Cosmic Crystals: Rituals and Meditations for Connecting With Lunar Energy

ISBN-13: 9781592338856

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Fair Winds Press

Publication Date: 08-20-2019

Pages: 192

Product Dimensions: 6.60(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.80(d)

Ashley Leavy (Madison, WI) is one of the world’s top crystal healing experts and educators, and author of Crystals for Energy Healing and Cosmic Crystals. She has helped tens of thousands of people discover the power of crystals for healing and transformation. Ashley’s passion for crystal healing has attracted notice from the media, and her work has been featured in hundreds of magazines, newspapers, blogs, TV stations, and radio shows. As the Founder & Educational Director of the Love & Light School of Crystal Therapy, Ashley has created dozens of award-winning, online courses for anyone interested in learning more about crystals, including a comprehensive Crystal Healing Certification Program. With classes that are fun, educational, and life-transforming, the Love & Light School has quickly grown into a thriving international community. To learn more, visit loveandlightschool.com.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Crystals & Moon Magic

When you understand the effect that lunar energy has on your mind, body, and spirit it's easy to see why you need a relationship with the moon. Living in sync with the rhythm of the lunar cycle is a powerful way to stay balanced and aligned with universal energy. Healing crystals, which are natural amplifiers of energy, can enhance your connection to the moon.

What Are Healing Crystals? 12 Creating Sacred Space with Crystals 14 Space Clearing & Cleansing Your Crystals l6 Crystals for Energy Clearing 19 Grounding & Centering 20 Working with Crystals 22 Understanding Lunar Energy 24 The Ebb and Flow of Lunar Energy 25 A Brief History of Lunar Ritual and Ceremony 26 Combining Crystals and Moon Magic 27

What Are Healing Crystals?

Healing crystals can be used to restore balance among your body, mind, and spirit. They're considered to be effective energy-healing tools for chakra balancing, removing energy blockages, manifesting, enhancing meditation, aligning with astrological energies, facilitating a connection with deities or spirit guides, and more.

Humankind's use of crystals dates back thousands of years, and it spans cultures and civilizations across the globe, including the ancient Egyptians, the Romans, and Siberian shamans. Although crystals have a long history of use, you may be wondering how they work and why you should bother using them today.

Most crystals form inside the Earth after intense heat and pressure facilitate the process of nucleation. Crystals are minerals that follow a geometric, structural blueprint when they form. Their atoms and molecules follow a repeating pattern until they form to completion. This special, geometric arrangement of molecules gives the crystals a perfect (or nearly perfect) structure, and it makes them highly stable in terms of their energetic vibration.

This stable energetic vibration is thought to be the way that crystals can make positive changes in the human energy field. When the perfect, stable energy frequency of the crystal is brought into your energy field, your molecules start to move into alignment with the more balanced energy. The process of your body's energy changing to match the higher vibe crystal is called entrainment. It's the universe's natural way of bringing discordant energies into balance.

Another theory about how crystals work for healing is based on their relationship with light energy. Because crystals receive, store, and send light energy, they are thought to amplify energy of all kinds. When this amazing way of harnessing energy is combined with the power of thought from the human mind, the resulting energy is phenomenal.

Because of their ability to receive energy from your mind, crystals are a great addition to your spiritual practice as a point of focus, to facilitate personal transformation and spiritual growth.

Each crystal has its own individual energy blueprint, which is why different types of stones can influence you in different ways. Because of these unique energy signatures, your experience with a particular stone will be completely unique to you. Although other people may have similarities in their shared experiences, no two encounters with a crystal will ever be exactly the same. This makes crystal healing highly subjective, as well as hotly debated. If you approach your crystal and ritual work with an open mind, you'll be pleasantly surprised with the results (and possibly full of even more questions).

Creating Sacred Space with Cyrtals

Your sacred space is a special place for you to recharge and rejuvenate. It's a place where you feel comfortable and at ease — a place where you can connect to the universe. It's like having a personal sanctuary for your spirit.

For most people, a sacred space is a physical location, such as a small room or a corner of your living space. Your sacred space may contain ritual objects or personal items that help you feel more connected to your spiritual side. These items could include, for example, candles, incense, crystals, seashells, feathers, images of inspirational people, deity statues, uplifting quotes, spiritual or religious symbols and artwork, and meaningful personal items such as family heirlooms.

Whatever you choose to include in your sacred space should be a source of strength and inspiration. It should help make it feel like a special place where you can connect with the universe for healing, relaxation, and wellness. Just keep it personal and include items that are meaningful to you. Don't feel pressured to add something to your space just because others do, and don't exclude a meaningful item just because no one else has one in their sacred space. It's perfectly fine to strike a balance between traditional and personal, and it's equally okay to go full throttle with your self-expression as long as you're happy with the result.

