tarot of the week-the emperor

Last week's introduction to the Mother of the Tarot, the Empress, reminded us for the maternal energy of Mama Earth and the maternal intensity within ourselves to nurture our dreams, our creativity, and our inner child. The Emperor, number IV of the major arcana, follows the Empress.

 Regal, staid, authoritative, he acts as the Father of the Tarot.  Paternal energy abounds when Emperor shows up in your reading. The Emperor arrives when you feel empowered, established, knowledgeable, strong, and independent. He is also the archetype of the Leader. Father and leader. Marcia Masino called him the "Christ-figure" of the Major Arcana, the one bringing light. As she explains, "He is the indwelling spiritual ego, the Master causing right instruction and goodwill to be done within the temple." This light within the Emperor resides within all of us. It is the drive to follow our Divine Will. The Emperor is the card which validates our choices. "You know what to do," he says. You are the authority on your Divine path. God lays it  out in front of you. You walk it with authority.

He is also practical, mature, reasoned. A general and an engineer. So, this sense of understanding the Divine path is something that comes from the hard work of shedding ego, releasing the things no longer serving us, and moving forward with knowledge that we have brought the shovel to move mountains. When the Emperor comes, this is the work you have done. Your solid foundation is built of knowledge, truth, fearless self-appraisal, logic, reason, and a bit of compromise that looks nothing like compromise. It looks like honest assessment, as all compromise should be. The truth will bubble to the surface when all the options are boiled in a pot together, and the Emperor is the one to skim it off the top.

In the Fool's journey, we are nurtured by the Empress then brought to the Emperor, the father-figure, the seat of rules, authority, stability, and leadership. He is the card you draw when you need structure and organization, or finally have it. He is the foundation, the stability, the hard organization work of building your leadership qualities, or your business/career, or your household. When you need the rules, or are rebelling against them, or when you are finally coming into a place of power within yourself, the Emperor appears to validate that work.

The crux of the brilliance of Tarot is the many-layered interpretation which we apply to our emotional, physical, and spiritual life through Tarot's deep, rich symbolism. When we pull the Emperor, we decide who this card represents. Is it our leadership, or someone else's? How are we like the Emperor? How are we not? It has often been associated with the astrological sign of Aries, and can sometimes come to represent an Aries man or woman in your life. Or your own father, or someone who has come to take a paternal role in your life. 

A good affirmation for the Emperor is:

I walk my Divine path with full authority and knowledge. 

I'd love to hear your interpretation of the Emperor, or your feelings about this card, the Tarot or any topic you'd like me to cover in this blog. I also urge you to sign up for my newsletter, which links to my blog posts of the week and more information about Moon cycles, tarot, crystal healing and other groovy topics. You can sign up here.

hemimorphite

Last night, on Talk-N-Angels with Rita Strough, we talked about crystals, moon cycles, tarot and all the things I do here at the Moon + Stone Healing. It was a wonderful experience, and I just loved being on the radio. It suits me perfectly, perhaps because I love listening to podcasts and blog talk radio myself. You can listen to the show if you missed it. But on the show last night, Rita asked me about her beloved hemimorphite, and I pulled out my hemimorphite, and we had a hemimorphite love fest. So, when I was deciding what stone to choose for today's blog post, it immediately hit me that I should go more in-depth and really discuss hemimorphite.

The vibrant blue color of this hemimorphite resonates with the throat chakra, as well as the heart and third eye. Hemimorphite comes in whites, which work on the higher chakras, crown-soul star, and brown, which works well with communication with Elementals and Nature.

Hemimorphite is a feel-good stone, with a Moh's hardness of 4.5-5. (A good rule of thumb is that any stone with a Moh's hardness below 5 shouldn't get wet.) What I mean by feel-good stone is that it balances the aura and etheric field, bringing up your vibration. But most importantly, Hemimorphite is an activation and ascension stone. As Naisha Ahsian says, it helps "integrate more Light into the energetic, emotional and physical bodies." It beautifully opens the heart, throat and third eye, as well as bridging to the higher chakras (crown, transpersonal and etheric chakras so the eighth chakra and beyond) and assists in open psychic channels, including mediumship, angel communication, channeling, and connecting with your spirit guide.

Hemimorphite is a great stone for healers, as it helps with a stream of well-managed compassion and empathy, not only for someone we are near, but for ourselves. It is as though hemimorphite shepherds our emotions, guiding them into feeling and expression in a way that is for our Highest Good. It can transmute that experience into one of positivity, allowing one to be present in a compassionate, rather than punishing way.

Last night, on the show, I said hemimorphite opens the throat and crown, which is my own personal experience with hemimorphite. For others, it might resonate with just the throat, heart and/or third eye. Another thing I talked about with throat chakra stones it the way in which is helps psychic work, because throat chakra issues are not simply about speaking one's truth, though that is MOST certainly part of throat chakra work, but it is also about listening to one's truth. Hearing the truth is sometimes the hardest part of our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical work. No one wants to hear that something they are attached to isn't working for them anymore. (I'm thinking ice cream when I am writing about this.) 

