Intro to my study of Chakra Stones

I started a Daily Witchcraft class in March. The aim of the class is to make magic a daily practice and since I had gotten away from my daily practice, I decided this would be a good class for me.

Unfortunately the other 2 people who were going to be in the class had to drop it. But luckily, the teacher, Shen-tat didn’t cancel the class and I get a private lesson every week, which I’m really enjoying so far. I’m not a beginner we can move quickly and take interesting tangents.

Shen-tat gave me a set of chakra stones and each week I am supposed to work with the stones daily. I’ve been instructed to create documents for the stones and I thought it would be nice if I wrote about my experiences working with them on my blog as a quick reference for myself and others who might be interested in learning about the stones.

Chakra Stone List

All about Carnelian

References for this section came from Fire Mountain Gems

My favorite thing about Carnelian’s physical properties is it’s bands. I am a big fan of translucent, banded stones and the pice of carnelian I worked with showed off its bands when I shone a light through it. I love it’s deep, rusty color that comes from the iron oxide continued within the stone. It is a kind of calcedony that is mostly found in India, Brazil, Siberia and Germany. Sometimes its dyed but I seem to have a true piece of calcedony. Herbs and Arts is pretty good with their stone sourcing.

I have a lot of women’s health issues thanks to PMDD, PCOS and now perimenopause so the usages for this stone really spoke to me. Carnelian can also help with creativity, passion, emotional balance, sexual pleasure, relationships, intimacy, temperament, clarity on emotional needs and joy.

It was used in antiquity to ward off insanity and fight depression. It can be traced to being used as far back as 1800 BC. In ancient Rome, it was used for courage and strength. The Ancient Egyptians placed it on mummies to guide the dead’s journey in the afterlife. It was a stone that demarcated degrees of mastery in Egyptian masonry. Alchemists also used it as a boiling stone because it was thought to release the energy of stones it was boiled with, although it is advised to not boil carnelian in modern times.

In modernity, Carnelian is used to help with bravery, self esteem, creativity and sleep. It is thought to increase motivation and is a talisman that is thought to protect against bad luck and fire.

Carnelian can be cleaned with warm soap and water. You can use the general method of cleansing the stone energetically by burying it in salt for a deep cleanse. You can also use any other method you prefer to use to cleanse your crystals such as moonlight or smudging.

My Experience Working With Carnelian

My Daily Practice

I continued working with my daily ritual and focused on the sacral chakra.

I cleanse my home before I start my daily ritual. I find smudging helps ground and center me. I like to use sage bundles but if you have a different method of cleansing the home, do what speaks to you.

Then I light the candles on my altar, light a little bit of incense and start my work.

For the Sacral Chakra, I decided to combined base chakra work with jet. I used the base chakra mandala for my altar and meditated with the stone to the sacral chakra mantra, VAM. I used the box breath (inhale hold for four count, exhale hold for four count) for ten minutes, focusing on the mandala for the sacral chakra and holding the carnelian stone in my right hand and held it against my sacral chakra because I was in the luteal phase of my menstral cycle and as someone with PMDD, that is the most challenging time of the month for me. I would let all my concerns, worries or even things I was excited or happy about fall away and come to rest in the moment.

Then I would leave the mantra on and journal.

I’ll dedicate another post to the white/black journaling technique that is an Algard Wiccan technique which I have found useful in helping alchemize my shadows. During my journaling time, I write down the astrological transits of the day, something that I fell out of practice keeping track of when I stopped regularly writing astrology columns.

Then I would do the short ritual techniques that Shen-tat outlined for a daily ritual practice, scan the Zohar, which is a personal practice I am trying to develop, and get ready for bed. It is always a very nice way to end the day and wind down before sleep.

The effects of working with Jet and the Daily Ritual Practice on my Daily Life

This stone came to me during the luteal phase of my menstrual cycle as I mentioned above. I have struggled with my menstrual cycle my entire adult life as an individual with PMDD and PCOS. My menstrual cycle has destroyed relationships, made remaining consistent difficult and cost me jobs and has driven me to the brink of suicide more than once. I’ve spent a lot of time with mental health and women’s health professionals managing this hellish form of neurodivergence. I was really excited to work with carnelian because I will try whatever I can to help ease the effects of my menstrual disorder, especially since I was diagnosed as perimenopausal last year and even more difficult changes have occurred regarding managing my reproductive health.

When working with Carnelian, I found that holding it during times I felt challenged by the hormonal changes during the luteal phase of my menstrual cycle helped a lot. I found a carnelian belt buckle I want so I can wear the stone near my uterus and also a carnelian cup I want for my daily water blessing. I’ve told people I have become an absolute Carnelian FREAK.

I also started regularly working on my erotic romance novel, which is a comedy that is all in good fun and nothing like my first fiction novel, The Last Moments Before Dusk, that was a heavy tragedy. I find my new book to be fun, breezy and I look forward to sharing it with you in the future.

Overview

I found out that I LOVE carnelian and am a carnelian FREAK. I can’t wait to get more carnelian and work with this stone more. This is an excellent stone for women’s health IMO and anyone who suffers from a menstrual disorder, perimenopausal or menopause should try working with this stone as a way to ease symptoms.