You may have noticed that I have not been around much this month!
I know. Spring has sprung along with my allergies and I have decided to take it easy and rest. I'll be back next month with a bang because I will be participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, which involves writing a post a day for the entire month!
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." ~~Lao Tzu
Is the time right for a love elixir? Wanting to use a little love magic to find your forever love?
Though we are well past Valentine's Day, I thought it would be good to share the recipe I used to make my own love elixir using crystals.
When I created my own, I didn't have romance in mind (though I know it could be used for that), but I did want the feeling of being loved, of deep comfort and of love for myself. And after using it and sharing it with my son, I did get extra hugs, so using it may increase your connection with those you love.
(photo credit: Hibiscus Moon)
What You Will Need
the crystals you choose
the glass you will keep the crystals and pour the water into
the glass bottle you will eventually store the crystal-charged water in
Basic Steps for Creating Your Love Potion
(1) Choose your crystals and place them in the glass you plan to use. I used the ones listed below which are connected to both love and comfort or, in the case of the quartz crystal, increase the chage or potency of the other stones...
blue lace agate
rose quartz
moonstone
double-terminated quartz crystal
(2) After pouring filtered (or spring) water over the crystals, decide if or how you want to super-charge the water. I used all of these methods but you can pick and choose, and they are all optional.
stirring a spiral into the water
drawing reiki symbols
drawing hearts
using a crystal or wooden wand to direct additional energy into the water
(3) Write out your intention for the charged water (or say it aloud or focus on it in your head while stirring) and place the paper under the glass.
(4) Place the glass of water in sunlight or moonlight, on your windowsill, balcony or patio, and leave it there for the day or overnight.
(5) The next day, pour the crystal-charged water into the glass bottle you have chosen. That water can be used as it is, or added to lotions, perfumes, bath oils or creams, etc. You also can just pour a little into your hands and rub it into your heart space, breathe it in or use it to smooth your energy field.
NOTE: If you are planning to drink it, I recommend placing the crystals in boiling water for a few minutes before you place them into the filtered water you are planning to use.
And I suggest storing that water in the refrigerator once it is fully charged. I also suggest drinking only a little at a time because it will be very powerful.
Creating Ritual
If you would like to use this process as part of a love ritual, there are several additional steps you could take...
(1) You could begin by lighting a candle and could make that the moment you state your intention, even if you also plan to write it down.
(2) You could journal about what you hope will happen as a result of making the love potion and write more than you would on the paper you will be placing under the glass.
(3) You could create an altar that represents your love wish and add pictures or other symbols, the candle(s) you are lighting, etc.
(4) At the end of the day or just before you go to bed, blow out the candle and express gratitude for the energy of love that is being created.
(5) Just before pouring the water into the glass bottle, you can express gratitude again and revisit your intention by consecrating the bottle of crystal-charged water for its intended purpose.
What I love so much about this book is how perfectly she
captures and describes my own stages of spiritual evolution.
As I read it, I keep nodding and recognizing my own thoughts
and feelings. And I find myself revisiting my own spiritual experience, and
understanding it in an even deeper way than I did at the time, as she so
eloquently describes her own experience.
By the way, if you want to read it with journal in hand, the back of the book offers great journal questions for each section of the book (awakening, initiation, grounding, etc.) and there is an 8-page interview with the author.
Here are some of the quotes from the book that jumped out at
me. See if they resonate with you, too.
Awakening
“To name is to define and shape reality. For eons women have
accepted male naming as a given, especially in the spiritual realm. The fact
is, for a long time now mean have been naming the world, God, sacred reality,
and even women from their own masculine perspective and experience and then
calling it universal experience. Was it such a wild thought that women might
start naming God, sacred reality, and their own lives themselves?” –p.38
Awareness
of Patriarchal Influence
“Just how is Everywoman’s life created? How much of my life
did I allow to be painted into existence by church, culture, and male
attitudes? Down deep, was my life as woman self-conceived and self-created as
an original and unfolding work from my own hands, or was it contrived according
to hidden blueprints?” –p.43
Fear
of Change: The Bargaining Stage of Grief
“Despite the growing disenchantment women experience in the
early stages of awakening, the idea of existing beyond the patriarchal
institution of faith, of withdrawing our external projection of God onto the
church, is almost always unfathomable. We believe if we sail out on the
spiritual ocean beyond a certain point we will fall off the edge of the known
world into a void. We think there’s nothing beyond the edge. No real
spirituality, no salvation, no community, no divine substance. We cannot see
that the voyage will lead us to whole new continents of depth and meaning.” –p.48
“An uneasy reaction to the word Goddess is common among
women. Thousands of years of repression, hostility, and conditioning against
the Divine Mother have made a deep impression on us.” –p.72
Leaving
Home: Spiritually
“This is a stupendous moment for a woman – when she decides
to live from her own inner guidance. It is, however, excruciatingly hard for a
patriarchal daughter to accomplish. She may have to do it, as I did, in stages.
Women grow afraid at this moment because it means giving up
a world where everything is neat and safe. In that world we feel secure, taken
care of; we know where we’re going. Then we wake up and find the old way doesn’t
work, that it no longer fits our identity, that by clinging to it, we’re cutting
ourselves off from something profound.” –p.76
Owning
Your Soul
“My whole life just fell open, and I began to see why things
have happened as they have happened.” –Nelle Morton (on p.72)
“I knew that despite how unthinkable and forbidden it was, I
needed to move beyond religion in a patriarchal institution. That may not be
true for every woman. But for me it was crucial to my spiritual maturity and
growth. At that moment I took sole responsibility for my spiritual life.” –p.81
Do you
recognize any of these stages in your own spiritual evolution?
“Winter is a season of purpose – as are all seasons.
Winter’s medicine is about rest, recovery, and going within. When we rest
enough during winter, we have the energy we need to sustain us for the
remainder of the year. In native traditions, this concept is known as Bear
Medicine. Can we learn from bear and hibernate sufficiently to restore
ourselves ahead of the busy, waking seasons? If you haven’t
rested enough, take the next few weeks to honor the cycle.” –Sage Goddess
I'm going to assume you haven't rested enough! I haven't.
Cozying Up to Bear Medicine
So are you ready to commit to a month of last-minute hibernation?
What might that mean for you?
(1) Adding an extra hour of sleep each night
(2) Taking a nap each day
(3) Spending weekends at home with less on the agenda
(4) Putting off important projects until the spring thaw occurs
(5) Surrounding yourself with honey ~ the comfort and cozy joys that make like special
In response to the call to hibernate, I am rethinking a project I was planning to begin this month, and planning to make rest my project instead.
I'm also wondering if I should challenge myself to see how many naps I can take during the upcoming month. I'm an incurable night owl, so naps might make more sense. Apple juice and cookies when I get up? :)
How can you honor the call to bear medicine in your life?
Because this is the night that the moon is full, it offers a powerful opportunity for creating or changing what you want. So what would you like to ask the moon for today?
Is there anything you want to let go of that no longer serves you?
My intention is to let go of self-doubt and playing small when it comes to my life purpose. For one reason or another, I have been hiding from the full power and blossoming of my purpose, and if you know my story, I even tried to take a couple of years off altogether!
Now I am all in! But not without doubt. So I decided to create a crystal grid for strengthening my belief in myself.
And then I saw Hibiscus Moon's video about creating a crystal ceremony just for increasing self-love and eradicating self-doubt...
Join me in getting rid of self-doubt and playing small once and for all? Let me know how it goes!
