Happy Imbloc!

Today I got up early (for me) and set up my altar. I went shopping and I came home to an AWESOME post by Pagan Culture (aka one of my favorite blogs). I was picked to be Touched by Pagan Culture. The post is here. Read it!


Technical Note: I've noticed my followers widget isn't working. I'm working on it, so keep checking back.

ANYWAY! Onto the fun stuff.

So, this is my altar. Yes, it’s also my desk, which is why there is a lamp. I don’t have much ritual space. In fact, I have the floor and this desk. I would have everything on the floor, but because of my cat, it was better on my desk. As you can see, there are four place settings, I’ll explain them. And yes! Those are Hello Kitty glasses. They are all I had. I got some plain, basic glasses today for ritual use for offerings, along with plain plates.
The altar cloth is a silk scarf with a Western Native (so...British Columbia) image on it. I believe it’s an eagle. I picked it because...I have no idea. My Mayan Square one was too small, so this was my second choice.

This is Quetzalcoatl’s place. He’s my patron God, so I thought it would be nice to put him first. I love them all equally, of course. Anyway, his candle, the red one, felt right, and the blue holder is due to the fact Quetzy’s colour association is traditionally blue. The egg (and stone chunk you can’t really see) are made of malachite, the same colour as Quetzy appeared to me in my dream/vision. He’s got tequila and 70% dark chocolate (which he adores).

This is my welcoming plate to Cama Zotz. Yes, that is a giant Beanie Baby. It was all I could get last minute. His candle is dark purple and fig scented. It smelt dark and forest-y, so I thought of the rainforest. He was the one that asked for this altar, funnily enough. He’s got tequila and 70% dark chocolate.

Moving right along, this is my Egyptian place setting. The three candles are for Thoth, Ptah and Bastet. The stones, which you can’t see, are ones from the bases of each of my four statues, Sobek, Thoth, Anubis and Isis. They have a glass of tequila, and a plate with both milk chocolate Hershey Kisses and some 70% dark chocolate.

My final place setting is for my little flower faerie, Leiko. She is like the traffic controller to my room. She’s small, but she can be deadly if she wants to be. Anyway, the purple agate slab is hers, along with all the purple stones I have, beside the purple candle. Did I mention she liked purple? Anyway, the glass is filled with a pink lemonade cooler called Vex. It’s sweet, and almost like cream soda. She likes sweet things. She has Hershey Kisses. We got her those for Samhain one year, and she loved them. She said they were just the right size.

Presents!
In my shopping adventure, we went to The Weather, and they had a sale! 30% off! It was awesome. So, let me show you what I got. I got some plain clear quartz (not shown).

This is a Smokey quartz ball. Total impulse buy. I did not need it, but damn I wanted it. It’s so pretty, photo’s can’t do it justice.

Obsidian heart for Quetzy. One of Quetzy’s sacred stones is obsidian. I can be a bit of a purist when it comes to which deities have which stones. I follow my intuition at times, like with the malachite, but sometimes I just go with what the book says.

These next three things are for Cama Zotz. He got a slab of obsidian, because he is a God of the night, the underworld, and all manner of darkness. Obsidian is black. See! Connection! The heart is hematite. I was looking through my stones and he wanted a piece of hematite I had. I was like “okay, you can’t have this piece because it’s totally not suited for you, but I’m going out today to get you some.” The hematite I had was okay, but not perfect, and I wanted it to be perfect.
But, the best thing for him was the rose quartz skull I found. See, this is what binds Cama Zotz and me together. The rose quartz is me, my personal stone, and the skull is his, the personification of what he is (being the God of the Underworld and whatnot).


Long post was long, thanks for reading it all!

Giving Stones back to the Earth

I have about five or six stones in a plastic baggie with crystals. These crystals, I have no idea what they are, and they feel more like regular rocks you find on the ground than any sort of special crystla. Long story short: I don't really like them.

So, I want to get rid of them, and I don't want to just toss them. I'm thinking about giving them back to the Earth.
I have a couple of ideas.

One, I go out when I have time, maybe after class tomorrow, and just toss them either in the small forest near my house, or by the small pond by the house. The pros would be they would be out of my room and I could get it done right away. I would smudge the stones and then take them outside and toss them wherever I chose. The cons, however, would be that when the snow melts, though the small stones will probably be carried away, a few of the larger ones would then rest atop the earth.

The second option is that I can wait until spring and bury the stones in the muddy grass. This would really "give" the stones back to the earth, but it would be messy and I would have to wait until all our snow was gone, which would be April.

I'm up for suggestions, ideas, or just voting on which idea you think would work. I keep staring at this bag of stones and all I can think of is getting rid of it.

Gemstones and Tarot

I keep pieces of rose and clear quartz with each of my tarot decks, to help keep my energy (from the rose quartz) within the decks, and to help get rid of all outside influences (the clear quartz).

