Posts tagged healing
Today’s Angel Message
Sep 7th
Today’s angel message once again comes from the Angels Gods & Goddesses
Angel of Union
“A partnership is blessed and destined for greatness.”
As I look at the card in the deck for this image the one thing that stands out the most for me is the white dove that creates a canopy over the two figures in the foreground of the image. The dove is what speaks to me the most today and that message is one which is a reminder about how much peace between two people matters in order to see thing accomplished. You and another person, be it friend, family, life partner or even a business partner, can have a great deal of care and respect for one another but if there is no peace to guide you in your union then nothing can really come of it. This can be difficult at times and just as much as we may love one another we can also have moments of great frustration that, if left unchecked, can become viscous and heavy emotions that can suck the real life out of any partnership.
In order to attain this greatness within whatever union in your life is most important, think today about how you create, contribute and maintain peace between you two. Is there a lack of balance of peace? Do you need to work to bring more peace into this relationship in order to feel truly united? The dove doesn’t just bring us peace but also acts as a guide, as a messenger and symbol of the Divine guidance and Divine peace that we all have access to. If we can only close our eyes, clear our heads, and truly listen from the heart rather than from the head we can find the messages of peace and guidance that will bring us to our ultimate greatness. Honor each other, honor the Divine, and bring love and peace into all you do together.
Today’s Affirmation
“I create peace for my partners in life, work and play.”
Today’s Angel Message
Aug 30th
The angels have been quite for me the last few days, or it could just be that I’ve been so busy working that I haven’t been listening! This is never a good state to find yourself in and it’s always good to make sure that you’re taking a little time to stop and listen to what your angels and guides have to say. So this week we’re starting out with an angel reading using my favorite of the angel decks, Angel Therapy Oracle Cards
Archangel Raphael
“The healing angel is with you, supporting your healing work.”
The message that I get today from Raphael when we’re talking about this card is one of really being open to exploring the different forms that healing can take. Healing doesn’t have to be something traditional like seeing a doctor or therapist, and it doesn’t have to mean new age or metaphysical healing like Reiki healing or crystal therapy. Healing with the angels can be something as simple as taking a walk outside with a mindfulness of connecting to healing for any purpose or even just taking some time out for ourselves can be greatly healing. We often find ourselves thinking that if something is supposed to be healing we need to be in an active healing process, but with the angels, especially working with Raphael, we just need to set the intention and ask for the healing and he will begin the process for us. Our biggest part is to live in accord and let that energy flow within and around us.
If you have a need for healing in your life today is a great day to begin the process of welcoming that healing by connecting to Raphael and asking for him to connect with you through that stream of divine healing energy and light that we all have the ability to tap into. You may know it as Reiki or you may just know it as the power of mindful prayer. Whatever way you know of this loving, healing energy, ask Raphael to help facilitate your connection to it and then welcome it by living in a way that really allows the healing to come in and do its thing. If you are asking for healing for something specific you want to be sure that you’re not doing things that would aggravate or worsen the condition while the healing connection is happening. You can’t expect to have relief from a nagging cough or respiratory infection if you smoke a pack a day! When you ask the angels to help you need to also be willing to help yourself by working with them by making room for them to do their job.
Today’s Affirmation
“I ask for healing and make room for the energy to flow.”
Crystal Wednesday: Grids and Layous (part 1)
Aug 25th
So you’ve collected your crystals and you have a nice little bag of stones that you have cleansed and charged for healing and various forms of transformation and manifestation. What do you do with them next? You can use them in elixirs and remedies or you can use them for meditation, but what about healing? Is there some specific way you should work with the crystals or is there a preferred method of working with them? We can work with crystals in so many different ways to do healing but one very popular way is laying them out on or around the body. You can also lay them out on a specific surface as well, such as an altar, to be used for charging objects, sending energy and so on. Often called crystal grids or crystal layouts, these methods of working with the stones can be tricky in the beginning but it’s important to remember to let both the stones themselves and your own intuition to guide you as you work.
A crystal grid and a crystal layout a somewhat different, and for our purposes here we’re going to define them differently in order to make it a little easier to talk about and work with these different processes. A crystal grid is a specific geometric positioning of a number of crystals with the intention of creating a specific energy field. These are also sometimes known as a crystal matrix or a gridwork. Crystal grids are typically placed in a specific or significant place in the home or other space designed to draw certain types of energy to the area and then project that energy out into the space. A crystal layout can also be known as a crystal net and refers to the laying of crystal on or around the body to work as aids in healing by directing specific types of energy in and around the body. An easy way to try and remember the difference is to think of how crystals are laid out onto the body anywhere they need to go rather than in certain shape (although, this is a somewhat inaccurate statement as you’ll see, but roughly it helps to remember the difference).
Because this subject is so expansive, we’re going to cover crystal grids this week and next week we’ll talk about crystal layouts.
When working with a crystal grid, think about the type of energy you’re looking to draw to you and your space. Let’s take the example of a metaphysical bookshop looking to draw financial prosperity. A popular crystal grid for prosperity and abundance uses the shape of the infinity sign to draw on the idea of always having what
you need and then some with the cycle of prosperity never ending. The stones uses are stones with energies tied to money, career and attraction such as citrine, amber, and dark green aventurine. The citrine has strong anchoring energy and carries a strong attracting energy, so this gets placed in the center. The other stones are altered in the pattern to create the infinity symbol and create a flow with the center stone to project and draw on the energy of prosperity. This energy radiates out to where the grid is placed, so the shop owner may want to place it somewhere in the center of the shop to radiate out all through the same or they may wish to put it up at the front counter to attract people toward the cash register so they will spend money.