But with the high vibration of hemimorphite,  we can listen with compassion and purpose, radiating Light in situations that can be painful. I actually found hemimorphite through Rita. She brought it to a Harmonic Healing with the Angels circle, and I felt its vibration immediately when I held it. Awesome, powerful, yet gentle. I went out the next day to find a piece. It has been essential to my meditation and healing work.

A good affirmation for hemimorphite is adapted from Naisha Ahsian's Book of Stones. 

I joyfully accept the full spectrum of emotions, I call forth the activation of my inner Light. I live in compassionate empathy with all souls, embodied and discarnate. 

Please let me know what you think of these crystal posts, and share your own experience with hemimorphite in the comment section. Love to all.  

tarot of the week--the empress

The Triple Goddess symbol shows three cycles of to moon to represent the embodiment of the Maiden, Mother and Crone, the three phases of life, and the path of wisdom.

This week's Tarot card comes at an auspicious time, when the August full moon, the Corn Moon, reaches her full glory this evening. When we track moon cycles with intention-setting or rather align our spiritual work with moon cycles, the full moon is time when our intentions are being birthed, the moon representing the full pregnant belly of the our intention. In the trinity of goddess-based spirituality, represented by the three moon cycles of waxing, full, waning moon, the full center moon represents the mother, while the other two represent the maiden and the crone respectively.  

The Empress is also the embodiment of the mother archetype. She is the only pregnant  figure in the Tarot, and so she has come to represent pregnancy, birth, fertility, and abundance, as well as nurturing, maternal instincts and the goddess. The heart symbol at her feet carved the symbol of woman. It symbolizes that she holds sacred feminine mystery as well as the compassion and nurturing of Mother Earth, but the pregnant belly contains the fruition of masculine and feminine energies coming together. So, she calls the receiver of her messages to blend those parts of themselves too.

Her dress is covered in pomegranate, a symbol of Persephone's journey into the underworld. The pomegranate's etymology literally translates as apple with many seeds, and so the pomegranate symbol is inviting you to plant your seeds. Incidentally, the root of the word seed, granata, is also the root of the garnet, so use garnet to plant those seeds. The pomegranate came to represent abundance, fertility, prosperity and generosity. The wheat at her feet, another symbol of abundance here as well as the goddess Demeter, mother of Persephone. This story of Demeter and Persephone also harkens to the triple goddess as Persephone is seen as the maiden, and Demeter, the mother (the grieving mother) who literally transforms herself into the crone as she grieves her daughter. The Empress' scepter holds the full moon. The moon in Tarot represents this esoteric, mysterious knowledge, the feminine, the shadow. As she wields it with power and magic, so too do we wield power when we hold the knowledge of our own shadows. Her crown is made up of twelve stars, which is sometimes seen as the twelve chakra system. Behind her runs the waterfall, a clear blue pool of emotional stability (water always represents the emotions in Tarot symbology). All this culminates in a kind of mother wisdom, she holds that knowledge and shares it with her children. As Empress, she is mother to all the world. She is the Mother Earth, providing all that we need.

That nurturing aspect of the Empress that runs through her symbology. She calls you to nurture those creative parts of you too. To give birth to your ideas, to allow creative projects and energies to incubate and be born into the world, abundance will follow, she says. Prosperity is yours for the taking, just ask the Empress.  When we pull the Empress, we ask what we need to nurture in ourselves. What creative projects are we raising up? What parts of ourself are ripening? Of course, this card can be literally about mothering--who are we mothering right now? Are we being more mother than wife? Or losing ourselves in mothering? Or are we wanting to be a mother? 

In the deepest roots of this card, we must pull up the nutrients of self-love, self-acceptance and self-worth. Are we mired in self-pity? Or are we nurturing ourselves with self-compassion? This is the heart of this card. Nurture yourself so the true fruits of your dreams can be manifest. 

An beautiful affirmation for this card might be: 

I accept and love myself, just as I am, in alignment with the Divine. 

malachite

My sister and I began collecting stones and crystals when we were young girls. My first stone was a lapis lazuli, and my sister's first stone was malachite. They were the two stones we first held, and talked to, and whose vibration we resonated with. Malachite's rich green color felt earthy, homey, protective, but I admit that the name alone, mal- as its prefix, made me imagine its qualities as more sinister in nature. (Cue maniacal laughter and creepy organ.)  But the mal comes from the Greek either for soft (malakos), which makes sense with a Moh's hardness of 3.5, or resembling the mallow plant (malache), but with no evil intent. 