Today I did a reading with my UFO tarot deck (read it here), and I was thinking "Hmm, should each of my decks have a certain stone?" I was looking at my dark sunstone when I was thinking this.
I'm going to do a bit more thinking on it, maybe take a trip to The Weather and get some stones for each deck.

Snowflake Obsidian

Snowflake obsidian is a type of obsidian with a white-blue fleck in it, which gives it the name "Snowflake". The snowflake patterns are formed by high-pressurized and very hot bits of generic rock crystal.

I have a piece of snowflake obsidian, very lightly flecked. I like it, but I love my obsidian crystal ball more.

Associated Crystals: Apache tears, black onyx and sardonyx.
Candle Colour: White.
Chakra: Crown and root.
Element: Earth.
Flowers & Plants: Snowdrop, sweet tobacco and white hyacinth.
Herbs - Incenses - Oils: Cedar, cypress, lemongrass and yarrow.
Planet: Saturn.
Zodiac: Capricorn.

Animals: Snowflake obsidian is good for slow-moving or nocturnal animals.
Children: Snowflake will help children who are somewhat economic with the truth.
Environment: Use it for a fairer distribution of the world's resources.
Finance & Prosperity: Use it for a fairer distribution of the world's wealth. It is a good fortune charm.
Health & Healing: Snowflake obsidian will help improve circulation and encourage the regrowth of cells and skin. It can also be used for blurry vision, depression and migraines. It is a pain reliever and energizer.
Home: Snowflake obsidian will help you to spring-clean your home and has the added benefit of helping you to clear out your mind at the same time. It will help prevent daydreaming and illusion and bring you back to reality. It will help you to express any negative feelings you have.
Protection: It is generally protective and particularly so against hard winters.
Psychic: Snowflake obsidian will improve clairaudient powers. It is a scrying aid especially when you are trying to determine the truth of a matter.
Ritual: Snowflake obsidian should be added to any protective charm bag. It can be used in any protection or truth ritual.
Work: It will help prevent daydreaming when you should be working and help you to positively voice any negative concerns you have.
Other: Snowflake obsidian is the crystal equivalent of yin and yang.

Agate

There are lots of different types of agate, so today I want to give you a general overveiw of the stone. These properties apply to all types of agate
Agate quenches thirst and protects from fevers. Ancient Persian magicians used agate to divert storms, so if you are planning a big trip and it's all dependent on weather, try using some agate. I could have used this last winter for a storm that nearly left us stranded here, instead of going to a big arts show. Lisey will know what I'm talking about.

Green Aventurine

Aventurine is a type of quartz crystal, usually green, but can be found in orange, brown, yellow, blue, or gray.
The majority of green and blue-green aventurine originates in India. Creamy white, gray and orange material is found in Chile, Spain and Russia.
The stone is often mistaken for malachite.

Associated Crystals: Amazonite, bloodstone and peridot.
Candle Color: Mint green or silver.
Chakra: Heart.
Element: Earth.
Flowers & Plants: Begonias and gladioli.
Herbs/Incenses/Oils: Bay, parsley, patchouli, and sagebrush.
Planet: Mercury.
Zodiac: Gemini.

Metaphysical Properties & Uses:
Animals: Use green aventurine for pets who are clumsy.
Children: It helps children to take more care with their school work and to improve handwriting.
Health & Healing: It is good for eye complaints and enhances mental perception. It can also be used to help calm anxiety or panic attacks. Green aventurine is also a fertility stone.
Protection: Use it to help prevent DIY accidents. It can also be used to help protect your aura from psychic intrusion or draining. Particularly by emotional vampires.
Psychic: Green aventurine may be used to induce psychic dreams and so help bring you the answers you're looking for. It will also help increase clairvoyance. It can be used in conjunction with pendulum divination by holding it in your other hand.
Sex: Green aventurine is a fertility stone.
Work: It will help you to believe in your own abilities at work and increase the opportunities you have to better yourself.
It Is The Stone Of: Gamblers.

Stilbite

Stilbite is a type of stone, obviously. It has a pearly sheen, and is found near basaltic volcano rocks in granite, and in hydrothermal vents.
It is found commonly in Iceland, Faroe Islands, Isle of Skye, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, and northern New Jersey. Pink crystals appear in Bombay and Poona in India. White clusters are found in Iceland. Brown crystals are often found in New Jersey. The bright red crystals are found in Scotland.




Associations:
Other Crystals: Prehnite, Quartz, Apophyllite
Candle Colours: Gold, Yellow, White
Chakras: Heart, Crown, Throat
Element: Earth
Flowers & Plants: Chrysanthemum, Ivy, Fern, Aster
Herbs/Incenses/Oils: Frankincense, Patchouli, Peppermint
Planet: Mars
Zodiac: Virgo, Aries

Metaphysical Uses
Animals: Help animals who are mourning the loss of their owner
Chilren: Can help children with short attention spans, or those who have difficulty with change or letting go
Finance & Prosperity: Used to increase prosperity related to inspiring others
Health & Healing: Helps concentration. Used to helop laryngitis and to remove toxins
Home: Helps those become more accepting of one another
Love: Helps with letting go of a relationship; helps letting go of pain and anger within a relationship; increases loving feelings
Protection: Against toxins
Psychic: Helps understand the guidance of guardian angels and spirit guides. Helps you remember past lives, assiting in clarity of thought. Increases intuitive and spiritual abilities
Sex: manifests loving energy for more soulful sex
Work: improves output. Helpful when working on very large projects

It is the stone of: Counsellors, teachers, coaches; thouse wishing to inspire others

Stone Haul!

