Magic. It’s all around us and it’s wonder lies in the eye of the beholder. We must be open to receiving it, in order to see it.
I wrote a post on magic in April and it was all about shifting your perspective and seeing the magic in synchronicity. In these last two months though, I have stayed open to even more fantastical ideas of magic, and have not been disappointed. Some of it is what is considered to be woo-woo stuff, but in aligning myself with people who also look for the magic in the world, I’m discovering that it isn’t very woo-woo after all. In fact, it is very real.
I believe there are many reasons that some people don’t “see” that magic exists. One being that there are those who are simply not ready for it. Perhaps they have other lessons to learn in this lifetime, or other purposes to fulfill. Another big one is fear. Perhaps it is fear of what their friends and family will say. This is a big one for me, but I’m realizing that I’ve surrounded myself with so many wonderful people who love me for who I am. Some of the friendships I have developed in recent years, are some of the the deepest I’ve ever had. We support, encourage and inspire each other to be authentic. To be our true selves. To figure out what makes us happy and to be unafraid to reach for those stars.
I think something else that hinders people is the fear of opening their minds and not receiving. Let me say that if this is your fear, you will receive what you are supposed to, when you are ready to receive it. Three years ago, I wanted to have that connection back with the universe so badly. As a teenager, I had constant signs and synchronicities, but the further I drifted off my path, the more I lost that connection. It took several months for me to reestablish it, but once I did… I was hit with so many synchronicities at once, it seemed unreal!
I also believe there are those who might be afraid because they don’t want to know what possibilities really exist. I, myself have never been this type of person, but I feel like I have known many. I believe that the fear is not recognized, and that they might be so rooted in their routines that any change or deviance from that is not welcomed. If this sounds like you, or someone you know, there is nothing wrong with that! We are all unique, and we are all on different journeys. The truth of the matter is, that “the truth” is different for each and every one of us.
This is the biggest reason why I try to stay open-minded. While I do not believe everything I hear, I do believe that there is truth in everything. Whatever the story, there is always some strand of truth. Something inspired the tale. The trick becomes figuring out how much truth there is in the story for you, but the even bigger trick is remembering that others will pull their own version of truth from the same story. While there may be little truth in a particular tale for you, for other’s it may be all-encompassing. Again, it all comes back to that concept of perception.
For me, many truths have been coming out, but my favorite one is that my spiritual journey has led me back to my interest in mysticism… something that I was interested in as a child. My mother, who is not a very nice person, dabbled in crystal healing when I was in grade school. After my parents got divorced, she became abusive to me and by summer going into eighth grade, I finally found the courage to tell her I wanted to live with my dad full-time.
Growing up (and still to this day), any time I’ve gotten too close to the woo-woo stuff, my dad warns me to stay away from the crystals. For many years, I agreed with this notion. I didn’t know what set her off. What she got mixed-up in, what made her become “evil”.
Pretty early on in my spiritual journey, I’ve found myself exploring the concept of healing. I became a Reiki practitioner last year which has really helped me tune in to being able to physically feel energy. I feel that I’ve always been somewhat of an empath as well. I’ve always had a big heart and feel that I am empathic by nature, but my father always had me consider the feelings of those around me by putting myself in their shoes. I think that, along with living with an abusive mother and learning to read her erratic moods helped bring it out that empathic nature even more.
Throughout my journey I’ve been drawn to subjects, and things that heal. Reiki, sound healing and being in nature to name a few. I’ve also found that I have a natural draw towards things relating to Shamanism…an avenue I have not yet explored. What I find particularly fascinating is that I have had this natural draw towards healing, yet I didn’t remember that my mother claimed to be a crystal healer until about a year ago.
Last year, after suffering through a 4 month asthma battle, I bought a salt lamp. After four rounds of steroids, I was willing to try anything to keep my allergic asthma as bay. I kept reading about the benefits of Himalayan salt lamps and figured, why not?
I noticed immediately that my calico, Jorga, started sleeping next to the lamp 18 hours a day. She is 14 now, was 13 at the time, and had a previous knee injury that prevented her from jumping any higher than 12-14 inches off the ground. We have pet steps in our house to help her get on the bed and the couch.
Two weeks after bringing the lamp home, I noticed that she started jumping higher. She no longer needed the steps. It was a pretty incredible testimony to the power of this element. There is no way that a cat could be fooled into a placebo effect. Also, I could notice a difference in the energy of our home. Walking into the living room just felt so good.
I started noticing a similar energy in some of the places I frequent and I started realizing that all those places had crystals. Maybe there was something to these rocks after all?
I started talking to the owner of a Float facility about the incredible energy in his place of business. As I had suspected, he gave the credit to his crystals. He gave me the name of his “crystal guy” and sent me home with a gift; a piece of amethyst that he let me intuitively chose. I brought it home and set it next to my salt lamp and stared at it for days.
Weeks went by and I kept thinking about my mother. I was afraid. But what was I afraid of? I’m a smart woman. I have a huge heart. I knew that I wasn’t going to suddenly turn into a heartless, abusive bitch. I certainly wasn’t afraid of the rocks themselves. So far, the experiences I had with them were positive. After calming my fears of turning into my mother, and realized an even bigger fear. I was starting to find positivity in something that held negativity in my life for so long. And frankly, I was scared of what my dad would think. But holding yourself back from something based on preconceived notions, or how other people might feel is not being authentic to who you are.
One night, I was talking to my husband about my insecurities. We were talking about my mother and who she became. Not to make excuses for her, but she definitely went through some shit in her life. So have I, so have we all. But perhaps she wasn’t strong enough to handle things properly. Perhaps her lesson in this life time was something that many of us could never understand. My husband made a very interesting point that night… he posited who she would have been had she not found the crystals.
Granted. Her “snapping” and the crystals came at the same time, but what if she was going through her own journey and the crystals helped soften her blow? Maybe if she didn’t have them, (or in an even more abstract thought – “them” meaning “something to believe in” or “a source of connection”) she might have been even worse?
After much debating, I decided to give Tom’s “crystal guy” a call.
Thus began the journey of collecting crystals. I had read that you don’t choose the crystal, the crystal chooses you. Its funny, but becoming so in touch with energy helped me very easily select the few beauties that came home with me that day. People experience the connection in different ways, but for me I can feel the energy in my heart chakra (and recently my solar plexus as well).
Not only do the stones feel good, but that “feel good” energy in my home has amplified even more. And an extra bonus is that they are beautiful to look at. I enjoy not only learning about the metaphysical properties, but also learning about where a specific stone came from.
I currently have a piece from Uruguay and another from Brazil. This makes me feel even more grounded/connected with the Earth knowing that I have these beautiful little pieces of her from places I will probably never get to venture to. Below is a photo of an amazing piece of green flourite from a one-time find in Madagascar and when you hold a light up to it, it glows the most electrifying combination of emerald and lime green.
My hope in sharing this story, is that it will inspire people live a more authentic life. To think about the roots of your fears and to question things. Question your truths.
Have you ever stopped to think about why you believe something? Is it because it’s a belief that you were raised on? Is it something that you heard? Is it something that you researched? Is it something that you just deep-down in your soul knew is what is right and true for you?
My journey may be very different from the journey you are on. Our truths may be very different. But that is what is so incredibly beautiful about these lives we get to live. We have the opportunity to learn and experience so much from each other if we just stay open minded enough to be unafraid of experiencing that which might be outside of our norm.
Stay authentic. Stay open-minded. Stay Wonderfull.
