What if you had to choose just one crystal? First of all, I hope I never do. I love crystals in all their variety, colors, inclusions, weight, and even the variety within each type of crystal. Add to that the carvings and varied shapes... well, I think you get the picture. I don't think I could choose just one. But, since I've asked the question, I'll see if I can answer it. If I could choose only one, I would lean on functionality and go with a crystal that can be used for all chakras. That narrows the field a bit, but leaves a lot of options. Clear crystals typically benefit all chakras. We're not talking about just Clear Quartz. There's Icelandic Spar (Clear Calcite), Clear Topaz, and Lemurian Quartz to name a few clear ones. For those that are not clear, there's Sichuan Quartz, Serpentine, Seraphinite, Scapolite, Rutilated Quartz, Stibnite, Magnetite, and more. But the questions is, if I had to pick just one.... I would choose Icelandic Spar (Clear Calcite, also called Optical Calcite). My experience with this one is intense. This is not to say that wouldn't change my mind. If I come across a crystal that is particularly powerful for me, I'll use it in meditations and healing often. That's my answer: Icelandic Spar... for now. So, how about you? Which crystal would you choose if there could be only ONE? What's a favorite of yours, tell us and tell us why?
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Welcome to our "How do I..." piece on meditating with crystals. This is just a short post on a few different things you can try when learning to meditate with crystals.
Personally, I find that I relax more quickly with crystals than without, but that's not the case for everyone. Some people that I work with report that they are unable to tell the difference with or without them. Others excitedly declare that crystals are a defining part of their meditations. So, How do I meditate with crystals? Here are a few separate ideas. 1. Select a single crystal. With one crystal only, find a quiet spot to sit down for long enough to get relaxed. No less than 15 minutes starting out. When you hold the crystal allow yourself to become aware of you, aware of your body and energy field. Assess what you feel internally and externally, energetically and physically. 2. Select a crystal for each chakra. Focusing on the 7 primary chakras you can choose based on color or function or both! Color is the simplest for beginners. Choose a red crystal for the Root chakra, orange for the Hara chakra, yellow for the Solar Plexus, green for Heart, blue for Throat, dark blue for Third Eye and clear or violet for the Crown. In a laying position, place the appropriate crystal on the chakras, then relax. Allow yourself to become aware of your body and being. 3. Focus on a Crystal. This is akin to using a candle flame for meditation. Look deeply at a crystal of your choice, clear crystals are ideal or those which are translucent rather than solid color. Try to focus internally rather than solely with your eyes. Relax your eyes and your mind and see what happens. Some people may see something visually or in their mind's eye as they begin to relax. I'm sure there are countless options you could try for meditating with crystals. If you try or practice something not mentioned here, won't you share it with us in the comments below? Thanks for reading! These two stones at first look appear to be the same. But if we take a moment with each, they can be easily distinguished from one another. The important thing as we begin to differentiate crystals with similar physical characteristics is to compare two stones with the same finish. Take a look at a tumbled sodalite and a tumbled lapis lazuli. Compare a rough sodalite with a rough lapis lazuli. After you've come to be able to tell these apart when compared to the other of the same finish, then see if you can tell them apart when comparing different finishes. Also, once you see the differences you can know what you're looking at without a comparison. First things first, let's see what these look like. Both are blue, with white markings or veins. The mineral structure is very similar which is why they appear alike and are often mistaken. In fact, as I perused the internet I saw sodalite advertised as lapis lazuli and lapis lazuli advertised as sodalite. That's how similar they are, even suppliers sell them incorrectly. As described in the Book of Stones (see below for reference) both of these are a sodium aluminum silicate with an isometric crystalline structure. The white color you see in each photo is white calcite which occurs naturally in both lapis lazuli and sodalite. So, what's the trick to telling them apart? There are two distinct features to look for.
1. Pyrite. Lapis Lazuli has pyrite inclusions - pyrite is fool's gold. It has a metallic gold like appearance. Some Lapis Lazuli, like the point in the photo above (right), has a lot of pyrite and is easily seen. Others, like the raw stone above (first set of pics, right), have less or the pyrite is less easily seen. To me tumbled and polished stones are easiest to discern. 2. The blue color. Sodalite is often a darker blue, sometimes gray or such a dark blue that it appears nearly black in some places on a stone. Lapis Lazuli typically has a brighter blue color. So, is your Lapis actually Lapis? Is your sodalite actually sodalite? If you've got both, take a look at the differences, you may be able to help a friend tell them apart one day. Photos: left side are all sodalite, right side are all lapis lazuli. See our article on distinguishing Black Obsidian and Black Tektite. Watch our video on Meteorite & Tektite (click here) References The book of stones: who they are and what they teach Simmons & Ahsian - North Atlantic - 2011 |
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