Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Turquoise and Coral

Do you have any favorite stones? Any that really speak to you and you are forever drawn to them again and again? I do. I have been drawn to turquoise since I was a very little girl. Granted, it is my mineral totem for my birth moon in Native American lore, but I had no knowledge of this when I first fell in love with the stone and drew energy from it. My other favorite stone is coral, which not surprisingly perfectly complements turquoise, both with its vibrant color as well as with its properties.

Turquoise is a receptive stone that vibrates to the energy of the element of Earth and is represented by male divine energy, the God. In Native American culture this is the Great Spirit. It’s a stone that offers protection to the wearer as well as bringing healing, courage, and luck. It’s the sacred stone of many Native American Indian tribes and was used to protect them in battle and when placed in tombs, to guard their dead.

Turquoise can be worn to guard against negative magic, accidents, disease and any and all dangers. When worn, it promotes courage and for this reason it makes a valuable amulet for travel.

As a healing stone, turquoise strengthens the eyes, alleviates fevers and reduces headaches. Place the stone against the troubled part of the body and visualize the illness entering the stone. Water into which you have dipped the stone can be drunk for its healing properties.

Like all blue stones, carry turquoise to attract luck and good fortune.

Coral is also a receptive stone but this one vibrates to the energy of the element of Water and is represented by feminine divine energy, the Great Mother Goddess. The stone has the power to heal as well as offering protection, peace and wisdom.

Coral isn’t really a stone, nor is it a plant, but is the skeleton of a formerly living sea creature. Hindus believe that the ocean is where human souls go to live after death and thus coral is a powerful amulet for the living. Coral contains the life essence, the primal energy, of the Mother Goddess, which to me speaks volumes.

It is a very feminine stone and is used to effect inner changes within the person wearing it. It eliminates depression, anxiety, fear, panic and nightmares. I simply love that in ancient times, women wore it to regulate their menses because they understood the link between coral, the sea, the moon and women’s cycles, something that is lost to modern women.

Again, this stone, like turquoise, is a stone of luck, of protection and cures eye issues. It can also cure indigestion and troubles with the blood.

Personally, I prefer the stones to be natural and not polished. I love to see them as nature made them: flawed, irregular and rough. Wear them together and see how powerful they can be: the masculine and the feminine, the God and the Goddess bringing strength, health and luck in all you do, balancing courage and power while giving the wearer the wisdom to know how to use it all wisely.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Religious Intolerance Sucks

Why must people be so intolerant when it comes to spirituality? If the motivation one has actually comes from the Divine, from Spirit, from God, then it wouldn't be cold and evil, would it? The Goddess/God knows no religion, as religion and church are man-made and Spirit is natural and pure. When one follows a religion that follows Spirit in name only, but is in fact merely a group of people who are more concerned with self-gratification and personal gain (including amassing untold riches), in controlling those below them and coercing others into doing their bidding and blindly following their dogma, then one ceases to be spiritual even if one appears to still be "religious." There is a big difference between the two.

A great many people who purport to be good, God-fearing Christians are the single most close-minded, condescending, shallow and mean people I have ever met. They will tell you that by not accepting Jesus Christ as your savior that you are going to go to hell for all eternity. They fear anything different and they really fear anyone of the Pagan/Wiccan persuasion. Any amount of explaining that these gentle earth-based religious belief systems have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with devil worship, and that the pentacle is not a symbol of Satanism or anything similar will fall on deaf ears. And all you get instead is someone with their fingers stuck in their fearful ears saying "badbadbadbadbadbadbad." Pagans are not atheists nor satan worshippers and they don't feel that those who choose other spiritual paths are evil, or inferior to them, nor do they spend their time attempting to convert folks to a Wiccan path because they believe that's the one true path to God. Not everyone who is a member of a mainstream religion is this obnoxious, but the majority of them sure seem to be and that's truly sad.

I can't think of any building more spiritual than a church or a temple, but fill it up with the parishioners and it usually becomes the least spiritual place on earth, with human nature ruining a simply perfect thing. People are inherently selfish, petty, rude and childish and a group of churchgoers is no exception. A Christian flock is really not so different than a group of social-climbing, intolerant third graders out on the playground at recess. To me, the Divine is most found in the wild where earth is at her most primal and her most untouched and there is no one there to ruin the purity of what nature has made. Spirit is in every leaf, every rock and on every breeze. The Goddess and the God are peace and gentleness and compassion. And that's the way spirituality should be felt: in one's soul and with love for everyone, regardless of who or what they are. You have your beliefs and I will respect them with my whole heart, so why can't you respect mine? Oh yeah, that's right: because I'm different from you.