Life Stuff
In the last episode of Magickal Musing: My Crazy Busy Life,
I was preparing for the Purrs and Paws in the Park event. At this
event I confirmed that I hate doing outside events. It was unbelievably
hot. Seriously, at 10:00 AM while setting up it was already in the
80’s. The sun was beating down, and at an angle so the tent didn’t
do much to keep the heating rays out. There was a breeze that came
through every once in a while that pushed slightly less hot air around
to give the illusion that for a few seconds you felt cooler. Of course
that same breeze proceeded to knock over my displays. Did I mention
that I hate doing outside events? The sun heated the jewelry and
stones so when the few people who braved the heat to come to the event
wanted to touch them...ouch! Moisture appeared in the incense packages
and I had to open them to let some of it out. After the show I had
to dry them again and repackage. Have I mentioned that I hate outside
events? I love animals, but not when every dog that passed the
tent wanted to pee on the tent legs. Then at about 2:30 my boyfriend
called to say it was storming at my house and the storm was coming
our way. So we started packing up. Some of the vendors had already
left because of the heat. I had just, seriously, JUST packed the last
of my stuff and was going to go get the car to load it when it started
pouring. Not a gentle pitter patter, a downpour. I ran to get the
car and loaded it in the downpour. The black table cloth hadn’t
been packed and was soaked. I was soaked. Alicia hadn’t finished
packing and some of her products got wet. We waited until the rain
stopped and then took down the tents. When I got home, I had to set
everything out (the tent, tables, containers of product, the table
cloth) to dry. Did I mention I really hate doing outdoor events?
But it was for a good cause. Some animals did get adopted so it was
worth the effort. And yes, I would do an outside event again if it
is for a good cause. In fact, we were supposed to do the same outside
event we did last September that is held in Brighton, again to benefit
an animal rescue. That was canceled and I am really glad it was, the
Saturday it was supposed to be held ended up raining all day.
So between the show that I did and the show that was canceled, I
was working on updating my inventory. When I got to the hematite
rings, I started trying them on. I am out of the largest sizes
so I found one that fits my pinkie finger. I though "hey,
I sell these and am always asked if they work, maybe I should wear
one". So I put one on and went about my day. I kept it on
except for taking a shower and when I was doing something like cleaning
where I thought I might break it. Two days later I realized something
was different. For some time I have been feeling depressed, its been
hard to get motivated to do what needed to be done. All I felt like
doing when I was home was watching TV, or reading, or eating ice cream,
instead of working on furthering my web design career or working on
my crafts. You may have noticed if you read my song quotes in the
newsletters...."sick of this life, not that you care..."
Well, I can honestly say I am over it. In the first two days I wore
this hematite ring I re-organized my jewelry making supplies and finished
some jewelry projects I had sitting around for months. I spent a day
in my spare room, which is embarrassingly cluttered, clearing out
some of the junk and reorganizing what is important. And I was more
productive on the computer. I’ll put more about what hematite
does later in this newsletter but I can honestly say for me it relieves
depression and keeps negativity away. I have a lot of negative people
in my life (my brother is the king of negativity) and since I have
worn the ring I notice their negativity doesn’t effect me as
much. I feel less negative, or at least when I feel or say something
negative I don’t feel it as strongly and find it only makes me
want to fix it. And I know it was the depression that kept me from
doing not only things I needed to do but things I wanted to do.
I have been very productive the last few weeks. I have new jewelry
for the upcoming Holistic Show. I finally cleaned the rocks I brought
back from our trip in July (they have been siting in a bin in my
living room since July, is that pathetic or what?). Of course,
I was motivated to clean them as Alicia, my sister and I are doing
a display for the upcoming MMS rock show. I have been clearing out
my computer files to prepare for upgrading my computer and going though
all the old favorites and emails from CompuSuck....um CompuServe.
I have been working on our Infinite
Flame FaceBook page and working on promoting us online. I have
been working on my web design skills, it is never ending trying to
keep up with changes in code which is both the most frustrating and
fascinating part of web design. About the only thing I haven’t
been productive in is sending this newsletter. Late again. Sorry.