In the Middle Ages, though, malachite was often used to ward off the evil eye, and used as a stone of protection. As far as 3000 BCE, malachite was used in Egyptian jewelry and for eye shadow, as well as found in Ancient Greek and Roman artifacts. It still is a strong stone for protection. I'm citing Robert Simmons here because this information is straight from Book of Stones. He feels that malachite is one of the strongest stones for protection from negative energies, helping to keep your psychic radar tuned to the right frequencies. So you need to trust your gut when you have some malachite in your auric field. In fact, wear it so you can trust your gut and be able to sense those energies around you that are safe. As Robert Simmons says, you can literally use it as a cloak of invisibility when you are in an emotionally vulnerable place and need to hide from those posing a threat. It also works as a powerful psychic cleanser, drawing out impurities, helping to purify your EMF (electromagnetic field), and recognizing and cutting attachments in your auric field. 

Malachite resonates to the heart chakra. Actually, it resonates to the solar plexus as well, making it a beautiful stone to bridge that lower and upper chakra work. The heart work of malachite helps you manifest your dreams into reality. (Another manifester, cool!) When we think of the heart and solar plexus synthesizing energies, we think of our heart's desire, and our strongest will. So, those stones that resonate with both heart and solar plexus help us visualize and achieve our heart, which is truly our soul path and Highest Good.

So, use it to strengthen your will power for things like weight loss, or boundary keeping. It helps you hold that vision you have, to strengthen your will. With its strong, powerful vibration for the heart tied deeply with that will and fire of the solar plexus, it can be impressive for work those trying to figure out their soul path.

 Malachite is not for the faint of heart, no pun intended. Judy Hall calls malachite merciless, which made me laugh, because stones just raise that vibration, you become merciless, uncovering those deep desires within you and the things in your life no longer serving you. When I work with people to figure out soul paths and that deep discord that spawns the need for change, we often have this brutally emotional time of uncovering and rooting out the things that no longer serve. Manifesting dreams is not simply dreaming them, saying the affirmations and eh voila, it happens. We make a commitment to uncovering those things that are standing in our way of achieving our goals. Because those higher energies (living our soul path is the highest vibration we can have) need room to come in, your vibration is ascending, you are going to be attracting different things and people, and those habits and people not of a higher vibration fall away, sometimes dramatically, sometimes with difficulty and drama. It can be a painful process. Often, it is simply that place of feeling trapped that really is the trap. 

Malachite is an ally, as all stones are, in helping us raise our vibration to a different level, and it is a powerful tool for finding our soul's path. What I mean by that is that when we are dealing with base issues, like safety, security, monetary issues, addictions, etc., those are lower vibrational issues, root + sacral chakra issues, when you use a powerful heart/solar plexus stone, you begin to raise your vibration above the concern, to see it more clearly, more accurately, and give you that last oomph of will to push you into action to change your lot in life. And to change those things that once felt unchangeable. It helps you put cracks in those patterns that feel unbreakable, and truly, it helps you take responsibility for your actions. 

Many crystal writers warn against using malachite alone without a crystal healer. I find that soul path work, and intention setting works best with a coach, spiritual counsellor or crystal healer (or therapist/spiritual advisor/sponsor). But it is okay to use this crystal alone. My suggestion is to use it in small doses. Start meditating with malachite for a few minutes a day. Pick three minutes to start. Ask the stone what you need to learn from it, hold it in your non-dominant hand, and then sit in meditation listening for the answer. Yeah, I know, that sounds corny, but that is how we work with stones. Take notes on how you feel. Often, it is the stones that bring something up in us, that nudge us, or make us feel uncomfortable that are the ones that help us the most. They are trying to raise our vibes, and our vibes are very comfortable right where they are, thank you very much. However you use it, in meditation, in sleep/dream work, worn, or in medicine bundles, do not use malachite directly in elixirs or tonics. It cannot be imbibed as it is a toxic stone. It is fine to wear, but not fine to drink.

A close up of the florettes of malachite. Its banding and beauty enhances the draw to work with it.

Personally, I decided to write about malachite this week, because I have been working with malachite on my own healing. I bought a rather large specimen to help heal my Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I wouldn't be much of a crystal healer, if I didn't use stones for my own ailments. Beyond emotional, mental, and spiritual issues, crystals help with physical ailments. Malachite is an anti-inflammatory, and helps draws out impurities. As a crystal healer, I use malachite for people with physical injury as I am doing other crystal work. Malachite helps calm that inflammation and pain. I healed a pulled ligament in my ankle with malachite in two days. (I share this, because I wouldn't have believed it possible.) For my IBS, I lay the stone on my belly for 10-15 minutes every night with a cross of Dravite to help alleviate my pain and other symptoms. It is my third night tonight, and I have to say my physical symptoms have been lessened, not taken away, but lessened. This is intensive work, and I'm grateful for malachite to be on my path with me. And as to the emotional work it is bringing up, I have had some amazing dreams. (Another reputed attribute of malachite, as a dream interpretation aid.) And actually, come to think of it, those dreams are pretty dang clear about what I need to be releasing. Beautiful Malachite.

