Tag: Healing Stones

Leopard Jasper Healing – when you just need a little oomph to get you moving forward.

Published on by wickedstonesLeave a comment

Oh how I love Leopard Jasper!!
Leopard Jasper healing gemstone by wicked stones

Leopard Jasper is one of those gemstones that I’m always picking up and using as I get tired… zzz.. I get tired of working on my website.. tired of answering emails.. blah blah blah.. tired of doing the dishes.. tired of sweeping.. same old same old same old..   I get stuck in a rut and I need a little help to just get me motivated and up over the hump so I can move forward.

Leopard Jasper  is one of those stones that imparts a little energy back into your life when things are feeling low and blah.  When working with this stone, you can find it within yourself to face the rest of the day and begin to plan what comes next in your future.  It does not necessarily being to you what you want but more of what you need.  You are strong and you are motivated, you sometimes just need a partner along your journey to bring that out in yourself.

This gem is natural, which means that there is no dye used anywhere to create the colours and patterns you see.  But it’s not just visual, these patterns can often be felt with your fingertips as there is quite often times that Leopard Jasper has interesting textures to discover.

Just like the leopard LEAPS forward to catch his or her prey – you too, can leap forward and get on with your daily dreary chores..

You can find many crystals for strength and energy by visiting my crystal healing website by clicking here. 

Cheers from the studio!
Wicked Stones – healing gemstone jewelry in Ontario Canada.

Falling in love with jade, Info and a bit of Rock hunting in Ontario

Published on by wickedstonesLeave a comment

Okay I have to say.. I have fallen deeply in love with Jade

I’ve been kicking around pieces of it in the workshop and getting Rob to polish up a few accent pieces once and a while, but not until recently did I start working with larger Jade gemstone beads.

A few years back, I picked up a few strands of the most amazing African Jade beads.. the following bracelet you see in the photo is of one of the bracelets I made just recently.  It’s… soooo…. amazing!!

African Jade Bracelet by Wicked Stones
African Jade Bracelet by Wicked Stones

This type of Jade has an incredible weight to it..  the beads are heavy and mixed with the sterling silver accent pieces, this is truly a gem to have around your wrist.  I think I’ll be making more of these!!  Okay enough babble about things I’m working on.. here’s a bit of helpful info on Jade for you.

Jade is great for the following healing properties:

  • Luck
  • Tranquility
  • Widsom
  • Releasing bad thoughts and negative energy (now who can’t use that?)
  • Dream stone.. (add a piece into a dream pillow if you make or use them)
  • Helps you to self heal
  • Resolving emotional issues
  • Good fortune (come on lottery ticket!)
  • Working with nature

Working with Jade
Hand polishing Jade

Rob’s worked with Jade now and then in the lab and usually the pieces he comes out with are quite beautiful.  The hardness on the MOH scale is around 6.5 so it’s hard but not so hard that you can’t work with it.  To give you an idea, if you are not sure what is what on the MOH scale system, Talc is a 1 on the scale where Diamond is a 10.  So when you are in the middle range, it gives you some wiggle room for working.  I’ll have to ask him later what polishing compound he worked with that seemed the best.. if you do know, please feel free to add to the comments below.

Jade is certainly one of those stones that you have to be aware of as there are many “wanna-bes” out there.  Just a few (and not all) you should look for are items labeled things such as New Jade, Aventurine Quartz (which is green and we’ve collected it locally up here in Canada), Serpentine and Prehnite.  You should also do your research before you make any serious Jade purchases to get to know your supplier.

Have a peek.. here’s a few pictures from our trip to collect Aventurine Quartz (or Apple Jade).

Collecting Aventurine Quartz in Ontario

There’s Rob, way down in the rock cut bringing up some larger pieces.  He made me stay up at the top for safety reasons as this bank was pretty steep.

Rock Hunting Ontario for Apple Jade

You can see from the photos that the green is quite beautiful..

I’ll go hunting later to see if I can find a picture of what they look like tumbled…

Thanks for reading!

Northern Ontario Quartz

Published on by wickedstonesLeave a comment

A few years ago, we lucked into a fabulous batch of gorgeous Quartz that was picked in Northern Ontario.

Just recently, I’ve asked Rob to put a few in the tumbler so that we could see how it would look once it was pre-polished.  Originally, our intent was to use it to create a stunning path between our garden beds (or in other areas, as we’re always planning and *discussing* where this or that goes – ha ha).

