Blue Calcite

Following on from my last blog post, my crystal super heroes certainly earned their stripes.  What could have been a negative, energy sapping and disturbing weekend become a weekend of peace, harmony and forgiveness.  As a quick recap, I used black tourmaline and smoky quartz to ‘repel’ negativity, rose quartz to promote peace and harmony and clear quartz to amplify.  I carried around a small ‘blessing bag’ of stones , I created a crystal elixir which I sipped at regular intervals and also created a crystal grid and programmed appropriately.  For more information on crystal grids, I recommend visiting the wonderful http://hibiscusmooncrystalacademy.com/ who has written an e-book on the subject.

This week I would like to explore the crystal calcite, specifically blue calcite.  One of my clients is currently experiencing an unpleasant few months and is feeling anxious, irritable and tearful.  Their GP has put them on anti-depressants but they would like to also like to complement this with a more holistic approach.  I’m therefore in the process of creating them a holistic action plan combining several complementary practices such as Reiki, mindfulness, aromatherapy with a ‘take-home’ crystal blessing bag.  This is where I think blue calcite will excel. 

Blue calcite has been using for healing purposes for thousands of years and is derived from the Greek word choix, meaning lime.  It is an excellent stone for reducing stress, negativity and anxiety.  Blue calcite is fantastic for calming emotions and allowing one to be more optimistic.  When used near the throat chakra, it aids clear communication, helping you to speak calmly and tactfully. 

I can’t wait to put this action plan into practice and hopefully provide some comfort.

As always, thanks for reading and any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you below.

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Quick disclaimer; I am not a medical practitioner so therefore I’m not prescribing.  All of my blog posts are based on complementary therapies and not as a replacement for conventional medicine.  

My crystal super heroes

Following on from last time’s blog post, I must admit I looove my black tourmaline.  My home sanctuary has been undergoing a renovation and I was beginning to feel far too negative.  Within two days of carrying BT round with me I was feeling much more . . . well happy, positive me again. 

I’m going to continue to use BT (along with some others, keep reading for details) for the next two weeks as I have a couple of challenging weeks where I’m going to need all of my calming, soothing and un-conditional love qualities. 

So, talking about un-conditional love I’m going to blog about how I’m going to use my crystal super heroes.  Firstly, I’m going to use Rose Quartz as it exudes a very gentle and soothing energy.   It encourages forgiveness and helps to let go of anger, resentment and jealousy and promotes love, self-love, friendships, deep inner healing and feelings of peace.  Oh my gosh, just reading this I KNOW this crystal is going to help me. 

BT is next on my list along with Smokey Quartz to help ‘bounce’ off any negativity.  Finally I’m adding Amethyst for its calming and balancing properties and clear quartz to amplify all this wonderfulness. 

I’m so excited about using my stones during this testing period.  I’m going to create (using both direct and non-direct methods) a crystal elixir to sip on at regular intervals.  Using the same crystal elixir, possibly with some lavender essential oil dropped in, as a room spray and I’m going to carry these wonderful crystals on me in a gorgeous little organza bag for the majority of time. 

Kapow – negativity be gone and replaced with unconditional love. 

Come back next time to find out how my next two weeks have fared.

As always, thanks for reading and any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you below.

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Quick disclaimer; I am not a medical practitioner so therefore I’m not prescribing.  All of my blog posts are based on complementary therapies and not as a replacement for conventional medicine. 

Tourmaline

I’m often found sitting in front of a PC screen and recently I’ve found myself trying to multi-task too much and stress is beginning to creep in.  So I’ve decided to take a dose of my own medicine and research which crystal(s) may help.

After some research, Tourmaline fits the bill (especially the black variety).  There are many varieties of tourmaline including colourless (achrotie), dark brown/black (buergerite), brown (dravite), blue (indicolite), red/violet/pink (rubellite), green (verdelite) and black (schori).  It is therefore no surprise that tourmaline’s name is derived from the Singhalese word tourmali, meaning ‘mixed coloured stones’. 

Tourmaline is a naturally occurring mineral widely used as a semi-precious gemstone, and it has unique electric properties responsible for many beneficial health effects.

From the scientific point of view, tourmaline is known to generate a weak electric current, producing far infrared rays and converting moisture in the air to negative ions.

Unlike mechanically produced negative ions, those generated by tourmaline are completely natural and safe and have no negative side effects. In fact, many of the beneficial effects of tourmaline are thought to be brought about by the negative ions it emits.

It is also known to be helpful for improving circulation, relieving stress, increasing mental alertness and strengthening the immune system function. (Niwa Institute for Immunology, Japan. Int J. Biometeorol 1993 Sep; 37(3) 133-8).

Black tourmaline is an excellent grounding stone and helps to balance those who feel ‘spaced out’.  (This certainly applies to me at the moment with so many thoughts spinning around in my head).  In recent years, tourmaline has been closely investigated for its potential to counteract the effects of electromagnetic fields, which are thought to be harmful. Researchers suspect that the weak electric current generated by tourmaline suppresses electromagnetic fields immediate environment (so I’m finding my largest chunk of black tourmaline and placing in front of my computer screens where my IPhone also resides) 

We all know that we often encounter individuals or situations that emanate negative vibes and black tourmaline is ideal for clearing oneself and one’s surroundings of negativity and disharmony.

Come back in two weeks for an update.

Please don’t use tourmaline for making direct essences as it contains aluminium.

As always, thanks for reading and any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you below.

 

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Quick disclaimer; I am not a medical practitioner so therefore I’m not prescribing.  All of my blog posts are based on complementary therapies and not as a replacement for conventional medicine. 

