Last October 31, 2011, I attended a Buffalo Sweat (winter sweat lodge) with my Blackfoot medicine man and Bear Spirit medicine lodge apprentices. After the sweat, the medicine man announced that the 2012 vision quest was about to begin if anyone was interested in participating. I volunteered for it and was told the one in charge would be contacting me soon after I emailed him to be a part of it. That sounded easy, but what does that have to do with “too fast”? I am not a computer person. Yes, occasionally I am on it and surf, though I fall more than I ride the surf. It took me two weeks, due to limited access to a computer (the library), to get an email to go out and not bounce back. Since then Jimmy, the facilitator for the vision quest, has requested a phone conversation. In the last six weeks we have failed to connect either by email or phone. Enter Grump Buffalo who says “This is ridiculous, I do not have the time for this. It’s so aggravating. I should just drop out.” Grandfather Buffalo comes along. So now I have Grandfather and Grumpy Buffalo on each shoulder. Remember the picture of the Angel at one ear and the Devil at the other?

The question was “When life moves too fast and you are overwhelmed, what do you do?” Here is my suggestion. Step back from the situation presenting itself. Ground, breathe, and center. Look at the complete situation as it is presented to you. What are your options? How can you slow down enough to navigate the crisis you perceive? It is an obstacle only if you refuse to change? Find a way to move forward. Slowly make the gradual shifts necessary to navigate the internet/email crisis. You will find it becoming easier and your comfort zone now encompasses that situation. The ‘All Clear’ is given and life resumes to normal.

Guess what! I just heard the alarm, my comfort zone is being pushed again. I now have an email address with Crystal Life by which I can personally answer all of your questions. Stay tuned while I navigate the fast flowing river. I see rapids ahead. We only become who we are when we open to life’s lessons, creating our own reality, good or bad. There is a saying “When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade”.

Let’s look at two of the neglected crystals and their properties.

The Empathic Crystal

This crystal comes to you perhaps severely damaged. It may be chipped, gouged, broken their points chipped or missing totally. You will be thankful to have one on the day you wake up perhaps depressed or feel unloved by family or a friend. When you have that feeling because your son or daughter has not called you or stopped by for some time, pick it up. What do you feel or hear? It says to you “I know how you feel, look at me, see how I have been treated. Guess what, I am still here. Life has treated me badly, but let me help you. Let me help to rescue you. Let me be your blankey”. They will clear the stress, in times of change they will help with transitions. Help with empathy towards others without the need to take on their pain. They will teach you to help others as well as yourself.

The Warrior Crystal

This crystal is related to the Empathic Crystal. In fact they may be one and the same. If you put the two side by side they will have the same or similar impurities, breaks, fractures, or broken tips. You can ask yourself, “Do I need empathy today, or do I need the warrior?” The Warrior says “I have been through a lot of battles. I was treated disrespectfully and abused many times. But look, you are holding me in your hand. I am still here. Let me help you with your wounds to help them heal. Stand up straight, be proud of who you are. You have been through the school of hard knocks and you are still here. Stand up and fight. Be strong physically and mentally”.

These two have much to offer you. Do not neglect them. Oh, and have that perfect crystal too.

We are moving into an era in which we are attempting to figure out precisely how energy works. Scientists in all disciplines, metaphysicians, religious figures are all exploring the intricacies of subtle energy. Whether it is a spiritual scientist tracking the light fields that become matter, or a scientist studying the principles of quantum physics – all are discovering that there are certain principles of energy that apply to these subtle situations, that can be replicated, and quantified.

 Dowsers – those folks who use pendulums, rods or their body to locate information – have evolved certain principles that permit them to get accurate answers. A lot of these principles apply to understanding when faith works, and how.

The foremost principles are: be detached, invoke the protection of the light/source of all, if you work with guides invoke their presence, be thorough, specify exactly what it is you are seeking.

Let’s say they are downsizing at your place of work. You pray you don’t get fired, as you have a lot of bills to pay and a family to support. But you do get fired. And your faith takes an immediate downward spiral; your prayers were not answered.

Or – you THINK your prayers are not answered. You forgot how you disliked the job, really wanted to do something else with your life and feel you are trapped. You prayed for help with your life.

