My arthritis talisman
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!
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