The sacral center is about creativity and productivity in the world at large. Carnelian is a carrier of the orange ray and beneficial to use on this area. More is written about carnelian later in the book.
Root chakra: Color—red Location—base of the spine
The root chakra helps connect you to the earth, grounding you in the physical body. Ruby is the carrier of the red ray and is wonderful to use for grounding. A remarkable healer, we will explore ruby at length in a later section.
Healing Self and Others
Once you understand how and why gem healing works, it’s time to put that knowledge to use by healing yourself and others with the stones.
Back to the earlier story about my frequency sickness—after I began unplugging my electronics, I felt immeasurably better. Nevertheless, I felt I needed more.
Mercury was about to go retrograde, and I wanted to take a short trip to a cabin where I could be completely away from everything familiar as well as from the electronics.
I packed my bags and left on the first day of the retrograde period, which by the way is a perfect time for realigning and reevaluating things. Besides, electronics often don’t work well during these periods, so what better time to get away?
The first day while I was in the cabin, the rain poured nonstop for twenty-four hours. Thick trees surrounded the cabin, and my friend and I were literally trapped inside, forced to be still and quiet.
I had packed all of my favorite stones for our retreat, many of which you will be reading about shortly. Each stone has a particular frequency and when introduced to the body will assist in making the needed changes.
While I was there, I ate only fresh fruits and vegetables to cleanse my system. Most of us believe that our diets are healthy. But even if you eat only organic, gluten-free, and other types of healthful food every single day of your life, the body still needs a break from its familiar routine. Such was the case for me. I decided to change my diet, and by doing so, my energy frequencies were also shifted. That shift, along with using various stones that you will read about in this book, helped me a great deal. The experience proved incredibly healing to my mind, body, and spirit. I felt refreshed by the time I went home after just a few days.
Self-Healing
One thing to keep in mind with self-healing is that while it is normally not considered nice or polite to think of yourself before others, sometimes you have to. If you’re run down, how can you hope to be of aid to anyone else?
When I do self-healing, I like to lie on my back and place stones on my heart center, my torso, and my forehead. In addition, I often place a crystal at the top of my head on my pillow to help open the crown. Sometimes the placement varies, depending on what I believe I need at the time.
Please remember that there is no right or wrong in this method. Your intuition will let you know what is best for you. Simply place the stones on or around the body, leaving them there while you take a brief nap or meditation. When you awake, the stones will have assisted you in producing the needed shift, as they did for me.
Healing Others
To heal others, use the same process. I normally work with a massage table. The client is positioned face up to start. Midway through the session, the client faces down, similar to the progression of a massage. I place whatever stones I am guided to use on the body and along the sides of the legs.
Years ago, I was taught to hold a big stone chunk in one hand and wave it over the energy fields of the body. This technique is called an energetic bath, and it is powerful for moving the fields to push out old, unwanted energy while allowing in good, new energy.
Amethyst is my favorite stone to use for the energy bath. Its frequency is higher than most other stones, yet nearly everyone responds to it. I will discuss the energy bath in greater detail in the section on amethyst.
How Long the Session Should Last
If you’ve been trained in Reiki or other healing modalities, one of the most interesting things to do is to work on people in a group setting. The participants normally start with a brief prayer, and then the healing begins. In the silence, it is interesting to notice how the hands of the practitioners will heat up. The hands will cool off at some point, indicating that the healing is complete.
In a group setting, you will see that usually within seconds of each other, the healers will back away and place their hands into the prayer mode.
Gems are similar. In my own self-healing, after “napping” along with the stones, I will suddenly wake up feeling refreshed. I will know that the energy shift has occurred.
Likewise, when I work on others, sometimes I will feel the energy taper off. In several cases, I have seen some stones literally fall to the ground when they are finished working!
It is truly interesting. I encourage you to experiment for yourself to discover what works best for you.
HOW TO WORK WITH GEMS AND STONES
First, we will discuss how you should work with stones. I discovered a wonderful Cayce reading, which I have split into pieces here because it brings up so many important points about how and why stones work.
Selecting the Right Stone
Q: How will I know when I have found this stone that is most useful for my purposes?
A: When there is found that which is sufficiently clear for the transmission of light and that which may be held in the hand for five to ten minutes and then set aside and listening hear the movements or the vibrations given off from the emanations from self.
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The Cayce readings explain beautifully what I’ve been trying to tell people for years—that to a certain extent, the stone chooses you and not the other way around. You simply have to listen and pay attention to how you feel, and then you will know which one is right for you.
I love shopping for rocks. It’s one of my favorite hobbies. Whenever I am around a bunch of mineral specimens, I am like a kid in a candy store. When I first approach a collection of stones, I reach out to pick one up. When you pick up the first stone to which you are energetically drawn, your soul is talking. On an innate and energetic level, you have connected to that stone for a reason.
And if you’re faced with many choices (as I am), you may often put the first stone aside in favor of another that may be more physically attractive. Don’t do it!
As the Source says in the above reading, give it some time, pick it up, set aside both the first stone you saw and then the more attractive one, and think about which one is actually speaking to you. Invariably, it will be the first piece you selected.
Trust yourself to make the best selection. If you quiet your mind and access your higher self, the right choice will be clear. You might question yourself. “Is this right? Should I get something else?” If possible, go ahead and take both, but if you must pick only one, choose the one that buzzes in your hand or gives you an especially positive feeling.
What about Physical Properties?
Q: Should it be translucent to light?
A: Should be transparent, or sufficient for the light to pass through.
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I found this part of the reading to be extremely exciting. I’ve worked with nearly all of the gems in the mineral kingdom over the years because I