Weaving A Gem Of A Life » Healing Talismans

Easing the Knees

Peg Cherre — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:01:57 +0000

My arthritis talisman

Here’s the talisman I made for myself to help ease the chronic aches in my knees.

You can guess that the metal is copper, which has long been recognized as a healing agent for arthritis. I punched the little tab with the word SHANTI, which means peace, hoping that it would bring some peace to my knees. I added the copper chain for two reasons – not only would it provide more of the healing copper, it would give me more options for use of the talisman as a whole. Although I usually carry it in my pocket, if I’m wearing a skirt without pockets, I can easily pin it to my bra by the chain. I actually kind of like this option, as it makes little noises when I move a lot. This gentle sound reminds me that it’s there and makes me smile. The talisman never jangles in my pocket.

I purposely made the entire healing talisman small and lightweight. Knowing that I intended to carry it in my pocket, I wanted something that wouldn’t wear out the fabric quickly, and that wouldn’t be obvious to others that I was carrying it. Now that I’ve been using it for a week, I might rather that it was a bit larger and reminded me that it was there. If this feeling continues for a few weeks, I’ll modify it.

The healing gemstones I used in this in this talisman include carnelian, bloodstone, garnet, mother of pearl, and rubies. Yep, really rubies. I consider myself fortunate to have some sweet little faceted rubies left over from making a piece of custom jewelry for one of my customers a few years ago.

After deciding on the copper, the first gemstone I chose was carnelian. And I knew that I wanted to use more carnelian than any of the other healing gemstones I’d use. Why? Carnelian is a strong gemstone to use for arthritis. If you look closely at the picture, you might notice that the largest piece of carnelian is a bit oddly-shaped, not an absolute oblong. I chose this stone specifically for my talisman. Not only did I like its less-than-perfect shape, my thinking was, and is, that the more “raw” the gemstone, the less it has been “worked” by machines to form it, the closer it is to its natural state and the more healing power it contains. I don’t really know this to be true, but this particular stone spoke to me, so I’m going with it. There’s another small carnelian rondelle on the smallest dangle of the talisman.

Above the carnelian oblong is a small garnet rondelle. Garnet is a gemstone that helps heal inflammation, and arthritis is a chronic form of inflammation. Again, I purposely chose an oddly-shaped stone.

Highest on that dangle is a mother of pearl star. Like carnelian, mother of pearl is recognized as an aid to heal arthritis. Now you might think that I showed quite the contradiction, purposely choosing a less-than-perfect carnelian and garnet, and then picking a highly-worked star for my mother of pearl component. This little off-white star encourages me to shoot for the stars in my healing, to work toward complete cessation of pain and inflammation. It also just makes me smile, and smiling is always a good thing.

The second dangle has two of those lovely little faceted rubies bordering a bloodstone lentil. Rubies are good gemstones for healing arthritis, and bloodstone is good for inflammation.

Finally, the shortest component has the carnelian rondelle I mentioned before and another garnet.

I’ve only been carrying the talisman for about a week, and I have been successful at remembering to transfer it from pocket to pocket each day. Although I’ve been thinking about it, I haven’t yet worn it to bed.

So have I noticed a difference? I can’t say I’ve noticed that my knees hurt less, but I can tell you for sure that when I hear or feel the talisman it makes me smile and feel better mentally. And feeling better mentally is an important part of physical healing. Besides, talismans aren’t magic bullets; it takes time for the gemstones to impart their healing powers.

I will periodically let you know how my knees are doing, but I’m heading outside now to work in my garden!

And the winner is…

Peg Cherre — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:19:06 +0000

…Jane, of Canastota, NY. Jane’s entry in April’s contest to win a free gemstone talisman earned the most points – 327! The moss agate talisman should arriver at her door within a few days.

I admit it, I learned a lot with this contest, mostly about what NOT to do again. I promise, the next contest, which will be announced soon, will be MUCH easier, and the deadline for submission MUCH closer to the contest announcement.

So watch my blog for the next contest. YOU could win next time!

Free Healing Gemstone Talisman Contest

Peg Cherre — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:12:33 +0000

Moss Agate Talisman

As promised, this month I’m holding a contest. If you win, you’ll get a free healing gemstone talisman – totally free. I’ll pay for regular USPS shipping, too. In honor of spring, this month’s free talisman will be moss agate – a very earthy stone. I’ll post about the healing properties of this gemstone later in the month.

So here’s the contest. Take the two-word phrase “healing gemstone” and rearrange the letters as many ways as you can. How many words can you make out of these letters? Here are the rules:
–All words must be standard English words. (If in doubt, I’ll check them in my old American Heritage Dictionary.)
–No proper nouns or otherwise capitalized words.
–All words must be at least 3 letters long.
–Only one entry per person during the month.
–All entries must be received by noon (EDT) on Thursday, April 30, 2009.
–Please use Free Gemstone Contest in the subject line of your email.
–Please include your first name and location (city/state/country) with your submission.

