A Cup of Tea

There are few things more comforting than snuggling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea. But did you know that this relaxing hobby has a spiritual side to it?

Tea is made of dried herbs, fruits, and plants, and each of these ingredients carry magical associations and all-natural health benefits. So, if you’re feeling a little low and looking for a pick-me-up, try a crystal and a cup of tea!

Magical Tea and Crystal Pairings

When you’re looking for a magical tea, you have options! You can start with the bagged tea in your local grocery store, or you can look for loose leaf tea at a specialty shop. You can even make your own tea blends with various dried ingredients or ones from your own garden.

Experiment and have a little fun! Just be sure to research different tea ingredients, especially if

you are growing them yourself, as some have interactions with certain prescriptions and conditions.

Each tea has specific magical correspondences, and we recommend using a crystal that pairs well with those energies. Check out this helpful chart to see what your favorite tea can bring you:

But what do these crystal correspondences have to do with tea magic? Read on…

How To Charge Your Tea with Crystals

To get the most magic out of your tea, charging it with crystals is a must! You can invest in crystal tea accessories, like teaspoons with a crystal embedded in the hilt or a cup, but the easiest method is indirect charging.

Simply place a crystal next to your tea cup while your tea steeps, and let the crystal’s energy infuse into the drink. Then, when you take a sip, you’ll get both the magic of the tea and the powerful vibrations of the crystal!

If you like to add some extra accoutrements to your tea, take special advantage of their magical correspondences, too! Try sugar for extra luck, honey for love and positivity, lemon for energy and protection, and milk for truth and support. Make sure your crystal is nearby as you put in your additive of choice, and be mindful of the direction you stir. Stirring clockwise invites things in, and stirring counter-clockwise will banish something.

For example, if you are looking for a new romantic partner, stir honey clockwise into some rose tea with a Rose Quartz nearby to welcome love into your life!

What magic will you brew with tea and crystals?

Cats and Crystals

Did you know that October 29^th is National Cat Day? Let’s take some time to celebrate our feline friends and discover how crystals can help us connect with them.

The Spiritual Symbolism of Cats

The first records of domesticated cats date from about 4,000 years ago. Cats were prized as both companions and pest control, and whether you are a cat person or not, cats have carried important spiritual symbolism for centuries.

Ancient Egyptians venerated cats through the cat goddess, Bast, who protected women, children, and the home, and they mummified beloved pet cats, ensuring that they would be able to enjoy a blissful afterlife.

Cats appear throughout other folklore and legends from all over the world, from Ancient Druids who believed that cats were reincarnated souls to the Norse goddess, Freya, who traveled in a chariot pulled by cats to the wise-cracking black cat, Salem, in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

The number one aspect of a cat’s symbolism is independence. Cats are singular, introverted creatures who need their alone time and take pride in doing things themselves. Natural hunters, cats get what they want; they are curious about their environment, pay close attention to detail, and are willing to take calculated risks to achieve their goals. Cats are also heavily associated with ingenuity, intelligence, mystery, and magic. It’s no coincidence that cats are often pictured with the Moon; they are both conduits of divine feminine energy!

Cat Crystals

Crystals can help us connect with the cats in our lives but also with the lessons that cats have to teach us, so whether you are a devoted cat mom or simply in need of a little bit of extra magic, you will want to give these crystals a try.

Amethyst

Amethyst’s spiritual energy resonates strongly with cat’s inherent mysticism. This crystal activates the Third Eye and Crown Chakra to connect you with the divine realm, but it also helps soothe and balance cats’ auras. Amethyst is especially helpful for building a relationship with a new feline friend or guiding your cat through a stressful transition, like a move or vacation.

Black Onyx

Cats are very curious creatures, and Black Onyx gives them the protection and energy they need to explore with impunity. This crystal is a particularly good if you have an outdoor cat.

Carnelian

Introverted, independent cats can sometimes take a while to warm up to a new person. Thankfully, Carnelian’s warm, friendly vibrations make it easier to connect with your cat, and because this crystal promotes harmony, it is also perfect when you are introducing a new pet or family member.

Iolite

Iolite calls out to a cat’s sensitive, creative side. This crystal stimulates both the intellect and the imagination, allowing you and your cat to view the world from a new perspective. Iolite also offers gentle encouragement as you work to achieve your goals.

Rose Quartz

If you cat is particularly shy or standoffish, or if it is a rescue animal who has experienced trauma, Rose Quartz’s loving vibrations will help them feel safe and calm in their environment. Patient work with Rose Quartz will further develop your relationship with your cat and relieve their anxieties.

Selenite

Cats are closely associated with divine feminine energy and the Moon, which makes Selenite the perfect pairing. Selenite resonates strongly with cats’ inherent wisdom and intellectualism, and this clarifying crystal can help you get to know your cat better.

