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Imagine that you are a full spectrum beam of astral light. From your hips down into the ground then up through your body to your head and above. Red being between your hips where your legs meet and we experience sexual pleasure. Moving up to your belly button area glows orange then below your ribs shining yellow. Each region has a different connection with our life and well being. These colors symbolically represent the energies and auras of these areas. The colors/regions are referred to as Chakras. The idea of Chakras come from Indian spiritual practices and philosophies. I've never studied deeply into the origins of Chakras but when visually represented, the colors radiating from different energy centers in the body just made sense to me, it still does. I felt it so deeply that I wanted to explore the ideas myself because spirituality is very personal. What is felt by the individual is unique to them and in my experience our inherent spirituality should be trusted. Looking within gives us a lot of wisdom and opens our 'eyes' to our inherent knowing of the truth. That being said I want to be clear that I did not invent these ideas but they are deeply felt. My experience is validated by my life and the energies I've cultivated through out my life. Focusing on my being as a colorful aura has assisted my personal healing process immensely. I am open to more information about the Indian practices and philosophies associated with chakras, but waiting for the right time and the right person/ people/books to learn from.  The base chakras are so important for our over all health, spirituality, and well being. If we aren't rooted in our base energies, how do we expect to properly care for any other layer of energy beyond that? The energies that emit from our base chakras, Red, Orange, and Yellow, are the very foundation of our lives. These are dealing with our physical body, our pleasure, our foundation, our self esteem, our self love, our personalities. It's super easy to leave these base energies in the background. (It's also quite simple to regularly maintain these aspects of our lives too!) If our visual sense is on over load then it could be a reflection of neglect of our core! The Chakras are about our physical environment and our lifestyle. What are aspects of a well cared for set of base chakras? Being grounded, present, aware. We feel whole and centered in our health with physical activities. We appreciate our individuality by expressing ourselves with style, singing, creating. Our confidence is radiant. Our physical beings are well cared for, we are getting our bodies moving regularly.  In my experience it's not hard to align our base chakras but they need regular maintenance. Self care / Self Love is a fantastic way to keep your base chakras free of auric debris. We have to eat and bathe, which are two regular actions of base chakra care that we can use to boost our lives and refresh our energy. When you shower or bathe, this can also serve as an energetic cleanse. Bathe in an essential oil, flower, and herb mixture so you can worship the body that holds you through out your days. When showering exfoliate your skin and ponder on your bounty, your beauty. When eating, take a moment to affirm and acknowledge that your food is nourishing you. Make sure you're eating nourishing food. There are bounties of processed foods available that are not healthy for our bodies. Being mindful of the nutrients we intake is very important for our over all health. In conjunction with eating, working out or being active, going for walks, connecting with nature, are other great ways to give your base chakras added glow. We give our body nutrients for energy and that energy wants to be used! Cleaning our homes, cars, offices, any space where we spend time, elevates our energy. Our spaces are a reflection of our minds. Washing clothing, towels, rugs, are a great way to rejuvenate the home, get our bodies moving, and maintain a peaceful home. Many of the everyday or regular activities are acts of appreciation for your life that will keep your base chakras, their auras and your energies cleared of any 'debris'. It's the appreciation and intention, especially behind small actions and tasks, that keep our lives balanced. That way we can move into the next level of energy, the Heart Chakra, with a solid foundation!  Base Chakra Activities:
Grounding with Gratitude - This is one of my favorite and most to the point activities. You can practice this as a meditation, journal prompt, or a conversation with yourself. Take a few minutes to think, write, or speak about what you're grateful for. If you're speaking aloud, try using a mirror. You might just find that you have so much to be grateful for. I like to do this activity with Smokey Quartz. Remember to Play - Do you remember the last time you genuinely played for a few moments? Between work, maintaining your body & space, and caring for others, life can be so serious! Give yourself 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour of time to play. Print a coloring page, make a collage, bounce a ball, try a new recipe, sing your favorite songs, dance around the house, do something simple that brings you joy with no serious strings attached. Literally anything, just remember to have fun! Physical Pleasure - Connections with our body are so important. We experience pleasure and we can give that pleasure to ourselves. This is an incredible feature of our human bodies. Have you ever touched yourself while meditating or listing affirming statements aloud? This is a potent and empowering thing to do! Maybe try it next time you're masturbating or getting playful with your partner. Seriously, it's fun! Another layer to this very freeing activity is to bring your favorite crystals! Please yourself with a crystal wand or adorn yourself with crystals up the center of your body. I recommend using Red, Orange, and Yellow crystals like Ruby, Hematoid Quartz, Carnelian, Tangerine Quartz, or Citrine. - Thank me later! <3
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 Cleaning your crystals is more than just wiping the surfaces of your gems. Physically cleaning your crystals is a part of the cleansing process though. It's also important to energetically cleanse these miraculous formations too! Our crystals hold energy and need to be cared for especially when we are utilizing their inherent powers.