For Malachite, I love the affirmation of Naisha Ashian in the Book of Stones: 

I align my personal will with my understanding of Divine will, and I move forward with clarity and confidence. 

tarot of the week--knight of cups

The minor arcana of the Tarot is set up similarly to a deck of cards--numbered cards one through ten, which correspond traditionally with aspects of numerology in their archetypal meanings. Then what are called the court cards come into play--the page, the knight, the queen and the king. These sixteen court cards come to represent personality types and the people in and around your life. When we talk about personality types, most of us identify those kind of things by psychological tests, like Myers-Briggs, for example. These personalities are ones you know, they surround you constantly. And if I were to describe the personality of any court card, you would more than likely be able to think of someone in your life who has those personality traits. Some people even read the cards with physical features. Pentacles, for example, might represent a dark haired people, or it can represent someone who is grounded, a financially responsible (or irresponsible, depending on the card) person, or even the age (pages are young adults, kings and queens tend to be mature people.) So, the court cards help card readers identify people in the life of the questioner.

 The court cards are often these markers in your reading, helping the reader validate the present situation. People are often looking for tarot readers or psychics to help validate what they are saying is true for them. So, if I say to someone, there is a dark-haired man in your life, he is mature, stable, financially secure, this helps the person know that the cards are accurate. Court cards are great tools for that, because they can be so literal in that way.

But the court cards aren't just about other people, they can help you identify the energy you are bringing to the situation. I read for someone a few weeks ago with three knights in her layout. So, what does that tell me?  That is not necessarily about the one knight, but the symbol of the knight, which we will get into later. It is telling me she is acting in extremes right now, making decisions quickly, being fearless and/or reckless in some aspects of her life, where and how those knights appear in the layout help me help her to identify where that recklessness or fearlessness is playing out. in general, court card gives a true human depth to the reading, if you can be honest about your motivations and accept the warnings and validations of the tarot.

Knights have a specific energy in the Tarot. That energy is one of movement and action. The knight, after all, isn't sitting on a throne, or lounging about the castle, his duty in the kingdom is one of protector, warrior, and messenger. He is in defense of the kingdom, or riding off to battle, or off to rescue the princess. So, the knight energy carries with it extremes of each suit from its best attributes to its worse. Only the reader and questioner can really figure out whether this extreme can be positive or negative in your life. Often, when you read about knights, there are pair of words to describe the knight energy--reckless/fearless. They are pairs of words that have the energy, but different outcomes. 

The Knight of Cups embodies the extremes of the emotional suit of Cups. Often, but not always, this emotional extreme deals with love. Love is where we are most vulnerable and most emotional in our lives, so when the Knight shows up in our reading, we get to look at this energy. And it bears a sort of emotional honesty that is imperative with the Knights. Often Knights are warnings, recognitions of our own extremes, and an invitation by the Tarot for genuine and honest self-appraisal.

The Knight of Cups is a poet, a lover, a rescuer. This card is often called the Knight in Shining Armor card, because the energy of this knight is one of idealization, either rightly or wrongly. What I mean by that is that we often are idealized or idealizing someone else when this card appears. Placing someone on a pedestal, or being placed on one, a lover who seems too good to be true, or just is that good. We sometimes say this card appears when someone is in love with being in love. Or feels like this new relationship or person in their life was love at first sight.

 And the darker side is this idea of illusion, of people, particularly a romantic partner, being too good to be true. So, reversed, or in challenging positions, we often have to ask if we are seeing things clearly, or are we being swindled? There is another underlying theme of being rescued--either we are waiting for rescue, or waiting to rescue. Either way, it is often a warning in the tarot to check our intentions and our illusions.

This Knight is a sensitive soul, perhaps overly emotional, self-centered, moody, melodramatic or temperamental. On the other side, he injects romance into the situation, ecstasy, drama, beauty, and creativity. Sometimes, the Knight of Cups brings this deeper quest into the reading, the quest for our Higher Purpose, the passion of your soul's path. Can we follow our soul's path as fearlessly and passionately as we pursue a new hot relationships? For spiritually based questions, the Knight of Cups can be about emotional courage. For example, a silent retreat can be hugely recharging, or it can be torture depending on where you are emotionally. Can you be courageous enough to do this type of work? That kind of spiritual process requires Knight of Cups energy. We also pull the Knight of Cups when we are doing intensive emotional work through therapy or other processes, like the Twelve Steps, or self-help work. It requires a beautiful bravado and belief in the ideal you--the one that has always resided in you. The romance and idealization can be strongly tied with falling in love with yourself, who you are meant to be, who the Creator envisioned us all to be.

Whether it is romantic love, or self-love, or courageous energy, the Knight of Cups can be the spark of emotional courage that we need to find that romance, our soul path, or the way to our emotional truth. 

I'd love to hear what you think of the Knight of Cups, or anything on this blog. Remember that I offer tarot readings, either remotely or in person, with the same type of depth I do with my blog posts. You can find my offerings here, or shoot me an email at themoonandstone(at)gmail(dot)com. 

labradorite

The New Moon in Leo, August 6th, reminded me of the work of the dark moon. New Moons are times of transformation, new beginnings, releasing, and the hard work of change. We often find ourselves withdrawn or rather introspective when the Moon is perfectly aligned with the Sun.  I often talk to people who tell me they are in a funk, or not relating to people, then I say, "Well, it's the new moon. That is to be expected." And they seem surprised and relieved. The New Moon is a great time to do this introspective soul work, and the work of manifestation. Crystals help enhance our own work--soul work, physical work, emotional work, spiritual work, and Divine work.

