New Crystals and Stones April 2017

New Crystals and Stones

Whenever hubby travels he often looks for local rock shops where he goes. He travels to New Orleans pretty regularly and has a couple shops he checks out for me each time he goes. He brought back some real beauties this time, some from my list and some he picked himself.

*Red Calcite
*Orange Calcite
*Green Calcite
*Blue Calcite
*White Calcite
*Septarian
*Diopside
*Scolecite
*Rose Quartz
*Kambamba Jasper
*Shungite
*Fire Agate


**What are your most recent Crystal additions? Feel free to reply in the comments.


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Crystals and Stones to Get Started With

Crystals and Stones to Get Started With 

There's so many crystals and stones out there. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the pretty sparklies. Which ones do you choose to get started? Here's a list of crystals and stones to get started with. These are generally easy to find and should be fairly affordable, usually not more than a few dollars per stone. You can choose tumbled or rough, it doesn't matter which. Size also doesn't matter. Bigger isn't necessarily better in this case. Any size will do. You don't have to get them all at once. This list just represents a fairly well rounded selection of crystals and stones that represent all the major colors of the rainbow as well as many of the most commonly recommended and used crystals and stones.

• Garnet
• Carnelian
• Citrine
• Green Aventurine
• Fluorite
• Moss Agate (optional, but a nice green stone)
• Tree Agate (also optional, another nice choice for a green stone)
• Blue Lace Agate
• Sodalite 
• Amethyst
• Lepidolite (optional, but a nice additional purple stone to have; great for calming the mind)
• Smoky Quartz
• Rose Quartz
• Selenite 
• Tiger's Eye
• Snowflake Obsidian
• Fluorite (point, not required but it shows the many pretty colors Fluorite can take)
• Blue Kyanite
• Moonstone
• Clear Quartz 

Not shown but also recommended:

• Jasper (there's so many different Jaspers, choose one or more that you're drawn to)
• Calcite (available in a variety of colors, can be included or substituted for any of the listed stones)
• Black Tourmaline 

What was your first crystal or stone? Feel free to reply in the comments.

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Chronic Illness Plus Acute Illness Sucks

I just recently got over having a cold. Hubby caught the cold initially and unfortunately passed it to me. This cold was a bad one. Lots of coughing, very hard hitting. Hubby (who is healthy) usually kicks a cold in a couple of days, but was down with it for about a week. I was down for a week too.

Being regular sick on top of chronic illness SUCKS! Acute illness (colds, flus, etc) makes you feel awful. Put that on top of feeling awful from chronic illness and you've got a double whammy. Acute illness makes all your chronic illness symptoms worse. It takes longer to recover. Sometimes acute illness causes chronic illness flares.

If you get an acute illness while dealing with chronic illness, be gentle with yourself. Rest, rest, rest. And then rest some more. Allow yourself time to heal. Rest even after the acute illness symptoms stop. Slowly ease yourself back into your regular routine. Eat well, hydrate a lot, and rest. Take good care of yourself.

I spent extra days in bed and am taking a bunch of days to try to slowly get back to my normal routine. I've watched a LOT of Netflix and slept a lot. I knew I was starting to feel a bit better when I started feeling bored and didn't have to take such long naps. But I did my best to resist the urge to jump back into my normal routine. It was hard, but going slow is best when dealing with chronic illness.

What helps you the most to get through acute illness while also dealing with chronic illness? Feel free to answer in the comments.


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A Way to Remain Objective When Doing Divination for Yourself

Using the guidebook to remain objective for personal readings...

I just read an excellent suggestion for a way to remain objective when reading Cards or doing Divination for yourself. A person in a Tarot Facebook group said someone told her they utilize the deck's accompanying guidebook meanings when reading for themselves. They stick with the guidebook meanings only for interpreting personal readings. That way the message isn't affected by their own personal thoughts and biases. I thought this was a great idea.

I often use the deck guidebook when doing readings for myself, even though I feel very proficient with Tarot, for a couple of reasons. One, I like to get the deck author's take on the cards. Another is that due to chronic illness, I often deal with limited energy and brain fog. Using the deck guidebook for personal readings saves me some of my limited physical and mental energy. This lets me read for myself even if I'm dealing with symptom flares. I've still found these readings to be applicable and accurate for myself, even when using the guidebook.

Far too often I hear the recommendation to "throw the book away." I've always disagreed with this as I'm a book learner. Now I have another reason to ignore that advice and keep and use the guidebook that accompany decks and divination tools.

