Stone Series: Amethyst

Amethyst (Image from Google search)

Rarity: Common
Color: light violet to dark purple

Associations
Birthstone: February
Zodiac sign(s): Capricorn, Virgo, Pisces, Aquarius, Sagittarius
Chakra(s): Third Eye, Crown
Planet(s): Jupiter
Element(s): Air

About Amethyst
Amethyst is a fairly common and easily-accessible stone, and is popular for jewellery.  The most common color is a variety of purple, ranging from a light purple that may appear tinged with pink, to a deep purple.  Amethyst is actually a variety of quartz.  Scientists think that the purple color comes from iron in the stone.  The abundance of iron is what associates amethyst with blood and its uses in regulating blood flow and blood purity.

This stone is associated with the gods Bacchus and Dionysus and is associated with sobriety rather than drunkenness.  Diana and Artemis are linked to amethyst as well.  These four deities are linked with amethyst because of a myth.  According to Greek legend, Dionysus was angry one day and decided he would take out his anger on the next mortal to pass by. He created several tigers, gave them a mission to attack the next mortal, and left. A young girl named Amethyst was the next mortal to come by on her way to pay homage to Artemis. The tigers attacked and Amethyst, in her fear and panic, called to the goddess. Artemis changed the girl into a statue of clear quartz before the tigers could attack. When Dionysus returned, he saw the statue and was overcome with remorse.  In one version, he wept tears of purple wine, which then covered the statue and stained it permanently.  In another version, Dionysus, in his remorse, poured a libation of wine over the statue, which stained it purple.

This stone is also linked with Archangel Zadkiel because of its color and properties.  Amethyst’s color and properties also link it to spirituality, and often this stone is associated with spiritual wisdom and enlightenment.

The chakras related to amethyst are the third eye and crown chakras.  Not only does this association come from amethyst’s color, which matches the colors of the chakras, but this stone also relates to some of these chakras’ main functions.  The third eye chakra is the chakra most connected to psychic development and clarity, and amethyst is an excellent stone for promoting psychic gifts and clarity.  The crown chakra is the chakra of consciousness, connectivity, and clarity, as well as the pineal and pituitary glands, which deal with secretion of hormones.  Both the stone and the chakra are connected to the hormones.

Amethyst geode (Image from Google search)

Uses
This is a strong and powerful stone.  It can have a lot of beneficial effects on the mind and body.  This is the kind of stone that is very versatile and can be used for many different things.  It is also one that, if you have to choose only one stone to carry around, I would recommend carrying because of its protective properties and its versatility.

Something about the color purple is good for restful sleep.  Like the herb lavender, amethyst can be used to promote peaceful, restful sleep.  Because of its associations with sleep, it is also useful in remembering, interpreting, and guarding dreams.  It is a very good stone for aiding relaxation, and thus is great for aid in meditation.  Amethyst is a natural tranquilizer that can also bring peace and clarity, and is good for aiding development of intuition and psychic gifts.

Physically, amethyst can regulate hormones, calm nerves, cleanse the blood, regulate blood pressure, protect the heart, and reduce swelling or bruising.  Because of these associations and the stone’s ability to help relax the body and mind, it tends to be a good stone for healers and for working with healing blood issues, stress-induced maladies, and nervousness or anxiety.

Other Resources:
Charms of Light: http://www.charmsoflight.com/amethyst-healing-properties.html
Emily Gems: http://www.crystal-cure.com/crystal-amethyst-points.html
Sunny Ray: http://www.sunnyray.org/Amethyst.htm

An Experience with the Third Eye

Some of you may have read this post, Casting on Other People, and this post is related in some ways to that one, largely because it’s dealing with the same person I talked about in the previous post.

My issue this time is what happened during the event I attended.  I pretty much got dragged to it by my mom.  It was an event discussing the third eye/the sixth chakra.  The discussion leaders talked about the structure of the chakras, different psychic abilities (mainly clairvoyance), and ways to use or open the third eye.  But after the discussion, the man I had had a problem with last time, and whose ethics I still question, went around the group and was opening and clearing out peoples’ third eyes.

If you didn’t read the previous post or don’t remember it, this man claims to be an intuitive healer.  Fine, that’s all well and good.  My ethics question is, should anyone be opening another person’s third eye?  It’s one thing to help a person reach that stage on their own and give them the tools and the foundation to do this themselves.  It’s quite another to clear and open someone’s third eye for them in a group event and not question whether that person is ready for it, has the foundation to support such psychic activities, and can shut it down if needed.

In this case, the ethics are slightly less grey than the last time–these people did willingly allow this man to do this to them and muck with their psychic energies.  However, that does not entirely alleviate the question of whether the action is ethical in the first place.  I don’t particularly care if they asked for it or were willing participants–a child could ask for a knife, but you wouldn’t necessarily give a child a knife without some questions (I hope).  It may not be a perfect analogy, but you get the idea of what I’m getting at.  Just because someone is willing and gives permission doesn’t mean you should do whatever you’re going to do.

I highly disagree with actions like this.  Yes, as an intuitive healer, I would expect that this man would be more in tune with spiritual guidance and may in fact know on some level if this person is ready for their third eye to be open and that person is not.  I’ll grant that.  But I still question the actual act of someone opening another person’s third eye for them instead of providing teaching for that person to do so themselves.  Yes, the latter takes longer and doesn’t give an immediate payoff.  Yes, it can be frustrating and difficult and discouraging at times.  But the benefits are worth it, in my opinion.

I put forward the argument that it is not right for a person to do this sort of thing for someone else.  I very strongly feel that it is not proper or responsible on the part of the practitioner who’s working someone else’s energy unless they are also helping the person to understand how to shut down the third eye and help the person obtain a good foundation as well.

However, I also acknowledge that all of these people are adults and I am not going to stop adults from practicing or learning in whatever way they wish unless I see some kind of crime being committed.  I certainly don’t agree with the way this person is going about things and think that it’s wrong–but I also felt that I had no right to stop these people from allowing this behavior if they are consenting and willing and such.  I simply removed myself from the situation and did not allow him to do anything with my third eye, and, to his credit, he didn’t push it.  So while I may think it wrong and unethical, I also felt it was not right at that moment to question the ethics of the situation.