Experimenting
May. 23rd, 2007 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
averygoodun42I've decided that for the next week I'm going to wear my hematite necklace to see if the anger and despair I've been feeling are my own. I wasn't this angry and certainly not this despairing while in Vancouver, and I was as tired there as I am here and now, so I'm wondering if I'm picking up on Geoff's mood. If it's my own stuff, then I know I have to do some serious mental/psychic work, but if it's Geoff's... I don't know.
Hematite, for those of you who don't know, is supposed to basically ward off other's energies (mostly by grounding your own), among other stuff. http://www.crystalsandjewelry.com/metaphysicalproperties_h.html
I suspect a few of you think that the power of stones and gems is hogwash, but I don't. I don't invest too much faith in them, but I think that the earth does provide for us, and not just our food and shelter.
Back in Boulder, I was immersed in all sorts of New-Agey stuff, some of which I think is complete hogwash and hype, while other stuff is valid. However, a couple of different healers of mine believed in the healing properties of stones. There were several times when my heart chakra was out of balance that my chiropractor placed a big piece of rose quartz on my chest to go along with the acupuncture needles. I sometimes actually felt it working.
I think it was she who told me of the... not myth or legend, but superstition of jade. Jade is one of those powerful, powerful stones, and its properties are also centered on the heart. However, legend has it that the gods love jade; it is the most precious thing on earth to them. They say that the gods will accept jade in exchange for your life.
A friend of my chiropractor had been told this, but, being western and cynical didn't really believe it. However, he had been given a necklace with a single large jade bead by his teacher when he finally was ready to go out on his own. The teacher told him to always wear it, for it would bring him luck and keep misfortune at bay. Out of respect, he wore the necklace and never took it off.
Time went by, and the man decided to sail across the ocean. He prepared well and planned everything out. Of course, it's hard to plan out everything when it comes to storms.
Needless to say, he ran afoul of a storm. He tried to keep his boat afloat, but, at one point as he was securing the rigging, a powerful gust of wind knocked him overboard.
Dressed for the weather, he started to sink. He kicked off his boots easily, but his jacket was stuck and was dragging him down. He fought and fought, but the coat just wouldn't come off and it was becoming harder and harder to stay on the surface, especially with the huge swells. He lost sight of the boat and, as he started to sink, he felt sure that he was going to die.
In one of those stranger than fiction moments, his body was overtaken by giant wave which tossed him forward, and right into his boat. Onto the deck. Along with a lot of water, as well.
He was beaten to crap so he was helpless, but the boat managed to weather the storm, and by morning the wind had died down to a managable breeze and the sun came through the clouds to reveal the boat and man both miraculously still in decent shape.
He was grateful but astounded that he had survived against the odds, but he had. And, as he struggled out of his coat after the storm passed, he noticed that the jade bead was gone. The string it had been on was still around his neck in one piece, but the jade was gone.
I heard this story and wanted to believe it, but, well, I'm Weatern and pretty cynical myself. However, after an experience of my own... I overheated one day (easy to do in Boulder on a fine "Spring" day, when coats are required in the morning, but shorts are needed by noon) on my bicycle ride home from school. I overheat often enough to know what to do, but this time was the worst I had ever experienced. I really thought I was going to die as I got home, drank a sip of water and crawled into bed.
On a whim, because it felt like my heart was going to fail, I took all the jade I own and piled it on my chest before I lost consciousness.
I don't know whether any of the jade was gone when I woke up later because I never counted the beads beforehand, but it's possible that one or two pieces disappeared.
I'm not going to go so far as to say that the gods (possibly) took the jade instead of me, but I think that the power of the jade did help me get through that crisis faster than I would have otherwise.
And I know that I dealt with my teacher (Batshit Crazy) a lot better when I was wearing my old hematite and tiger's eye necklace.
So far today (I put the necklace on as soon as I got up), I have been just as tired, if not more so, but I haven't felt as sad or angry. A little angry, yes (more frustration than anything), and I have a headache, but no crying jags, thoughts of suicide or simmering rage.
If the week continues like this, I am going to be very worried about Geoff.
I wish I still had some wearable tiger's eye. Also, I wonder where my rock collection got to...
Hematite, for those of you who don't know, is supposed to basically ward off other's energies (mostly by grounding your own), among other stuff. http://www.crystalsandjewelry.com/metaphysicalproperties_h.html
I suspect a few of you think that the power of stones and gems is hogwash, but I don't. I don't invest too much faith in them, but I think that the earth does provide for us, and not just our food and shelter.
Back in Boulder, I was immersed in all sorts of New-Agey stuff, some of which I think is complete hogwash and hype, while other stuff is valid. However, a couple of different healers of mine believed in the healing properties of stones. There were several times when my heart chakra was out of balance that my chiropractor placed a big piece of rose quartz on my chest to go along with the acupuncture needles. I sometimes actually felt it working.
