March 2011

Living With Crystals
A Newsletter from Beyond the Rainbow
http://www.rainbowcrystal.com

PO Box 110, Ruby, NY 12475
Volume XV, Number 2

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Living with Crystals gives monthly information about working with crystals, flower essences, and aromatherapy.

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In This Issue

I Welcome
II Feature Article: Crystal Clearing
III Special Announcement: Big Dragons Don't Cry
IV Bach Flower Remedy Classes
V Courses & Consultations

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Welcome to the Beyond the Rainbow's newsletter about crystals, Living with Crystals, first published February 1997. This issue begins our fifteenth year of publication.

If this is your first newsletter, thank you for subscribing. If it isn't, thanks for continuing to read it. If you'd like to forward a copy to a friend whom you think would enjoy it please feel free to do so.

Every issue of Living with Crystals is dedicated to all of you who read it; we dedicate this issue with special appreciation, and pledge that Living with Crystals will continue to serve all those who wants to learn more about working with crystals as our partners in creation.

May you every day become more crystalline.

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Feature Article:
Crystal Clearing: Getting Clear

Sometimes, especially when I've received a number of questions on a given subject, I reprint basic articles about crystals in this newsletter. This is one of those times.

With spring coming to the Northern Hemisphere, this is a good time to clean, clear, and charge your crystals.

Crystals are basically low-maintenance companions. They don't need to be fed or walked, and don't require trips to the vet. They do from time to time need to be cleaned and cleared.

Clearing isn't the same as cleaning, although the same process can accomplish both acts. Whether or not your crystals often need to be cleared they will sometimes need to be cleaned. I recommend immersing them in water for a minute or so, then gently drying them with a towel.

Don't use any kind of detergent unless for some reason grease has gotten on them. Detergents, even organic ones, tend to leave a film on crystals.

Inner Dust

Clearing crystals is more an act of getting rid of inner, psychic dust. Crystals are valuable in the technical world because they record and store information. When we translate this role into spiritual terms we say that crystals take in and store the vibrations that surround them.

This benefits us in that we are able to program them to translate our desires and dreams into a vibration that attracts the energy that will materialize them.

Crystals, however, not being us, don't discriminate between "good" and "bad" vibrations, and collect whatever's around.

Making a Crystal Yours

When you first purchase crystals you want to make them yours. You will want to erase or clear from them the vibrations of all those who have handled them -- even those of the nice people at Beyond the Rainbow -- not because those vibrations are bad, but because your crystals, in order to respond to your needs and wishes, must be attuned to your vibrations.

There are times when you don't want a crystal to have your vibrations, either.

1. If you've been working with crystals to heal emotional pain, your crystals may absorb these vibrations.
2. The same can be true if you've been doing a lot of releasing work.
3. If you've programmed crystals for specific purposes, you'll need to clear them if you want to program them for new goals/dreams.

Crystal Baths

One way to clear your crystals is to bury them in sea, kosher, or Himalayan salt overnight. Wash them afterwards and, if possible, put them in a place where they can dry in the sun.

You can get similar results by using salt water, and this is a better idea for highly polished stones, as salt crystals may scratch your crystals' surfaces. Immersing them in salt water serves the dual purposes of cleaning and clearing.

My method is to fill bowls in filtered water into which I shake some salt (probably the equivalent of two tablespoons per pint of water.) I leave the crystals in the water overnight. The next day I rinse them and put them out to dry. I prefer to let them dry by themselves.

If the temperature is warm (crystals may crack in subfreezing temperatures) I put the bowls outside and let them dry in the sun.

Precautions

Although I've used this method for many years without traumatized crystals, I think it's appropriate to say that other people feel this is too harsh a clearing method. If you'd like to try this method, use it with a few crystals and see how you feel.

Some crystals shouldn't be placed in water, particularly soft stones such as azurite, malachite, rough chrysocolla, and selenite. I've heard that calcite shouldn't be placed in water, but I've done so with no negative results. A variant on the sea salt method is to clear your crystals by placing them in the ocean. I recommend putting them in a pail unless you plan to give a gift to the sea.

Smudging

This is the least invasive and most popular method for clearing crystals. You can use a smudge stick for this. A smudge stick may consist of some of the following herbs: include cedar, sage, lavender, juniper, pine.

Pass your crystals through the smoke -- or, if you have arrangements of crystals around your house, pass the smudge stick over the crystals. This method is excellent as well for clearing yourself and your environment.