Making a grid is quite simple. It is extremely important to remember that, when creating a crystal grid, where it is place is where it needs to remain while it is in operation. This means that you need to pick a place where it can be left alone, untouched and without having to be moved. So be mindful of small hands and paws being able to get to where you place your grid. Begin by picking stones that all work with your general intention. For example, if you’re working on a grid for love, pick stones that all connect with love and attracting love. You don’t need a large number of crystals; start with 
something small like 8 stone grid but try to stay under 12 stones with one larger center stone for 13 total. You’ll also need a clear quartz point to activate the grid. Cleans and charge all your stones, taking your time doing so, and charge them for the intention of drawing love and attracting loving energy. When you do this, if a specific stone is going to have a specific job in the grid, address that. An example of this would be if you use pink calcite and you specifically want this to attract love of the heart or a heart chakra connection between you and others, where as the rose quartz you might use is more intended to draw a general loving energy to you. Let your stones know what exactly you need them to do.
Next, pick were it will go and lay out the stones. There are many different patterns out there to work with. One of the basic forms that I like is the square formulation. This is a grid often used in harmony with the directions, but I like using this for things like relationships because it directs the energy out to all corners of the Universe. The way that this format is traditionally used is to place a center stone, like a clear quartz cluster or ball, into the center and then the four stones on the outside would be related to the elements with double terminated clear quartz wands connecting the directional stones to the center stone or single terminated ones, using two for each corner stone, one point energy to the center and one pointing energy from the center to the corner. Then you would need four single terminated stones to go around the outside edges to flow the energy through your outside stones. Now, you can work with just small stones of your choosing instead of crystal points if you wished. Again, create what you feel drawn to here letting the stones and your intuition guide you. The key to to keep in mind that you want to energy to flow and connect so all the stones need to be connected to one another through another stone. So, as my example, I’d use the above to create a love grid by using the following:
- One large rose quartz in the center
- 4 pink calcite or 4 green malachite stones at the corners
- 4 double terminated quartz crystal wants in the center
- 4 single terminated wands for the outsides. These I would place with the points going in a clockwise direction with the idea of this being a direction to draw and create energy, but if you felt that anti-clockwise was better, then you can use that direct.
Next you need to activate your grid and for this you need another charged crystal point. Before you begin take a few moments to focus your intentions and create a simple affirmation that you will repeat while you activate the stones. Using our example of a love drawing grid you could say something like:
I empower this crystal grid to draw loving energy and loving people to me.
Now take your charging crystal and hold it a few inches above your center stone. Take your time with this and feel the two connect. Feel the center stone send it’s vibrations into the energy around you. Once you have felt this connection, begin to state your affirmation and being to trace the grid with the charging crystal starting from the center out. You want to repeat your affirmation with intention while you draw the grid, creating a connection between all the stones. This may mean having to go over it several times and in several different ways in order to create a flow. There is no number of times you have to do this in and you can take as long as you feel you need to in order to feel that everything is connected. Continue to repeat your affirmation as you do this.
When you’re done, place your charging crystal next to your grid and you may want to jot down your affirmation because you need to recharge your gird every 24 hours. This is a great thing to make part of a daily meditative practice since you do need to ground and center and get in the right frame of mind to work the grid.
Crystal grids can be used for so many things, from drawing customers to a business, healing for yourself or a friend, or to add energy to a spell. You can create a small crystal grid on your altar when casting a specific spell in order to help draw and send out certain kinds of energies to aid the working along. You can create one to honor the energy of a specific deity or to mark a certain energetic transition during the Wheel of the Year. Really the uses are endless. There are some shops that sell pre-drawn crystal grid cloths that you simply place the stones on in their designated positions, or you can look online for websites with images of grids that you can print out and use. Or you can just lay them on a plain surface. Whatever you do, do it with intent and do it from a place of harm to none.
Next week we’ll look at working with crystal layouts and placing stones in formations on the body for healing and drawing energy.
Crystal Wednesday: Angelite
Aug 18th
For this week I thought we would take a look at a crystal that I started working with about two years ago and have come to really enjoy a great deal. Sometimes we discover certain stones and crystals in a very magickal way; they come into our lives just as something else that resonates with them does and we find things falling into place with really nicely when we take up that particular stone. That’s what happened with me angelite. I had begun to work more heavily with the angles and had begun doing angel card readings more frequently, mostly at the request of clients that were finding me online looking for readings. They would see I offered oracle readings along with tarot and would come specifically asking for angel readings. As I began to take this work more seriously and started working more with the angelic realm, I started to think it would be a nice idea to do something in a formal, ritual sense to try and solidify my connection to the angels. As I was working to put together a small ritual to honor and connect to the angels when I was doing some reading on angel meditations and discovered the beautiful blue crystal of angelite.
Angelite comes in a number of different forms. You can find it in raw clusters, in points, and quite often in tumbled form. Angelite is popular in New Age themed jewelry, especially if it is angel themed. Angelite is the common or trade name for the light blue or lilac blue colored anhydrite that is often found in Peru. It is a form of calcium sulfate and, while mostly found in a blue color, can also be found in forms of white and, depending on where it is found, it can have splashes of red in it as well. It’s a very common stone and can be easily found online and in metaphysical shops in all sorts of shapes and sizes for reasonable prices. In the New Age market it’s not uncommon to find angelite stones fashioned in the shape of hearts or small pocket angel figurines.