The winner will be the person with the most points. How will you earn points?
–One point for every legitimate word formed.
–One EXTRA point for every word formed that’s related to gems. So, for instance, let’s say that you could make the word “quartz” out of the rearranged letters. That would earn you TWO points (one for the word, and a second for the fact that it’s gemstone related).

It obviously wouldn’t work to post your answer as a Comment, ‘cuz then everyone else would be able to see them. So instead, send me an email with your answer. If, for some reason, the link doesn’t work for you, leave me a note in the Comments and I’ll work with you to get your submission in. I’ll respond via email and let you know I got your entry, so depending on how high your spam level is set, you may want to check your junk mail to see my response. And you’ll want to get an email from me, because I’ll send a second email letting you know that you won, and will post the winner’s first name and location.

If you have any questions about the contest, please post them in comments. I’ll post responses there so everyone can learn from our dialogue.

GOOD LUCK!

Choosing Your Talisman

Peg Cherre — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:22:41 +0000

So you’ve decided you’d like a healing gemstone talisman. How do you select one that’s right for you? As with most things in life, you have an array of choices.

First we’ll assume that you don’t have any particular problem, you’d just like a nice gemstone to wear or carry with you. In this case, I think the best thing to do is go shopping. Go to a gem show or bead store where sell individual stones (perhaps tumbled vs. smooth cut or faceted) and walk around. Look at lots of different gems, touch them with your fingertips, enclose them in the palm of your hand. Carry some different ones into the nearest window with natural lighting and see what happens. Now put all those stones back, and wander around the show (or store) some more. Do the same thing with other stones.

Notice which gemstones are calling to you, which ones you keep returning to. Subconsciously, you are choosing the stones or they are choosing you. Pick out one or two, get their names, take them home and make them yours. Carry them around in your pocket just as you bought them, or string or wire-wrap them if you prefer. Then, if you want, do some research on the healing properties of the stones you’ve chosen. (You can get a brief overview of the properties many gemstones here.) I’m betting that you’ll find that the stones you picked have a particular meaning to some part of your life or your body.

Now let’s assume you have a particular problem that you’re trying to resolve, say arthritis. You can do your own research and find gemstones that are heal arthritis, reduce inflammation, minimize pain, and are good for knees (or you afflicted joints). Once you’ve decided on the stones you want, you can then shop for those particular stones, along with the wire, head pins, findings, and spacers you need, subsequently organizing them into the pleasing and functional bracelet, necklace, earrings, keychain, or other adornment that you desire. There is definitely something to be said for doing all that work yourself; your talisman will be even more meaningful to you.

Amber Talisman

If you’re not up for all of that, you can take a much simpler route — talk to me (or someone else knowledgeable) and let me do the work for you. I’ll get information from you and then do all the research. I’ll gather the appropriate stones, spacers, and findings, and design a piece for your approval. Once we’ve agreed, I’ll finalize the talisman and send it off to you, posthaste.

Regardless of what method you use to select a talisman, it will ultimately be just for you. Enjoy and be comforted by it.

Talisman Tales

Peg Cherre — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:06:45 +0000

After that first talisman for little Ben, I was inspired to make talismans for family and friends who were having particular problems. Let me share just a few of them with you here.

garnet, amethyst, and rose quartz

I made an easy-to-wear stretchy bracelet of amethyst, garnet, and rose quartz for an anxious new mother and her colicky baby. I chose amethyst for its soothing and calming properties, and to encourage positive energy. Garnets were included to promote warmth, wisdom, and understanding. Garnets also protect and calm newborns. Rose quartz also providing calming and cooling benefits. In addition, it helps to remove negativity, emphasize both self-love and mother-love, and promote healing and emotional balance. Mama was thrilled to receive this gift. Did it calm, soothe, and protect? I can’t say for sure, but I do know it helped her to remember that others cared about her and were willing to help in whatever ways we could.

Red & Magic

A woman I know does amazing healing work with animals, using homeopathy, reiki, Chinese medicine, and more. She has helped my animals immensely, pulling them through some rough times. While she’s extremely skilled and certainly doesn’t need my help, I figured I’d just add to her healing tools, and made a simple wrap bracelet of amethyst, sodalite, and green aventurine. Here’s why I chose those three.

Amethyst is sometimes called the healer’s stone, or the stone of spirituality and contentment. It enhances your creative energy and healing power by assisting the mind’s surrender to higher spiritual energies. Amethyst opens you up to the cosmos, bringing in all the positive energy around you, balancing and aligning the intellectual, emotional, and physical energies.

Sodalite is a shaman’s stone. It is beneficial in healing work by providing activation of the third eye, and provides direction of purpose and lightness of heart.

Green aventurine was used in shamanic medicine wheel work to aid spirit guides in connecting to the green, healing heart light.

Next time I’ll talk about how you can choose a talisman.