People ask us all the time: How do you cleanse your crystals? There is no one answer. You can cleanse your crystals many ways. We've heard of a few different methods and practice a few different cleansing activities ourselves. Your connection with your gems is a very personal one and there for you should approach your cleansing rituals with personal flair! Here are a few ideas of ways you can cleanse your crystals! Cleanse with Water: Water is a great way to wash your crystals. You can simply run water over the surface of your gems and affirm they are cleansed or you can take it to another level. Gather a bowl, it can be any kind of bowl. Perhaps you prefer glass or ceramic. Maybe you want it to be hand made. The intentions behind your selections can make a huge difference. fill your bowl with water. Again you can level you water game up by using Moon Water or special water that you charge with different energy. Place your gems in this bowl one at a time or all together. The choice is yours. You can also infuse your water with salt or herbs. Cleanse with Herbs: You can place your crystals in a bowl or plate and surround them with fresh or dried herbs, flowers, or foliage. Dive into the properties of each kind of plant your place your gems with. You might be surprised the healing properties of plants, herbs, and flowers! Cleanse with Light: Some people like to give their gemstones a soak in the sun or moon light for cleansing and charging abilities. Place your gemstones in a window or on your porch / patio to cleanse them. The sun and the moon will assist you in cleansing the energies within them and give them a good boost of energy too! You can sit with your crystals basking in the same light, soaking in the same solar energies for an extra boost. Cleanse with Smoke: Smoke baths are our favorite way to cleanse crystals! It's just a beautiful sight! Light some sage or any other herb that speaks to you and hold your gemstones one by one over the flowing smoke. Again affirm their cleansing. A big part of cleansing your crystals is affirmations. You can meditatively affirm their cleansing or audibly affirm their cleansing. You can do both. The point is to cleanse your mind as well as the crystal energy so your auras are cleared of debris as well. This way you are in sync with your gemstones and can readily set new intentions with the assistance of your crystals. Like mentioned before there are no rules necessarily to this cleansing process and we like to recommend that you create you own cleansing process. You can mix any of these practices together. You can do them all together or switch between which cleansing process you like. Maybe one works well for you and maybe others not so much. We are all unique and evolving constantly so perhaps you want to change your practice over time. How often do you cleanse crystals? That's also up to you! We'd recommend it during full and/or new moons, seasonal changes, life changes, or when you get the urge to do so. If you have a day that you clean your home, it's never bad to give your crystals a quick cleanse at those times as well. Cleaning is a great practice and should be put to use routinely. Find your cycles and flow with it. What are your favorite ways to cleanse your crystals?  and I don't mean a beverage! It's a blue and gray stone that often also features a spectrum of other colorful hues! This stone is known to stimulate and enhance our human minds! If you're looking to dive deep into yourself or meditate on something deeply, this stone will enhance your creativity, intuition, observation skills, and your power of analysis. That being said this stone is great for study, efficiency, organization, structure for research and any other avocation. This is stone of perseverance. Sodalite assists those who consult and work through oracles, numerology, tarot, and astrology. This energy is manifested through synthesis of thought. It's known to reveal or highlight patterns, symbols, paradox and contradiction. If you're intuitive, Sodalite assists you in connecting with and understanding the personalities of people around you. This stone brings to light your intuition and because of that you can trust more of those situations you, 'have a feeling' about. This energy brings on a similar boost into your confidence by relieving any thoughts of self judgement. This stone will enhance your self confidence. Perhaps you'll stop second guessing yourself as much or at