Apophyllite- this has high vibration helps with repressed emotions, helps connect with the physical and spiritual self. Keep it out of sunlight and water. Also, helps with meditation, strengthening your intuition, and spiritual guides.
Azurite- Helps with protection and addresses fears. Sacred Creativity, intuition, past lives, spirit guides. Do not cleanse with water.
A moldavite-Very powerful tool to use for transformation, ancestralkarma, courage, luck, Is a self cleanser and self charger but can be cleansed with sacred smoke or tones needed.
I don't work a lot with stones or particularly with crystals because so many of them are harvested in ways that are extremely bad for the environment. But some that I do like and use are:
Hematite - for grounding myself and relief of stress
Citrine - For inspiration and writer's block. Kept these on my desk while I was writing my thesis.
Fluorite - For clarity in communication. I'll have one of these to hand next month when I speak at the Parliament of World Religions.
Rutilated Quartz - this is what my scrying ball is made from.
I like working with clear quartz as it is so open-ended and programmable. A quick cleanse and charge, and you have a blank slate. And what you put in is what will come out- the crystal doesn't change the energy.
Moldovite is a personal favorite power stone, along with Herkimer diamonds. Even small pieces have potent effects. I like how they raise the intensity and vibration of energy, and I always get a buzz working with them.
For aligning and clearing myself, I have always liked the results I get from blue kyanite. It's a zapper though, some people don't like the intensity of a reaction it can cause if you aren't used to it. Self-cleansing, and clears other stones too. Basic contact pulls at the energy centers and inspires them to align. Try having someone just touch the stone to your crown, then run it all the way down and back up along your spine.
Other stones I use less frequently are obsidian, malachite, labradorite, and amethyst. (I like shiny things, so I have built a pretty broad collection over the years.)
I would like to see change in the way many stones are mined, as all things they should be ethically sourced.
I have a piece of moldavite that I wear daily and it aids me to feel grounded in chaotic world. As moldavite helps to keep negative energies away from one's aura and especially from attaching, it is an excellent protection stone for those who can wear it. Often the intense vibration is too much for some to wear or work with continually but practice usually generates spiritual growth and an ability to wear or work with this crystal more.Moldavite is a transformation stone, though it is technically a tektite which is a type of glass,it was formed when a meteorite stuck the earth's surface about 15million years ago.This crystal is only found naturally occurring in Czechoslovakia in an area referred to as the Bohemain plateau.
Tigers eye traditionally is carried as a protective stone, helps to keep negative energy at bay and can be used in conjunction with wards. It is a stone of strength and healing. The Egyptians believed it expressed divine vision and was used for the eyes when creating deity. The Romans also used it as a protection amulet on the brest plates of their soldiers. It is a metamorphic rock usually a brown/red with darker iron stripes.
Selenite and Desert Rose Selenite are crystallized gypsum, both aid healing and psychic abilities. They help to release things that are unhealthy for you physically, mentally and spiritually. They help clear the mind and can help spinal realignment as they heal damaged body tissue . Selenite helps to open and align the chakras. Meditating with selenite can boost self esteem, self confidence, motivation, and help manifest goals.
Some of my favorite stones are those which I have found around naturally. This I feel too, is a much more ethical way to obtain specimens. Old railroad tracks in a town I used to live in, had rough specimens of rhodonite and unakite about. Investing in a polisher and running these through if I like could yield nice polished free forms. I have found a very nice smoky quartz seer stone on the beach at low tide. I found a nice stone with a rainbow sitting in my backyard in the same town that holds the old tracks. I still have all these.
When young we would go and pay others for use of their property which had a mine, and we would find tourmaline, aquamarine, beryl, and garnet.
Many stones can be found on the surface. Many varieties of quartz can be found on the surface and if one is lucky the beach can be a great place to find different stones that are washed up from the ocean, especially at low tide.
I feel this is one of the most ethical ways of obtaining crystals. Though luck plays a big factor.
