Know Your Prosperity Stones # 7: Coins, Coins, Coins!

Foreign coins photo by Amethyst Qu

Strictly speaking, coin magick isn't crystal magick.  But, in practice, you're going to find out that the same person who likes to get out and hound for crystals is often the same person who likes to pull out the metal detector and search for coins.  Whether you're seeking minerals or money, you're hunting for treasure -- an ancient instinct that goes back to our dragon ancestors.

What?  Did I hear somebody say they don't have any dragon ancestors?  Don't be too sure.  Or maybe it's somebody you were in a different life.  I sometimes think I was a dragon with its jeweled tail curled around and around a hoard of gems.  Or maybe I was a pirate.  

In any case, when I think about stone magick, sometimes I think about coin magick too.  The lore is very ancient.  Anyone who has ever read a book on mythology -- or even a modern urban fantasy -- probably knows about the coins put on a dead man's eyes.  But coin magick doesn't have to be dark and grim. 

Here's an easy way to draw good fortune using coin folklore from Japan.  Simply choose a Japanese coin with a hole in it and wear it on a cord or ribbon.  

I also keep one of these "hole-y" coins in my change purse to help draw good luck to my own personal money bag.  I like the symbolism, don't you?

Photo credit: Japanese coin by IvanWalsh.com via Flickr under a CC 2.0 license

There's a more challenging exercise in coin magick out there based on the old saying, "See a penny pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck."  There's a guy called Stuart Wilde who pretty much wrote the classic essay on his experience with this.  Here a Penny, There a Penny.

He preaches that if you want to draw more money into your life, you have to be open to take the money the universe sends your way.  So if you see a penny on the ground, you're supposed to pick it up instead of sending the universe the message of, "Eh, I don't need that."

You know the concept of the magical sacrifice?  Sometimes what gets sacrificed is your dignity.  Wilde's story involves a white satin suit in front of the opera house on a muddy day while the friends in the limo look on in astonishment at this dude chasing down a penny in the gutter.  Definitely worth the read.

Anyway, for a few years, I practiced picking up pennies as a way of being mindful that the universe is trying to throw money at me.  One day a light bulb went off in my head.  You only have to pick up the penny.  If it makes you feel cheap to hold onto the penny, it's OK to put it right back down for the next person to take it.

Try it.  I think you might like the results.  

Know Your Prosperity Stones # 6: Copper, Metal of Venus

Copper & Calcite photo by James St John via Flickr under a CC 2.0 license

I talked about copper, the ancient metal associated with the Roman goddess Venus, in my book Crystal Cash.  We may not always think of the goddess of love in association with wealth and luxury, but without love, the birds don't sing and the grass doesn't grow and the planet as a whole ends up in a pretty sorry state.

So there seems to be a logical association in the ancient mind that links prosperity, agriculture, love, and beauty.  Maybe not a billionaire's level of prosperity.  But the concept of enough and just a little more so that you feel luxurious.

I have several slabs of Michigan copper cut from rough stone like you see in the top photograph from James St. John.  It's a beautiful material even if you just collect it for its looks.  But you could also use it as a sort of mini prosperity altar.  Put a Arkansas quartz crystal on top or maybe even a small grid of tiny quartz crystal pebbles and points -- and let the magick multiply.

I also like to keep bowls or jars of copper pennies.  Whenever I find them, I add them to the jar.  Even though a penny -- or even a whole jar of pennies -- is not a lot of money on the material plane, I find that it acts as a magickal magnet to draw more unexpected money.  

Give it a try and see how it works for you.

Old copper pennies photo by Nic Mcphee via Flickr under CC 2.0 license