Or – when you were in spirit, before you were born, you discussed with your inner family that in order to be an expert in some aspect of spirit, you required experience in an area you really did not care to explore in previous incarnations (say attention to detail such as required on a processing line in a factory), and agreed to learn that in this life, with the understanding that once that lesson was learned, you would move on.

Or – your spirit wanted to understand how energy is transmitted through matter, but when you incarnated, you forgot about that interest except when it came time for a job, you became a telephone line man, physically working with lines of energy but gradually waking up to that fact that you wanted to know more…

There are so many scenarios that occur in all our lives here on earth in which we are participating as part of a universal plan of maturing energy. When something happens in our lives that appears catastrophic, it’s time to pull back into our personal center and focus on the lessons to be learned.

When we start, it’s good to call on help from the light forces of the universe, however you define them – Jesus, Buddha, Universal Light, the angels. Each of these forms is a bona fide spirit energy that prevails in consciousness, and who can assist you.

At first you may feel like you are flailing about, asking for help everywhere. Gradually, you must focus on the energy that is coming forward to assist. Christians know this, assigning qualities to various saints such as Christopher for assisting travelers; Hindus know this assigning these qualities to various gods such as Ganesh for good luck at work. This energy that you are calling towards you has specific qualities and functions. Sit with it as it strengthens, and learn from it. The energy will give you information, such as, “Yes, you have lost your job. Good. It is time for you to move on and learn about …..” On your part, you need to listen and move forward to actually learn …..

That is, the energies can help you and provide you with information about the way forward. But you must do your part as well. You need to learn to ask sincerely, from the heart, and then LISTEN or FEEL for the answer; not impose the answer you want on the situation. We have free will: we can choose to override the subtle answers from spirit with our own thought forms, but then we are not certain about the results – we impose what we feel we should have instead of what the universe in its wisdom has laid out before us. We think the result, but that may not be the result in actuality. However, when we work with our guides or spirit, and align with the energies, then we can affect the result from inside the flow, which is more effective than trying to push the strong energies from the outside.

Lastly, sometimes prayer will perform miracles: you can pray for a recovery from an illness, for example, and recover. This occurs when you move into solid alignment with the universal forces, and someone or something helps you to lock into good alignment. The person praying has actually transformed their own consciousness in some way, so that they can align. This occurs when the lessons have been learned and processed. It appears to be a “miracle” but these miracles also follow cosmic laws of energy and two people with exactly the same seeming outer circumstances may experience two different outcomes, depending upon their own responses to the situation, and their own evolutionary needs.

So when looking at the quality of “faith,” this can become an amazing experience of learning how the universe actually functions, in a spiritually scientific manner.

We’d love to hear your experiences; at some time in the future I will share mine, in which a brush with death caused my own energetic transformation.

I would like then to introduce a few, as well as those I am familiar with or have been introduced to.

1. Reiki is a healing modality to which the healer is initiated into. Its purpose is to bring life force into the recipient for balance and harmony, thus healing the body on many levels.

2. Matrix Energetics is a healing system based on Quantum Physics that teaches wave form patterns. The idea being to break down the present or weakened wave form replacing it with a higher vibration.

3. Healing Touch uses life force energy working with the Chakra system to bring about balance and harmony.

4. Quantum Touch is based on the healer raising their vibration to a higher level than the client’s frequency level. By doing this, he or she is able to entrain the affected area to a balanced healing.

5. Animal Communication is based on the fact that animals have a consciousness level that one can connect into. Many Moms and Dads are assisted by this communication to bring about healing and stronger relationships.

6. Crystal Therapy uses resonant frequencies of the crystal/gemstone to bring about a balanced harmony within the body.

All of these and many others work well with animals.

If you have taken crystal classes you are told one of two ways. The first is to set the crystal or gemstone in a bowl of sea salt for several hours or overnight. The second is to put 1/4 tsp. of sea salt in water and to let the stones sit in the solution for several hours or overnight. You may use Quartz clusters, Selenite, or Kyanite to clear your stones as well. You may place your crystals or gemstones in brown rice or bury them in the Earth. I frequently use a lit sage bundle or incense stick to clear my stones.

