by Sarah Lyn
Stone has a beautiful language. Anyone who has ever had a rock jump out at them has heard it. Pick me! Pick me! Before you know it, you have either slipped it into a pocket, or you find yourself holding it in your hand, uncertain of how long it has been there.
Deep stone sleeps but the closer to the surface it gets, the more connected it is to us and our life cycles. Some rocks just want to introduce themselves and have a conversation. Some rocks will bite and want to be left alone. And some rocks have been looking for you to take them on a quest to some unknown corner of the world they have only heard about in the whispers of the deepest bedrock (even if that’s just your front yard).
[ALWAYS respect places that ask you NOT to take their rocks.]
The Trio
Different stones I encounter have different energies to them. Each sabbat, I put together a trio of stones to focus on for the following six weeks. It’s divination to me. I reach out into the web and see where we are in the world, creating a recipe of stone allies, and then I send that energy back out into the web.
I don’t usually use the same grouping of stones every year, but a couple of times I have. I will work with the stones I choose in my night meditations until the next sabbat, sometimes individually and sometimes as a group.
This sabbat is a little different. I am about to embark on a new adventure and the fires in Canada have thickened the haze in my town so much that the sky is a different color and the sun is hard to find. The earth is burning in the north, as it usually is, but this fire is bad and my heart is hurting for the loss of wildlife. I’m a burn survivor and being able to taste the fire in the air has been difficult.
For me, summer solstice has always been about action and courage and stepping into the world as it wilds up around us. The first fruits are readying themselves for us. Flowers are bursting into bloom. And so should we.
I’m going on an epic quest that will help me in my career and I assembled three stones that speak to that kind of invoking, as well as remembering that sun when it is not visible.
Where do you stand most comfortably in yourself? In the world?
My stones for Summer Solstice are: Sunstone, Amber, and Tiger’s Eye.
The first stone I picked, Sunstone, is a favorite of mine. I do tend to be attracted to the Feldspars. Sunstone falls in that family group. It has a gold-orange metallic sheen to it and pokes my inner magpie to action. I do like to pair it with rainbow moonstone, connecting the two energies. But sunstone is a stimulant and it works with your natural rising kundalini energy to lift your spirits. The energy of this stone strengthens healing work.
Yes, you can, sunstone says.
I’ve used Amber before, and I chose it this time because of what it is and where it forms, thinking about the trees on fire across Canada. It’s a strong witch talisman, made of fossilized tree sap. It increases the potency of spellwork and I use it to represent the fire of the sun, shining down through the haze.
(Know what you purchase if you buy it. Raw amber is expensive, but be wary of the large, clear amber pieces that vendors will try to snow you on. It’s still amber. It is. But it’s been melted done and reconstituted. I have some pieces, but I knew what I was getting.)
Hold on. We got this, amber hums.
The third stone is a favorite of mine, Tiger’s Eye. It is brown and yellow-tan with fibrous banding that causes golden flashes that is just gorgeous. It is my courage stone and it helps me keep my footing on the world. It’s about confidence and focus and will help see the sun when it is obscured in the sky by frightening things.
You are worth it, tiger’s eye says.
Together these stones become a beacon of energy ready to move. This combo answers the call to action.
For Advanced Work
I would use Pyrite, also known as Fool’s Gold. It comes in natural globules and cube form, and everything in between. It’s got a good base of life-force energy to it and it’s a good additive to healing work. It channels and focuses scattered energy. But it represents the Sun energy and is a good source of abundance, especially in creative endeavors.
[Notes from Sarah Lyn: I never purchase rocks from people who do not know where they are sourced from. It’s important to know where your rocks come from so you can make informed decisions about where to put your money. For those of us buying tumbled stones at rock shows, we’re picking up the chips of what has already been cut from the earth, we are not part of the demand that influences the mining world. But know where your stones come from.]
All photos © Sarah Lyn