all with the assistance of this stone. It can also be used to recall and identify wounds from your past so you can heal and grow past that pain. It can also help your ability to speak and connect with others, when no words can be said. Sodalite's energy helps you stay in the present moment without anxiety of the future or concerns from the past. It assists you in applying the knowledge and wisdom you've learned from all your life's experiences. That way you can most effectively handle any situation at any given time. It's known to alleviate pressure and worries. It also allows you to sink deeply into the subconscious or unconscious mind. It may also help you remember dreams.  Sodalite Crystal readingWhen it comes to head aches & migraines, the pain can be immobilizing. Some times lagging on for multiple days! I get them about once a month. The pain can be relentless! Shooting pains in eyes, neck, and some times vomiting. I'm not a doctor, so I am not advising to replace any medication or saying not to take pain relieving medicine for your head aches or migraines. I often have to take pain medicine to get through head pains. You can also consult with your doctor about any of these activities first. However, I've found a couple gentle activities that help with relieving some of the pain.
Face massage - For this you can use you a palm stone, gua sha, or your hands to gently massage pressure points and areas on your neck, face, and scalp. This activity often relieves a bit of tension in my head and neck. A gemstone I recommend for head ache relief is blue Apatite. Other stones I'd recommend are Azurite, Gaia Stone, Blue Calcite, Onyx, Blue Sapphire, Blue Tourmaline and there are honestly others that are known to assist with headaches and migraines! Facial Steam - Lavender or Rosemary Soak is what I like to call it. I'll heat up some water, grab a big mixing bowl, a towel to wrap around my head and the bowl, and any fresh herbs that are known to assist with inflammation, and BOOM we're ready to start doing some deep breathing of steamy herbal air! Put some lavender and/or rosemary into the mixing bowl, pour hot water into the bowl filling it about half way. Now take your towel wrapping it around your head and the bowl locking in the steam from the water. Hold your head over the bowl with hot steam rising to your face and start breathing deeply, in then out. This will at the very least calm you down and make you feel super relaxed. It can also help clear your sinuses. Drink Tea - Chamomile Tea is known to relieve stress & reduce inflammation. Warm water will alleviate some tension and certain teas can help clear your sinuses. I've also heard a bit of caffeine will help with head aches/migraines. So some times I drink a small glass of jasmine tea to get a boost of caffeine! I hope this post finds you well. Let me know if you try any of these when you get your next head ache, although I hope you don't get one!! Do you have any activities you do when a head ache or migraine strikes? I'd love to hear! -Citrine The other day I was sitting outside working on a custom piece when a wave of worry and fear washed over my being. The sun was shining and wind blowing ferociously. It seemed I was having a hard time relating to the environment at the moment. I took a deep breath, reminded myself of the present, and sang some calming affirmations internally as well as audibly. These were the words that came to mind and I'd like to share them with you.  I am exactly where I need to be. |
About the Author & Artist
Megan LaCroix also known as Citrine is the daughter of a Navy Veteran. She’s lived all over the US but has roots in Michigan where her family is from. Spending summers in Northern Michigan exploring nature inspired her to create art work starting with jewelry and photography. She’d spend hours looking for rocks and creating assorted beaded jewelry with her sisters. In 2014 She graduated from University of Michigan School of Art & Design with a BFA then moved to Detroit where she is currently living and working. She is a multi-media artist with ever expanding skills but is best known for her jewelry, screen printing, photography, and paintings. Detroit Graffiti has a significant influence on her painting and drawing style. She’s participated in ArtPrize 2015 & 2021 and currently has a studio in the Village Arts Factory of Canton, MI. Archives
April 2023
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