I think it was she who told me of the... not myth or legend, but superstition of jade. Jade is one of those powerful, powerful stones, and its properties are also centered on the heart. However, legend has it that the gods love jade; it is the most precious thing on earth to them. They say that the gods will accept jade in exchange for your life.
A friend of my chiropractor had been told this, but, being western and cynical didn't really believe it. However, he had been given a necklace with a single large jade bead by his teacher when he finally was ready to go out on his own. The teacher told him to always wear it, for it would bring him luck and keep misfortune at bay. Out of respect, he wore the necklace and never took it off.
Time went by, and the man decided to sail across the ocean. He prepared well and planned everything out. Of course, it's hard to plan out everything when it comes to storms.
Needless to say, he ran afoul of a storm. He tried to keep his boat afloat, but, at one point as he was securing the rigging, a powerful gust of wind knocked him overboard.
Dressed for the weather, he started to sink. He kicked off his boots easily, but his jacket was stuck and was dragging him down. He fought and fought, but the coat just wouldn't come off and it was becoming harder and harder to stay on the surface, especially with the huge swells. He lost sight of the boat and, as he started to sink, he felt sure that he was going to die.
In one of those stranger than fiction moments, his body was overtaken by giant wave which tossed him forward, and right into his boat. Onto the deck. Along with a lot of water, as well.
He was beaten to crap so he was helpless, but the boat managed to weather the storm, and by morning the wind had died down to a managable breeze and the sun came through the clouds to reveal the boat and man both miraculously still in decent shape.
He was grateful but astounded that he had survived against the odds, but he had. And, as he struggled out of his coat after the storm passed, he noticed that the jade bead was gone. The string it had been on was still around his neck in one piece, but the jade was gone.
I heard this story and wanted to believe it, but, well, I'm Weatern and pretty cynical myself. However, after an experience of my own... I overheated one day (easy to do in Boulder on a fine "Spring" day, when coats are required in the morning, but shorts are needed by noon) on my bicycle ride home from school. I overheat often enough to know what to do, but this time was the worst I had ever experienced. I really thought I was going to die as I got home, drank a sip of water and crawled into bed.
On a whim, because it felt like my heart was going to fail, I took all the jade I own and piled it on my chest before I lost consciousness.
I don't know whether any of the jade was gone when I woke up later because I never counted the beads beforehand, but it's possible that one or two pieces disappeared.
I'm not going to go so far as to say that the gods (possibly) took the jade instead of me, but I think that the power of the jade did help me get through that crisis faster than I would have otherwise.
And I know that I dealt with my teacher (Batshit Crazy) a lot better when I was wearing my old hematite and tiger's eye necklace.
So far today (I put the necklace on as soon as I got up), I have been just as tired, if not more so, but I haven't felt as sad or angry. A little angry, yes (more frustration than anything), and I have a headache, but no crying jags, thoughts of suicide or simmering rage.
If the week continues like this, I am going to be very worried about Geoff.
I wish I still had some wearable tiger's eye. Also, I wonder where my rock collection got to...
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 07:14 pm (UTC)Gotta have that jar of dirt on hand, right?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 06:42 pm (UTC)My teacher is constantly giving me rocks. I have an enormous collection now. I'm never quite sure what to do with them, in part because I don't always know what they are. Usually, I just keep them around as a reminder that someone is thinking of me and wishing me good health.
I love tigers eye, and have some earrings which I haven't worn in a long time. I like to think that my eyes kind of look like tigers eye. Once someone said the combination of the two was a heck of a gaze to meet.
My diamond pendant is something I have a lot of conflict about, particularly as my mother gave it to me about the time she realized I was involved in a serious adult relationship (Jason #3). My gma bought her own diamond because her husband was too cheap to buy her one. On one hand, it's empowering. I don't need a man to have a diamond. On the other hand, I sometimes feel like it has bad juju, because wouldn't it be nice to have a man who values me and respects my desires, even if I don't want diamonds?
I think of these things as going hand in hand with the idea of sympathetic magic, generally. Our beliefs are powerful, whether or not they are justfied by the objects we use as their focus.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 07:10 pm (UTC)I use, or used to use, my rocks as decoration. And then, when I needed a boost of whatever energy, it was handy.
You're right, our beliefs are powerful... and sometimes we give objects (or people) power by those beliefs. But at least beliefs can be changed, even if it is hard work.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-23 07:19 pm (UTC)There's something about here that's wrong, that's all I know now. Not that being "here" is wrong, but something is.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-24 03:47 am (UTC)I used to carry a piece of Tiger's eye in my pocket at all times, (I've always been really drawn to Tiger's eye) and I had a Hematite bracelet. I've never heard the story about Jade though. Very fascinating.
I have to wonder what happened to all of my rocks too. I only have a few things now, some smoky quartz, geode, some of what I can only assume are meteorite pieces, and a really interesting silver rock that my dad found when I was in the 8th grade out in the woods and gave to me. I still don't know what it is, but I think it's really cool!