When it comes to healing, angelite can be used as quite a versatile tool. Angelite is a stone that is connected to the throat chakra, but with it’s association to the angelic realms, it also has a connection to the crown chakra and can be used for healing where both of these chakaras may need attention. Spiritual healing is an area where angelite is commonly used, especially if the issue is one connected to anger or letting go of negative or bad feelings that have been holding someone back in their life. Placing the angelite on the throat chakra during a Reiki or other healing session can help to facilitate opening up the person’s ability to speak their mind and let out the thoughts and feelings that have been holding them back as well as letting go of energy connected to their inability to vocalize their feelings. It’s not uncommon for a person to have a series of crystal healing sessions involving angelite with the goal of opening up communication with others and have them suddenly voicing their feelings and concerns in ways that have never done before. Not only has the energy of the angelite helped to release blocks in the throat chakra but a level of spiritual support and confidence can be felt in the aura through the crown chakra as a result as well.
In physical healing angelite is a stone for balance. Either carrying or placing angelite on certain point of the body that may be out of balance can help to realign things which are feeling “off”. It is a stone whose energy is said to resonate especially strongly with the skeletal system and is often used in crystal healing sessions aimed to alleviate arthritis pain or symptoms of osteoporosis. Angelite is also thought to be a renewing stone in physical healing and is sometimes placed at the feel in healing sessions to facilitate the realignment of the chakras as well as renewal of cells in the body in areas that may be experiences illness or dis-harmony. It can also be used in healing sessions or carried for the purpose of healing blood conditions as well, especially conditions of imbalance in the blood.
When it comes to magickal or metaphysical uses, angelite is a natural channel for working with the angels and the Divine realm. It can be placed as a focal point for energy drawing and projecting in rituals and meditations or it can be carried for working with the angelic realm on a daily basis. A fun magickal experiment is to get a magickally inclined friend and together go to a shop and pick out some pieces of angelite together. Cleanse and charge them (together if you can) and set the intent of the stones for being aids in telepathic communication together. Take time each night for 10 or 15 minutes to get into a meditative state and work on communicating together telepathically or on the astral realm. Angelite can help to make these connections easier and stronger making non-verbal communication easier. Angelite is a stone of peace and can be placed around the home or office to maintain peaceful vibrations during times of chaos and stress. Angelite can be used for making elixirs, especially elixirs for reducing anger, promoting energetic balance, and meditation, however angelite elixirs need to be created in a non-direct method as the sulfur and led within the stone can be poisonous. Angelite is also a great stone to have on hand when doing psychic work, angel card or tarot readings or other forms of divination as it is can help to open up the third eye and connect us with our Guides and spirit helpers.
Angelite Details:
Primary Chakra: Throat
Secondary Chakra: Third Eye, Crown
Chemical Composition: (CaSO4) Calcium Sulfate
Astrological Sign: Aquarius
Numerical Vibration: 1
Hardness: 3.5
Color: Colorless, White, Blue, Blue/Violet White and Gray
Location: Peru (primarily blue, blue/violet)
Rarity: Common
Crystal Wednesday: Crystals for specific Needs
Jun 23rd
I recently had a request for a specific topic for the Crystal Wednesday post and I thought we would take a look at that today. At this point we’ve talked about picking stones, cleansing, clearing and charging stones, making elixirs with them and doing simple healing with them. We’ve look at a few specific stones as well and talked about how they could be used and which ones might be a little bit dangerous in certain applications because of toxicity (info on toxic stones can be found in the elixir article). The question that came in was from a reader that wanted to know about what stones she could use for a few specific recurring physical aliments that she and her child would experience. Now that she knew how to work with them, she didn’t know which ones to use for different issues. Today we’re going to take a look at something really simple, a reference list for aliments and stones to use.
How you use the stones is up to you. You can use the non-toxic ones to create elixirs for your needs. You can use them in the bath (if they are safe to submerge in water). You can lay them on the body in the specific physical location where there is a problem or you can use them on a related chakra as well. Once you have cleansed, cleared and charged your stone for it’s specific healing purpose, use it however you feel guided. As your healing guides, the God and Goddess, your spirit guides, etc for help with picking the best application for you and your situation.
The first list is one of aliments and related stones that can be used for healing. A second list is provided for reference when working with the chakras; you’ll see here each of the seven meridian chakras and the physical areas that each of those chakras can help in healing.
