Feel the Stones

On occasion one may read in my notes a comment that I can or cannot “Feel the Stones”. What in the world does that mean?

Feel the Stones is one of my exercises. I use 6 or 7 very large crystals on the order of 2-5 lbs each in this practice. In this exercise I concentrate on feeling the specific difference between the stones, or whether I can feel them at all. This exercises one’s non-normal perceptions while also training one’s sustained concentrated focus.

I arrange the stones at about arm’s reach and select one stone at a time placing it directly in front of me. I use a rectangular guitar stool I straddle to sit on which allows some stool space before me to set the stone down on; so the stone is close. More commonly one may sit near the edge of a table and place a stone in front of oneself on the edge of the table, as close as possible without touching it, about chest height. The rest of the stones remain arranged at arm’s length distance which allows quick switching into position of the various stones.

I start the exercise with no stone in front of me and observe myself; my mood, my mind-set, feelings, physical state, and physical/(etheric) space. The advantage of this exercise is one may focus on one’s feelings thus not struggling with trying to remove one’s perception from staring at the black backs of one’s closed eyelids as may be the case in meditation.

After I assess my state and memorize it I switch a stone into position; requiring a couple minutes to fully detect the changes in me, the transition. That is I’m comparing the difference between the memorized and new current state. Can a person find one word to describe the feeling or perception one detects, or can one detect it but has no word to describe it? It’s the transition that helps one notice the change, and then one focuses on the currently used stone’s effects.

It may not be a physical sensation. It may be some specific awareness (not a feeling) of part of one’s body that one suddenly apprehends. Or one may see it as something like a deep emotional state (emotional atmospherics) or a change in mood at a deep personal level; one generally not noticed before.

Depending on the type of stone the feelings range considerably from a local deep calm to an acute mental irritation or distress. There may be a change in the extent of one’s spatial presence. That field may expand or contract. It’s center may move.

It’s easier to note the difference between stones by swapping stone selections based on distinct difference between the type of stones. For example I may start with a large purple fluorite then switch to a celestite; completely different, easier to perceive the change. From there I may switch out the celestite and get my large amethyst. Then follow the amethyst with a rose quartz. In this process one is exercising one’s quality of focus and discernment of focus content.

The difference between a purple fluorite and an amethyst is subtle enough that it may be difficult to detect the difference between that pair initially for the beginner. Whereas the difference between a fluorite and an celestite is quite distinct for example.

This perceived difference is what I call contrast. I do this well enough that I’m sure if someone randomly switched stones for me while blindfolded I could tell them what stone they’ve swapped in. I believe most people could do this with some practice.

I met some folks who had a store that sold shaman practice materials. As we talked about Native American and Chinese herbs they became interested in this Feel the Stones exercise. I provided the stones, arranged them on a picnic table, and both individuals could detect something on their first attempt although they weren’t sure how to identify the feelings.

Why the large stones? To illustrate, if one adds a teaspoon of hot water to a bath one may not feel that change in bath water temperature, but if one pours a gallon of hot water into the tub that warmth is clearly felt. For me large stones on the order of a couple to a few pounds work well for this particular exercise.

If one doesn’t have large stones (although this is much more complicate to switch) one may use small stones in a grid. For example I have 3 small fluorites, less than two ounces each and if I place them in a small triangle, connecting those stones with high quality quartz blade points, I can feel that quite clearly, but not so much one small stone alone (see header image above for an example of a grid). An easier solution then using grids is to use a pile of stones.

It’s a hassle to switch stone grids quickly enough to clearly observe the contrast when one is fussing with the stone switching process; one needs a quick effortless swap. A simple solution is to put a pile of stones in a small cloth bag, net bag, or a sock; putting in one to three pounds of the same type of stones. In this manner switching bagged stones into position is much more convenient then moving a grid and it’s very effective.

There are times when I can do this exercise very well and other times I can’t feel anything at all. That is why I comment in my notes that I “can’t feel the stones”. This helps clarify in the notes that I’m not sensitive that day and so if the session is a dud it certainly may be me.

I’ll do this exercise about 30 minutes to over an hour; 15 minutes to determine whether I feel anything but an hour or more when I can. By that time I am quite on. If I go get some coffee and come back to my seat the strength of all the stones combined on the table is often too much of a sudden shift. That re-entry into the practice area may make one feel sick; the result of stepping out and back into the whole field of 15+ pounds of crystals. When that happens I’ll quit the exercise for that day.

If a person feels like crap after the exercise, which is very rare unless for example it’s caused by spending too much time w/ too much clear quartz, the preference is to correct one’s state with stones like fluorite, rose quartz, amethyst¹; most preferable is a combination of fluorite and rose quartz. If those stones aren’t available one could go rest in a hot bath to feel better. In the worst case one could go outside and lay down on the ground.

I often don’t use crystals. I like rough (non-tumbled) stones tho most of the stones in my exercise happen to be crystals but it’s not necessary and my rough stones work just as well as my crystals for this particular type of exercise. A pile of my rough (light blue) iolites (shown above) are very distinct and unique in feeling (iolite² is among my favorite stones).

Also some crystal configurations work better than others. For example I have a large amethyst geode which actually makes me feel sick at very close range whereas my large open-faced amethyst crystal is quite pleasant.

During this exercise occasionally one gets insights into the nature of the stones. Again, can you find one word to describe it? Maybe one needs a short phrase to describe it. One may find the feeling is illusive as one likely hasn’t seen it before, but none-the-less it is there or it comes and goes as the stones are switched. The key here is to keep studying it. Switch the stone pair back and forth to hone in on exactly on what the contrast is leads to.

