(no subject)

This is a great stance to take. It can apply to anything- fear, social anxiety, body image issues, depression, whatever demons you personally are battling. takarosa calls them the mind-weasels, anything that haunts you and makes you feel less you. Very deep, philosophical stuff. I think everyone should read it, memorize it, and cross-stitch it and hang it over their mantle.
( let the healing begin )

Dragon time

There's something about sparkly rocks lately. I haven't ever been much of a jewelry fiend, but for some reason shiny things have been really catching my eye lately.

It started a couple of weeks ago. I went to lunch with a friend, and checked out a little gift shop that was right next to the restaurant. They had hearts carved from semi-precious stones, and we both drooled over the fluorite ones. They were $7, so we got them. Hers was prettier (she saw it first though) and was clear banded with deep amethyst purple. Mine was medium purple banded with a muddy green- still very nice, and feels good to hold. I also have a piece of rough fluorite that is about 100 carats or so (a little bigger than a golf ball) and is banded with clear, medium purple, and a beautiful true-blue. I've been wanting to have these near me, I even read books with them resting on my chest. I'm not sure why this feels good, but it does.

I borrowed Kirby's 'Love is in the Earth' book that talks about the energetic properties of various crystals, but I just can't get past her writing style. It's very prolific and squishy New-Agey and all seems to say the same thing- some long, drawn out version of 'this stone helps you to reach higher planes of existence.' Mmmmkay. If any of youse guys have any observations about fluorite, I'm happy to hear them.

I also jumped on eBay and managed to find a couple of fluorite pendants for really cheap. I may take the choker I got from my LJ Secret Santa and re-bead it; I don't do chokers, and it has a bunch of pretty amethyst beads that would go really well with one of the pendants.

There was also a carved piece of blue tiger-eye that was carved into a phoenix that I really lusted after, but managed to forget to bid on it before the auction ended. He seems to sell a lot of carved pieces like that, so I will keep watching to see if he has any more.

Then last night I got out my tiny jewelry hoard, and groped all of my treasures. I have one string of purple-black rice shaped pearls, and another of the same shape but a deep peacock blue-green (yeah, I know they're probably dyed). I have several tiny faceted blue topazes, and a small oval white opal with quite a lot of fire in it. I have a piece of polished rutilated quartz that is really interesting because the rutilated part stops halfway across the stone. There is also a half of a broken bead of some deep greenish blue stone (chrysocolla? Does that sound right?) and a pendant of what is supposedly Mount Saint Helens obsidian, which is a deep teal clear gemstone. I also love my rainbow amber pieces too. Oh! And a pearl ring that I've had since I was 10... the setting is awful and the pearl is glued in, but the pearl is a gorgeous golden color that reflects light off it in a blue sheen. It's hard to describe, but I've always treasured it. I also have a couple of earrings I made back when I was more into beading, one with amethysts and (I think) hematite, and one with pearl and either aquamarine or blue topaz. The silver is all corroded though.

I've always been drawn to interesting semi-precious stones like these. I'm never quite sure what to do with them, other than look at them and enjoy them. I've gone through various phases where I'll wear a lot of jewelry, but it's not why I like them. I feel like Smaug, but easier to please and oh yeah, not evil.