Healing crystals are important and powerful tools for creating sacred space. One of the easiest ways to pull together all the components of your sacred space is to create a crystal altar. This is a special place in your sacred space, usually atop a small table, that is reserved for your spiritual tools. Place your incense or candles, photos, statues, and crystals on your altar to create a point of personal power. If you don't have much space to devote to your altar, use a tiny shelf, or even a windowsill, to create your altar. Just work with what you have available. The most important consideration is to place your altar where you'll see it frequently so that you can be reminded of its meaning each time you are near it.

Some of the best crystals to incorporate in your sacred space include:

ANGELITE Angelite creates a calming space where you can feel at peace. It calls in your angels and spirit guides so that you can relax, knowing you're being cared for by these loving beings.

AQUAMARINE Aquamarine helps you release any stress or worry you may have brought into your sacred space when you entered. It helps you get settled in your environment and go with the flow. It's an excellent relaxation crystal.

ROSE QUARTZ Rose Quartz is a supportive and nurturing stone that helps you feel relaxed and at ease in your sacred space.

Space Clearing & Cleansing Your Cyrstals

Overtime, places and objects pick up on the energetic vibrations that inhabit or surround them. Emotionally charged energetic debris or psychic energy gets stuck in the energy field of any person, place, or thing that's nearby. This debris clutters up the base energetic frequency of the object and makes it more difficult for your energy field to detect its healing energy. The most effective solution is to cleanse the object orthe space with ritual clearing.

Cleansing an object or a place removes all the unwanted energy, the energy that's not for your highest good. This allows the true energy frequency to shine forth so your body can use it for healing.

Crystals, especially, need frequent cleansing because of their ability to receive and store the energy they encounter. Many people refer to this as "negative" energy, but in a realistic sense, there is no positive or negative connotation to the energy itself. There is simply energy that's for your highest good and lifts you up, and energy that's not. Regardless of how you describe it, the unwanted energy that's been accumulating in your crystals since you last used them isn't something you want mucking up your energy field. Cleansing your crystals before and after each use is highly recommended.

One of the most powerful methods of energy cleansing is smudging, the burning of sacred herbs such as sage, sweetgrass, cedar, or palo santo to remove any stagnant or unwanted energy. Items are passed through the purifying smoke of the burning herbs, or the smoke is wafted throughout a space that's being cleansed.

Crystals for Energy Clearing

Many crystals can be used to help keep your sacred space free from unwanted energy, but these are the top five best cleansing stones.

BLACK TOURMALINE This crystal is a powerful protector. It transmutes negative energy into positive vibes and keeps your space free from unwanted energy. Add this stone to your space when you're feeling crabby, reactive, or combative. Chances are, you're being affected by excess psychic debris and emotionally charged energy that's lingering in your space. By bringing a Black Tourmaline crystal into your environment, you should see a speedy improvement in the way you feel.

CARNELIAN This cleanser is known for its ability to keep unwanted energy at bay. Carnelian is often used by healers and psychics to keep their energy-healing tools cleansed. Try popping a piece in with yourtarot or oracle cards, or display a piece on your altar to keep the vibrations high.

ROSE QUARTZ This gentle stone keeps the energy in your space sweet and light. Rose Quartz works especially well for harmonizing the energy of group or shared spaces to extend the time needed between deeper energy clearing.

SCOLECITE Scolecite is a relatively uncommon stone, but it is a powerful cleanser. This crystal radiates with white light and repels any dark energies that may be trying to settle into your space. Bring this crystal into your space if you need to set protective boundaries for difficult people or to keep away the negatively charged energy brought on by passive-aggressive people in your space.

SELENITE Keeping a piece of Selenite in your sacred space is highly recommended. This crystal is well known for its space-clearing abilities. It will work nonstop to keep your space free of negative vibes. It will also call upon your angels and spirit guides to assist with protection if needed. Placing a Selenite wand on each wall of your sacred space works as a negativity barrier.

Grounding & Centering

Worry, anger, anxiety, fear, and similar feelings aren't aligned with your authentic self, so when you shift your energy away from them by grounding and centering yourself, you move into a natural place of joy. This practice removes negative thought forms and emotional debris from your energy body, keeping you happier and healthier. It is an important practice for any type of spiritual work.

GROUNDING EXERCISE

The best way to align yourself with the Earth's energy is to ground yourself. Practicing regular grounding exercises will keep you free from negative thoughts and emotions.

Place the soles of your feet flat on the floor and hold a Black Tourmaline crystal ora piece of Petrified Wood. You may be sitting or standing during this exercise. Take a deep breath in, letting your belly go soft and fill with air. Hold this breath for a few seconds, and then exhale. Continue this deep breathing. On your next exhalation, visualize your legs slowing changing into tree roots. See the roots grow longer and longer, extending down toward the core of the Earth. Once they reach the center, take a deep breath in. See yourself pulling energy into your root legs, drawing it upward into your body.