Sodalite

Sodalite calms cats by meeting them where they are. Cats get along well with this introspective crystal, and its soothing energies can help curb aggressive behaviors like hissing, scratching and biting.

Find your inner feline and see what you discover!

Things That Go Bump in the Night: Crystals for Fear

Whether you’re braving a haunted house or just setting a boundary, October is a time for facing your fears. Historically, autumn was a time to confront our own mortality, making sure that we had enough provisions to survive the winter.

While we are blessed in the modern age to have ready access to necessities like food and clothing 365 days a year, we still spend fall watching the leaves turn and fall, the flowers die, and the Earth enter her winter “death,” and we celebrate the season with horror movies, costumes, and everything scary.

This fall, challenge yourself to go beyond spine-tingling reactions to spiders and ghosts and face your fears. There’s no reason to be ashamed if your fears are tangible like crime and snakes, but you should also contemplate whether you have more existential fears, like heartbreak or failure. When you confront the things that hold you back, your success will skyrocket—and crystals will be your best ally!

How to Use Crystals for Fear

Crystals have been used as protective talismans for millennia, and for good reason! Their high frequencies can both imbue you with courage and repel negativity.

You can interpret the idea of a crystal talisman broadly and incorporate it into your life in any way that makes sense to you. Try:

• Wearing crystal jewelry whenever you are entering a situation that makes you anxious, such as a job interview, public speaking event, or first date.
• Placing a crystal at your front door to ward off negative energy and cleanse anyone who enters your space.
• Protecting your sleep from nightmares by leaving a crystal on your bedside table or even under your pillow.
• Meditating with a fear crystal before any scary situation.
• Keeping a worry stone in your purse or pocket to help you whenever you encounter unexpected moments of fear.

Fear Crystals

What fear crystal should you pick? Here are a few of our favorites:

Amber

Fossilized tree resin from the Earth’s earliest days, Amber carries the planet’s protective energies. This crystal reminds you to trust in your instincts and your abilities, keeping you safe in the knowledge that you can handle any situation you encounter.

Aquamarine

Aquamarine is a profoundly empowering crystal. Its gentle blue hues soothe away fear and stress, encouraging emotional stability. Because Aquamarine resonates strongly with the Throat Chakra, it also allows you to communicate your feelings, and the first step to fighting fear is stating your fears out loud. Aquamarine has traditionally been a stone of protection on the water, and if you experience hydrophobia, it is a great choice.

Black Tourmaline

Black Tourmaline repels negative energy. It makes a great protective talisman for the home, and it is also a wonderful aura cleanser. Black Tourmaline grounds excess energy. This crystal shows you the kernel of truth at the root of your fears so that you can deal with them, instead of getting lost in an anxiety spiral.

Bronzite

Bronzite’s deep brown color mimics Mother Earth’s rich, nurturing soil, and it guards you like a parent. Bronzite helps you release deep-seated trauma, unconstructive thoughts or habits, and karmic bonds. Then, it replaces these feelings with the confidence and energy you need to succeed.

Celestite

Celestite connects you to divine love. When you put your faith in the universe, it is easier to free yourself from fear. Remember, you are divinely loved and protected, and the universe has a plan for this lifetime. Even if you encounter a curveball, trust that the universe will find a way to make everything work out for the best.

Citrine

Citrine is the physical embodiment of a ball of sunshine, and its infinite positivity makes it hard to hang on to fear. Citrine raises your vibrations, aligning you with joy and abundance, and it reminds you that you deserve good things.

Howlite

As a stone of wisdom and clarity, Howlite helps you take a step back from scary situations. Howlite reveals the truth, allowing you to face a challenge from an objective, calm perspective. This soothing stone helps you slow down and discover new opportunities whenever you experience a setback.

Rose Quartz

If your fears are tied to your emotional body, reach for Rose Quartz. The ultimate self-love crystal, Rose Quartz gently helps you acknowledge and work through your fears, and it imbues you with profound senses of self-worth and self-confidence. Rose Quartz reminds you that the best way to achieve your goals is to put your authentic self out there, even if you feel vulnerable. This crystal will care for your heart and ensure that you can take risks safely.

Tiger’s Eye

Tiger’s Eye is a can-do crystal. It gives you the drive and energy to overcome your fears and persist as you pursue your goals. If there has been something holding you back from success, Tiger’s Eye is the stone for you!

Unakite

Unakite connects your Heart and Root Chakras, allowing your emotional body to be soothed by the Earth’s ancient wisdom. Unakite is particularly helpful for cleansing your heart and working through past pains and traumas. Its gentle, kind energy teaches you to release your fear of failure; if you didn’t get an opportunity, it’s because it wasn’t the right one for you.