Stones For Healing Ailments
Alcoholism – amethyst, smokey quartz, sugilite
Allergies – carnelian
Anemia – coral, hematite
Arthritis – amethyst, malachite, black tourmaline
Asthma – malachite, tiger’s eye, topaz
Bladder Problems – bloodstone, jade, jasper, quartz
Bleeding – hematite, lodestone, red jasper (especially good for nose bleeds)
Bone Problems – blue lace agate, lapis lazuli, selenite
Bronchitis – amethyst, rutilated quartz
Burns – clear quartz, rose quartz
Childbirth – bloodstone, moonstone, peridot
Depression – garnet, jasper, jet, lapis lazuli, smokey quartz
Digestion – amber, labradorite, obsidian
Dizziness – lapis lazuli
Ear Problems – amber, obsidian, onyx
Epilepsy – jasper, jet, lapis lazuli, selenite
Fever – agate, bloodstone, carnelian, hematite, ruby
(Swollen) Glands – aquamarine
Headache – amber, amethyst, jet, sugilite, turquoise
Hearing Problems – agate, amethyst, quartz
Heart Disorders – agate, emerald, garnet, lodestone, rhodonite
Infections – carnelian, jasper, smokey quartz
Infertility – manganite, moonstone, orange tourmaline
Inflammations – angelite, carnelian, bloodstone, emerald, pyrite
Influenza – moss agate, fluorite
Insomnia – amethyst, lapis lazuli, sodalite, topaz
Kidney Problems – bloodstone, jade, opal
Liver Problems – aquamarine, beryl, bloodstone, danburite, peridot
Lung Problems – aventurine, emerald, tourmaline
Menstrual Disorders – coral, malachite
(Preventing) Miscarriage – bloodstone, ruby
Nervousness – moonstone, sapphire, watermelon tourmaline
Nervous System Disorders – blue lace agate, amazonite, chalcedony, hematite, opal
(General) Pain – ruby
Sore Throat – azurite, chalcedony, sunstone, tiger’s eye
Stomach Problems – agate, amethyst, jasper, onyx, rhodochrosite
Stress – aventurine, azurite, flourite, jasper, malachite, onyx, sapphire
Tonsillitis – azurite, pyrite
Toothache – aquamarine, malachite
Ulcers – onyx, sunstone
Vertigo – lapiz lazuli, malachite, rose quartz
Vision Problems – agate, amethyst, aventurine, emerald, tiger’s eye, topaz
Wounds – agate, carnelian, onyx, topaz
Chakras and Healing
This is a list of the seven main chakras and the organs and areas of the body that they are energetically connected to. Use this list as a guideline for working on deciding where to place a stone for healing work. For more detailed information on the chakras and healing work be sure to see the previous post on chakra healing.
The Root Chakra – (base of spine) Adrenal glands, kidney function, spinal cord
The Sacral Chakra – (below the bellybutton) Reproductive organs
The Solar Plexus – (above the bellybutton) Pancreas, liver function, stomach, gallbladder, spleen
The Heart Chakra – (center of chest) Thymus glands, immune system, endocrine system, heart
The Throat Chakra – (base of throat) Thyroid, vocal chords, lungs
Third Eye Chakra – (right above the center of the brow) Pituitary gland, lower brain, nervous system
The Crow Chakra – (top center of the head) Pineal gland, upper brain
Use this information to help pick the right stones and the right placement for helping to release and relieve the different aliments that you may experience. As always, remember that working with the crystals is a compliment to other traditional healing. Using the crystals will help to speed the process and make it a little easier for the body to heal.
Crystal Wednesday: Turquoise
Jun 2nd
I thought this week we’d take a look at a stone that is quite easy to find here in America that is also usually quite inexpensive in it’s raw, tumbled and polished forms. Turquoise is a beautiful stone that usually makes people think of ornate Native American themed jewelry, however this blue and green stone can be a great “go to” stone for any healer. With it’s many properties for healing, protection, stress relief and the ability to help with emotional issues such as mood swings, how could you not have this in your healing stone collection!
Turquoise is believed to have been around since 200 B.C. and it is a stone that has long been associated with Native Americans North America and Indian tribes in Mexico, however jewelers and historians have come to believe that the use of turquoise with silver in the form of the popular “Indian jewelry” is a fairly recent trend dating back to the 1880s which started with work from a Navajo craftsman.
The origin of the name for the stone has a few possibilities; some believe that it came from the word Turquie, French for Turkey (the country, not the animal) since it was believed that this was where the stone had come from, however more likely came from either Persia or Egypt. Another possible origin, also French in nature, is “pierre turquin”, which means dark blue stone.
Different forms of turquoise can be found in various parts of the world including the US, Egypt, Mexico, China, Iran, Peru, Poland, Russia, France, Tibet, Afghanistan and Arabia. In the US turquoise is most often found in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. New Mexico was the largest US producer of turquoise until the 1920s when the stone was found in great quantities in Arizona and Nevada. Nevada was the top producer until the 1980s; currently Arizona produces the most of the stone that comes from America.
There are two different types of turquoise that are very distinct. The stone that comes from most of the places where it is found is typically some shade of blue, ranging from a very deep, true blue to a blue green. Another kind of turquoise, known as Tibetan Turquoise, carries a different color and energy. The Tibetan variety is much more of a green color with blue overtones, rather than the other way around.
Working with Turquoise
Turquoise can be used for several different healing and metaphysical uses. Many cultures, specifically in the Middle East, have used turquoise for protection. The stone was believed for centuries to be a natural deterrent of the Evil Eye and was used for making amulets to ward against it. In Navajo myth it was believed that throwing a piece of turquoise into a river while praying to the Rain God would bring much needed rain to an area. One interesting new age use for turquoise suggests wearing the stone in some form close to the body during times of stress. When your body begins to react to the stress around you the copper levels in the body will rise and react with the stone causing it to change colors, thus alerting you of a need for a break and a need to bring yourself back into balance.
In a healing sense, turquoise, being a blue stone, works great for dealing with issues of physical and energetic healing of the throat. As a strengthening stone it helps to build up one’s ability to speak up for themselves and can also help to release any words or actions related to communication that can create a self-sabotage situation. Turquoise also works well with issues of mood, mood swings and panic attacks.
