Yesterday I was photographing beautiful Blue Calcite in the sunshine in the garden. Uploading them today made me think that I could write a little about this wonderful, gentle helper.

Here at Sue Weaver Crystals and Cornwall School of Crystal Healing we do not subscribe to the idea that ‘this crystal does this’ for everyone in any situation. The way that we work is always specific to each person because they are much more than a set of presenting symptoms - everyone is different – totally unique.

However, when we do not have the luxury of working individually with a client, and all that we have to go on is a generalisation, there are some conditions and situations where one crystal will present itself as a good option that is worth trying.

In our ancient past, the link between our lives and the natural world was much more obvious than it is today. Beltaine was the time when the herds were moved from close to the homestead to summer pastures. Community rites and rituals grew to protect animals, crops and people, to bring fertility, abundance and good harvests.

May is my absolute favourite time of year. In the past, Marcus has planned Sacred Journeys in May. While I understand that he cannot control the Cosmos, I’ve made it clear that I do not ever intend to leave Cornwall in May!

Lunar Imbolc, white candle, white, flowers, white crystals

Imbolc, also now known as Candlemas, has come to be associated with the Gregorian calendar dates of 1st/2nd February, but at Heaven & Earth Community we prefer to work with natural cycles rather than relatively recent calendar dates and so choose to honour Imbolc with the second New Moon after Winter Solstice - the same date as Chinese New Year.

Each year, we cease courses and close the shop at Winter Solstice and reopen at Imbolc, allowing ourselves to align our own rhythms with those of Earth, Sun and Moon - retreating to rest and dream in winter - gathering energy for longer days.

As we wake up this morning far from Bridie's land, the clock on this laptop tells me that at home it is already afternoon.

For someone who seldom leaves home, the changing of times has not been easy on my body. It's yet another reminder of how rooted we are in our own land.

Ever since I started to align myself consciously with the turning of the wheels of Earth, Moon and Sun about 35 years ago, my life changed. The more I feel and know myself to be part of the land and cosmic cycles - not affected by them, but an intrinsic part of the Whole - and organise my life to flow with the energy, the more beautiful it becomes.

Beautiful, unique Maiden Bracelets for girls on the cusp of womanhood

Following the success of my Menopause Bracelets, quite a few women have asked if I make bracelets for girls who are approaching womanhood and beginning to experience the effects of female hormones.

I thought this was a very good idea, and so with the beautiful weather enabling me to work outside in the garden, I decided to make a start.

The other day I posted a collage of some rather lovely Polychrome Jasper hearts and someone asked me:

“How can you tell this Jasper from the Ocean Jasper? Sometimes it's hard to know what we're getting out there (not speaking about you!!). Thanks.”

I love questions! They make me think, and when I answer them lots of people usually say that they had had the same, or similar, questions.

I thought about how to answer this question and realised that there was actually more than one question and there wasn't a simple answer - so here are some of my thoughts on the question of it being hard to know what we're getting out there. Later I’ll address the question of how do you tell the difference.

I’ve been thinking about International Women’s Day next week. We’re inviting women and girls to join us in a short online ceremony and I’ve been making a few bracelets with some of the crystals that are in our Goddess Bundle.

Moonstone

Moonstone is a pearly white feldspar that helps us to align with, and flow with, all the cycles of life. It has a strong affinity with the emotions, and is calming and soothing.

It is excellent for women at all stages of life, balancing hormonal upsets, helping with ‘PMS’, painful menstruation, infertility and the challenges of pregnancy, easing birth, for post birth support and for menopause. Moonstone reminds women of their divinity – that all are goddesses.

As we approach Valentine’s Day, I thought we’d show you some of the lovely hearts we have in stock. The first that popped up to be photographed were all blue and I was pretty sure I’d written about blue crystals earlier. If I did, I can’t find it now, so here goes . . .

In this photograph you can see four different blue crystal hearts - Sodalite, Dumortierite, Angelite and Lapis Lazuli.

I’ve been asked the above question quite a lot recently. It may be because we’ve had some particularly lovely Fluorites lately.

I thought I’d take a moment to explain a bit about colour in crystals.

Some crystals are always the same colour, e.g. Malachite is always green; Azurite is always blue; Peridot is always green; Cinnabar is always reddish. These minerals are called ideochromatic and the colour causing elements which are essential to their chemical structure. Copper is responsible for the green colour in Malachite - Malachite is composed of copper, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen Cu2(CO3)(OH)2. Iron is responsible for the green colour in Peridot - Peridot is composed of magnesium, iron, silicon and oxygen (Mg, Fe)2SiO4.

Last night I created a crystal grid to support a group of people who are making a pilgrimage along the Michael/Mary line. It’s been an interesting process, and I thought those of you who love crystals and crystal grids might be interested to hear about it.