When I talk of manifestation, I mean, setting intentions for goals that are attainable. When we set intentions to "lose weight," for example, we may start a new diet, or exercise regime, but if we don't get to the cause of our weight, those things may be for naught. So, the work of the New Moon is setting intentions, then allowing yourself to journey to those places of our own Shadow self, the part we hide from others and ourselves. Shadow work is a Jungian idea, and the time when the moon is in shadow is the most auspicious time to work with these shadow issues arising. I often work with people on medicine bundles during the new moon, then throughout the month, we talk about the shadow work arising, the emotional issues coming up for them. What is blocking you from being everything you want to be? Setting intentions in the new moon helps you identify and work on these issues. This is the true work of the new moon. 

Labradorite is a stone of the Dark Moon, as Athena says. It is the gatekeeper for shadow work, and it is sometimes referred to as the Magician's stone--the magic of our own potential, intuition, and power. What does this mean? It means, labradorite perfectly complements the New Moon energy, helping you gently uncover your hookable places, and open to your Higher Self and the secret knowledge that helps you grow. Labradorite is difficult to capture on film, because it has an amazing labradoresence--flashing rainbows, purples, greens, blues, golds, oranges, red...yet remains dark.

Intention-setting and manifestation is not the only way to use labradorite in the new moon. This is a great time for journeying and deeper meditations. If you are someone building their intuitive gifts, including psychic abilities of the clairs, channeling, past-life recall, as well as other psychic tools, labradorite is a great stone for your toolkit. It helps you move between different dimensions, realms and realities with relative ease. When I said it is the gatekeeper of shadow work, labradorite helps you recognize that duality in yourself (and sometimes others) with clarity and wisdom. We don't go into arenas of shadow work lightly. We must hold it in high regard, being purposeful and respectful of the darkness and pain within us all. 

For people who want to work with labradorite, I often recommend holding the stone (in your non-dominant hand) in meditation. Asking labradorite what you need to see right now for your Highest Good. And let the visions come. Don't fret if you don't get the answers immediately. It often takes time to discern the voice of our Higher Self and trust our answers. Keep the stone in your pocket throughout the day, because labradorite assists in coincidence and synchronicity. So, once the question is asked, allow synchronicities and coincidence to speak to you throughout the whole day. Watch where your shadow issues rise. Recognize those things that no longer serve you. The New Moon is a perfect time to release those things, so allow labradorite to be your companion. You can also place labradorite on the third eye to assist in seeing what you need to see. You can feel the rush as your vibration rises to labradorites. Labradorite also is great for dreamwork. Take it to bed with you, place it under your pillow. Then write your dreams, visions, and inspiriations in a journal. Working with labradorite and a dream journal opens you up to working on those issues blocking your intuition, or the intuitive messages you are not hearing during the day.

An affirmation to work with labradorite during the new moon is:

I open to the magic of my own intuition and Higher Self.

tarot of the week-the world

Last week's card of the week, the Magician, the great manifestor, kicks off the Fool's journey, as the Fool begins his vision quest through the Archetypes of the Major Arcana. (Funnily, I also randomly chose Citrine as the crystal of the week last week. Guess it was a week of ABUNDANCE!) And this week, my random tarot pull of the week is card XXI, the last card of the Major Arcana, the World. 

The World is about completion, fulfillment, and freedom--freedom from fear, freedom from self-limiting thoughts, freedom from the confines of our past.  As you can see the androgynous figure on the front of this card is holding the same wand as the Magician. Only there are two, and nothing is being wielded for power. Anima Mundi, as the figure is called, is power. She is the spiritual energy that animates all of life.

But it's not as simple, or profane as power in the sense as we know it here in politics or our jobs, or relationship struggles. This is the power that is tapped into when we align our will with the Divine will. It is the paradox of surrendering to win, and this is the card of that win. Part of what that means is that we become Divine through aligning our will with God's will. And through that Divinity and awakening, we can now deal with the Minor arcana concerns with more clarity and focus. 

The journey of the Major Arcana is not a journey of simply aligning your will to Divine will without the steps involved. All of them, really. The beautiful Empress to the dark shadow work of the Devil to the unforeseen suffering of the Tower--all of these challenges and victories lead to self-realization, self-actualization and self-knowledge. It is only when everything about ourselves is fully illuminated that we can, with full knowledge and free-will, turn our will over to Divine will.  

The World is a card you want to see anywhere in your layout. The World is yours, literally. You may feel that way, or it may seem that way. You have journeyed to this point and it is a beautiful place to be. The challenge of this card resides in self-deception, false humility and denial. When this card is in the blockage position, the cards ask you to look at whether or not you feel enlightened, but still have work to do. Are you resting on some laurels that don't exist? Are you wielding your spiritual growth as a weapon to others? When the World is reversed, it means your success is there. It is a lessened feeling of completion, but still completion. Maybe you won the battle, but are still in war. 