Turquoise is a stone that is said to contain both energies of earth and sky working to unite both male and female energies. This makes it a great stone for balance in all areas. It can be used to help balance all the chakras or a specific chakra, even if it’s not the throat. Use the stone on your third eye and throat chakra areas for clarity and balance in receiving and sharing psychic and intuitive messages.
Turquoise can be great for making an elixir, especially for mood elevation, however this is a toxic stone as it contains copper, to remember to use it in and indirect method when creating your elixir.
Healing a Sore Throat with Turquoise
With allergy season in full swing soar throats are a possibility for many allergy sufferers. Here is a simple method for working with turquoise to alleviate soar throat irritation.
If you’re able to do this during the waning moon, all the better since the decreasing energies of the moon can be a great help in decreasing your irritations, but you can do this any time you need to. Each night, usually for about a week, spend some time laying down with a piece of turquoise resting on your throat. Allow your throat chakra to open up and absorb the healing energy from the stone for about 10-15 minutes. When you’re done, place the stone in a bowl of salt to help remove the unwanted energies that it has taken from you. Leave the stone in the salt overnight. In the morning remove the stone and place it in a fresh, clean bowl of spring water. This will complete the clearing and cleansing of the stone making it ready for another use. Take the stone out of the water a hour or so before you intent to use it, allowing it to air dry. When you have finished working with the stone for the week, cleanse it a final time and place it in a cloth or charm bag to keep it safe for the next time you need it.
Herbal Magick In Your Kitchen
Apr 7th
For some people their first introduction to the idea of herbal magick comes from rifling through the herbs available in their kitchen cupboards. Sometimes this, along with a little kitchen magick, makes for the beginnings of a life long study into using herbs for spells and magick. A lot of the time when we start out looking into herbs for magickal use in the Craft we find ourselves drawn to books that might talk about more esoteric or lesser known herbs, and while it’s great to work with some of these herbs because just by the virtue of their being less common they feel more magickal, we can find so much of what we need for most of our magickal work right in our own kitchens or at the local supermarket.
Here is a list of 20 herbs that can be found easily in the supermarket, farmers market, or right now in your kitchen! Here you’ll have some of their basic magickal and healing uses. While a few herbs are noted as not being safe to be ingested by pregnant women, always be sure to do some extra research into herbs that you plan to take internally. And when you’re looking for something to use in magick and you don’t know what to use, often you’ll notice that an herb’s medicinal use mirrors it’s magickal use as well. So if you can find the medicinal uses of a common kitchen herb you can often use it for similar uses in magick. Reading through this list will help make that more apparent.
Anise – You can use anise for help with sleeplessness. Anise seeds can be placed in warm milk and allowed to steep, much like tea, for about 10 minutes, then strain the seeds out and drink. For magickal use anise can be used to promote magickal and prophetic dreams. Burn as an incense on charcoal in your bedroom before you go to sleep or use as part of an herbal blend used within a dreampillow.
Basil - Basil has a handful of useful properties including protection, banishing and drawing money. Steeping basil in some olive oil can make a great simple oil to rub on a green candle for money drawing. Basil can be burned as an incense to help with both banishment and protection, as well as ground into a powder and sprinkled around doorways and windows to help keep out unwanted visitors.
Bay Leaves – Bay leaves are known for their protective properties. Bay leaves can be scattered around the home for protection and it can ground up into a powder and scattered around the home to cleanse the space from unwanted energies, especially in the case of possible spirit activity. Bay leaves can also be used to help with astral projection and visions.
Caraway – When it comes to home healing, caraway has a number of different ways that it can be used. Crush up a teaspoon of caraway seeds and steep as a tea in a cup of hot water to help with digestive discomfort, flatulence, and stomach cramps. Magickally caraway seeds are known to help with fertility as well as lust. Caraway seeds can be used in place of rice at a wedding; when thrown at the couple as they walk from the ceremony it sends wishes of fertility for many children. The seeds can also be ground and steeped in warmed red wine as a sort of aphrodisiac.
Cinnamon – Most of us are aware of the many magickal uses for cinnamon. It’s known for being used in money and prosperity charms and is often used as an ingredient in prosperity oils and to dress candles for money magick. Another area that cinnamon has been know for in folk magick is love. Some of the folk spells of the past recommend baking cakes with cinnamon and serving them to someone that you wish to have fall in love with you. Others talk about adding cinnamon to wine or mead for the same purpose. Cinnamon can be used for love, money and promoting physical health and vigor.
Cloves – Cloves have wonderful antiseptic and anesthetic properties. If you have a toothache you can rub clove oil on the gum line of the problem tooth. You can also chew on a clove if you have problems with sore wisdom teeth. Chewing on cloves can also help with bad breath. Magickally cloves are used for protection and can be carried in your pocket or in a black charm bag for protection. Soaking cloves in water for a few hours can soften them and they can then be strung with a needle onto some thread and then hung around the home or car for protection. Ground and burned as incense, clove can help with visions and divination work.
Fennel – Medicinally fennel can be used to relieve hiccups; heat up 1-2 teaspoons of fennel in equal parts milk and water, strain and drink. The juice of fennel is said to help stop vomiting when drops are placed on the tongue. Magickally fennel is used as a protective and purifying herb. Grind dried fennel into a powder and sprinkle around the inside of the home for protection. Hung inside charm bags at the windows of the home helps to ward off negative spirits. Fennel seeds can be carried in your pocket for the same reasons and can be ground and burned for purifying the home of any unwanted spirits.
