Working with the Stone People

or, why this woman seems to be so obsessed with rocks. ;-)

Although I've been drawn to rocks for most of my life, it's only been in the past decade that I've actually been working with them. Most of the time, a rock will catch my eye. I will pick it up. I will ask it if it wants to come with me. (This is a key point many people miss!) I only take it with me if it says yes.
Various rocks form a medicine wheel on a table in my patio. I have arranged some of them by shape: long thin rocks for Air, triangular rocks for Fire, very round rocks for Water, and square ones for Earth. There is a circle in the center of the wheel where the sacred stones lie.

I also work with semiprecious stones - which is why it's dangerous for me to walk into a metaphysical store. (Would you believe I once spent over $100 on a bunch of stones? 50 cents here, a dollar there...it can really add up! lol) I will mix and match them for clients & friends in little juju bundles. I have found that when I buy stones from the store, they are "sleeping" and need to be "awakened" to provide the optimum effect for my clients. Singing does the trick nicely.

Often I forget what the stone is, or I will look at one and have no idea what it is. I have lovely books which offer suggestions as to what a given stone is, which are accurate more often than not. One stone, however, refused to be identified until I made a deal with it: I will tell you my secrets if you agree to keep me. Since then I've pegged it as a brown jasper. Its name is Kyotai and it loves to work with Jajava, my citrine. Yes, some of the stones have actual names. I'm sure they all do; I just haven't gotten around to asking all of them yet. ;-)

Now the Stone People are teaching me a new lesson: knowing when to Let Go.
In January, I gifted a small rose quartz to one of my fellow retreators when he expressed interest in it. This past weekend, I gifted my Mothers' Stone, a larger rose quartz, to a new retreat center that is coming into existence. I was surprised, and a bit sad - but I know if I'm meant to do further work with the rose quartz, a new Mothers' Stone will come to me. The little one has already "returned" in a new form. :-)

I am also beginning to "weave webs" with rocks: taking a rock from one place and putting it in another place, as I am advised. Often there is a return connection. The Ambassador, the rock I retrieved from the SRF gardens recently, will be accompanying me into the desert come October, should I head in that direction. In return, a rock from the desert will be returning with me to be placed in the SRF garden...after I ask nicely, of course.

There are several "emissarial" rocks on my altar, bound for points hither and yon. They are supporting my Work now, as I shall support their Work later. They, too, number among my relations...