If you wish to try this exercise don’t get a bunch of different types of stones. Start with just two types. For example purple fluorite and clear quartz have strong differences in effect. One doesn’t need expensive crystals. One can buy small crushed clear quartz chunks and small chunks (or tumbled) of purple fluorite. One would need at least two pounds of each placed in respective socks and secured w/ rubber bands making a firm bundle. When you’re ready for another stone type try rose quartz. It has an entirely different effect from the previous two stone types.

As far as I’m concerned most of the crystal-hype on the Internet is overblown marketing crap. Reading that stuff one thinks one gets visions into million year old histories, sees ten past lives, suddenly achieves OBEs, realizes telepathic abilities, and one even finds their dishes magically washed along with finding their car is waxed too. Those embellished promises of psychic experiences are of course important to those franchises for their sales or sales for the whole industry; best to forget all that when you do this practice. If you do read about crystals pay attention to the basics description and don’t worry about what’s a high, higher, highest vibration. Those are human points of view and marketing sales gimmicks.

As an aside, given our stressful lifestyles, I think everyone should have some good quality deep purple amythest (not faded) and pink rose quartz. If one can’t find good amethyst a very good combination is purple fluorite and rose quartz; excellent for dealing with stress.

To decompress, and to save money, one may use rough chunks in a cloth bag, then go lay down with those stones on your chest; use one to two pounds of stone. Why so much rock? One may like to really relax in 20 minutes or so and small amounts, like a couple ounces, or a few carets, will likely not get the job done; certainly not a couple carets worth of stone. Are you surprised I did not suggest some grounding stones?

Another Feel the Stones Exercise:

In the following exercise, the object is not to detect the distinct differences between stones, rather it is to feel the topology of the field emitted by the stones. This is most easily done with points and sharp edges of stone.

In the image below right, is a small grid of clear quartz points. These don’t have to be big and they don’t need to be high quality or even polished smooth. Again the important thing is the stones have points or sharp edges. We are primarily feeling field edge-effects. In this exercise one hovers one’s hand over the group. It helps if the width of the array is on the order of the width of one’s palm with fingers extended outward. The beginner may feel nothing at all, but give it time. Move the hand around slowly, it may take the beginner a couple minutes to feel something. With practice the feeling becomes more quickly apparent.

Look for the sensations to travel across the palm. As one spans the array one may detect sensations at the tips of the spanning fingers while the center point continues to generate a sensation on the palm. Or the sensation wisps across the extended fingers. This depends on the mass of the array. Two points to note:

First, when the grid is built, rather then created some uniform angular positioning between the points, place the points such that the outer point’s bases make the largest contact with the central point’s faces (see image left). With very large stones I like to let them touch if possible but there’s no rule. Experiment with different configurations.

Next, I recommend one holds their hand positioned as follows: Hold your hand before you face down at a comfortable height with the fingers extended radially. Now relax the hand and the fingers; the fingers and palm will settle into a slightly cupped manner. Then extend and descend your middle finger, out and downward, while the hand and fingers are relaxed holding position. Then lift the fingers upward slightly as the middle finger is arched, pressing down the middle knuckle. There is slightly more exertion and firmness in this extended downward arched middle finger with a lighter touch of force holding the other fingers arched back slightly. The thumb is relaxed out and downward.

In this position one feels the center of one’s palm open distinctly. This opens the Lao Gong meridian point in one’s palm. This makes the hand more sensitive and is also an exit point in Qi Gong energy emission practices. After a little practice one is able to hold this position with the hand relaxed. At that point one is able to be much more sensitive.

Here’s a different configuration that produces a lot of topology. It is hard to resolve the topology exactly but its distribution is apparent. The challenge is this case is to discern the different points based on crystal type; citrine verses clear quartz in this case.

The above are examples of small fields that fit under the palm of one hand. Next is an example of an arrangement that produces a large field, not quite the size of the diameter of a basket ball. This has a greater variety of field topology to detect. As one can see these exercises quickly get out of hand but they can be fun. As the Chinese say, when doing it is easy to over-do.

One may consider going to a crystal shop and see what one can feel there. One challenge is one is immersed in the fields of lots of crystals. It may be hard to distinguish between the crystals. In this case look for one really big point and place your hand over that; see what happens. If there is a really large amethyst geode, say 3 foot tall, stand right in front of that thing; see if you feel that. Again the initial difficulty is whether a beginner knows what to look for.

Off topic, below is a pix of my blue kyanite bar. I use this to recover from major soul-retrieval strains. I take this stone to TMI for the advanced courses in the event I, or anyone else, needs this first-aid. In the past, besides myself, a couple of people have successfully benefited from this stone’s treatment for treating their own psychic strains during a TMI course.

A large field center-piece: Farther below center is a pix of the center-piece I keep in my main living area. The assembly weighs about 27 lbs and is comprised of about half and half amethyst/rose quartz. There is a large fluorite chunk in there since it nicely augments the amethyst and rose quartz effects. The amethyst portion is comprised of a couple grades of rough amethyst chunks (provides affordable mass) with two clusters. In the right photo above the left dense rough amethyst is low grade, the others are good with the right piece as the best grade, as far as rough chunks go. The rose quartz portion in the center-piece below is several large rough chunks. I can add clear rock quartz for more radiant power but that can defeat the purpose of the center-piece.

I use this pile of rocks to maintain a tranquil soothing environment³. In so far as feeling exercises: the assembly produces a strong collection of feelings (field topology) detected out to about 3 inches. Its general field is readily detected by hands, torso, and face out to at least two feet. If I intentionally “juice” myself with too much clear quartz the assembly very quickly corrects me out to at least seven feet. Someday I’ll develop a better method for testing this.