Continue deep, even breathing. On your next inhalation, visualize green light filling the area of your Heart Chakra. As you exhale, consciously direct the energy down your body, through your root legs, and into the earth. Visualize your Crown Chakra opening up and drawing in universal energy. Feel the energy move into your physical body, down through your root legs, and into the Earth. Visualize your root legs loosening their grip on the Earth around them. Feel them shrinking smaller and smaller, moving back through the layers of Earth until they resume being your own legs. Take a few more deep, even breaths. When you feel ready, wiggle your fingers and your toes, come back to everyday awareness, and open your eyes.

Working with Crystals

There are many rewarding ways to incorporate crystal work into your life and spiritual practice. Creating crystal altars, setting up crystal grids, making crystal medicine bags, meditating with your stones, performing ritual work or ceremony, and wearing gemstone healing jewelry are just a few ways to work with your stones. But before you dive in, here are a few things you need to know.

CLEANSING You should always cleanse a new crystal when you get it. Your stones pick up on the energies they're exposed to. If those energies don't resonate with you, the experience of working with your new stone can be less than pleasant. Give a new crystal an initial cleanse, and be sure to cleanse it before and after each use when you're first starting out and may not yet be able to sense the energy of the stone. After you've grown accustomed to sensing or intuiting when a crystal needs to be cleansed, you can leave the frequency up to your intuition and inner guidance. There are many methods of cleansing, from sound cleansing with singing bowls ortings has, to sea salt, to water, to mantra chanting — and everything in between! If you need instructions about how to cleanse your stones, see page 16.

GROUNDING & CENTERING Ground and center yourself before performing any of the rituals or meditations in this book (or any ritual work or meditation, for that matter). Grounding keeps you protected and rooted into the Earth, while centering keeps you in the present moment. Both are useful skills to have mastered before diving into crystal ritual and meditation; they will ensure that you have deeper, more meaningful experiences with each. For grounding and centering exercises, see page 20.

SETTING INTENTIONS Setting an intention may seem like something that only needs to bed one when creating a crystal grid or when programming your stones. However, doing it before you work with your stones in any capacity can help you get so much more than you normally would from your crystal work. Set an intention before you meditate, before you create a medicine pouch, before you put on a piece of jewelry, or before you begin a ritual. The act of intention setting brings clarity to the task at hand, and it allows you to focus on what's important to you and why you're truly doing this work. Creating a ritual around your intention setting may also prove helpful. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Perhaps, for example, you light a stick of your favorite incense, put on some dreamy music, and write your intention on a piece of paper. Give your intention-setting routine tons of love and you'll see how good it feels to bring it into your regular practice.

Understanding Lunar Energy

The moon may not speak, but she can teach you many things if you're patient and attentive. The ebb and flow of the lunar cycle is a guide for the periods of activity and rest that you experience in your own life, on both a daily and a seasonal scale.

Most modern people don't give the moon a second thought when planning activities and projects or considering how to spend time, even though our ancestors relied upon it to determine the timing of religious and cultural festivals, agricultural activities, and magical workings. This separation from the rhythms of nature and lunar energy has left many feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and disconnected from spirit and the world around them.

When you fully understand the effect that lunar energy has on your mind, body, and spirit, as well as how much living in harmony with natural cycles affects your well-being, it's easy to see the importance of returning to a more primal, ancient relationship with the moon.

Facilitating a connection to the moon and her energies will help you cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself on a soul level. Tuning into the moon is about self-exploration as much as it is about discovering the dynamic energy of Lady Luna.

Reclaiming your wisdom of the moon can fuel a personal journey of self-discovery, inner work, and soul-level healing. Most of this deep transformation comes from getting involved and active with lunar energy. Ceremony, ritual, meditation, and connecting with your crystals are all important parts of developing this skill and pushing ever further into the cosmic energy that inspires so much of who you are and how you engage with the world around you.

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Excerpted from "Cosmic Crystals"
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Copyright © 2019 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc..
Excerpted by permission of The Quarto Group.
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Table of Contents

Introduction 6

How to Use This Book 8

Chapter 1 Crystals & Moon Magic 11

Chapter 2 Crystals for the Lunar Cycle 29

Chapter 3 Crystals for the Lunar Zodiac 59

Chapter 4 The 13 Full Moons of the Year 89

Chapter 5 Crystals far the 13 Modern Moons 101

Chapter 6 Crystals for the 13 Native Moons 129

Chapter 7 Crystals for the 13 Celtic Moons 157

Glossary 184

Further Reading 187

About the Author 188

About the Photographer 189

Index 190