gemstones etc..

Grounding Essentials

by Kat Michaels CCT,ACM 
katmichaels.net 

Grounding is a foundational yet often overlooked area of spiritual and psychic development. Those who are ungrounded can appear spacy or disconnected from their environments. They may experience dizziness, confusion, and memory trouble. By not taking the appropriate measures to stay connected to the Earth and to reality, ungrounded individuals lose touch with their physical senses and allow their spiritual senses to take over. This becomes a huge issue once leaving meditation or a healing session to return to the physical world. It's important to remain grounded during meditation and other spiritual work, too, so that one can properly absorb and integrate spiritual information. 

Easy ways to ground oneself include drinking water, eating root vegetables, or hugging a tree. Exploring nature, walking barefoot outside, and gardening are other great options. Archangels Michael and Metatron are able to help ground and/or keep one grounded (just remember that one must request their help to receive it!). Visualization and certain crystals also work extremely well for grounding. Whatever grounding method is chosen, it’s best to employ it as a daily practice.

For a grounding visualization, imagine that your feet are connected to the Earth with roots. The roots can be made of any natural material that resonates - they can be cords of light, actual tree roots, or lines of metal or stone. You may wish to do a short meditation to determine the best intuitive "grounding roots" for yourself. Set the intention that all is done in your highest and best interest and in the highest and best interest of all.

Most brown, black, and red stones will ground and will provide a feeling of physical stability and safety. Specific crystals and stones for grounding include the following:

Agate (all types), Black Tourmaline, Brown Tourmaline (dravite), Copper, Hematite, Jasper (all types), Petrified Wood, Pyrite, Red Tiger Eye, Shungite and Smokey Quartz.

To work with any of these, place the crystal or stone in your pocket during the day, or hold it in your receptive hand during meditation. Your receptive hand is generally your non-dominant hand, but check, as it varies by individual. You may also choose to wear the stones in jewelry or sleep with one underneath your pillow.

Crystals for Dealing with Negative People

by Ashley Leavy
Love and Light School of Crystal Therapy

When you’re feeling like there’s some negative energy in your space or you’re surrounded by negative people, your instinct may be to immediately reach for your protective crystals, but this may not be the best remedy.

Energy is just energy. We classify it as “positive” or “negative” but in actuality, there is just energy. There is energy that serves our highest good (positive) and energy that doesn’t (negative).

So how do you deal with “negative” energy in a space? The first step to take is to clear the space of any energy that’s not serving your highest good.  When dealing with a person who leaves you feeling stressed out or drained, protective crystals can help shield you from absorbing the chaotic energy they imprint upon a space. However, using those crystals is only half of the solution.  You need to remedy the root cause of the situation by clearing that energy from your space.

Here are some of my favorite crystals for keeping your space free from negativity:

Selenite:

Selenite is most effective if you know ahead of time that you’ll be encountering some negative vibes. You can place a Selenite crystal in the space to keep it cleansed and flowing. This will help to remove the energy that’s not for your highest good.  Basically, Selenite helps to clear out psychic debris before it works its way into your energy field.

Pink Halite:

Pink Halite is a very cleansing stone. It also helps instill compassion and gets you centered in your heart space.  So, if you have someone who is very draining or who often seems crabby or cranky, this crystal may help. It allows you to be empathetic, listen without being drawn into their situation, and hold space for them to move past the issue.  You may find that by showing empathy and compassion, the energy in the space will shift. You’ll notice this shift both in the space and in the negative person. After all, as humans, we need this feeling of compassion and understanding.

For many people, making negative comments, complaining about their situation, or dragging others down into a lower vibe space isn’t done maliciously.  Instead, it’s the only way these people know how to reach out for help and understanding. So by being a good listener, and having empathy for them as a person who is hurting, you help them to release the “negative” energy they’re holding onto. Pink Halite helps you do this while keeping your energy field clear. It will and keep you on the outside of the situation so you don’t get drawn in.

Rutilated Smoky Quartz:

During my time as a professional healer and running my new age shop for more than a decade, I heard from people time and time again how they were certain they had an entity attachment of some kind that was causing their negative attitude or behavior. Yes, I am open minded about the fact that this is possible. However, I do not think it happens nearly as much as people think it does. In fact, I found that many times an entity was blamed for mean or negative behavior, it was simply a case where the person didn’t want to take responsibility for their own actions. This may seem harsh, but the point here is:

If you have a chronically “negative” person who always seems to be convinced that there are forces at work making them act a certain way, chances are much more likely that it is their own bad attitude that is responsible.

Rutilated Smoky Quartz is excellent for counteracting this energy. The Smoky Quartz disintegrates and grounds negativity from the person’s energy field. In addition to this, the Rutile crystals help break up any stuck or stagnant energy that the person is holding onto. These are usually emotional blocks that have never been cleared.

If you’d like to guard against the effects of this energy, you can place a Rutilated Smoky Quartz crystal near the entry to your space to sweep their field upon entering. However, if working with this person in a healing session, you can point the termination of the crystal toward the area of the energy blockage and make small, counterclockwise circles to release the stagnant energy.  Alternatively, you can “comb” or “sweep” the person’s aura. Do this by holding the stone horizontally and moving it from the person’s head toward their feet. At the same time, intend to dissolve and sweep away any energy that’s not for the person’s highest good.