Sunday, March 23, 2014

Healing With Gemstones - Getting to Know Turquoise


Welcome to our latest installment of Healing with Gemstones.  This month, we will take a look at the beautiful stone Turquoise.

In addition to being one of the modern birthstones for Sagittarius, it is also an astrological birthstone for Taurus, a planetary stone for Aquarius, and is also looked as an anniversary stone for the 5th and 11th wedding anniversaries.




 Turquoise Origin

Turquoise is formed when water seeps through cracks in rocks.  These rocks would be rich in copper or aluminum.  The shade of turquoise stone would be dependent on the chemical composition of the original stone.

There is more than one story about how it received its name.  Some believe the name comes from the Greek word “Turkois”, meaning “Turkish”.  Another story says that its name is derived from the French “pierre tourques”, which means “Turkish stone”.  Either way, the name would suggest that the stones that reached Europe were probably of Turkish origin.




Turquoise History and Mythology

Turquoise is one of first stones known to man.  Four bracelets made with turquoise were  found on the arm of Queen Zar, part of Egypt’s first dynasty (c. 5,500 BC).  Texts credited to both Aristotle and Pliny also mention the stone.

Turquoise that made its way to Europe and the Americas originally was mined in Persia.    The area had a high copper content in the earth, making the stones a rich, beautiful color.  Stones of that particular color turquoise are very rare (and very expensive) in today’s world.

In the Mayan culture, no living person was allowed to wear turquoise.  The stone was only used on statues and other images.  It was used solely as an offering to the gods.  The bright blue color was looked upon as the sky manifesting itself within the earth.  As such, they took it as a most holy of stones.




Native American culture also revered the stone.  To be a true medicine man in Apache culture, you had to have turquoise stones.  Without them, you were not looked upon as favorably.

Ancient Healing Properties

In the Middle Ages, it was believed that the wearer of the stone could tell the condition of his health by the color of the stone.  If the stone changed color and became moist, it was believed the person was in ill health.  Once the stone returned to normal, it was believed that the person was no longer ill.  Legend as it that King John was able to detect the poison that killed him because his stone changed in this manner.

In the Ancient Orient, it was believed that a turquoise would protect you from harm and bring you happiness and great fortune.  However, in order for this to work, the stone had to given to you by a true friend.

In the early 1600’s, the court physician to Emperor Rudolph II wrote that turquoise was such a revered stone that no man was through to be properly attired until he was wearing one.




The Turks believed the stone would benefit a horse and its rider, assuring them both to be free from falling or being otherwise injured.  Camillus Leonardus, in the 1500’s, wrote  “So long as a rider hath the Turquoise with him his horse will never tire him and will preserve him from any accident, and defend him that carries it from untoward and evil casualties.”

The Apache believed that, without turquoise, a hunter’s spear or arrow would not find its prey.

In modern times, turquoise is looked at as a stone of protection against injury or theft, especially when traveling.  

New Age healers use the stone to help with communication, positive thinking, creativity and intuition.  It is believed that, to get the best benefit, it should be placed either at the throat (as an amulet or other jewelry), the third eye, or the solar plexus.

Turquoise Jewelry

Turquoise jewelry on its own is very beautiful.  Due to its popularity in the Native American cultures, it has become one of the cornerstones of “Southwestern Jewelry”.  This has led it to be mixed with many other southwestern stones.  I always use it in conjunction with other popular southwest stones to make it easier to mix and match with your other southwest pieces.  It goes well with smoky quartz, lapis, coral, amber and pearls, as you can see below:



Southwest Earrings


Turquoise and Smoky Quartz Necklace
Watch Set


Southwest Necklace

Cleanse and Purify Your Stones

For information on how to cleanse your stones, see this wonderful article by Diane Fergurson, published recently right here on Mind Body Spirit Odyssey:

http://www.mindbodyspiritodyssey.com/2012/03/cleansing-your-healing-stones-crystals.html





You can read Giani's Tarot reviews in the Review section of this blog.
This is the first article in this wonderful series, and I am definitely looking forward to reading more
 in the upcoming months!  I thank Giani
 for his wonderful continued contributions to Mind Body Spirit Odyssey. 


The beautiful jewelry pictured above can be found in Giani's website.
                                                                                  
 ~ diane



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Thursday, March 13, 2014

The Glass, Astrologically Half Empty

My husband and I recently found ourselves cleaning out my mother's apartment so that we could move her into an Assisted Living facility.  As I went through her library, I was amazed to find book after book after book, on how to be positive and live a good life.  I'm talking about old books.  Books that she has had and referred to for at least 50 or 60 years.

As long as I can remember my mother strived to be a positive person.  Considering that she was someone who managed to envision the worst possible outcome for every conceivable seniaro known to man, and that gloom and doom seemed to dominate her outlook on life, and I'm sure there were times when it was very difficult for her to maintain any kind of positive balance what so ever.  Looking back, her attitude often made me quite tired.   But, I really don't think I truly appreciated how difficult her efforts to be positive must have been for her at the time.

Today I was looking on Facebook and took special note of all the beautiful, positive quotes that normally pop up every morning in my feed.  I know, those are the pages that I select.  Who I choose to friend and who I want to see in my feed.   No, I don't care to see who got drunk last night, or what political spew is trending for the day.  The people and pages that I view are the ones who gently remind me to be happy, centered, and hopefully, more enlightened.  I thought about my mother again as I looked through my feed.  How she off handily would joke that I could somehow manage see the sunshine no matter how rotten the situation.  Yes, I suppose there's truth in that, but is it something that naturally occurs within me? What I naturally gravitate towards?  Do I seek out the constant prompts and reminders?  Or, do they seek me?

A few weeks ago I found my mother's natal chart tucked away in a book that I had shipped home.  My mom was a pretty astute astrologer.  Definitely ahead of her time in many ways, especially given that she grew up and lived her life in a conservative area of the Midwest.   Evidently she had commissioned her own birth chart to be drawn up by a respected astrologer sometime in the early 1950's.  As I looked it over, there plain as day in the interpretation, the astrologer had written - "try as they may, this individual will probably always manage to view life through a half empty glass", and that "they should seek to overcome this tendency during this lifetime".

I was surprised, though not surprised when I read that, yet I couldn't help but wonder.  How set in stone are our lives as designated by our birth charts?  Sure, we can strive to live good positive lives and be the best we can be, but if you are given a predetermined set of parameters to function in within this lifetime, with specific karmic constraints in your path, are you still destined to function within the confines of those set measures?  Can an individual only improve so much or progress so far in this lifetime?  Maybe.  It's a very interesting subject if you think about it.  There are certainly a variety of religious and philological beliefs and interpretations that explore those questions, yet alone the opinions of those who study and practice astrology.

As I write this article and my thoughts continue to wonder, I should point out that if you are a student of astrology or metaphysics and have never had a proper chart drawn up by a respected astrologer, you really should.  My mother, of course, had mine drawn up at birth.  I have to say, it has provided invaluable insights into by life over the years.  I have definitely benefited from knowing what my personal sinkholes are, and also when and how to not fly too close to the Sun, so that I do not become my own Icras.
Going through your birth chart when you are in your 20's vs your 50's is also an eye opener.  The years just affirm and reaffirm what was charted so long ago - what you've noticed about yourself and the trends in your life over the passing years. 

Getting back to subject of positive living and half empty glasses -
In my birth chart did the astrologer say that I would also probably view life through a half empty glass?

You can probably guess -

Not hardly.

Here's to you mom.
You certainly get an A for effort anyway ~



enjoy your day

diane



Flower photo by diane fergurson



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