The affirmation of the World is this: 

I align my will with the Divine will to fully embody my true nature and my soul's path for the Highest Good of All. 

citrine

Ah, Citrine! You gorgeous rock, you!

Yesterday, I worked with a client who is ready to bring her dream into reality, and we pulled together an abundance medicine bundle for her. The first crystal I pulled for her was citrine. We have worked together through this three month cycle, and her first bundle was for self-love & clarity. Working that bundle helped her clearly see her future and what she was ready to release and bring in. I don't just throw citrine into all bundles. Citrine is a manifestor. So, you have to know what you want.

The trick is to know exactly what you want. Align those wishes with the highest good of all. Visualize it clearly. If all you want is money, then money is all you will get. We see this often in Tarot as the cards warn that money is a "neutral resource", our intentions determine the judgment of money's worth in your life. Citrine works when we align our will with Divine Will and choose a path of healing and love. So, when you are ready, citrine is there for you to do the hard work and energy to bring your dream into reality.

As my teacher always says, "Where  thoughts go, energy flows." And that energy flow is facilitated by Citrine's beautiful solar plexus resonance. A brief word about solar plexus, the solar plexus is right above the belly button, and under the heart. There lies our seat of personal power. What does that mean? It gives us the confidence, oomph, push to believe in ourselves. When our solar plexus is balanced, we often feel balanced. People with an imbalance here often feel hopeless, lacking motivation, doubting every move they make. An imbalance causes anger, resentments, and suffer from low self-esteem. The three lower chakras really hold the safety and security to move into lightwork, but if those chakras are off, so are we. I personally hold my weight right over my solar plexus (or I did), until I learned how to dispel that fear and start to believe I deserved to have my dreams be manifest. And I can see my weight shifting and releasing. Amazing stuff, really. If you are feeling some of these imbalances, place citrine right on that chakra as you are lying down. Imagine that energy moving in a slow deliberate circle, watch the blockages open, and the energy flow. This is crystal healing work, laying the stones on your chakras to help you find balance. 

So, what exactly is citrine? It is a crystal in the quartz family (like amethyst, smoky quartz, etc.), and its color ranges from nearly clear yellow, to dark mustard-y yellow to amber to almost orange. The ranges in color reflect the heat-treatment of citrine. My teacher wrote a great piece about heat-treated citrine vs. natural citrine. Citrine is great for helping energy move between the chakras, so you can place citrine points between the solar plexus into your heart chakra to help bring that passion into reality. It clears these blocks between the lower and upper chakras.

Like I said, the yellow vibration of citrine entrains with the solar plexus chakra to assist with self-confidence, clear vision, will power, action, and hard work. It is a creative stone, and creativity here isn't always about the arts, but taking a creative approach to your amazing life. The action that citrine pushes you to make isn't empty action, or rushing forward, but deliberate, purposeful action, which is why it is a great stone for business. It is called the merchant's stone because it does a great job manifesting money, dreams, courage, whatever your heart desires. so, if you have your own business, don't forget to put a piece in your register, or the place where your bill-paying stuff resides. 

I use citrine in my altar to Lakshmi, since she is the goddess of manifestation. And I also use it in a basket on my dining room table to help us manifest our family dreams and security. We always work as a family on those dreams (for the highest good of ALL, we often say, and that means we need to build our dreams together).  It also contains carnelian and smoky quartz, and hand-picked sage. 

There is so much more to say about citrine, but I want to leave you with an affirmation for citrine, taken from Naisha Ahsian's Book of Stones.

I open myself to the inspiration of my creative imagination and through the strength of my will, aligned with Divine will, I manifest my dreams. 

tarot of the week-the magician

The Tarot is split into two sections--the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. Arcana means "secrets" and so we called the Major Arcana the greater secrets, and the Minor Arcana, lesser secrets. Not that a reading with all Minor Arcana cards is less important, but it deals with your daily life and struggles, whereas Major Arcana tends to deal with issues on a larger scale--spirituality, addiction, attachment(s), soul paths...you get my drift.  I always think of the Major Arcana as archetypes that exist in the collective unconscious, something that Carl Jung discusses. Sometimes we tap into them and embody them, or they embody us, or they just surround the question of my clients. The Minor arcana are split into four suits, each representing an element and aspect of human existence. The structure of Tarot could be a blog post in and of itself, but I wanted to give some background about the Magician.

The Major Arcana have twenty-two cards, starting at 0 (the Fool.) Each card of the Tarot, both Major and Minor Arcana, have a number associated with it, as well as associations both astrologically and earth-based (elemental). But there are certain tests, questions, and meditations of the Major Arcana that help us further our life's journey, if we open to the messages of Tarot. Many who read Tarot refer to the story of the Major Arcana as the Fool's Journey. It is in this journey that you can understand your own journey. The Fool is kicking off his escapades on card 0 and traveling to the last card in the Major Arcana--The World, which is a card of completion, fulfillment, and freedom (the Fool is also free, but that is another discussion.)  I am not taking you on the Fool's Journey today, though maybe at some point I will. Let's talk about our card for the week, the Magician.

