“A rock is a rock is a rock,” said no one. Well, except me – kinda.
I’ve never given rocks much attention. But it would be fair to say that historically, I have always perceived rocks as… just rocks. Inanimate. Inactive. Inert.
Y’know those stores that have rocks in their windows – big and small, craggy and smooth, silver and pink? I have often wondered: How does this store even survive? Who the heck buys rocks?!
The psychedelic community is raising my consciousness not only about the power of plants, but also about the power of rocks. Collecting, displaying, holding, wearing, gifting, and gushing about rocks, stones, minerals, geodes, crystals and gems is a big thing. A really big thing.
There are thousands of these…things. Walk into any of those stores and you’ll see a display of hundreds. And of course, there are rocks famous for transformational moments, like sacred ones on pilgrimage or majestic formations in natural landscapes.
If you need a total brain transplant about the animate, sentient power of stones – like I did – check out this podcast called:.
Inanimate Objects Aren’t Inanimate (Or Objects)
I hope you experience it as thoughtful and poetic, as I did.
And what follows below is my personal saga about only one of the thousands of stones: Selenite.
This single stone has been knocking on my door and begging me – lol, note how I am already anthropomorphizing a stone! – to elevate my consciousness about nature.
Episode 1:
I’m on a zoom call with my fellow Shamanistas, a group of soulful women who journey together in a tight sisterhood of sorts. Our charismatic facilitator is mixing a deck of crystal insight cards. It is my turn for her to pick my card that reveals my personal rock. [Music that conveys anticipation playing.]
She squeals excitedly as she holds up my marbled-green card in front of her computer camera: Selenite! It’s a must for your apartment. You can buy a bundle on Amazon. Hang it over all your doors. It will cleanse and purify the energies in your home.
Newbie Note: Selenite, or hydrated calcium sulfate, is crystallized form of gypsum. Healing properties: Selenite is a calming stone that is great for meditation. It instills deep peace and clears confusion. It is a stabilizer and cleanser. Selenite creates a protective barrier around the house.
I’m trying really really really hard to have an open mind. I smile sweetly. I don’t roll my eyes. But…
1. I don’t like chachkas in my apartment. I’m a minimalist.
2. My kids would argue I keep my apartment so obsessively clean that it can’t possibly need more cleansing.
Episode 2:
It’s Mother’s Day. I’m going to my son’s new apartment in Brooklyn for a celebration. Before ringing the buzzer, I walk his block, hoping to spot a wine store. It would be nice to bring a bottle. No luck. But, there is…one of those rock stores!
I enter the narrow shop. It features a long table with bowls and more bowls of multi-sized, shaped, and colored chunks on display. The enthusiastic owner asks me what I’m looking for. I name the only one I can name: Selenite, please.
I purchase a slightly translucent, six-inch bar of Selenite. It has a pearly luster on its exterior.
Episode 3:
I hit my son’s buzzer. I climb the hallway stairs and enter with my little gift, now wrapped in pink tissue paper, a thin black ribbon at its center.
It’s Selenite, I explain. Good for the spirit in your new apartment. He bursts out laughing, and I soon understand why.
He presents me with my Mother’s Day present. Resting softly in a gift bag, wrapped in yellow tissue paper is a polished little bowl of…Selenite. It’s actually beautiful. And, it feel so good to hold.
🫢 (= I’m speechless.)
Episode 4:
It’s the next day, the Monday after Mother’s Day, 7:35 AM.
You’re not going to believe this, my son texts me. I call immediately.
My son is running in the park and sees a bag on a park bench. There’s a note taped to the bag that says – TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT. IT’S FREE.
He peeks into the bag with interest, and his hand follows. He pulls out…(hit the buzzer now!)… another bar of…Selenite.
Episode 5:
The Selenite bowl has a permanent home on the console in my apartment’s entryway. It’s a perfectly-sized vessel for the gym key I share with my daughter. The bowl is lovely to look at. But frankly, it has yet to help me with any scrubbing or cleansing of my apartment.
As part of my expand-my-brain mission, I’m in a zoom session with a famous spiritual leader in Arizona to assess my chakras and to heal any fissures in my soul. (I know how this sounds – this is a first for me, too!) As she begins her work to call in my “spirit guides,” she pauses to say: I wish you had a piece of Selenite to hold during this.
Wait! I do!
Episode 6:
Stay tuned for Episode Six of my Selenite Saga, which has not yet happened. It will.
Dear Reader:
If you have even an ounce of insight into my Selenite saga or personal experience with stones, I desperately need you to share!
