Getting to know your minerals
It’s of little use to memorize all the healing properties of minerals, because everyone is different and we tune into certain qualities of a mineral differently. Anyone can read a book that tells you the metaphysical properties of each stone. I am more interested in helping you to develop your relationship with minerals, and learn to tune in and sense their specific energies while strengthening your own intuition. If you learn how to refine your intuition, then you can not only encounter new minerals and know if you need them and how to use them with out knowing anything about them, but it also allows you to navigate through new experiences, using your own inner guide. Your connection to minerals is a great way to develop the gift of your intuition. This is a reciprocal relationship - a win, win.
The best way to tap into the energy of your minerals is through meditation. Think of this as a starting off point to build your own mineral dictionary. Keep track of what you feel with these minerals through note taking and build on what you notice about them over time.
INTUITION
A little word about intuition. We all have it.
If you are reading this then you have a natural connection to minerals. That is a given. Your intuition doesn’t come from your mind, it comes from your body. So, not knowing why with your head is actually appropriate. A lot of people come to me and the first thing they say is, “I don’t know anything about minerals and crystals.” And my first response is always, “Yes you do.”
The voice of your intuition can come from the wisdom of your soul (which is in your body) or it can come from spirit (your higher self). Other messages you might be picking up on can come from other spirits (this is known as channelling). There are all sorts of energies around us, these are just some. When it comes to working with minerals, I know that I pick up information and messages from all different places. I use what I can read about a person from reading the energy of their body, the wisdom from my own soul, and I get some information about minerals from the spirit of my mother (who was a jeweler). I am sure there are other things at play, but these three are clear. And the combination of them is how I can determine not only what I need, but what mineral is needed for another person. Sometimes it happens at lightening speed and I am just listening, picking up a mineral and putting it in someones hand and it just feels right. I don’t have to know why. This is usually when I am most accurate, when I don’t know exactly why with my rational mind. It just happens. And then the person will say something and it will be a conformation, or bring clarity around why I picked what I did for them.
Our intuition communicates with us in four different ways through our senses. We all have at least one of these, if not a combination. There is clairvoyance, which is when you see an image or scene in your mind, this is usually a metaphor that can be unpacked. Clairaudience, which is when a message comes in the form of voice or sound, but one that is not your own (meaning it is different than the voice you hear in your head telling you not to eat the whole chocolate bar). And you might hear a phrase, a single word or sounds. There is clairsentience, which is the most common. This is when we can sense the feeling in a room, or emotion of another person. The information can come in the form of emotion, or physical feelings, as in you might actually feel something in a specific part of your physical body, like an ache, pain, or temperature. And finally there is clayrcognizance. This is where you get a huge download with a lot of information. This is a state of knowing. It’s not just a piece of the puzzle it’s the whole puzzle, and then some. It’s kind of like having a birds eye view where you can see the whole picture and all its parts and how they interact and connect.
And then I also believe, as in my own experience, we can have connection to the spirit of persons who have died who help guide us. This isn’t necessarily intuition, but it is intuition adjacent. You might have had a relationship with this person while they were living, but it doesn’t have to be the case. You could hear their voice, which would be an example of Clairaudience, or sense them - clairsentience.
As you begin to tune into your minerals, see if you can identify how messages from your intuition, and elsewhere, are coming to you. You are not only using your intuition to tap into the energy of the minerals, but you are also using this exchange with minerals to strengthen your intuition. The more you listen and trust, the stronger your intuition will become - in every aspect of your life, not just with minerals. I promise. Every time your mind says, “I don’t know” but you listen and do it anyway your intuition strengthens tenfold. It’s like lifting weights for your intuition.
Meditation
Find a calm and quiet place to meditate with your minerals. Pick one or two to work with during this session. Get your space ready. Exclude all things that could be a distraction (like your phone). If your minerals is new be sure to clean it energetically (you can read about ways to do this here). Perhaps light a candle, have a notebook with you. Lay or sit. Communing with your mineral(s) is a sacred process, so treat it as one. Do whatever you feel you need to do to set the scene.