Important Stuff
I will be at the Holistic Show at Gibraltar in Mt. Clemens this
weekend. As always, I try to be there mid-afternoon on Fridays so
lets say 4 to 9 PM on Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday. Alicia
could not do this show so it is just me. I’ll have our candles
and we are bringing back our Show Special. We used to put one
candle on sale at each show and neither one of us can remember why
we stopped! So at this event our Hecate’s
Cauldron candle is $1 off (special price only for purchases made
at the show). I will also have my Naked
Soaps, with an end of year sale on the Watermelon Soap.
The new jewelry I have made is not online yet so see it first at this
show (although I will preview it on FaceBook so "like" us
if you want a sneak peak). I only have small sizes in the hematite
rings, hoping to have more by the November show. There will be other
vendors with the rings so you should be able to find one that fits
at the show. It works if you wear it on a chain around your neck,
I do that when I’m at my housecleaning job so I won’t hit
it against something and break it. I will also have the last of Storm
Song incense.** the jewelry is
now online!
While going through my rocks from the Keweenaw, I found some nice
raw quartz and calcite that I will have available at this show.
You can test which is which by using vinegar. Calcite will react when
it comes in contact with vinegar, quartz will not. Its really quite
cool to see the bubbles appear on the calcite, but don’t leave
on too long cuz it is actually eating away at it. I have some pieces
of copper in calcite that I have left in vinegar overnight to eat
up some of the calcite to reveal the copper (personal pieces, not
for sale at this show, altho I might have some in November once I
decide which I want to keep). New for this show also I have
lava and small geode slices. Both are drilled and I purchased
them for jewelry making but since I haven’t done much with them
I decided to offer them with my polished stones. I made a few of the
lava pieces into keychains.
Some come on out to Gibraltar and see all the new goodies I have.
I am also working on a way for us to take credit cards at the show,
this weekend will be an experiment so I cannot guarantee it. There
are many other vendors there with cool stuff and very talented readers
and body workers. There is no other show scheduled this weekend so
we get all the attention : )
We are offering Free Shipping on all online orders for the month
of September! If you had your eye on something but didn’t want
to add the shipping costs, now is the time to order it. Remember the
jewelry, pendulums, wands, and stone sets are one of a kind so if
it sells this weekend, its gone. I will hopefully update the site
each night and check for orders. I will get the new jewelry up after
the show so be sure to check the site next week before the free shipping
ends.
Are you on FaceBook? Have you "liked" us yet? We are running
a promotion on FaceBook: originally it was when we got to 100 fans
we would raffle off a candle butif we can get 50 fans by the show
this weekend, one of those 50 fans will win a Magickal Gel Candle!
So find
us on Facebook and like us for your chance to win. (winner will
be picked at random from all fans whose names will be written on paper
and drawn by someone other than me. You do not have to be at the show
to win, we will mail the candle to the winner)
**For some unknown reason, FaceBook changed the "fan"
button to "like". So instead of becoming a "fan"
of Infinite Flame, you will now "like" us. (sniff, sniff)
You like us....you really, really like us.....
Hematite Stuff
I love hematite. I love how the raw specular hematite glitters in
the light. I love the way polished hematite is both black and silver
at the same time. I love that it comes in many forms and have made
it my mission to have a piece of every type of hematite. The only
thing I don’t love about it is how heavy it is!
Botryoidal Hematite (click for detail
view)
The chemical formula for hematite is Fe2,O3,
it is an iron oxide. If you’ve ever lifted a piece of
hematite then you probably could have guessed it was composed of iron.
If you scrape a piece of raw hematite on the unglazed side of a white
ceramic tile (called a streak test), it will leave a rust or
blood colored streak on the surface. Crushed hematite can result in
red dust and will turn water red. When hematite forms with quartz,
it can turn the quartz a blood red color. This explains why hematite
gets its name from the Greek word for blood, hema. Hematite
dust has been used as pigment and as a colorant in red ochre. Check
out my references if you want more technical info.