**Do you ever use the guidebook when doing a divination reading for yourself? Why or why not? Feel free to reply in the comments.

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Spring Equinox Crystal Grid (A Little Late...)

Spring Equinox Crystal Grid

Sorry this is a little late, but Happy Spring Equinox. It was on March 20th.

On the Equinox, day and night are of equal length.

The Spring Equinox is about finding balance, rebirth, renewal, new growth, new beginnings, new potentials, new possibilities, and resurrection.

This Crystal Grid for the Spring Equinox is made with Selenite, Green Aventurine, Citrine, Moss Agate, Tree Agate, and Black Tourmaline. The Spring Equinox card comes from the Earth Magic Oracle. The Green stones symbolize growth and abundance. The Yellow symbolizes the Sun and energy for growth. The White and Black symbolize the balance of equal day and night.

**What new beginnings are you planning and looking forward to? Feel free to reply in the comments.


Earth Magic Oracle (c) 2010 Hay House

When Having a "Mediocre" Life is Enough

What if All I Want is a Mediocre Life?

What if I have chronic illness that limits me every single day so I'm not able to think of a life "that" big because I'm not physically capable of it? So I just want to be content with a simple life... Because that's me. All this "dream big, there's no limits" just doesn't resonate with me because for me, in my life, there ARE limits, inescapable ones. So those platitudes ring false to me every single time I hear them.

I don't write that to make people feel sorry for me. I write it to give voice to the many of us who HAVE to live with limits and limitations and can't just "dream big, BIGGER!" For many of us, there's a limit to what and how much we can do, and no amount of "RAH! RAH! Yelling positive affirmations" is going to change that. Can't walk up stairs if you need a wheelchair, and that won't change just because you think positive.

For so many of us, the limitations we cope with are inescapable. Doesn't mean we can't contribute or do big things. But for many of us, that's just not our reality. For many of us, a "mediocre" life is what we aspire to because it represents an improvement on our lives or maybe even the best life we can achieve. And that's ok.

Right now, I'm working my way through Esme Wang's Ass Kicking With Limitations course It's a short, 5 day email course, to help you think about how to work better within your limitations. I'm enjoying it. It's simple, but makes you think. It's taking me longer than 5 days to finish because I need to work on it on "good" or "better" days. Been having some ups and downs a lot lately, especially due to trying to find allergy meds that work for me and that I'm not sensitive to. I'm looking forward to finishing the course soon.

We all have to figure out how to live the best life we can, given our own personal circumstances. All we can do is try and put in the effort. Everyone is different. Everyone's view of a good and successful life is different. Don't let what others are doing make you feel discouraged because it's not what you want or are able to do.

Right now, what I want to do is get my Tarot reading business going and work towards being a Crystal Energy Healer. Toward that end I'm blogging and posting on social media when I'm able to. A lot of the "conventional" business wisdom just doesn't help or apply to me, as it's not designed for those with limitations. So I'm stumbling my way through, learning as I go along, finding what works for me.

How do you "kick ass" given your own personal limitations? Feel free to reply in the comments.



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My Top 10 Favorite Tarot Books

Here's a list of my favorite Tarot books. They are in no particular order, with the exception of number 1.

1. 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K. Greer (Probably my favorite Tarot book. So incredibly helpful.)
2. Tarot 101 by Kim Huggens (Deeper than many 101 type books. A comprehensive course in Tarot, with exercises and journaling.)
3. Tarot Spreads by Barbara Moore (Covers a wide variety of Tarot spreads.)
4. Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen (This is a monster of a book, over 900 pages! I haven't read it all yet, but what I have read so far has been incredible. A comprehensive reference for the serious Tarotist.)
5. Tarot for Yourself by Mary K. Greer (An excellent Tarot workbook with LOTS of exercises)
6. Who Are You In Tarot by Mary K. Greer (A very interesting book on Numerology and Tarot that covers personality archetypes.)
7. Tarot Tour Guide by Christiana Gaudet (Tarot and the Four Elements)
8. Practical Tarot's Quick Start Guide to Learning and Reading the Cards by Barbara Moore (two short ebooks that are decent and inexpensive)
9. Your Tarot, Your Way by Barbara Moore (helping you to figure out how you best work with Tarot)
10. A Magical Course in Tarot by Michele Morgan (My very first Tarot book. Great for helping you start with Tarot without getting bogged down in lots of card meanings.)

What are your favorite Tarot books? Feel free to share in the comments.


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