What can you achieve if you’re free from fear? Try these crystals and find out!

Spotlight on Selenite

Have you been struggling with a difficult decision? Do you feel disconnected from your divine feminine energy? Have you simply been drawn to the moon?

If you said “yes” to any of these questions, you may need some Selenite! Today, we’re highlighting this must-have crystal and sharing some of our favorite ways to use it.

What is Selenite?

Selenite is a member of the Gypsum family. It is named for the Greek Goddess of the Moon, Selene, and is most commonly known in its transparent white, moon-like variety. However, Selenite is an extremely versatile crystal that comes in many varieties and colors, including Satin Spar, Desert Rose Selenite, Fishtail Selenite, and Peach Selenite. Major Selenite deposits can be found in Mexico and Utah, where the crystal grows in thin sheets within caves.

Selenite’s Spiritual and Metaphysical Properties

Selenite is a crystal of truth. Its exceptionally high vibrations activate your Crown Chakra, allowing you to access and interpret divine wisdom. Selenite has such powerful frequencies that it can also cleanse and charge other crystals! Selenite heightens your intuition and expands your consciousness for a better understanding of yourself, the people around you, and the universe at large. Because Selenite is a purifying crystal that resonates so strongly with the Crown Chakra, it pairs very well with Black Tourmaline, a protective crystal with a strong Root Chakra connection.

Selenite cleanses your aura and Chakra system to help you achieve perfect balance. It tends to your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies for a total transformation that brings you closer to enlightenment. From this place of alignment, you are able to approach everything with calm, clarity, and kindness.

As its name implies, Selenite is closely tied to the Moon. It promotes profound introspection and emotional intelligence; it helps you understand your true needs and shines a light on anything that you might be avoiding. It also draws out the divine feminine energy within all of us and reveals our most empathetic selves. Selenite reminds you that sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is be still.

When you work with Selenite, you unlock your highest self.

Different Types of Selenite

Selenite can be found in a wide variety of colors, including orange, blue, green, purple, and pink, and there are also certain unique types of Selenite, such as:

Desert Rose Selenite

Desert Rose Selenite forms when sand, water, and air tumble together to create a gray rosette. Desert Rose Selenite links together the Root, Sacral, and Crown Chakras, forming a powerful combination of grounding, confidence, and wisdom. It is highly prized for astral travel, shaman work, and lucid dreaming, providing both the skills and the protection needed for navigating the ethereal realm.

Fishtail Selenite

Fishtail Selenite, sometimes called Angel Wing Selenite, is a special translucent variety with two opposing points that resemble wings or a tail. This crystal facilitates communication with angels, spirit guides, and deities. By channeling these divine insights, Fishtail Selenite also cleanses your aura and eases anxiety.

Peach Selenite

Peach Selenite gets its lovely orange-pink hue from the sands of the Sahara desert. This stone inspires creativity and stimulates passion. It also helps you work through emotional trauma, like rejection, loss, and betrayal, replacing those unconstructive feelings with acceptance and a strong sense of self-worth.

Satin Spar

A lot of the Selenite on the market is actually Satin Spar, an opaque white variety of Gypsum that shares the same molecular formula as Selenite (CaSO₄*2H₂O). Because these crystals are so closely related, Satin Spar carries the same metaphysical and spiritual properties as Selenite, making them functionally interchangeable.

How to Use Selenite

If you don’t already have a Selenite around, we recommend getting your hands on a stone soon! Introspective October is the ideal time to work with this crystal. You can observe the full moon on the 28^th with Selenite, or use our Halloween Satin Spar Selenite Crescent Moons to enhance your Samhain or Halloween celebrations.

Some of our favorite ways to use Selenite include:

• Using it in meditation
• Placing it in a room to raise the vibrations
• Clearing your aura
• Incorporating it in New Moon and Full Moon rituals
• Charging and cleansing other crystals
• Supporting psychic activities
• Creating crystal grids with Selenite and Black Tourmaline
• Making moon water (via the indirect method, as Selenite will dissolve in water)

This month, let Selenite shine a light on your life!

Working with the Shadow Self

Is there a part of yourself that you don’t like?

The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer, and we are facing the cold half of the year. Fall and winter are introspective seasons, which can be warm and cozy, but that much time alone with yourself can also be frightening.

We all have our faults, weaknesses, and aspects that we would rather hide. It’s perfectly natural. But how do you deal with them? Most of us ignore the darker parts of ourselves, but when you repress something, it only festers. Next thing you know, you’re lashing out for no reason or being hounded by anxiety.

That’s why it’s important to confront your shadow self—embrace it and work with it. It’s a difficult task, but crystals can be an important tool for exploring your dark side.