Today I went to our local stone store called The Weather. I know, weird name for a stone store. Anyway, this place is amazing for stones. They range from $200+ for larger pieces, to $.50 for clear quartz. This place is really affordable, which I like. Some online stores, and our ONE other local “new age” store, is expensive for stones The Weather has for dirt cheap.
So, what was my haul? LET ME SHOW YOU IT!
(Please note, I don’t actually have pictures...so there is no actual showing...I’m sorry.)

Purple Agate slice
Malachite egg
Malachite heart
Scolecite massage wand
Angelite
Three pieces of clear quarts
Four pieces of rose quartz
Moonstone
Mookite
Amethyst

It was a good haul, but there was some other thinks I think I will pick up some other time. I was lucky about getting the purple agate...apparently they are rare, and sell out a lot quicker than the blue and green. They have a huge selection of malachite, which both Quetzalcoatl and Thoth like. Also, they had chunks of mookite, which is rare: I’ve only ever seen it in wands. Anyway, my mookite looks like a kidney bean, complete with the little white bit!

It was a good day, and a good haul.

Gemstones A to Z: A Handy Reference to Healing Crystals

This book was a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting more. Or rather, I was expecting something different. Much of the information I found online, and in those cases it was written better and was easier to follow. Diane Stein jumps around in her definitions a bit.
I do, however, like how she has included things like chakra information.
Ironically, this is the only book I have not, and probably will not, process for my Book of Shadows, because I could not get past the introduction. There were some glaring editing flaws, and the information itself frustrated me, and I wasn’t sure why. Looking at some of Stein’s other books, I realised why: she focuses too much on women and the Goddess. Though women are important, I do not like total focus on just one gender, both are equally important.

Published in 2008 by Ten Speed Press

Other Books by Diane Stein: Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art; Essential Psychic Healing: A Complete Guide to Healing Yourself, Healing Others, and Healing the Earth; Essential Reiki Teaching Manual: A Companion Guide for Reiki Healers; Prophetic Visions of the Future; Healing Herbs A to Z: A Handy Reference to Healing Plants; Pendulums and the Light: Communication with the Goddess; All Women are Healers: A Comprehensive Guide to Natural Healing; Essential Energy Balancing Iii: Living with the Goddess; The Women’s Book of Healing; Soul Wisdom: Volume One a Chronicle of Angelic Contact; On Grief and Dying: Understanding the Soul’s Journey; Essential Energy Balancing II: Healing the Goddess; All Women are Psychics; Natural Healing for Dogs and Cats; Reliance on the Light: Psychic Protection with the Lords of Karma and the Goddess; A Woman’s I Ching; We Are the Angels: Healing your Past, Present, and Future with the Lords of Karma; Diane Stein’s Guide to Goddess Craft; Healing with Flower and Gemstone Essences; Goddess Celebrates: An Anthology of Women’s Rituals; Reiki Essential; Healing with Gemstones and Crystals; Lady Sun, Lady Moon: Poems by Diane Stein; The Natural Remedy Book for Women; Dreaming the Past, Dreaming the Future: A Her-story of the Earth; Essential Energy Balancing: An Ascension Process; Psychic Healing with Spirit Guides and Angels; Women’s Psychic Lives; Casting the Circle: A Women’s Book of Ritual; The Kwan Yin Book of Changes; The Women’s Spirituality Book; The Holistic Puppy: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Dog; Goddess Book of Days; Stroking the Python: Women’s Psychic Lives

Readability:
Is it easy to read? Yes
Is it easy to follow along with? Yes
Is it interesting? Yes
How long does it take to read? Probably between 10 and 14 days
Overall: 4/5

Content:
Is the author knowledgeable? To a degree.
Is the knowledge valuable? Yes
Is the knowledge new knowledge or is it common knowledge? It is fairly common knowledge
Is it cohesive and relevant? Yes
Other notes: This is the only book that I never formally typed up for my Book of Shadows. The problem was, all the information I found was already online that I had saved.
Overall: 3/5

Design/Layout:
Is the book set up for easy reference: Yes
Is the layout or design obnoxious or annoying? No
Overall: 4/5

Overall:
Do you recommend this book? Not really. I think there are better ones on the market.
Was it worth the money? It’s about $15 on Chapters, which isn’t too pricy, but I don’t know if I’d say it was ‘worth’ the money. There are probably better books that cost the same, or less.
Will You Purchase Other Books from this Author?: I might look into a couple, but probably not
Overall: 11/15