This is me looking at the pieces pre-tumble:

 

Vikki Soros working with natural crystals
Vikki Soros working with natural ontario crystals.. aren’t they pretty?

These pieces, at the time, were very very sharp but still amazing looking!

Quartz crystals have a lot of great energy about them.  Many who wear and use them, have talked to me about how relaxed they feel as they remove negative energy to transform it to positive.  This stone is often used for relaxation, meditation and Yoga practices as it helps to center and focus the thoughts.  I do carry a nice selection of quartz on my site if you would like to pop over and have a peek (click here and a new window will open).

The tumbler mix was opened just a few days ago.. after running for over three weeks.  And here’s what came out!

Rob Armstrong Quartz gemstone wicked stones
Rob Armstrong at Wicked Stones checking out our first batch of Ontario Quartz in the rock tumbler

They turned out incredible!

Wicked Stones Ontario Quartz gemstones
Ontario Quartz from our Rock Tumbler at Wicked Stones

I’m thinking that over the winter I’m going to start a whole new section on my website (Wicked Stones) that will feature local and Ontario Gemstone jewelry.

I’ll just need more coffee and be able to clone myself to get all these neat ideas we have done 🙂

Cheers everyone! I’ll try to keep this blog more updated this winter..

Amber – Metaphysical Properties and Healing info

Published on by wickedstonesLeave a comment
Amber healing properties...
Healing Amber from Wicked Stones

I have to say, that personally, I’m a big Amber fan.  This love affair started years ago when I found my very first piece at a friends house.  She’d offered me some huge chunks that were found on the beach of the Baltic Sea (that a photo of the piece below).

Baltic Amber
Baltic Amber

Amber is extremely light and certain types are intensely rich with colour.  You can use it for healing if you wear it in a piece of jewelry or have a stone you can hold or carry with you.

Here’s a bit of info on Amber and its healing properties

Amber is not technically a gemstone – it’s an ancient tree resin that has solidified and turned into a fossil. Because of this, Amber has very strong connections with Mother Earth and is an excellent grounding stone.

In ancient times, people believed that Amber was formed by the setting rays of the sun. The Vikings called Amber the “tears of Freyja” after their goddess of love.

Amber was used by the Roman gladiators as a protection amulet against danger and fear – it was said to be a stone of courage that helped you face your fears.

Amber is also known as the Mother Goddess Stone due to the fact that insects, plants and even tiny animals were found petrified inside its crystals.

Amber is:

  • a powerful healer that absorbs negative energy and swaps it for positive
  • stimulates your healing process
  • protection
  • uplifting energy
  • helps to clear depressive thoughts
  • wisdom
  • decision making (school and work)
  • self expression

May your journey with Amber be fruitful, filled with light energy and healing.

Cheers!

Find Peace in your daily life with Yoga and Meditation Stones

Published on by wickedstonesLeave a comment

A few years ago I went to my first Yoga class and I have to say, I was hooked from the start!

Thank you http://cliparts.co/free-yoga-clipart for the use of this image
Thank you http://cliparts.co for the use of this image

I loved how I felt during the class and the amazing feeling of calmness that I had for days afterwards.  It was at that point that I started working with healing stones to help enhance and make a deeper meditative connection to this healing process.  (I wont be posting a photo of me doing Yoga here anytime soon as I’m about as graceful as a ostrich in a mud puddle and you’d just laugh yourself off your chair.) 🙂

 

Once the class was over, I noticed that my stones carried a residual energy of my experiences… it was lovely!! So I decided to being hand crafting a line of jewelry to pass that potential feeling along to you.

Here are a few ideas of gemstones you could wear to help you during your Yoga and meditation practices.

Amethyst:  During meditations Amethyst helps to turn thoughts away from the mundane into tranquility and deeper understanding. It is a stone of new ideas.

Amethyst for deeper meditation

Quartz Crystal has an enlightening effect on all the Chakras and helps to eliminate negative energy. Often used as a “cleansing” stone to restore positive energy and used in meditations. It raises energy and aids concentration.  Some use this stone for divination, building psychic abilities and helping during meditations. It also amplifies any innate psychic or healing powers and is used to increase the power of prayer (especially for healing).

