Hello to you and welcome to this month’s ditty. Well things have been a bit hectic with the shop change around, putting in the security system in the shop and changing the face of the website. With the latter in mind; I am going to ask you for a little help to make sure I haven’t missed anything or you have a good idea/suggestion – then please tell me via the either the contact us page on the website or through the shop.

I’m sitting here looking for some inspiration for this month’s theme, but it has eluded me, so you’ll have to excuse me if I ramble a tad :)

Still this morning had a great start; we received an e-mail from our friend Kristina and we used in our e-mail we sent out of a picture of her picking scrumptious cherries from a tree in the square just outside our house in Hungary …. well good news, looks like she might be coming over for a visit in November. It will be great to catch up with her and enabling us to give back some of the wonderful hospitality she has shown us. This brings a subject up of the unconditional love, originally Kristina was Erika’s friend and after a couple of visits to Hungary she soon became a great friend as well. Each and every time we went over to Hungary, a bit jaded after the long plane journey. She often came out to the airport to pick us up, the amazing thing is that she doesn’t have a car and oft we went to her apartment in the centre of the Budapest. During our stay whilst recovering, Kristina often took us out and treated us to some wonderful sites and food places around this wonderful city, never asking for anything in return, and her hospitality helped us in many other different ways too. This is what it is all about, and it makes you think and makes you feel really great inside. It often brought back memories of when I was a child and the family went down to Dunedin from the North Island. In those days, it was quite a trek, firstly a long train journey [great steam trains, all that smoke…wooohoooo!!! :) ], then the ferry from Wellington to Littleton and again a long train journey(about 2/3 days of travelling in all), I was really in my element as a young boy. Anyway I diverse, we went down to see my grandparents in Pinehill, Dunedin and then out to Alexander, Central Otago to see my wonderful great grandma White, she was a truly wonderful lady. All the family on my Dads side came from Otago and they really had this wonderful ability to make you welcome and feel completely at home … often as you’ve never been away. Family often have fallouts and misunderstanding and it’s a shame that society as a whole is falling out with each other on many different levels?? Is it the pressure of our society today? Hhmmm!!! Could be but it also has to do with us and how unattached we are with ourselves, our true self. Let me explain: take a child of under 7 years old … right from the day they are born, they are innocent and so open to spirit and goodness. They are then influenced by there surroundings, parents, living conditions and then the social structure and so called learning … school life!!!

Before they become influenced and forget their spiritual awareness, or should I say it gets put on the backburner. In that age group they often come out with sentences or statements that often astonish their parents or whoever is around them, these verbalised words often have a very deep meaning, effect and truth about them. They have wisdom well beyond their years, and this is often just forgotten … but we could often learn a lot from these statements. Then as time goes on, they grow and start to be effected by society, learning, and trying to fit into their way of life; that Inner Child and Awareness recedes and over time is often forgotten. It often comes back to us when we find ourselves in personal danger, stressful situations or call on that inner intuition for a life changing decision/s. We have a wealth of knowledge, awareness and self preservation skills within our very being. What we often need as an adult is one of these happenings to bring it back out, unlock that personal power …… how do we do it.

This has been on the tips of tongues down through the ages, many different cultures and societies have tried to unlock this. What have they succeeded in doing? Bringing up even more questions, yes it has. My understanding is similar to Buddha’s thoughts, ‘bring in a balance to your life and your inner being, treat every living being with respect, no matter where they are on their journey’. Tall order in today’s hectic society; having enough money to live, have the skills, ability to support yourself and possibly your family with pressures that can come our way from all sorts of quarters. I feel the only thing you can do is to look within yourself and see what you want you truly want to do. Then approach that task with integrity, honesty and most of all with a smile. Enjoy it however hard it is, you will get out the other side with a better feeling inside, that pride of completion and you will feel lighter. No matter what walls may have been put in front of you ….. you …. yes you have endured and beaten them and won. We are sometimes so busy that it is good to STOP for a moment and look at what we have achieved at that moment, for the last week, the last month or through our life and be thankful, and praise ourselves for those achievement/s. If however we have had a hard time, been through one of those shocking times; then we need to look at the mountains we have climbed up and we have succeeded in getting to the top and come down the other side … as the saying goes: “it can only get better now” or “its all downhill now”, “theirs a light at the end of the tunnel”. All of these show your courage and endurance … be proud of yourself.

So to round it off, allow that Inner Child to come out more often ….. use all that Knowledge, Love and Unselfishness … we often put up this front to the outside world and are often scared of opening that soft underbelly so to speak … because we don’t want to seem weak or make ourselves vulnerable. I am not surprised a lot of society has forgotten the family values, culture and being proud of what we do with our lives, whether in work or personal. So in closing this little ditty I will leave you the quote of the month (back page) and its meaning – “Life is about Balance”.

Have a great month and yet again the festive season is knocking at the door, think about giving more of yourself to your fellow human being – smile, happiness and the true you. 

I will close now, and the team @ Amethyst Lake Healing Centre wish you and your families a safe month.

There are more and more people aware of the amazing power of California White Sage. I get questions nearly every day about it, how to use it, so here is a short article to introduce you one of our best selling products.

Using California White Sage to Smudge away Negative Vibrations

Smudging is the burning of certain herbs to create a cleansing smoke bath, which is used to purify people, ceremonial and ritual space, and ceremonial tools and objects. Many different cultures and peoples have their own methods and herbal mixtures for this purpose.

Native American Indians use a variety of smudging mixtures in this way. The principle herbs used are sage, cedar or juniper, lavender and sweet grass. Pure tobacco is also used by some Plains tribes, and copal in South and Central America.

