I have always loved stones. I remember as a little girl, going for walks with my father. He used to bring a hammer and chisel with him. I wasn't content to pick up little bits of stones I found. I would ask him to get me a chunk of some bolder along the path!
As I grew older, I began to look a little deeper into my own life, and what I thought I wanted. I had a good life at the time, but I was not happy. I had everything I needed, and most of what I wanted, but I felt empty. I knew that my happiness wasn't going to come from anything I found on the outside, because I had tried it.
Even when I got what I thought would make me happy, it didn't. I needed to look inside. I learned meditation, being still and practicing "quiet". No small task for me, I assure you! I also started lighting candles, burning incense, and making "quiet time". The TV gathered dust, the stereo was mute. I found some friends who were like minded, and we often got together and talked about living and following a spiritual path. I read everything I could get my hands on:
- I read the Bible, front to back, 3 times.
- I read The Celestine Prophecy
- The Twelfth Insight
- A spiritual Journey book called "A Course in Miracles"
- I bought every tape that Marianne Williamson ever made.
- Every Deepak Chopra book and tape I could find...and still do.
- And after much tears, fear, agony and soul searching....
- "The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous"...
And there, 25 Years Ago, along with this strange crew of people gathered together in church basements, for the first time in a very, very long time, I found peace. For the first time in my life, I felt that I belonged somewhere. That is an extremely powerful, transformative experience.
I was scared, and full of self loathing, and guilt. I suffered from anxiety attacks, depression, and agoraphobia. I was a newly sober person, and couldn't take pills, have a glass of wine, or indulge in other ways of acting out or spending money, because I didn't have it.
I was knocked to my knees as surely as if someone had physically knocked me down, and all doors seemed closed to me. I turned to the only place I had left. I turned to Nature, Mother Earth, a Higher Power, and the Universe for help.
AND THAT IS HOW I DISCOVERED CRYSTALS AND GEMSTONES!
I learned how these ancient healing properties have been associated with them from the beginning of time. I began looking up the different qualities of stones. Did you know that Amethyst means "Not Drunk?". I adopted that stone as my personal totem for a long time. Then I found out that Citrine and Peridot was good for wealth, success and prosperity. I was facing a divorce, losing my home, I had 3 teenagers, and had been a stay at home mom for twenty years.
I had no marketable skills what so ever. Boy, did I need some abundance, prosperity, and success.
I suffered from anxiety attacks that were so bad, that I couldn't leave the house. There were days I couldn't pick my poor kids up from school. I would run out of grocery stores leaving a full cart behind. I couldn't go to the Mall. I wasn't sleeping at night. Someone suggested I start sleeping with my crystals. So I bought some little "wands" - just the right size for a scared person to clench in their fist at night. I had a lot of fear. Fear of the known, and the unknown!
My little pile of crystals grew. I started looking up different qualities for friends. I learned about cleansing and energizing crystals. I learned about Reiki, and Auras, and Kundalini, and Chakras.
The most important thing I learned was how much better I felt when I had them around me, or on my body, in my pockets, or on a cord. I found myself playing with them constantly, holding them, and just loving the feel of them. I was drawn to them. I didn't know that it was supposed to be that way, I only know that it made me feel better. When I found out that they had certain vibrations that could attract different things to you, I wanted them around me all the time. I bought a little suede pouch, and put several in there. I used them in "clusters" with "themes" of common stones to work together.
And then I thought, why not string them together, according to their crystal healing properties? String the beads in groups of common qualities, or qualities that enhance each other? Then I could wear them around my neck or wrist, or my ankle. I started making jewelry for family, and friends, and other people in my 12 Step program. They didn't know which stones to use, or wear, or what the properties were for each stone, so I started to write them down. that has evolved in our Gemstone Meanings pages and corresponding Book. Ask me for the link to download. Its FREE for visiting the site!
I don't know if crystals will work for you, because I don't know you.
I could give you a toaster, but I have no way of knowing if you will find a place for it, plug it in, buy some bread, and use it in the way it was intended. If not, then no matter how wonderful the toaster is, it wouldn't work for you :(
Are you open to the experience? Nothing will get in if you are going to shut it out. It doesn't matter if it is a real vibration, or one you commanded with your mind, or one you are responding to because you are now dwelling on the thought.
What matters is not the source, but the result! Good things can come out of the smallest efforts. Willingness is the KEY. I hope you will give yourself the opportunity to experience it for yourself. Do you feel drawn to a certain stone? A pair of earrings? A pendent? Maybe it is choosing YOU.
If you want any help in deciding what is right for you, or which stone to use for what purpose, try my Healing Chart.
If you cant find it there, don't hesitate to email or message me here or on Facebook, and I will find one for you.
Blessings, Shirley G.
MISSION STATEMENT:
There's a ancient story of three stone cutters preparing blocks for a building. When asked what they were doing, one cutter, irritated and angry, snapped back saying “I’m cutting rocks here to build something! What does it look like I’m doing?”
The second worker, preoccupied with making money to satisfy his worldly needs, responded by saying “I get paid to make blocks. I cut blocks all day so that I can pay all the bills. I hate it but I have to do it. It’s back breaking work.”
The third worker happily completed his chiseling and looked up with a smile on his face, and light in his eyes. He said “I’m building a temple or Cathedral. A great place of worship where people can come to be healed.”
To realize the great gift of being allowed to participate in the creation of something that can be of service to humanity is necessary to create a true healing instrument. In the creation of the sacred stones, not only were the needs of others met, but also the needs of the cutter. In serving others we are served.
I feel this way about making jewelry for you. I am grateful, and feel blessed to be a part of the healing spiritual journey of each and every one of you.
- Inspired by Air...
- Forged by Fire...
- Tempered by Water...
- Grounded by Earth...
- Guided by Spirit...
I can't really use adequate words to express my gratitude for you, and to you. I have not met you, but I send loving, healing thoughts to each and every one of you every day.
Shirley
601 Westerly Drive
Marlton NJ 08053
856-630-2345
shirleygordon@gemstonegifts.com
