by choosing from lists or in a cool logical way .

People choose for beauty, They heed an impulse ,The dog drops a

rock at Their feet ...Stones find you, They call you . You happen upon

them,. One moment you may have been laughing heartily at the ridiculous

idea that crystals could have healing functions and/or connect you

with wisdom and the next moment you were having a conversation with

deva in a room full of rocks.

You may have collected some stones as a child. Perhaps you picked up

a few on vacation . You may have been drawn to jewelry made with natural

gemstones. You have them or will have them because .they attract you

in some way

That is the most important reason to choose a stone That you want it

..Why you want it does not really matter .

Some people will need an excuse to buy / get them so the some first

crystals may act the part of a paper weight or a bookend or even an

ashtray or bowl who knows

For personal enjoyment, meditation , for putting under your bed , for

propping a door open , on a shelf as a room clearing and energy

enhancing tool

I'd like to suggest that people keep an eye out for a larger " house "

stone or two, a piece big enough to put on a table and look at

/meditate on . One or more stones or clusters to hold that fill the

palm some stones that a big enough to gaze on reflectively without

squinting.

Maybe some amethyst or some rose quartz ,a nice hunk of petrified wood

even a perfectly ordinary round gray rock will be among the stones the

call you

..A flattish quartz cluster or a Selinite wand can be used to rest

smaller stones on to clear them . Clusters both large and small have

many uses and can make good room healing /clearing enhancing stones As

well as helping harmonize group and family harmony Even a big hunk of

something to guard your door or greet visitors

..

A selection of small stones is valuable for work in laying on of stones,

for carrying with you and for many other purposes. Choose tumbled and

natural stones sized between a dime and a dollar or so for placing on

people or for casting. When they have a flatish side they will stay on

a person or stop in place when thrown without rolling excessively and

won't be so easily lost ..You do not them to be very heavy because too

much weight can become uncomfortable Stones placed at the brow and

throat should not be too large because there is not a lot of room there

..

It is good to have examples of natural rough unpolished stones and

tumbled and polished stones . So that you can discover what forms suit

you best.

When you do start to get systematic you'll probably want at least two

stones of each spectrum colors . They do not need to be the same kind

of stones . Shaped stones such as oval cabochons are used by a lot of

people for on the body work

Formal crystal healing such as laying on of stones is not what most

people first use crystals for . So your first personal stones may be

very different than the ones you will want later.

Jewelry pieces can be chosen to wear for specific purposes and

necklaces, bracelets rings and earrings in many stones are widely

available and can be worn without drawing undue attention .So you do not

need to carry a large box crystals around with you all the time . Some

people prefer to work with beads and jewelry /. Some of us always end up

taking the jewelry apart for the stones .It may take a while to discover

what ways of working with crystals and what kind of them you prefer to

work with.

When you are out looking for stones do not let a list or plan get in the

way of your intuition there may be something you need , want ,will love

that you would over look if you just read the list . It is good to

have a number of quartz points they don't have to be large and when you

start out do not try at first to find special shapes just select some

you like . Later you may want to explore many of the forms with

specialized uses

Many crystal workers choose to work only with perfect chip free stones

and may prefer clear stones to those with cloudiness and inclusions .

My personal experience has been that this is not essential and that in

many cases the chips inclusions cracks discoloration etc. add to the

experience and effectiveness of the stone and like people changes are

normal. The crystals do not reject us because we are imperfect .

Though if one of the specialized forms breaks in a way that alters the

form significantly the use for the stone may change also.

Some people feel that there is a correlation between the size or gem

quality of a stone and its ability to do work or assist with healing .I

find that for the most part this does not particularly matter because

rather than the power just being part of the essence of the physical

stone , The stones act as a channel for healing energy and a connection

to specific spiritual sources or deva. and there are techniques for

amplifying the effectiveness and clarity of the stones you are working

with.

For the most part choose the crystals that attract. Sometimes however a

crystal will repel you you will actively dislike it . This may mean

that you are not ready to deal with the specific areas of healing that

the stone is attuned to or that you are not ready to face a problem

area in your life . This is more likely to happen with stones you are

given rather than choose yourself .

Quite often you will find great value in working with this stone in

the future when you are ready . You can set it aside Look up the

properties of the stones you don't like as well as the properties of

those you do like .

..Allow the crystals, minerals, rocks, gems and stones you need to find

you .You never know where they will turn up or come from . Your stone

may be the only rock in a bookstore My favorite piece of petrified wood

used to be in a book store

Do not limit yourself to looking in fancy stores and don't ignore the

local rocks some people's common pebbles are another persons precious

stones .Pet supply stores sometimes have very nice stones for putting in

terrariums and aquariums. Garden shops occasionally have some nice rocks

..

Naturally there are a lot of stones rocks crystals and mineral

treasures outside

perhaps you will have opportunities to go on rock gathering

expeditions Keep an eye out for stones whenever you go out because you

make have them find you almost anywhere.

When you do not have a strong sense of attraction to a particular stone

and are selecting from a number of them You may want to try one of the

methods for sensing crystal energy or helping to amplify intuitive

information You could try to riffle through a bunch of stones and see

if any " stick " to your fingers or if you feel heat from them.

People who feel energy from crystals will hold their hand above the

stones to feel which one seems to call . Pendulums are also used quite

often for helping choose stones .

Rather than rushing to gather a huge bunch of different stones and only

exploring them superficially. Take your time to get to know a few really

well . I like to select a different stone each week from my

collection to focus on with meditation holding and study of written

materials and always learn something new.

Most stones have traditional uses in both healing and magical practices

While you may want to find a particular stone for a particular purpose

whichever approach to working with crystal you feel called to explore

the stones and properties assigned in the different approaches You can

often adapt a stone or a practice from one system into another .

You will want to learn something about the physical properties of the

stones in order to care for them well .Some stones are fragile. Others

are soft or scratch easily some stones will chip and others will

dissolve in water Some stones do not travel well and others are pretty

durable.

To think about and share if you wish

What general kinds of stones attract you ? Do you prefer a particular

form ?

Is there any stone that you dislike? Where have you found stones ?

Solarraven

Peggy Jentoft http://solarraven.com