Smoky Quartz and Black Obsidian: Feet on the Ground, Head in the Stars

In my last post, I talked a little bit about how you can use the traditional rainbow colors to help you develop  a stone meditation kit . It may seem a little out there, but I've found that you have to get out of your own way and just let the magic happen when you're working with stones. I won't try to explain how a crystal can capture the imagination. Nobody can explain that. We just know that it does.  You're focusing on the beauty of the stones, rather than your own issues.

Today I'd like to take a closer look at the "grounding" end of the rainbow. There are certain "dark" stones that many peoples all over the world have traditionally used to blast through negativity or to ward it off in the first place. Smoky Quartz, in particular, seems to be a very sympathetic stone. Need to be a little more chill? Try placing a large Smoky Quartz anywhere you need a little more peace in your environment. Smaller Smoky Quartz can be worn as jewelry or carried in your pocket.

By the way, Smoky Topaz is just an old-time jewelry store name, before the laws about truth in labeling were really enforced the way they are now. Your grandmother's Smoky Topaz? It's Smoky Quartz. And that's fine. It's a great stone. It's actually a blessing that it's so inexpensive because it means that it is widely available to anyone who would like to use it.

A lot of people also work with Obsidian, especially Black Obsidian like the famous Apache Tears. I like it for a pocket stone, but make sure you wrap it well in a silk or satin bag. Obsidian is volcanic glass-- naturally formed from lava flows. Since it doesn't have a crystalline structure, it scratches quite easily, just like manmade glass.  From time to time, I have scratched a pocket Obsidian, which I take as a sign that I need to put it on the "to do" list to go back in the tumbler.

If you squint at my photo down below of some of my tumbled black stones, you'll see a reddish and black Obsidian on the left side of the photo. That's Mahogany Obsidian-- also a good lower grounding or root chakra stone. I may have a lot more to say about it in a later post. 

I have now published a complete book containing my thoughts on working with the chakras using crystals to enhance your prosperity. You are free to read this blog online but if you'd like my thoughts all in one convenient place, you can buy the ebook here:



You can buy the paperback here:

Crystal Cash Chakra Magick: The Rainbow Path to Prosperity

Stone Meditation Kit: A Peek Inside

Want a look inside my rough-and-tumble meditation kit? I like to include a variety of stones, in a variety of forms, so that I'm ready to go wherever my intuition and my creativity may lead.  I like to choose between beads, faceted stones, cabochons, tumbled stones, and even 100% all-natural crystals.

If you're not sure where to start with your crystal meditation, here's a suggestion I like. There are seven colors of the traditional rainbow, which corresponds to the traditional New Age Chakras. I also like to have two more stones, one at my feet and one over my head. That's a total of nine stones to place on the chakras for the meditation. The honorary "colors" of clear/light and grounded/dark are placed at the ends of the traditional ROYGBIV rainbow of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Make sense?  It goes something like this:

Overhead -- a white or clear crystal like the Herkimer Diamond or another high quality quartz
The crown chakra -- a Violet stone like this Amethyst Crystal from Vera Cruz, Mexico
The "third eye"  -- an Indigo(ish) stone like this North Carolina Ruby
The throat chakra -- a Blue stone like this Sodalite
The heart chakra -- a Green stone like this Malachite
The solar plexus -- a Yellow or Golden stone like the faceted Citrine from Brazil
The belly chakra -- an Orange stone like this Carnelian
The root chakra -- a Red stone like this Banded Hematite
Grounding -- a black stone like this faceted Smoky Quartz also from Brazil



I have now published a complete book containing my thoughts on working with the chakras using crystals to enhance your prosperity. You are free to read this blog online but if you'd like my thoughts all in one convenient place, you can buy the ebook here:



You can buy the paperback here:

Crystal Cash Chakra Magick: The Rainbow Path to Prosperity

Photo Notes:  Stones from the Peachfront Press collection, copyright 2016, all rights reserved