Garlic – Garlic is one of the herbs with a long and well known folk history for being used for healing and protection. Garlic can be used to prevent and ward off colds. With it’s strong antibiotic properties, it can be cooked and eaten when you feel the symptoms of a cold coming to help keep it at bay. Magickally garlic has a long history of being used to ward off evil. It is believed to be able to absorb negativity when placed around the home and when carried creates an aura of protection around you preventing negativity and unwanted spirits from attaching themselves to you; some people talk about using garlic in these sense by carrying a bulb of garlic with them when visiting cemeteries and places believed to be haunted.
Ginger – Ginger is a great help when you’re dealing with nausea. Candied ginger is a great thing to have around in the kitchen for general nausea as well as morning sickness for pregnant women. Candied ginger can be chewed like gummy candy or it can be placed in a cup of hot water and allowed to melt and steep into a tea. Dried and ground ginger can be made into a tea for the same purposes; placed in warm milk it can be given to kids for the same reason (the taste of ginger can be a little strong for kids so milk can help to lessen the intensity). When used in magick ginger can be used for love, money and power. The heat properties of ginger help to “heat up” a situation which make it great for love spells.
Lemon – Not a traditional herb, but found in many people’s kitchens, the juice can be used for treating colds by adding the juice of one whole lemon to a cup of hot water and drinking as a tea; some people also like to add about a tablespoon of honey to this as well to make it smooth and sweet to counter the bitter acidic nature of the lemon. Lemon peel can be added to sachets for love spells and can be burned for both love and longevity as an incense.
Marjoram – The flowers from marjoram can be boiled into a tea for relieving headaches and digestive issues (pregnant women should not take marjoram however as it can be dangerous). Used in spells for love, health, money and happiness the dried leaves and flowers can be added to charm bags and sachets and placed around the home to promote piece and happiness. Red or pink sachets made with marjoram can be tied to the bed to strength an existing relationship with your partner.
Mint – Mint comes in many forms and different forms can be helpful for different things. Peppermint is one of the most common and when made into a tea it can help with an upset stomach. Mint oil can be burned in an oil diffuser to help ward off incests. Mint oil can be used on yellow, gold or green candles for prosperity spells. Dried the herb can be burned for luck and money spells or it can be carried in a green charm bag with a piece of jade for money drawing.
Nutmeg - Nutmeg works medicinally as a digestive aid and can ease stomach upset. Magickally it’s used for a variety of love spells and has a long history of being carried for love and luck. A whole piece of nutmeg can be etched or carved with runes or symbols for prosperity and carried in the pocket. There are folk spells that suggest using nutmeg to ensure your partner remains faithful. The nut is cut into four pieces; one piece is tossed off a cliff, one piece is buried in the ground, one piece is burned and the last piece is boiled in water. You would then drink the water and save the piece of nutmeg from it, carrying it with you at all times and sleeping with it under your pillow.
Parsley – Parsley is another herb used for protection and purification in magick. But these cleansing properties extend to it’s medicinal uses as well. Parsley, either made into a tea or chewed, helps to cleans the body of toxins, relieve bad breath, and help provide minerals like iron to the blood for cleansing. The removal of toxins, as well as drawing on the protective properties of parsley can be achieved by using it in a hot bath.
Rosemary – Made into a tea, rosemary can be used as an aid for memory and mental clarity. This can be great for students when they are getting ready to study for a big exam. Magickally we can use rosemary for a number of different things including protection, love, luck, purification, healing and sleep making rosemary a great overall herb with so many diverse uses so it’s great to always have on hand. Burn it to cleanse a space of unwanted energy, use in dreampillows, hang rosemary springs by your front door for luck, protection and blessings. Rosemary oil can help with all of these as well; use rosemary oil to draw banishing pentagrams on your doors and windows to ward off unwanted visitors in all forms.
Saffron – Most of us might be familiar with saffron in a potato salad or on some grilled salmon, but we don’t see it used terribly often in a lot of magick. It has some great magickal uses though, and while it can be an expensive household herb, it can pack a good punch magickally. When it comes to any sort or magick that will call on the solar aspects of planets, the sun itself, solar deities or if you just need to heat things up a bit, saffron is a great herb to use. It can be used to make bright and deep orange colored dyes for altar cloths, sachet and charm bags and for dying eggs at Ostara. It can be added to love spells to increase lust. Add it to healing spells to help ward off disease. An old folk charm for pregnant women talked about wearing it in a ball or in a pouch over their stomach to ensure a quick delivery.
Sage – Sage is one of the most used and most familiar herbs to just about any magickal practitioner. Known for it’s ability to cleanse a space from unwanted energies and raise the vibrations of a room, it is burned and carried for cleansing and protection quite often. Sage can also be made into a tea and used to help clear up chest congestion and coughs when dealing with a cold. Medicinally it can also be made into a gargle and used as an antiseptic which is great if you have a cut or burn in your mouth or have recently had dental work down and are having pain afterward. Burn, carry or sprinkle around your desk or study area to help promote wisdom. Sage is extremely easy to come by either in the form or white sage in smudge sticks, fresh in the produce department of the supermarket, or dried in whole leave, ground and even rubbed form. Sage is another herb that is not recommended for pregnant women.
