In the late 1980s, I helped bring out the knowledge of using crystals in sphere form. My book Gifts of the Gemstone Guardians, coauthored with my first husband, not only introduced spherical gems as healing tools, but also introduced the mystical beings who are responsible for the gemstones’ welfare.
These beings are called the gemstone guardians. They are the keepers of information about the gemstones’ uses, healing properties, and benefits. Their leader is the Guardian of Amethyst, who heads their circle and serves as spokesperson. He played a key role in allowing me to meet the gemstone guardians back in the 1980s and learn what they had to say.
I always knew I might eventually learn enough information to fill an entire book about each gemstone. Since I returned to the work in 2006, I’ve had a keen interest in what this information might be. In 2015, I began collecting it in earnest, with new inner-world interviews with the gemstone guardians.
This new information forms the basis for the Amethyst Masterclass and others like it.
During these later interviews, I learned important information about the gems, which I believe will help me fulfill my dream of seeing them become as popular as herbs as alternative healing tools. In order for gemstones to take that place, their essential therapeutic nature must be understood.
In herbs, this essential nature has been well studied. Herbs have certain properties, such as their ability to be drying, moistening, warming, or cooling. They have effective qualities that explain what exactly they do for the body and how they work. They also have tropism, which refers to where their therapeutic action has its greatest affinity—in other words, where they tend to work. And they have an action, which explains the direction in which they tend to act on the body.
Gemstones also have properties, effective qualities, tropism, and actions. In addition, they have identifying therapeutic quality parameters, symbiotic partners, and specific ways to be applied. Gemstones also have an esoteric meaning and, when intuitively chosen by the body, can paint a portrait of what tendencies are being experienced by that person.
Properties
Like herbs, gemstones have four properties: cooling, warming, drying, and moistening. These can refer to effects on body temperature or temperature sensation. More importantly, they metaphorically describe a gemstone’s energetic interaction with the body. Gems that have a cooling nature can be used for conditions associated with heat (yang conditions); gems that are warming are best suited for conditions associated with cold (yin conditions).
Effective Qualities
Books on crystals are notorious for conflicting descriptions of crystals’ benefits. At first, I scoffed at the inconsistencies. Now, after greater study, I understand them.
It is natural that each person who experiences a crystal may have a unique experience. This does not mean that the underlying effective qualities of that crystal change or are different for each person. Holding an ice cube may hurt one person but refresh another. To say an ice cube hurts and refreshes may sound contradictory. The underlying truth is that an ice cube is cold. Applied to a person who always feels cold, it will hurt. Applied to the person working outside in 90-degree weather, it will refresh.
My purpose is to describe five of the most significant effective qualities of gemstones. Effective qualities define, shape, and describe how and why a gemstone works. They can help to explain all the varying benefits different people may ascribe to a gemstone.
Tropism
The therapeutic focus of herbs is typically limited to physical anatomy, while a study of Chinese herbs necessarily includes the meridians they target.
In Gemstone Therapy, gemstones are known to have an affinity with certain physical organs and systems, as well as non-physical anatomy such as chakras and layers of the aura. In addition, gemstone tropism includes levels of manifestation: atomic, molecular, cellular, organ, system, whole body (including physical, emotional, memory, mind, and intuition), and whole being.
Actions
Herbs have actions described as lifting, lowering, floating, and sinking. These refer to the upward, downward, outward, or inward directions in which they tend to act on the body.
Gemstones have similar effects. Gems that have a tendency to move energy up the body have a lifting action. Gemstones that tend to move energy down are lowering. When gemstones bring energies from the inside to the surface of the body, they are considered to be floating. They have a sinking action when they send energy from the surface to deep inside the body.
Amethyst Masterclass
The Amethyst Masterclass takes a comprehensive look at this popular gemstone. You’ll learn its properties, effective qualities, tropism, and action. In addition, you’ll learn how to identify Amethyst, its therapeutic quality parameters, how to care for it, and simple ways to use it for self-therapy and in a healing arts practice. I also lead everyone in a creative visualization to help get in touch with Amethyst energy.