#MagicRockMondays – Pietersite

Welcome to May, witches! Today I’m continuing my weekly exploration of the crystals in my collection to get more acquainted with their energy and uses. Working with crystals may start by seeing something shiny in the store and looking it up in your favourite encyclopedia (this is mine), but once you get it home it’s all about what you feel and experience! That’s what I’ll be sharing here every week for Magic Rock Mondays.

Before we get into the crystal I’ll be using this week, let’s talk about last week’s crystal – Green Calcite.

Green Calcite Magical Correspondences

Mineral: calcium carbonate
Element: earth
Astro: virgo, cancer
Chakra: heart
Energy: healing, balance, mental clarity, trust, heart energy, memory, earth healing, plant magic, releasing painful emotions, strength during times of change, abundance, attracting money, motivation, personal/emotional growth, calming, directing energy for physical healing

This was such a chill crystal to work with, honestly. It has a very calming energy for me. How much it reminds me of the water of Lake Erie, my favourite great lake to swim in in the summer, gave it this really cool and refreshing vibe for me. It’s a crystal I love to touch because it’s so smooth and cool, and because of how light it is I found myself carrying it around the house in my bra or pocket without even realizing it. My favourite use for my green calcite this week was during meditation.

I’m sure you’ve read a lot about meditating with crystals and had the same question a lot of people do – what does it mean to meditate with a crystal? What do you do with it? I held the green calcite in my hand to help me focus, pressed it against my forehead (I don’t know why! It just felt right!) to feel connected, or held it right at my heart chakra to clear and activate that area. What you do with your crystal will depend on you and the crystal itself! Here’s a list of ideas to get you started:

Use it to inspire, or guide you toward, an intention. When researching your crystal you’ll find lots of uses and associated energies, take that list and use it to inform or inspire your intention in meditation. If you intention is to calm and relax your mind green calcite would work, as would amethyst.

Hold it on your hand. This seems obvious, but people still ask “ok and then what?” and it’s not a bad question. I find holding the crystal, after using it to inform my intention, helps to keep me focused. If you’re just learning to meditate or having a hard time quieting ruminating thoughts, charge your crystal with the intention of helping you stay focused and in the moment. When your mind drifts, feel the crystal in your hand and let it gently guide you back to here and now.

Place it on your altar. If you have a dedicated meditation space you can create an altar with items that help you get in the zone and put your crystal in a prominent place. Meditate in front of your altar and take in the sight of the crystal with the other items you’ve gathered.

Visually focus on the crystal. Just looking at your crystal can be meditation! Focusing on all the different grooves, colours, and inclusions can quiet your mind and even allow it to drift. Some crystals can also be used for scrying, like black obsidian!

Make a crystal grid. This requires multiple pieces of the same crystal, and even some companion stones. It’s a beautiful and creative practice that combines the energy of specific crystals with sacred numbers and shapes to craft a large battery for energy. I wrote a little about it in my book Green Witchcraft!

Visualize the crystal. Just because you don’t have a particular crystal in your hand, doesn’t mean you can’t connect to it through meditation. Research photos of your crystal and pull the image or information up in your mind.

Put it on your body like at a particular chakra point, or a place where you feel you need healing. As green calcite is a heart chakra crystal, that’s the place I held it during meditation. I tried to feel it’s energy blend with that of my own heart to heal and empower the chakra. crystal wands, and large pieces like my green calcite, are also fantastic for directing healing or magical energy to particular physical places. Crystal sex toys like Chakrubs, for example, direct magical energy to erogenous zones as well as the chakras connected to them like the sacral and root.

Crystal a crystal elixir and drink it during meditation*. Listen, I don’t care how much water you drink it’s probably not enough. Especially if you’re a woman over 30 who doesn’t like constantly having to pee (THIS IS A REAL REASON MANY WOMEN DON’T DRINK WATER!!!). Turn a glass of water into a meditative practice by adding a water-safe crystal like aquamarine or quartz to a glass of water, and take the time while drinking to be mindful, meditate, and focus on an intention.

Take a crystal bath*. You can totally take an amethyst bath! When you fill your bath add in a piece of amethyst, and imagine that water turning the same beautiful purple colour. Soak in the water and absorb that energy!

Use crystal prayer beads to guide your meditation. Prayer beads and malas can be made out of almost any crystal, as well as natural materials like wood and clay. Create an short affirmation aligned with your chosen crystal, and use the beads to “count” your recitations. Those of you familiar with rosaries can use the same prayers or find rosaries made of magical crystals like moonstone and quartz!

*NOT ALL CRYSTALS ARE WATER SAFE. Some can also be destroyed by water. do research before putting any of your stones into water.

Pietersite – The Tempest Stone

I’m really excited for this week’s crystal. Though my piece is small, its incredible swirls and inclusions made a big impact on me when I bought it over a year ago. I never got around to working with it, probably because its uses are a bit more esoteric and less about the material world. Its nickname is the tempest stone, and it definitely lives up to this name.

Mineral: quartz
Element: air, aether
Astro: sagittarius; jupiter
Chakras: third eye, crown
Energy: psychic power, precognition, past lives and the akashic records, making order from chaos, storm magic, protection from storms, spiritual protection, confidence, spiritual connection, astral travel, intuition, standing up to authoritarian powers, removing obstacles, truth, mind opening, changing perceptions and paradigms, communication and influence, transformation

If I had to pick one word to describe the energy of pietersite it would be INTENSE. This stone popped into my head while I was actually exploring other crystals; I remembered the intense and stormy vibe of the crystal and knew it would be perfect. This is a stone of inner strength that allows you to weather storms to find order and purpose amidst a raging sea of chaos. It’s also incredibly psychic and spiritual, activating your higher chakras and connecting you to the aether or cosmos and the akashic records. It can help you explore the past and see the future and come out stronger for it.

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I need both of these things right now and can’t wait to start! I think it will be a perfect stone for the full moon in scorpio this week as well as Pluto’s current retrograde journey through capricorn. That being said, this is probably the most obvious JUPITER stone I’ve ever seen, with the swirling dark blues and golds and browns mimicking the gas storms (or tempests?!) raging on jupiter for the last few hundred years. Jupiter is a planet of growth, expansion, and luck. It’s zodiac sign, sagitarrius, is all these things with a heavy dose of spirituality. I could definitely use some sparkly, happy, good luck along with my intense transformation.

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Come back next monday to see how I got along with my pietersite, and be sure to check out instagram where I’ll post photos and updates with the tag #MagicRockMondays.

I’m also creating these fun crystal trading cards with the stones I explore, and a few of you sent feedback saying your cards weren’t coming out as straight as you’d like. I’ve updated the PDF so you can print, cut out, and fold together your card front and back. All you’ll need is a little glue to hold it together and give it a little bit of strength. Download the PDFs for Green Calcite and Pietersite below, or save the images above and print them your own way.

Do you work with Pietersite? What’s your favourite way to use it or incorporate it’s energy into your practice?