The herbs are burnt on their own or in mixtures, depending on tradition and required effect. The herb Sage is indigenous to the Americas. It is used as a cleansing and purifying agent, the effect of the smoke is to banish negative energies. The powerful cleansing vibration it emits when burned is used to purify the subtle energies of one's aura, as well as personal and ceremonial space or healing and ceremonial tools, such as pipes and crystals.

The Sage is generally burned inside of a small container or shell (paua shell is very popular) when burning loose Sage leaves. Me personally prefer to use smudge sticks, I find it more effective and easier to use, but sometime loose sage is more efficient. Light the sage, let it burn a moment to get going, and then blow out the flames. The desired affect is to have the Sage smouldering heavily without flames.  Sometimes while you are cleansing a space, person, or tool, the Sage will go out. Do not worry, just re-light the Sage and continue on.  Thickly negative places, people, or tools can extinguish Sage several times before the area is cleansed.  In some rare instances you may experience a spontaneous Sage flare up. This can be a sign of something powerfully negative holding on. Be persistent working the problem area until things feel better.   

When cleansing a tool you just pass it through the smoke with your intension set to purge any and all negative energies from the tool. If you are cleansing a space you can walk around the area with the burning Sage with the intent of cleansing the area of any negative vibrations. If the space is enclosed; such as a room or a house, it is best to crack an outside door or window to give the negative energy a place to exit.

When Smudging a person we feel it best to start at ones feet facing the person and work upward. The person being smudged should stand tall with their arms parallel to the ground. Blow the Sage at the person using a smudge fan or feather in one hand, and the shell or container with the smouldering Sage in the other. Your intension should be to cleanse and purify; removing all negativity. Starting at the feet move up the body, go under each arm, and then the head area and ask the person to turn around. Do the same with the back side of the person and when completed, ask them to turn around and touch the feather to the cleansed person’s heart and say "You are now free of any negative vibrations." Some traditions have you start with the back side of a person and work forward. Do what feels best for you.

It is amazing the change in the energy field of a place, person, or tool after it has been cleansed with Sage.

California White Sage smudge sticks and loose leafs are available at Amethyst Lake or through our website.

Enjoy!

Crystals and Colour Series …. Pt3

Clear or transparent stones exhibit the qualities of amplifying and clarifying. White stones can show the similar characteristics, but they tend to be gentler in their actions. Milky Quartz, for example, has the same structure as rock crystal, but the presence of many microscopic air bubbles reflects all light back from the interior. Milky quartz has a gentle energizing and soothing effect that radiates out into its surrounding.

Diamond

The strength and brilliance of diamond’s has made it one of the most expensive and valuable gemstones. Diamonds are found in many colours as well as clear, most coloured diamonds are used in industry: less than a quarter of all finds are of the transparent quality that is required by the gem trade. The diamond is primarily an amplifier of energy and is best used to enhance the properties of the properties of other stones. It is also a very effective detoxifying stone, effective at removing stagnant and inappropriate energies from the body. It has a natural affinity with the crown chakra and has been found to help align the bones of the head, the jaw and spine. It can be used to adjust small imbalances in the bones of the skull that may have been created after dental…for example.

Other transparent stones

Most crystals have a natural transparent form though this might be quite rare, as the impurities that enter a crystal lattice only need to be present in minute amounts to create colour. The clear form of any mineral can be used at the crown chakra above the top of the head. Simply placing the stone here will stimulate all energy bodies and help remove imbalances.

Danburite – Is a brilliant clear stone that forms wedge shaped crystals with parallel striations like those in Topaz? It is light a fairly fragile, but is a useful activating and cleansing stone that amplifies and brightens the energies of other stones.

Apophylite – Has greater brilliance than Danburite but is even softer and higher. The crystals tend to be cube-based or pyramidal with bright shiny surfaces. Apophylite allows us to become more aware of subtle perceptions and can be an effective meditation crystal, expanding awareness of levels within nature.

Calcite – Is softer and is a very common mineral that can sometimes be found as perfectly transparent crystals known as Iceland Spar. All Calcite is a good remover of stagnant energy and this too can be a useful meditation tool.

Smokey Quartz – the solidifer

Smokey quartz ranges from light golden brown to almost deep black, even when it is very dark, it nearly always remains translucent. The colour is thought to be derived from natural sources of radioactivity close to where the crystals are formed. Smokey quartz carries the same basic energy as clear quartz but absorbs and stores it rather than radiating it. This gives the crystal a quietening and calming quality that makes it a help in focussing energy internally. The absorbing quality of Smokey Quartz makes it an excellent stone for meditation as it stabilizes the body and mind.

TO BRING CALM:

Smokey Quartz, with its quiet, calming energy is an effective grounding stone. As it draws energy towards itself it can remove imbalances from the subtle bodies, gently dissolving and transmuting negativity. The simple stone placement will help to collect all sorts of scattered and confused energies. It helps bring overabundance of energy to flow out into the earth.

1.       Use two Smokey Quartz crystals, preferably that have natural points (terminations). This helps move the energy in the most appropriate direction. Place one with its point down the body at the base of the throat where the collarbones meet the breastbone.

2.       Place the other with its point downwards between the legs, either between the knees or between the feet. Stay laying for at least five+ minutes or until you feel fully grounded.

This month’s quote:

	One swears by wholemeal bread, one by sour milk, vegetarianism is the only road to salvation of some, others insist not only on vegetables alone, but on eating those raw…. The scientific may be put quite briefly: eat moderately, having an ordinary mixed diet, and don’t worry.
	"May the light of the Great Spirit shine within you,  and this eternal love be your life force”

Erika & Les