Salt – While technically salt isn’t an herb, it’s a mineral, it’s used in much the same way as herbs in a variety of magickal areas. Salt can be used for cleansing and blessing. Most of us know of using salt in ritual, mixed with water, to make blessed water which is then used for anointing others during ritual and sprinkled around the circle to cleanse and seal the space. Salt is also used to cleanse some stones and crystals and it can be used to remove negative vibrations from objects, people and spaces. Sprinkle around the home in the corners of rooms that have unsettled energy and use around doors and windows to keep out unwanted energy.
Thyme – This is another herb with a number of uses, both magickal and medicinal. Made into a tea it can help ease menstrual pains and when steeped in a hot bath it can help relieve various skin conditions including dry winter skin conditions and eczema. Made into a mouthwash it helps to ease and speed the healing of cuts, sores and burns in the mouth. Magickally thyme can be used in a bath to help you to build up the courage to deal with a difficult situation and to help you come to a logical solution to a problem that you might be facing. Thyme is another herb that can be added to a dreampillow to help aid with sleep and to help bring psychic and prophetic dreams as well as ward off nightmares. Carried or burned thyme can also help in healing spells.
Vanilla - Vanilla is another plant that is said to have aphrodisiac-like properties. Vanilla perfume oil can be a great anointing oil for love and beauty magick and can be used on candles for love spells, especially when you want to add some sweetness to your relationship. Vanilla bean can bring power and vitality, so carrying in a charm bag to restore your personal power can be helpful. Placed inside a bowl of sugar vanilla can infuse the sugar with loving energy and vibrations. The sugar can then be used to make foods and cakes meant to promote love and harmony.
Crystal Wednesday: Crafting Gemstone Elixirs
Mar 3rd
A simple and practical way for you to make use of your gemstones, aside from carrying, meditating and laying them on and around the body for healing, is to make an elixir or gemstone potion. These liquid creations can be used in many, many ways; you can take them internally as a way to absorb and incorporate the energy of a stone or crystal in the body, they can be added to plant water to energize them, drops can be added to a pre-ritual bath, or you can even use the charged water for cleansing ritual objects or even just areas in the home that may need some extra energy. It’s a simple process and one that anyone can work with.
A BIG Word of Caution
Before you begin working with this method it is highly imperative that you purchase a good, solid resource manual for your crystal information as many crystals and stones are actually toxic and NOT recommended for this sort of process. While any of the stones can be used externally on and around the body, some stones contain very dangerous minerals and inclusions such as sulphur, copper, lead, mercury and more. I am going to include a list of some of the more popular stones that are known to be toxic and I will include some substitution suggestions as well along with a few source recommendations.
But, with that said, you can work with some of the toxic stones as long as you are creating an elixir that will be used for external purposes only, like for cleansing tools or cleaning the home. In some crystal books when information on elixirs is given, you may see the suggestion of using elixirs made from toxic stones to be used for anointing the body, but again I have to even caution against because by putting the water made with these stones on the skin it’s possible for the undesired elements to absorb through the skin and into the blood stream. So again, play it safe and do your research before making any elixirs.
Picking Your Stone
The best way to work with these elixirs is to use a single stone or crystal for each one and to work with taking the elixirs one at a time. So when you’re making your very first one, try picking a stone that either has a very specific property that you wish to work with, such as carnelian for healing issues of anger or jealousy, or maybe amethyst to help with your psychic development or to open up the third eye before meditation. When you aren’t sure, or you’re just giving this whole thing a try and don’t know what to work with, you can always used clear quartz as it is a stone that will give your energy vibrations an overall life and balance as well as being able to be used specifically for things like meditation and spiritual development.
Making Gemstone Elixirs
The process of making the elixirs is quite simple and doesn’t require a large amount of tools. In fact, as long as you have your stones already, you can probably round up everything you need right in your own home.
You Will Need:
- A glass jar or bottle, with a lid, one for each elixir you’re making if you’re making elixirs from multiple types of stones. NEVER use plastic!
- Spring water, distilled water, or filtered water. This is important because you don’t want the natural inclusions found in tap water to leach or react with the stones themselves or their possible inclusions.
- A bowl that will be large enough to hold the amount of water you will be using for your elixir (multiple bowls will be needed if you’re doing multiple types of elixirs).
- A measuring cup and funnel for easy pouring.
- A singing bowl (this is for an optional step, but this is a nice touch if you have one)
Once you have gathered together everything, make sure that you cleanse everything, physically and psychically/energetically. You might want to bring your items into sacred space to sit and charge at your altar overnight. If you’re familiar with crystal grids (something we’ll talk about on a Wednesday in the future), you can place your bottles within a grid or layout to cleanse them as well. Otherwise, a simple physical wash, including sterilizing the bottles and then given them a smudging with sage and charge with white light and energy (if you’ve never done this before, or if it’s been a while since you’ve sterilized a baby bottle, simply submerge your bottles, and droppers if you’re using them, in a pot of water on the stove, turn on the heat and let it come to a boil and let the bottles sit in the boiling water for five minutes, remove with tongs because they will be very hot, and place on a drying rack or paper towels to cool and air dry).
While you’re waiting for your bottles to dry you can work with cleansing your stone. Give it a physical cleansing in cool, running water and then dry it. Charge your stone with your intent; all stones have multiple energy properties so ask that the specific one(s) that you are looking to call into your elixir come forward and focus on sensing that energy or energies growing and becoming the dominate vibrations within the stone. Place the stone on your altar and allow this to sit and charge until it is time to add it to your water. You may also want to place the stone in direct sunlight or you can leave the stone with the water for the same 24 hours that it will be charging for. Some people like to charge their stones for several days in sunlight, but use whatever stone charging and activation method you normally use or feel drawn to using.
