Know Your Prosperity Stones #8: River Pebbles

Pebbles from Lake Erie by Amethyst Qu

You can spend as little or as much as you want on the stones you use for prosperity magick.  In my book Crystal Cash: Fast Easy Money Magick Using Popular Stones I tried to exercise some awareness about where people are coming from.  If you're already dripping in diamonds, you probably aren't seeking out a magickal source of help to change your financial condition.

So I assume that most newbies to Crystal Magick are looking for inexpensive, fast-working stones they can easily find at a low cost.  

In my opinion, one of the most legitimate reasons for using magick is to even the score. We all know that some people are born with more.  You can work hard and study hard, but the rich person can work hard and study hard and not have to have a side job.  They have an advantage. Nobody has more than 24 hours in a day, but they have a nanny while we have a double-shift.  So sometimes we may feel a need to resort to magick because otherwise we're never going to catch up. 

And that's a perfectly fine use of magick.  It is not wrong to want your share of the beautiful things and experiences this life has to offer.  We are here to appreciate the beauty of this world. 

Using magick to play catch-up is an ancient use of these tools  -- and probably one of the reasons that the rich and powerful sometimes feared and hated the humble village magick worker.

But it isn't always easy.  

In fact it's hard -- very hard -- to get out of your own way to develop a prosperity mindset when you feel you're hopelessly behind.  And that's where the stones come in.

Ever try to sit down and meditate when you're crazy with worry?  Didn't work very well, did it?  You need something to focus on that's outside of yourself.

Stone magick can help you do that.  Stone magick is light and fun and not really considered all that scientific.  It's play.  No pressure.

And what's more "no pressure, no worries" than river pebbles?  The wonderful thing about pebbles found in a stream or river is that they cost nothing, it's fun just to drift along picking and choosing the ones you'll take, and they can fit easily into a pocket, change purse, or medicine bag.  

Some of you have probably seen the five pebble protection spell floating around Pinterest.  There's nothing to it.  Find five pebbles that call to you.  Put 'em in a bag.  Carry 'em in your pocket.  That's it.  And yet you may feel a powerful sense of protection around you.

What does protection have to do with prosperity?  A lot.  If you're anxious and tense, you may be closed to opportunities.  You may be fearful of trying new things.  You may be afraid to meet new people.  The whole world is out there for you, but you're getting in your own way.

To be honest, I don't think you even have to carry five pebbles.  I think it's fine to pick ONE pebble and put it in your pocket.  Pick a stone that feels particularly good against your fingers after being rounded over the ages by the force of water.  Carry it for awhile.  When you feel stressed, hold it or even fiddle with it like a classic worry stone.  I think you'll be pleased. 

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.