Just Witchy's Blog — Healing

"I like to be, under the sea in an octopus's garden..."* ♫ Because that's where you'll find coral in its natural element.    While shouting and swimming about the coral beneath the waves (as mentioned in the song) sounds like fun, for most it's not a very practical way to spend time with coral. Nor is it necessarily possible as coral is underwater and without diving tanks, humans cannot breathe under water—let alone shout.     However, this blog post isn't about the physical realities of breathing underwater or the logistics in making that happen. It's about the gemstone of...

He can smell a fire, before it starts to burn... Nosey disembodied voice: What are you singing?" The Smokey Bear song. Disembodied voice: Why? Because this month's featured gemstone is Smokey Quartz! One of the hottest and most dangerous gemstones on the planet! I need to warn everyone before the fire gets out of hand. Disembodied voice: Ummm, I don't think you have to worry about fire. Well you know the saying--Where there's smoke, there's fire. Disembodied voice: The gemstone is Smoky Quartz, not Smokey, and it gets its distinct color from natural radiation interacting with aluminum impurities, not from fire. Oh....

Gemstones have a history. And by history, I don't mean a history like mine--which can be a bit worrisome. But we won't talk about that. Today we're going to talk about the Healing History of Gemstones and Crystals!   When we think about healing today, we typically think about doctors and medical facilities. But healing in the past was much different. With a lack of knowledge and understanding of the human body, practices were more basic and frequently involved the use of crystals and gemstones.   The first thing that generally comes to mind are Native Americans traditions, where stones...

Howl-i-ta describe this stone? Let me count the ways... 🤣Yep, I crack myself up!  Admit it, you're laughing too.    Which is a great way to begin a discussion about Howlite. After all it is considered a stone of emotional healing, and what better way to heal (especially from emotional stress) than through laughter?     Once laughter settles down, a person is generally left with a peaceful sense of calm, perhaps the strongest of the spiritual properties attributed to this stone. The calming effect of Howlite is thought to provide a person with self awareness through which they can better...

Black Onyx Obelisk    What is Onyx? Onyx is the parallel banded variety of chalcedony - an oxide mineral. The colors of its bands range from black to nearly every color. But today I am going to talk about the uber cool black variety!      The gemstone is produced in water under low temperatures with vast silica deposits. Typically it is surrounded by many different rocks, fissures and cracks and can be found all over the globe in places like Greece, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Pakistan, India, the UK and the United States, to name just a few places.   ...