How to link your Google calendar to IPhone

Ensure you have a Google account and can view your calendar via the internet (preferably not on your IPhone).  Make a note of your username and password.

Go into the Settings of your Google calendar and ensure you have set to private shares.

 On your mobile phone go to http://m.google.com/sync where you should be able to log into your Google account and select or manage your device(s).  Select the device you wish to sync and you get to the Settings page.  Tick which calendars you wish to sync to your IPhone and ensure your press on the Save button. 

Assuming you are on a fairly recent iOS version (I am currently using 5.1.1) you then need to go into 'Settings' then select 'Mail, Contacts, Calendars'.  Check your existing Accounts but you may need to add a new Account.  Select 'Add Account' and scroll down to 'Other'.  From the Calendars option select 'Add CalDAV account' and entered the settings as below.  It may take a minute or two to verify your information. 

Finally, open the default IPhone calendar app and select Calendars.  Hopefully, you should now be able to select which calendars you wish to view and relate them to the different colour options available.  

All change on the Filofax front .... again

During the summer I have been using my beautiful Aston pocket Filofax successfully.  However, as the school holidays draw to a close, I realise the pocket size paper just won’t hold enough information for after school clubs and groups, along with scout and rugby activities for the whole family. 

I also realised that I need to keep a few print-outs with me and I struggle to fit these into the pocket size.  As I have an aversion to the Personal size paper and I like to print onto A4 paper returning to A5 was an easy decision.  However the weight and the size of an A5 Filofax in my current handbag was impossible.  What is a woman to do?  Buy a new handbag of course!  Then my gorgeous sister mentioned that she really liked the Chestnut Cuban A5 (she currently had a Chocolate Cuban A5) so with little persuasion, we had a swap around and I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Chocolate Cuban A5 Filofax. 

I love it’s beautiful smooth leather finish (I’m one of those unfortunate souls that really doesn’t like the finish to the Malden).  I also like my Filofax binders to have stiff covers (I often write on my knee) but with the flexibility to lie flat.  The Cuban ticks all those boxes.  With it’s 25mm rings, I hoping to keep it slimline and therefore not too heavy. 

So here are some of the obligatory photos for my fellow Filofax fans:-

Inside the front cover I keep stamps, a solitary cheque, an envelope, a paper clip, some post-it notes, my sister’s business cards and my business cards. 

I then have an A5 Week on 2 Pages print-out of my Google calendars which are synced to my IPhone, Outlook on my PC, my husbands IPhone and DS1’s Android phone.  There are also small rows where I’ve added birthdays, menu planning and tasks.  This picture also shows my home-made floating Today marker with a Weekly To Do list on the front. 

I have created my own dividers from birthday cards and used the Avery Note tabs (cut in half).  At the moment, I prefer the use of top tabs.  I have purposely kept the contents to a minimum so it keeps the weight down. 

If you would like me to write a blog post on how I link my IPhone, Outlook and Filofax across multiple internet calendars, please write a comment below and I can go into further details. 

I’m also using a variety of multi-pens for colour coding each family member.  Again, if you would like more information, ask a question in the comments form below and I will endeavour to answer in a further blog post. 

As always, thank you for reading.

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Hematite

We currently have some beautiful hematite jewelry for sale (see link here) and I wanted to learn a little more about the properties of this reflective gemstone. 

The word hematite is derived from the Greek word meaning "blood." While hematite is a silver metallic color, when ground up hematite becomes a blood red colour.  Native American folklore states that when used as war paint in battle the person becomes invincible.

Hematite is a grounding stone and is said to provide the wearer with internal strength.  Hematite helps with timidity by boosting self-esteem, enhancing willpower and imparting confidence.  It also helps to overcome compulsions and addictions. 

Physically, hematite may stimulate the absorption of iron and helps with circulation.  With its quietening and calming effect, it is an ideal study aid as it assists concentration.

Some people may be sensitive to hematite and has been known to give some a slight inflammation when worn against the skin. Make sure you do a test on your skin before wearing it.   Hematite should not be used where inflammation is present for long periods of time. 

As always, thanks for reading and any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you below.

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Quick disclaimer; I am not a medical practitioner so therefore I’m not prescribing.  All of my blog posts are based on complementary therapies and not as a replacement for conventional medicine. 

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Moonstone

One of the crystals which intrigue me is Moonstone.  Its name is derived from a visual effect, or sheen, caused by light reflecting internally in the moonstone.  It really is beautiful to look at and my photography below does not do this gorgeous crystal justice. 

Moonstone has been used as jewelry for centuries, including ancient civilizations. The Romans admired moonstone, as they believed it was born from solidified rays of the moon.  Both the Romans and Greeks associated Moonstone with their lunar gods and goddesses.

Moonstone is said to be the ‘stone of new beginnings’ and like the moon cycles, reminds us that we are part of a cycle.  This is a calming stone and can be very effective in soothing the emotions.  Moonstone is believed to enhance femininity, gentleness and intuition.  It is ideal for the excessively macho man or excessively aggressive female. 

Moonstone is said to help the female reproductive system and be excellent for PMS, conception, pregnancy, menopause and childbirth. 

Please do not make a gem elixir with Moonstone directly as it contains aluminum. 

As always, thanks for reading and any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you below.

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Quick disclaimer; I am not a medical practitioner so therefore I’m not prescribing.  All of my blog posts are based on complementary therapies and not as a replacement for conventional medicine. 

Some of the information provided in this post has been taken from:-

The Crystal Bible by Judy Hall ISBN: 978-1-84181-175-8