Many Tarot reflections call the Magician the archetypal Achiever. And certainly, I can see that aspect of the Magician clearly. Magician is often used as another term for Alchemist. He is a hard worker, dedicating his life to making this complicated appear easy. That is part of his gift and his mastery. Think of a Magician. He makes everything look so easy. Suddenly a coin appears out of thin air, as though Spirit is handing him money, or flowers out of a stick. I often tell my clients that the Magician is like that Picasso story. He is in a restaurant and a man approaches and asks him for a sketch on a napkin. He draws something quickly, and says, "$5,000, por favor." The man is aghast. "That only took you thirty seconds." And Picasso replies, "No, that sketch took me 50 years." And so the Magician can reply, "It took me a lifetime to learn all I have learned, bringing it together beautifully, easily, for this one occasion." Is that not worth more than I have given myself credit for? The Magician demands that you see yourself as deserving, worthy, important, and creative.

When you pull the Magician, there is something far more beautiful that simply doing some magic, the Magician transforms our desires from the mundane to the profound. He acts as a bridge between in heaven and earth. His arm is raised, bringing energy from heaven, and his feet are firmly planted in the earth. In that way, he often heralds energy work and Reiki to the person who pulls him.  

On the table in front of the Magician is the representation of all the elements--earth, water, air and fire. He has learned the tricks and pulls of the elements, and he draws them into his power. With the hand raised, and feet planted in Mother Earth, the elements laid out in front of him, the Magician harkens to the prayer and closing of many earth magick rituals, "As above, so below."

In many ways, the Magician IS your Higher Self, able to bring your natural, human, sometimes base desires into a larger soul path. The Magician is card number One of the Major Arcana, and here is where the magic starts--when you can tap into your innate wisdom, seeing yourself as capable of magic and manifestation. When clients pull this card, I often tell them that what they do on this earth, no one else can do. Only they alone have pulled all these extraordinary skills together to be able to do exactly what they need to do. This card asks you to be disciplined, precise, dedicated. You have been gifted with the qualities of the Magician--the ability to make the difficult appear easy. Do people tell you that? How do you do that? THAT! That thing that comes second-nature to you. Maybe it is not taking things personally in a business meeting, or maybe it is the ability to bring people together in the exact perfect way. Or maybe it is clearly visualizing what you want. 

The warning with the Magician resides in the motivations behind using such magic. What are  your motivations? Are you wanting riches? Selfish desires? Are you harnessing this power for yourself, or for the good of all involved? We do magic a great disservice when we infringe of the free will of others. When we conjure love spells for someone in another relationship, for example, or wish to have our position in a company, no matter what happens to the other people in that firm. So, this card asks you to align your will with the Divine will, and to align your dreams and desires with your Soul Path. There is also so much energy in this card, that I often ask my clients, if this comes up reversed, for example, how they are managing their own energy? Are you shielding your energy? Are you protecting your etheric field? Are you surrounding yourself with like-minded people, or are you walking into mine-filled rooms? 

Part of the underlying theme of this card is manifestation. The innate ability of our humanness to manifest all our dreams and desires through learning, doing, and creating what we can, then turning our will over to the Creator to seal the deal. So, my meditation and affirmation of the Magician is this:

Through alignment with the universe and Mother Earth, I bring all my experiences and strengths together to manifest my dreams for the Highest Good of all. 

I'd love to hear what you think of the Magician. Leave a comment, or ask a question. Much love to you all.

black tourmaline

There is no crystal I recommend more often than black tourmaline, as a grounding powerhouse and an energetic cleanser and purifier. When I am in a crystal healing session, I do an energetic scan as par for the course, I so often feel the lack of grounding, the breaks in the etheric field, and the attachments that have just been hanging out sapping the energy of my amazing empathic clients. Even the most seasoned of practitioner forgets to ground and protect her etheric field.  We often do so as we prepare for healing work, circles, or ritual, then forget to ground and protect our auric field when we hit the market. 

When empaths, intuitives and even compassionate people engage in the outside world, we absorb the energy around us. There is no doubt of that. Think about when someone cuts you off in traffic, and your anger rises and turns into a day-long series of annoyances. Or when we have a friend who complains or obsesses about one issue, we leave the meeting feeling down, or needing a nap. That is a shielding issue. We always, always, need to protect and shield our energy, not just when we are going into a particular toxic situation, but when engaging with the world. This is particularly true as healers and intuitives, because when our energy isn't clear and high vibrational, we bring down the energy of our clients or our loved ones. We are of little use to others when we aren't grounded and shielded. If you have ever have had energy work by someone who is negative, you know exactly what I mean. For these reasons, and so many more, shielding ourselves is so incredibly important. 