It has been part of my responsibility to clear the store at the end of the day when I am working. That in itself is a different technique of clearing energies typical of a house clearing. When I do this I am generally sweeping over the shelves holding the stones. In this way I am clearing any energies that the stones have picked up during the day.

We have recently been working with the First People, those who were here before Humans (refer to Atala’s blog for more information on them). I have not had to clear the store for some time and as a result was saying how much I missed it. So the suggestion was to connect to the First People and ask if they would show me how they did it. Here is the process.

One needs to expand their Merkaba Field, connect into the heart energy and allow one’s field to fill with that heart energy. What one releases then is unconditional love which is allowed to permeate and flow outward embracing the crystal/gemstones to clear them. There is no sense of “There is negativity here” or “This energy is nasty.” It is a process of simply loving the stones into a harmonic balance. White and Dark light are used in the clearing.

Again, there are many ways to clear stones. This is the way the First People do it.

When one looks at the teachings of the elders of the Native American Tradition, one will see that the Native American tradition is closely attuned to nature. This tradition teaches us to read all the signs given. Elders may for instance smell, breathe, feel, or see signs in the air that will inform them of the weather or other disturbances. There is a great respect for nature, animals, vegetables, and minerals. They will say “All my relations” when they speak to them in prayer or other ways.

The Native Americans are a people of stories, though now they are a part of the educational system and are educators and businessmen. They have taught within their culture through story telling. If we listened in and an elder came to the end of his story, we may well ask him “What is the meaning, what was the purpose in the telling?” He would simply say “what did you get out of it, what did it mean to you?” It would be for you to understand its meaning. The answer would be different for everyone.

What is Native American Tradition? It is respect for all things (people and other). We are all one. It is humility, perseverance, joy, happiness, and sadness. It is a place we all can learn from.

The energy that radiates from the crystal, whether point or cluster, resonates on a level with that of the human body. They will either amplify the resonating energy or bring it down to a harmonic balance. They are beneficial in balancing the mind in stressful situations. We have heard of Record Keeper crystals, and the question is do they hold ancient knowledge or does that quartz piece, in resonating, open up ancient information contained within our subconscious. They help to bring us into resonance with the primal consciousness energies.

The Quartz piece may be programmed with any intent, whether peace, love, protection, clarity, or other. Here is a simple program for inspiring your Quartz piece.

1. Hold the piece in your left palm, right hand covering it.

2. Hold it level with the Heart. Connect to it with the Third Eye, creating a triangle.

3. Focus clearly with a specific intent (i.e. Peace). Repeat that intent for about two minutes connecting the Quartz piece with the Heart and Third Eye.

4. When you feel the Quartz piece pulsing and a field of energy surround it, you will know it has taken the intent.

5. Now holding it in your left hand making a fist, blow upon it three times. This seals the energy of the intent within the Quartz piece.

6. This is a 28 day cycle, after that the intent will start to dissipate.

You should know that if you have no other gemstone except the Quartz point or cluster, you need no other. It will provide all you need.

The most popular Grandfather Buffalo blog of 2011 was this piece on Meditation for Personal and World Peace. Please enjoy this wisdom once again!

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Meditation for world peace is a tall order and we may well ask “Am I qualified to do that?” The answer is yes. The Body/Mind wants peace, balance, and order. Therefore the task for us is to have personal peace/balance. Meditation is a great way to achieve this.

You may say “I cannot meditate, when I try my mind starts to chatter, this thought comes up, that thought comes up, and I lose focus. I just can’t empty my mind.” Tibetan monks will tell you that the natural mind is constantly in motion, that is what it does. If we think outside of ourselves, we are told by these monks as well as by scientists, nothing is solid, not even the physical. There is vast space and it is not empty. Between you and the chair there is space. There is space between the monkey mind chatter.

Let’s begin with sitting up straight, head level on the spine, hands resting on the legs. Whatever thought comes to mind acknowledge it, then let it go, do not follow it. Refocus on the ‘empty’ space between. Again, it is a natural process for the mind to bring up thoughts and one decompresses from a stressful day by acknowledging thought and letting go. You may also do this by focusing on the breath in two ways, and in each process acknowledge the thought and let it go. First breathe in for three to five seconds, hold for the same amount of time, then breathe out exhaling for three to five seconds. Do this for five minutes and build up to a longer time frame. Secondly, you may do the inhale/exhale breathing to the count of seven. When thoughts come in, acknowledge them and release them. Do not follow. Go back to your breathing. The more you do this the easier meditation will become. So start with three to five minutes and build up to a length that seems comfortable. Have you achieved an inner peace? Are you relaxed?

