From Chapter 4 Choosing
Your Friends: Form and Color

It is time to begin to anchor on the physical plane the partnership we put into place with crystals in the channel opening exercise in the last chapter, to move into action!

As this section’s title suggests, sometimes we choose crystals, but at other times it would appear that they choose us! A perfect example of that would be the strong reaction I described to the chlorite phantom crystal I found in my hands “accidentally” (literally!) at the Kona shop. When we have a Soul contract with a particular crystal, the Universe sets things in motion that will ensure the “meeting”: of course, we still have the free will to accept the crystal’s invitation or not!

For a person who is strongly intuitive, the question may not seem to be a question at all. As with other “choices” that seem more like a natural flow, obvious next steps, when we are aligned with our highest good and the channel is open, we are more likely to step into alliance with crystals that are best for our needs at that time!

That is why the exercise in chapter 3 is key. It places us clearly in alignment with our highest available wisdom: grounded, with our feet firmly planted on the ground, but also in alignment with our Soul’s eternal gifts and guidance.

When we are aligned, we ourselves become the experts for our path. Our Soul, with Divine assistance, embedded the Truth of our path and being within us before we were born. When we access that Truth, no one----not even the amazing Dalai Lama himself----has more wisdom regarding our path and choices than we ourselves do!

This is why when crystals choose us, when we are aligned, things happen so easily. Our choice is the obvious YES!

On the other hand, when it is our turn to do the choosing, the easiest way to effect choices will be to ensure that we are aligned and clear in our intention before we begin our search for the appropriate crystal allies.

Reading other people’s books (even this one) only takes us so far, as the descriptions and suggestions in another person’s book stem from their own experience with crystals. But we are not the same, and sometimes it is what makes us unique that makes the difference between the efficacy of one stone or another.

Our bodies, our “instruments,” are unique, so just as we would never tune a piano the way a guitar is tuned, we should not imagine that someone else’s reaction to a particular crystal will be a good predictor of how we will react. The energetic of the interaction will not----cannot----be the same.

Laws of Energy Governing Crystal Interactions
When you begin to work with crystals, it is important to note two laws of energy that apply to all energetic interactions, including your work with crystals:

1. Energy Seeks Equilibrium
This law explains why sometimes we can be pulled down in energy by another person, or by a place or a thing. Conversely, it also explains why sometimes we can also be uplifted by a person, place, or thing. And it explains why we are attracted to certain people, and to certain crystals. Everything (not just everyone, but everything) has an energetic field that holds the physical aspect. Simply put, when our energetic fields play well together (are in sync, or equilibrium), attraction is triggered. Energy seeks equilibrium and finds it through that attraction. But what attracts me won’t necessarily attract you, right?

EXAMPLE: John and Mary, a happily married couple, are out for a walk when they meet their neighbor, Bob. The three chat for a while and then continue on their separate ways. As they walk away, Mary says, “Bob is great, isn’t he?” John replies, “Are you kidding? That guy is a jerk!”

One might assume that since Mary and John are happily married, they should have a similar reaction to the third party, Bob. But since humans are volatile, the Bob that Mary met and the Bob with whom John interacted may not even be similar. Their energies do not interact in the same way.

Two people will never have the same exact reaction to a third person because of this. How many times does Life hear us saying something similar like, “You don’t like him/her? I think he/she is great!” From our position, our opinion is Truth, but we often fail to realize that it is not the Truth but our Truth. That’s why when two people differ on an opinion of a third party, it is rarely a question of who is right and who is wrong, but rather, a question of who is in sync with the frequency of that person, and who is not.

Our interactions with crystals are the same! Of course, since crystals are less changeable than human beings, we may come into agreement with like--minded people as to the efficacy of certain crystals as partners for a particular objective. Their energetic fields are not as volatile, and that in itself has a stabilizing effect on most of us, even if we are unaware of it.

2. Where Our Attention Goes, So Follows Our Energy
The second law of energy will also impact our work here, but more in the section on protocols. Still it bears mentioning here: attention directs energy. If we focus our attention on a person or a thing, we impact that person or thing. (Just think: have you never felt someone’s eyes on you?) We will use this law when we work with crystals to attract qualities we value more and more into our Life.

Choose Your Friends: Crystal Form
Now that we recognize the importance of making our own choices to find crystal allies that are in resonance with our personal energetic field, let’s begin to explore what the choices we have before us as we do that.