What is the Shadow Self?

The term “shadow self” was coined by psychologist Carl Jung. The shadow shelf combines your “self” (your consciousness awareness) with the “shadow” (the dark, intensely emotional part of your psyche.

The shadow self is anything that threatens the way you present yourself to the world. It consists of the thoughts and behaviors that you repress, and it is the source of a lot of our negative self-talk. Some parts of your shadow self may have their roots in childhood. For example, if you were chided for talking too much as a kid, you may not feel safe speaking up for yourself as adult.

Your shadow self craves being explored and understood. It isn’t a mistake; it is part of your authentic being, and when you ignore it, you don’t feel whole. The more you sit with these negative feelings, the easier it will be for you to unpack them and heal deep-seated trauma. However, not acknowledging your shadow self can lead to poor self-esteem, anxiety, depression, anger, and self-sabotage.

How to Connect With Your Shadow Self

At its core, shadow work is about compassion and curiosity. To connect with your shadow, you need to spend a lot of time with yourself, acknowledging the things you have been trying to hide and accepting them.

To connect with your inner shadow, you will want to try a variety of techniques.

Start by noticing your habits, particularly those that have formed subconsciously. Do your habits serve you, or do they hurt you? Why do you think you do these things?

You will also want to reflect on your triggers. Is there something (or someone) you simply cannot stand? Something that always makes you sad, angry, or anxious? Why do you think you have this reaction?

Once you have started connecting with your shadow self, keep exploring. Try expressing your shadow self through art. Create a sculpture, curate a playlist of songs, or write a poem!

Then, you will want to try mediating with a shadow work crystal and confronting your shadow with affirmations like “I release my fear” and “I accept myself.”

Crystals for Shadow Work

Black Kyanite

Kyanite is a powerful alignment tool, and its black variety turns this energy to self-discovery. Black Kyanite helps you work with your shadow by encouraging authenticity, removing blockages, dissipating negative energy, and showing you new opportunities. If there is anything you need to release, Black Kyanite will help you detach yourself from it.

Black Obsidian

Black Obsidian has long been used as a scrying mirror, and it acts as a mirror into your soul. If you are struggling to see your shadow self, meditate with Black Obsidian to reveal it. Black Obsidian is also closely related to ancestral healing, helping you unravel any parts of your shadow self that are rooted in familial trauma.

Bloodstone

As you confront your shadow self, Bloodstone helps you separate fact from fiction. It will show you which of your reflections are useful, constructive criticism and which are negative, toxic self-talk. Bloodstone encourages you to release your self-imposed limitations and stabilize your emotional body so that you can claim the life of your dreams.

Blue Apatite

When you do not acknowledge your shadow self, it often manifests in your Throat Chakra. You may notice that you struggle to communicate and stand up for yourself. Blue Apatite will help you speak your truth and stand in your power, while also silencing your inner critic.

Charoite

Charoite links together your Heart, Third Eye, and Crown Chakras for introspection informed by divine love. This crystal draws out your most compassionate self to make it easier to accept your shadow. Charoite also imparts wisdom to reveal the truth of any situation and ease feelings of anxiety, sadness, or rage. With this crystal, you can access your highest, most authentic self.

Garnet

Garnet’s fiery red energy gives you the courage to confront your shadow self. This crystal grounds you in your power so that you can work through negativity and release it. Garnet also encourages you to seek out new opportunities and create a life that you can be proud of.

Labradorite

Labradorite shines a light on everything you have hidden, making it an ideal crystal for shadow work. This stone is gentle yet transformative. Labradorite shows you the underlying issues behind habits and triggers so that you can move past them.

Morganite

A stone of infinite love, Morganite will support you throughout your shadow work journey. It aligns you with the universe, enveloping you in a warm, compassionate embrace so that you can confront your shadow self in the gentlest, kindest way possible. When you work with Morganite, you will know that you are not alone.

Onyx

Onyx has long been treasured as a crystal for working through difficult and negative emotions. It provides strength and support, while also helping you release anything that is no longer serving you. Onyx is especially powerful for unraveling deep-seated trauma, including fears that may stem from a past life.

Phantom Quartz

Phantom Quartz is a crystal with its own shadow self, making it a great choice for shadow work. Phantom Quartz connects you with your spirit guides to assist you on your shadow journey, while also imparting profound Earth energy to keep you balanced and calm.

Snowflake Obsidian

Snowflake Obsidian is a very comforting crystal. A literal light in the dark, Snowflake Obsidian brings repressed emotions to the surface, but it also helps you remain positive as you sort through them.

Don’t be scared! Take advantage of the quiet parts of this year to embrace your shadow self.