Needle Hematite,
Ishpening, MI
Here’s something I didn’t know....magnetic hematite
is not hematite at all!. According to Mindat.org,
and I quote "An artificially created magnetic material (this
contains NO natural Hematite) widely sold as 'magnetic hematite' or
simply 'hematite'. Please note that the name 'hematite' is quite misleading,
as this is NOT a natural stone. Investigation of one item offered
for sale as 'magnetic hematite' showed it was composed of a ceramic
barium-strontium ferrite magnet: (Ba,Sr) Fe12,O19 that has the magnetoplumbite
structure. The average grain size of the ceramic is 5-10 microns,
and the porosity is 10-15%. In addition, the magnetic field strength
of this material is much larger than that of any magnetite specimen.
Other items were identified as SrFe12,O19 magnetoplumbite-type SrFe12,O19."
I did know that an artificial hematite was sold as hemalyke,
but found out it is also called hemalike, hematine, magnetic hematine.
Iridescent or Rainbow Hematite
AZ & MI
Hematite can be found in a few different forms. (I am not a rock-ologist
(hee hee) so I’m not going to get technical about the crystalline
structure and mineral composition, I’m just going to talk about
how it looks and when this newsletter goes in the archives I will
add pictures.) When we go to the U.P. we find it as specular
hematite or specularite, which is extremely sparkly and can
flake off leaving sparkles on your hand. Sometimes this type of hematite
forms in bands with jasper (which is called jaspilite)
or quartz (is it then called quartzatite?). Botryoidal
hematite, also called kidney hematite, looks
like a bunch of black bubbles on the surface. Iron needle hematite
grows exactly as it sounds, in long needle-like pieces. Iridescent
or rainbow hematite is awesome, showing rainbow colors on
the surface when it hits the light just right. A hematite rose
forms in blades.
Jaspilite,
Jasper Knoll, MI
No matter what form, hematite shares the same metaphysical properties:
Encourages optimism, great for stress and depression, dissolves negativity
and prevents negative energy from entering the aura. A grounding stone.
Good for the blood. Protection. Harmonizes mind, body and spirit,
used during out of body journeying it protects the soul and grounds
it back into the body. Strong yang element and balances the meridians,
redressing yin imbalances. Beneficial for legal situations. Supports
timid women, boosts self esteem and survivability, enhances willpower
and reliability, confidence. Treats overeating, smoking and any form
of overindulgence, helps to come to terms with mistakes and to accept
them as learning experiences rather than disasters. Stimulates concentration
and focus, enhances memory and original thought. Useful for studying
mathematics and technical skills. Can be used to balance the auric
field and align the chakras. Pulls stray energies down through the
meridian system and the root chakra. Carrying or wearing can assist
one in bringing one’s dreams and aspirations into reality and
learning difference between true vision and fantasy. Manifestation.
Teaches resolution of polarity, balancing of opposites, and manifestation
of light. Strongly grounding stone, assisting one in carrying very
high frequency energies while still remaining connected to the earth
and one’s body. Fights the effects of electromagnetic energy
from computers and such.
Blade Hematite
I also found this info specifically for specular hematite:
Brings grounding and high energy at the same time. Allows one to see
the operation of the Divine in the events of everyday life and aids
in attaining the ability to comprehend multiple levels of reality
simultaneously. Assists light workers in understanding how to bring
their high aspirations into unity with physical life. Harmonizes with
moldavite, azeztulite, dandurite, prophecy stone, and other high frequency
stones, helping to ground their energies. Specular hematite is about
transcending the mundane vision of “what is spiritual” and
allows yourself to create your own unique expression of spirit here
on Earth, using your personal gifts and dreams. Gives the ability
to transcend what is currently “acceptable” as a spiritual
expression and manifest what truly brings you joy. Allows to reach
for the stars and pursue your own visions, without being limited by
what you think is possible or allowed.
Hematite used to be known as bloodstone, if you find an old book
of spells or rituals and it refers to bloodstone, it most likely is
talking about hematite. It also used to be called volcano spit
(according to Cunningham). Hematite can heal itself. If you make
a small scratch on the surface of the stone then rub your fingers
over it, it will heal. (This works with raw hematite, haven’t
tried it with polished.) This makes it an excellent healing stone,
especially for blood related illnesses.
Happy Mabon/ Autumn Equninox!
~~~~Rhiannon Rose @--^--