Listen to the audio where I will guide you through a meditation and a series of questions to help you tune into and learn more about your mineral(s). Choose one mineral to start with. Sit comfortably with the mineral in one hand or in both. When you are finished write down what you got for each question (listed below so you don’t have to try to remember). Be as specific and descriptive as possible. The more you can trust yourself the better. Don’t second guess yourself, trust what first comes to you. There are no wrong answers. Trust your gift.
Before you begin, take a little time to look at your mineral. Study its color, the way it plays with light, its structure and how it has formed. All of these hold clues to its healing properties. Write down what you notice on an objective level.
LISTEN:
Answer these questions in your notebook:
— What is my initial first impression of this mineral? Does it remind me of a certain memory? Place? Scene?
— Where on my body would I want to place this mineral?
— What situations would I want to have this mineral with me?
— If this mineral was a person or a character who would it be? Describe them.
— If this mineral had a voice what would it say?
— What words would I use to describe the energy of this mineral?
What does it all mean?
What you just wrote is your definition of the energy of this mineral. I guarantee that you tapped into things about it that are universal, things that everyone who picks it up will feel, things that for centuries people have been saying about it, and things that are written in books already. When I do this with a group I am amazed at how many people get the same answers! But, the more exciting thing is that you also read things about the mineral’s energy that are specific to you. You may have received a message about its healing properties through the gift of your intuition that you and only you could channel and/or you received a message about how it can specifically help you heal. No book can tell you that.
LET’S UNPACK EACH QUESTION
Take some time to unpack the visuals that came to you, because those are often times metaphors. So, let’s say for the first impression you saw a very flat empty beach, where the color of the sand was light pink, and the water was calm. Dig into what all of this means, and each of the things I described holds a particular meaning that is very specific. Each detail means something specific to you!
Where on my body would I want to place this mineral?
Where are you drawn to place the mineral on your body may be literal, meaning that there could be an energy there that needs the healing that mineral offers, or it could be metaphorical. For example, if you felt that you wanted to place it on the heart, it could mean that you are holding something in the heart that would benefit from the energy of this mineral. Placing the it there could help lift the vibration of the heart to meet that of the mineral, helping to heal some trauma, heartache or clear some block. Or it could mean that the energy of the mineral has something to do with what the heart represents: love, compassion, courage, etc. By using the mineral in this active way, it can serve as a powerful tool that can help you to access the energies in yourself and in your body (because they are there already, they might just need a little realigning).
What situations would I want to have this mineral with me?
Think about the situation that came to you during the meditation when you asked, “What situations would I want to have this mineral with me?” Is this a situation you have been in before? If so think about how you felt while it was happening. This could give a clue as to how the mineral could support you in a time of difficulty or when you need a little help. For example, you remembered a time when you were on a shuttle bus and felt a lot of anxiety and out of control. Then you know that your body is telling you that having this mineral with you in other situations where you feel this same way will help you relax and feel safe. Or, conversely, you remembered a time when you felt safe and comforted, meaning that the next time you need to feel those things this is the mineral you should reach for.
If this mineral was a person or a character who would it be? Describe them.
The person or character that came to you holds clues as well. It could be someone you know, someone who is famous, a public figure, a historical figure, or a character from a book or movie. Think about how you felt in this person's presence. Who they are represents aspects of yourself that can come through and be activated through working with this mineral. For example, let’s say you saw a down to earth, sweet woman from the south who was kind and generous, humble and gentle. Then this mineral can help you cultivate those same qualities in yourself, to help you heal something that is out of balance. Or it will help cultivate those qualities from within so you can exude them to the world to help others or in certain situations. So, in the future when you need to feel the way you felt about this southern woman, you know to pick up this particular mineral.
If this mineral had a voice what would it say?
What you heard when you asked, “If this mineral had a voice what would it say?” is the voice of the mineral, it is its message to you. This sentence or word can even become a mantra as you use your mineral during other meditations.
What words would I use to describe the energy of this mineral?
Your descriptive words will form a quick guide like dictionary that you can reference when you need to find a particular mineral in the future. You could write these at the top of the page to be a short hand guide.
Continue to do this meditation for all of your stones until you have your own catalog. And continue to keep notes as you work further with them and tune into new things. The more you work with a mineral you will uncover layer by layer deeper and deeper meanings and messages. It’s endless!