Next, take your water and place it in a window sill, on your altar, or in another space that is near a window where it can catch direct sun and moonlight. Do not worry if it is not a full moon, however working with the moon phases while creating your elixirs is another wonderful way to add extra energy to your potion. The idea here is to charge the water with sun and moon energy for a full 24 hours. The energy of the moon is always there, even when we can’t see it, so as long as you’re placing the bowl in line with an exposed window, you’re fine.
The next step, which happens once the water has charged, is to bring together your stone and water in a bottle for storage. There are several ways to do this. The first way is to simply take your stone, place it inside your bottle or jar, and then fill it with your charged water. The other way utilizes a singing bowl. If you have a singing bowl, first physically and psychically cleanse and charge it. Place your stone inside the bottom of the bowl and fill the bowl with the water. Be careful not to fill the bowl to the top because if it’s too full you’re going to spill the water and possible end up with quite a wet mess (I bet you can’t guess I’m speaking from experience). Take a moment to center yourself and call up the energy that you’re looking to charge your elixir with and begin to play your bowl. You’ll notice that the water will vibrate from the action of the bowl which not only adds the vibrational energy of the bowl itself but also activates the crystal energy on another level. When you are ready allow the vibrations to settle on their own and then you can begin to add the water from the bowl into your jar or bottle. At this stage you can either place the crystal in the bottle as well or, if you wish to keep the crystal out of the bottle, you can just pour in the water. The work with the singing bowl and the vibrational activation will have merged the crystal’s energy with the water already. Personally, I still like to keep the stone in the main storage bottle, even when I use this method.
Once the bottle is filled and sealed be sure to label your bottle. Include the date, moon phase or astrological timing if you worked with that as a factor, the type of water used, the stone used, the method used (did you use the singing bowl or just place everything together in the bottle), and the specific purpose of this elixir. This is important because you can create two or three elixirs using the same stone but with a different intention. Let the jar sit for 24 hours in sun and moonlight. Over this next day you want to keep an eye on the bottle to make sure that there is no scum or algae forming either in the water itself or on the glass of the jar. If it does you’ll need to toss the water out, sterilize the bottle, wash the stone, and try again. This will happen if you missed one of these steps or didn’t properly or completely cleanse something in the initial process.
Store your bottles in a cool place our of direct sunlight. It might sound a little silly, but if you have made multiple elixirs for different purposes be sure to store the bottles so they are not touching. It is possible for the energies from the bottles converge in this situation and it could confuse your work. But, on the reverse, if you have something like a bottle of body lotion or shampoo that you’d like to infuse with the energy of a specific elixir, you can place the bottles together, touching, and the energy from the stone in the elixir will mingle with the other item(s). This is a great way to add some of the benefits of the elixir energy to something that shouldn’t necessarily have water added to it.
If you are going to take your elixir internally, take 3-6 drops 3-4 times a day, either under the tongue or add to a glass of drinking water. There is usually no real restriction to how long you can make use of these elixirs, so use them when and for as long as you feel you need to. Be sure to periodically check your bottles for any contamination as well!
Toxic Stones
Here is a list of some stones that people may think of using for making elixirs because they may use them often in other healing or crystal work, however, these are all toxic. This is by no means a complete list! Please be sure to go online, call a gem shop, or purchase a comprehensive gemstone guide to reference if you are in any way unsure as to the toxicity of a stone. I am including the known inclusion that makes the stone toxic for internal use as well as a few safe substitutes as well and will add a few book recommendations at the end.
Amazonite – (copper), substitute with Aventurine
Amber – (toxic dust, fumes, raw amber will disintegrate in water)
Angelite – (lead sulfate)
Cobalt-Calcite/Pink Calcite – (cobalt)
Coral – (while organic, bacteria and toxins develop and form within it which can be dangerous when ingestied), substitute with Carnelian or Red Jasper
Emerald – (aluminum), substitute with Aquamarine or Peridot
Garnet – (aluminum)
Labradorite – (aluminum)
Lapis Lazuli – (can contain copper)
Malachite – (copper)
Moldavite – (aluminum)
Moonstone – (some contain aluminum, but other toxins can also be present depending on the type of moonstone)
Mother of Pearl and Pearl – (organic but toxins in the water when it is formed will be present)
Ruby – (aluminum)
Sodalite – (aluminum), substitute with Carnelian
Tiger’s Eye – (can contain asbestos and dyes)
Topaz – (aluminum), substitute with Citrine
Tourmaline – (aluminum)
Turquoise – (copper)
A few book recommendations:
Love is in the Earth: A Kaleidoscope of Crystals by Melody Over 700 pages and one of the most popular and recommended reference guides for stones and crystals and their use in healing and metaphysics. A must have for anyone looking to work with stones in this way.
The Essential Crystal Handbook by Simon and Sue Lilly – This is a great, small book that you can toss in your bag and take with you when you go shopping for your crystals. Lots of tips for working with stones for healing, some great meditation tips, and excellent information on over 100 different stones. One great thing about this book is you will also get the chemical composition for each which can help you quickly identify those that could possibly contain toxic elements.
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem and Metal Magic by Scott Cunningham – A wonderful quick reference for some of the more commonly used stones, with information on substitutions, picking stones by specific intents, and information on magickal and healing uses.