For me, black tourmaline remains probably my most important ally in my protection toolkit. It is awesome for grounding, for protecting the Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF), for transmuting negative energy into positive energy. Sometimes called Schorl, black tourmaline has Moh's hardness of 7-7.5, meaning it can handle water as well as earth. 

Black tourmaline resonates with the root chakra, and the earth star chakra, which governs our connection to the earth. The earth star chakra is about six inches under our feet. When we are horizontal, lay stones about six inches below the feet, but when vertical, you can place the stone between your feet. When we feel deeply affected by global changes, societal injustice, environment causes, or just the opposite (feel nothing toward those concerns), we need to look at our Earth Star chakra, and black tourmaline is a beautiful helper in this realm. Black Tourmaline is used as a grounding stone, put at the earth star, it helps us to connect to Mother Earth energy and draw up her energy by rooting us into her loving body. It helps transmute and purify negative energy. Perfect for empaths, intuitives and psychics, and those engaged in healing work. It also helps to counter stress, addictive behavior and anxiety, so it is great for workplace. I also keep my large black tourmaline in matrix next to my computer to absorb the EMF floating out of my computer, bombarding my person.

Black tourmaline is the center stone for my house grid.  

Black tourmaline is a perfect gridding stone. I have gridding my property in all four corners and my entire house (both floors) with black tourmaline, connecting it with a large center black tourmaline. This helps transmute the negative energy coming into my home. Often, people remark that my home feels so positive, cozy, and comfty, and I attribute much of that to the awesome black tourmaline energy that immediately transmutes all that stress coming in.  

If you know me in real life, you know that I am usually wearing a black tourmaline around my neck. It is part of my daily shielding and protecting ritual. I place a black tourmaline between my feet and put my tourmaline around my neck. I say a prayer of gratitude for this day and surround myself with white light, like an egg. I ask my angels and guides to protect and shield my energy this day.

I love Naisha Ahsian's affirmation from the Book of Stones (if you buy one crystal book, that is the one to get.) I usually write my own affirmations, but hers is so perfect, I'm passing it on to you.

I banish all negative attachments, within and without. I am purified, grounded, and centered upon the Earth.

I am happy to answer any questions on how to use black tourmaline, in the comment section.  

tarot of the week--ace of wands

Welcome to the blog at the Moon + Stone! 

I thought this might be a great way to share some tarot wisdom and introduce you to some of the rich symbolism of the cards. I decide to randomly pick my Tarot of the Week. And by random, of course, I mean, banging out the deck, shuffling eight times, calling on my guides and angels. It is how I start any reading.

This week's card, the Ace of Wands, is the beginning of the suit of wands, and really the entire minor arcana. And so, aces are about new beginnings. Wands, sometimes called the Staffs or Clubs, is the suit of fire, so it is deeply creative, inspirational, passionate. When I say creative, I don't simply mean the arts, (though wands does govern the arts), but I mean the creative approach to our lives. For example, when we find wands coupled with other suits, like a boatload of pentacles, the earth sign, we might say that we need to start taking a more creative approach to our financial situation. 

Wands govern the astrological signs of Aries, Leo + Sagittarius, and so we see these passionate signs often revealed in our readings. If you have ever wondered why tarot readers ask you for your birthdate, it is so we can distinguish who is what in your reading. If you are a Leo woman, you might find the Queen of Wands shows up to help you understand that the reading is directed at your energy, not the energy of the person you are inquiring about. With wands, as with any suit, there are attributes which are seen as both positive and negative. Any fire sign probably knows these intuitively--Wands are self-motivated, dynamic, driven, bold, competitive, inspired, full of vision and will, but they also can be prideful, ego-driven, hot tempered, sometimes even rushing forward into action without planning.  

But what of our beautiful Ace of Wands? It is a new creative beginning, couple it with a sense of awe and action. Aces start the minor arcana of each suit, and all aces show a hand coming out of the heavens to present a gift to you.Think of it as manna...God is blessing you with a creative fire to manifest  your dreams. It is no mistake I pulled this card for my first blog post on my new business page! This is most certainly a creative beginning and a new adventure.

But the aces do more than just kick off a project, they can help you confirm that the path you are currently on is exactly where you are supposed to be. So, the culmination of luck and skill come together when the Ace is present. It might feel like you are driving down a street with all green lights when the Ace comes, because the Universe is helping you achieve your goal here. Wands are about movement, so if you are still in the planning phase,  this card comes to help you move thought into action. All the energies of the universe are behind  you. It is time of action, so this card can come when your planning has been done and now it is time to GET TO IT!

So, what happens with the Ace of Wands is reversed? It can mean you are drawing out the negative aspects of the Wands--being too ego-filled or pushy with a new project. It warns you to be realistic and know your limitations. Mostly, though, aces are always seen as positives in your reading. A true blessing from God, and the Universe. If there was a meditation on this card, it would be: "I fearlessly express my authentic self."

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this Tarot Card of the Week, and welcome any questions.