Many such journeys have been ‘on hold’ for quite some time now, including those we thought we had planned! It brings to mind “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” - an old Yiddish adage meaning, “Man Plans, and God Laughs.”

This group of people have come from USA with our dear friend Aluna Joy and Marcus went to meet them in London last Sunday. From London they travelled to Bury St Edmunds then visited many sites along the energy lines. They are currently staying in Glastonbury and we’re expecting them here in Cornwall tomorrow.

Last weekend we were at the Healing Light Festival and I was asked so many times about crystals to bring support during menopause. It’s clearly a huge issue! I’ve worked with lots of women over the years and found that good crystal healing treatments can be really helpful. However, not everyone can access regular treatments over a period of time and so this led me to think about creating Menopause Support Bracelets for self help.

The way that I work is always specific to every client. It’s very unlikely that two women with the same symptoms will need the same treatment – because they are much more than a set of presenting symptoms - every woman is different – totally unique.

Last week I wrote about clear/colourless Quartz and how I liked to work with it in the period between Winter Solstice and the first stirrings of new life. I said I’d share my thoughts on some more clear/white stones, so here goes!

Moon/Girasol Quartz

‘White’ Quartz varies from being totally clear to milky to opaque white. I wrote about clear/colourless Quartz last week. Milky Quartz is much less intense that Clear Quartz. It has the same properties but in a much softer way.

In early crystal writings, the very clear was considered to be masculine and the more milky was feminine, and it was often recommended that you find a pair - one for each hand. Maybe try that and see what you find.

A special kind of milky Quartz is Girasol or Moon Quartz. It comes from Madagascar and has a truly beautiful and quite magical opalescence. Moon Quartz is both gentle and powerful, with a subtle, quiet strength. It is very feminine and connects with Moon energy and cycles of creativity. It aids intuition and deep knowing and is a great dreaming stone.

‘I COME INTO ALIGNMENT WITH MY TRUE AND DIVINE PURPOSE’

As we begin to emerge from the rest and retreat time of deep winter, there’s a time of opening up the dreaming that we’ve been holding through the dark times. It’s a time when we examine our values; a time of planning and looking forward to what we wish to manifest. It isn’t yet time to act, but it is time to open up our mind - to examine known possibilities and expand into new ones.

I find the clear/colourless/white crystals to be especially helpful at this time, and today I’m writing about Quartz.

Each year, when I open the door to the crystal barn after the winter rest, I walk into a space with an amazing sense of peace. The windows are still covered and the barn has been in complete darkness since our Winter Ceremony; the remains of the altar stand untouched; all is quiet and very still.

At Samhain, my intention is always to begin the process of withdrawal – moving from the outer to the inner world. There is a sense of becoming more inward – of connecting more to the Earth element – but it can be hard to fully realise this in a world that becomes ever more focussed on being busy and I find that my actions usually lag behind my intention.

Little by little as the days become even shorter and the nights even longer, nature withdraws, the trees lose their leaves and my chickens stop laying. As our Solstice Ceremony approaches, my need for hibernation becomes quite desperate until it is utter bliss to sit with like-minded souls in quiet stillness and complete Darkness until we witness the tiny spark that begins the return of the Light.

Today the Horse Drum spoke to me. Told me off is more accurate!

(If you’re uncomfortable with the thought of being spoken to by a drum, maybe don’t read this blogpost 🙂.
If you want to read more about the Horse Drum, please scroll down to earlier blogposts.)

Over the past week, as we approached the New Moon/Solar Eclipse that’s due tomorrow, I’ve had many thoughts of creating a crystal grid. Here in Cornwall we are very aware of the gathering of ‘world leaders’ for the G7 meeting that is supposed to address ‘tackling climate change and preserving the planet's biodiversity’ and the New Moon/Solar Eclipse creates a powerful opportunity for releasing old ways and choosing a new way forward.

Trolleite is a rare stone. Originally found only in Sweden, more recent discoveries have been made in Australia, Rwanda, Brazil and the USA.

I first came across it last year, but it was so very expensive that I didn’t buy any. I was offered some beautiful pieces a couple of weeks ago – still quite expensive, but less so, and very beautiful so I decided to buy a few pieces.

As we approach Valentine’s Day, it gives me the perfect excuse to share some pink crystals with you. Whether or not you celebrate Valentine’s Day in a romantic way, my view is that any reason to focus on love has got to be good. Maybe try being your own Valentine and focus on being loving to yourself. Maybe take time to tell all those people who matter to you that you love them. Maybe make the Earth your love for the day – take a conscious walk with love and appreciation – sing a song of love and gratitude to the land or to the water.

Pink can be gentle or feisty, just like the girls it is often associated with! Pink is a combination of white and red, and the red gives it energy and sometimes passion, so don’t ever write off pink as overly tame or wishy washy.