When we look for crystals, it is important to recognize that there are many different forms that may or may not appeal to us. In crystal work, size is important, sometimes! Additionally, crystals may come in various forms: rolled, natural, geodes, sculpted, with inclusions; we can even work with images of crystals!

Size Matters, Sometimes!
Perhaps the easiest of choices to make with regard to our crystal search is size. While a massive geode may feel more powerful than a small, rolled crystal, the latter is portable and can accompany us all day, so each really has its advantages.

As such, the first thing to decide is what size is appropriate for the work intended. How are we planning to use the crystal? Based on my experience, here are some suggestions.

Geodes of the massive and heavy order are not mobile, but they are great as mainstays for a large room, perhaps in support of healing in the space.

EXAMPLE: For some 18 months, I was courting two amethyst geodes----two halves of a massive rock----at a great Paris crystal retailer/wholesaler, Minerales do Brasil. I would go visit them every other week or so, and each time stand in front of them until I was heady with their energy, but still could not swallow the price tag, especially given that they were going to go into the living room of my apartment. After all, I reasoned, logically, who puts geodes in their living room?

Well, I guess I do, because after a while, apparently, I was ready. I woke up one Saturday morning with the clarity that if the stones were still there, they were mine. I went, and sure enough, they were waiting for me! I bought the pair and cabbed it back to my apartment, with help carrying them into the elevator. (If there had been no elevator, I could not have purchased them; they are that heavy!) Since that time, the two geodes, halves of the same enormous rock, have become my teachers. Pierre and Sophie (their names----one is definitely a feminine energy, and the other, masculine) have since aided in teaching and supporting many of my students along their spiritual path. How did that happen? Before I began teaching about working with crystals, one day I was vacuuming and heard them say, “So when do we get started?” At that moment, I knew they were suggesting I start teaching about crystals with their help. I began soon thereafter.

So, large--sized crystals have some benefits that perhaps small ones do not, but there are few living rooms for which geodes (which have a Life of their own) are suitable.

That leads us to other sizes, from very small to medium--sized. How to choose?

In choosing size, insofar as possible, allow yourself to simply choose the stone that appeals to you (unless a stone that doesn’t appeal to you, such as my example with the chlorite phantom crystal, chooses you!).

If you are anchored and connected with the intention of finding the right stone for you, you will be attracted to the ally that will be most effective. Never mind when your head tried to tell you (perhaps) that you are “only” picking a stone because it is pretty or shiny, and so on. There is no “only” about it!

What you find attractive is what is in sync with your energetic field as it is in that moment (which is why it is important to do the preparatory exercise just beforehand). Allow yourself to pick the stone that makes your Heart skip. If you will, let your inner child pick the crystal ally that is right for you. That child essence is the part of us most closely tied in to our Soul!

We may also lead with size; that is, choose crystals by their size first and their attractiveness second. This is desirable in two situations: when price is a factor and when the work we plan to do dictates size.

Price
Of course, sometimes price can play a role in our choice, and our choice is made for us. The good news in this case is that even small crystals can have a very powerful impact on us, which we will feel more and more clearly as we continue to open our channel and work with them.

Still, the rarer a stone is, the pricier they are. In the case of extremely expensive stones, we can either do what I did with Pierre and Sophie----visit them at a shop or museum----or we can use images of a stone, such as a picture (like those you find in this book) or a mental image we keep close to us to tap into when the work requires it.

Just as it is easy to imagine and thus connect to a loved one (which is why sometimes someone we have been thinking of a lot will call us “out of the blue,” literally!), we can also connect to the energy of a crystal by imagining or focusing our attention on it; the old “where our attention goes, so goes our energy.” (I often connect with Pierre and Sophie in this way, even when I am far from Paris, travelling.)

Choose the Size that Fits the Work
1. If we want a crystal we can keep with us, such as in a pocket, all day, it makes sense to use a small, round one.
2. If we want a crystal to fit into our wallet, or to lie flat on a person’s supine body, we may opt for a flat one.
3. If we want a crystal that will catch our eye, for our desk or night table, a somewhat larger size is in order.
4. If we want to place a crystal under our pillow, it is best to again turn to smaller sizes, and important to note that sometimes crystals move when we do, in the night. This is especially true if you have someone in bed with you. And especially especially true if that someone is not into crystals.