A variation on this is achieved with starting the breathing and after a time, move the focus to the heart. Within the heart, find the inner flame (heart light). Follow the pulsing light. Focus on it. Release any thoughts that appear. Do not follow them. Are you relaxed? Have you found that inner peace? Now expand that heart light throughout the body. Release the thoughts. When you come to a dark spot, organ, or other space, expand the heart light into that area until it glows. Sit in this heart light space until you are relaxed and have inner peace.

Now that you have achieved that inner peace expand it to include family or friends. With those you know who are under stress you may ask “What would it feel like if they were not under that stress, but were peaceful.” You are separating yourself while connected to them. You may use your peaceful heart light, sending it out to that friend or family member. Focus on surrounding them with the peace you feel. When thoughts come, yours or theirs, acknowledge them and release them. Do not engage or follow them. When your heart light connects with their heart light, feel it expanding into all areas of the family member’s or friend’s body. You are able to distinguish your energies from theirs with detachment, and you will not take on their stresses, but will share peace.

What about world peace? That is a larger issue. There are many things going on in the world. Issues of all sizes and conflicts are occurring every second. Considering that there are seven billion people in the world today, hundreds of different countries, and different cultural and religious beliefs, it may seem an impossible task to focus one’s meditation on. Don’t go there. What are the issues, the conflicts? As with the other meditations, ask what world peace would feel like. When you have that feeling or response hold on to it, remember it.

Find your inner peace through the process you have developed. Connect with the family/friends grid, then move out to the world grid. Remember to acknowledge and release all thoughts. Do not hold on to or follow them. Remain focused on world peace. Focus on your heart light, open your chest and release it into the world grid that you have created. Again, release all thoughts and fill all the dark spaces with your detached heart light, connecting energetically with seven billion heart lights. Now remember the question you asked yourself, ‘What would world peace feel like’? When you recognize that feeling, do not analyze it. Is it real? Am I there? Just acknowledge the feeling, relax into it, and let it be. Hold this feeling as long as you are led to, then release that energy of peace and detach from it.

There are many levels of meditation and many variations. This is one way you can expand on this process.

Your favorite Staff Speak blog of 2011!

On Wednesday, the staff from Crystal-Life – Atala Toy, Gary Lupton, Victor van Slee, Marcia Foster, and myself, Tammy van Slee – went to Tammy and Erik Johnson’s new home to clear any lingering spirits. (Tammy Johnson is Crystal Life’s Manager.) This was my very first clearing, it was quite amazing.

Gary is a Shaman. He had his buffalo drum while we had other clearing items such as tingshas, rattles, chimes, incense, and a broom. Gary led the way; he began the clearing by beating on the drum and we followed his direction, making sure we got every corner of Tammy and Erik’s beautiful new house. After we rang our chimes and spread incense, Tammy followed with a broom to symbolically sweep out the spirits. Then we all said a blessing for Tammy, Erik and their lovely home.

It was an amazing experience.  When we first walked the house, we could feel the energies that had been left in the home from past owners. After the clearing and blessing, the house was filled with love, happiness and joy. It was an honor to be a part of the process. I know they will be very happy in their new home.

We were informed at my other job (I work in the shipping department of a spring manufacturer) that we would be off from Dec. 23rd until Jan. 3rd, 2012. So, I could be upset and disappointed over the loss of money; I could be upset that I would be spending the time alone during the holidays. Not so my guides tell me.

They have assisted me in developing a transformational medicine wheel over the past few months. This wheel is based on the Native American Wheel (Hoop), but again is non-traditional. The wheel is made up of gemstone specimens and is designed to be taken up or moved to different locations. I will be traveling the wheel, clearing that which I can before the New Year. One of the questions my guide suggested was “Who is Grandfather Buffalo and what is his path?”

This week then I will be seeking my personal path not only on the medicine wheel, but into the New Year toward the December 2012 date that many are looking forward to.

Blessings to you in the coming year.