Diamond Window Quartz wire wrap by Wicked Stones

Carnelian:  During meditation it can help to remove extraneous thoughts and sharpen your concentration.  It calms anger, emotional negativity and replaces it with a love of life.  It is a grounding stone that anchors you in the present reality and stabilizes with high energy.

Hand crafted carnelian bracelet by wicked stones

These are just a few ideas and I’ll be posting more as my blog grows larger and larger…

Please note though.. if you are going to wear a stone pendant you should consider using a shorter necklace length so that the stone does not hang down in front of your face during some Yoga poses.

Got stress? How to work with gemstones for stress and anxiety

Published on by wickedstones1 Comment

Today I want to talk about Stress and gemstone healing…

I’m going to come clean here a bit.. I suffer from stress. Yes indeed I do. I think we all have trigger points and aggravating moments in our lives that cause us to grit our teeth, clench and hold our breath and take in far too much negative energy that we don’t really need in our lives.

Vikki Soros Yes I get stressed too!
Yes I get stressed too..

That’s me, feeling stress? Can you see it? LOL…Yes I get cranky, moody, and quite frankly, sometimes just miserable to be around because I let stress get to me. I let little things bother me that in the grand scheme of things, I should not. Sound familiar? Okay then, lets read on together shall we?

Using Gemstones to help deal with your stress

Let’s start by making a statement that I think is important to understand. Using gemstones for healing purpose (in my OPINION) is not an instant fix. Most can’t put on a stone and then turn on a dime and go “OH I feel AWESOME!” For the most part, gems are not items that suddenly, magically and immediately fix problems – they can help you to achieve your goals in a matter that works with you personally and at your own speed.

I do have clients who I’ve worked with over the decades that have told me that they feel an immediate response to their stones but for the average person it takes a bit of time to get to know your stone and feel its beneficial effects.

So how do you work with them so they can help you?

Since we’re talking about stressful situations today, we’ll focus on how to work with stones and this particular issue. Let’s say you have found a stone you want to work with and you are anxious for it to begin helping you to get rid of that negative energy that’s been plaguing you. Here’s the first few steps you should take in starting this journey with your healing gem.

  • Cleansing helps to remove any negative energy that may be on your stone upon arrival AND energy that you have built up in your stone after wearing it for a time.
  • Start wearing your stone – yes this is a simple step but it’s the first in really getting to know how your gem is going to feel as you begin working with it.
  • Since we are dealing with stress and anxiety, when you begin wearing your stone visualize calming energy coming from your gem and surrounding you as you go about your day. It can be a mental image of soft clouds, a colour, a pattern, sun’s rays.. everyone will have their own mental pictures of what “calmness” means to them. Personally for me? I visualize the energy of the sun coming from my stones, the heat, the warm and it’s peaceful energy surrounding me.. it really helps! Healing energy of the sun
  • Take a few minutes out of every day that you are wearing your stone to STOP! Stop what you are doing when things get far too stressed and full of worry and get away from the situation at hand (if you can and do it safely – if you are stressed while driving your car this is a different matter all together.  Take a few moments and breathe! When our bodies and minds are stressed we forget to do this very simple thing and hold our emotions and muscles with tension. This builds after time and you need to learn how to release it.  Hold your stone with your hands and make a connection between healing breaths, good energy and releasing the tension you can feel inside of you body.
  • A quick form of meditation is to take deep cleansing breaths, in and out, and imagine the stress leaving you and good healing energy coming back to you. IN combination with your healing stone, the minerals in your gem can help you to connect with this action and after time, your stone will become a trigger point to help you to release build up stress and anxiety -it can become your go-to tool to help let go of things that are bothering you.
  • There is no time limit or schedule on how long you will have to do this – everyone will be different. Regardless of how long it takes, even taking those few moments to breath may really be helpful to the situation you are in. You and your gem should begin to bond in friendship after a time. On a personal note, I wear a particular gemstone anklet during times I feel stressed and I do feel better only moments after I begin wearing it as I have built up a connection between calmness and this piece of jewelry.
  • Research other types of meditation and grounding exercises that you feel good about and make them a part of your daily routine if possible. Just like jogging, running and other forms of daily exercise, this type of action can assist you to feel mentally healthier and stronger.

Gemstones are a partner to your personal healing path and just like new friendships, your relationship needs time to learn and grow.

May your path be filled with joy and good energy!