Cleaning/Clearing with Essential Oils

The relationship between crystals and essential oils deserves an article of its own. My focus here is on particular oils that have cleaning/clearing properties. The most economical method for using oils is to place crystals in a container, fill it with filtered water as you would for the salt-water method, and put a drop or two of essential oil into the water.

Lemon: This has a purifying effect and, on a practical level, cuts grease.

Juniper: Like juniper in a smudge stick, juniper oil has the ability to help release any negative vibrations.

Lavender: If you've been doing any kind of intense emotional work with your crystals, lavender oil has a calming and balancing effect. Put some on yourself, too.

The previous methods can work well for large quantities of crystals. The following methods are better for individual crystals or small quantities of small crystals.

The Earth Method

You can bury your crystals in the earth. (Do not use this method on iron-based stones such as hematite and tiger iron.) This method can clear any rough energy from your crystals and give them a kind of rebirth in the earth (from which most crystals are mined). It's like taking them home.

Be sure to mark the place where you've buried them.

Visualization

Close your eyes, relax, and while holding your Crystal, visualize it glowing with white light or rainbow hues. Feel it radiating smooth, balanced energy.

How Often Do Crystals Need to be Cleared?

It depends on how much you use them. If they're sitting on your desk, looking pretty (and you can get a great deal of value just from having them around) once every three months is probably sufficient--in which case they probably need baths, too. Crystals you work with every day need to be cleared no less than once a month.

If, as mentioned above, you do intense emotional work with your crystals, clear them after each session.

If a crystal looks cloudy or has a dull feeling it probably needs to be cleared.

It is always a good idea to clear a crystal before you program it. However, once you've programmed it don't clear it until it's done its work.

Please see articles about charging and programming crystals at http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/crystal/charge.html

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My Novel Is Published!

Visit http://www.adragonsguide.com/ to read about Big Dragons Don't Cry, the first book of A Dragon's Guide to Destiny.

In Big Dragons Don't Cry, a cunning opportunist and would-be tyrant wants to turn a swamp into valuable real estate. Druid, the large and very depressed water dragon who protects the swamp and its inhabitants, vows to save his friends and his home--although he's sure he'll fail.

You can download the first chapter for free and learn about how to download 3 more chapters free. Ordering information is available at http://www.adragonsguide.com/toorder/order.shtml.

The book is available at amazon.com in print and Kindle editions at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=big+dragons+don%27t+cry&x=0&y=0

You can also order a print version at http://booklocker.com/books/5259.html

The iPad version is available at http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/big-dragons-dont-cry/id419794887?mt=11

More information on ordering is available at the order url above.

To be updated on developments with Big Dragons Don't Cry, subscribe to the dragon's occasional newsletter at http://adragonsguide.com/subscribe.shtml

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Learn About Our Courses

If you've been interested in our email courses but have been unsure which would be best for you, you now have a new way to choose.

I've put together a pamphlet, formatted as a Microsoft Word document, that fully describes each course:

Bach Flower Remedies: A User-Friendly Guide
Crystals and the Chakras
Allow More Love in Your Life
Think More: Work Less

Each course description includes annotated tables of contents and summaries of the course material.

In addition, the pamphlet includes sample lessons. This inclusion gives you the opportunity to decide whether the format works for your learning needs.

While most of the material in the 61-page pamphlet is also available on our web site, the new format gives you all the information in one convenient document.

Please email me at elfspirit333@gmail.com, and I will email the pamphlet to you.
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Bach Flower Remedy Course

"I took this Bach Flowers course as part of a Master's degree in Vibrational Wellness. I had tried to study on my own but got stuck because all the remedies sounded the same. This course explained the remedies in a way that was clear and accessible and that differentiated between similar-sounding remedies in a way I could remember." --Deborah

I've written a 71,000-word workbook that includes full descriptions of the Remedies, extensive comparisons between them, and study sections. All participants will complete a consultation for themselves that I will evaluate. The cost is $60.

To read a detailed table of contents for the written material please go to http://rainbowcrystal.com/bach/bachbooktableofcontents.html

You can also see a sample section at http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/bach/bachclasssample.html

Like our other courses, the Bach Flower Remedy class is self-paced. The written material is delivered by email in Microsoft Word format.

If you have any questions, please email me at elfspirit333@gmail.com

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Course on the Chakras:
Now Available as an Ebook

The course is $50, but you can buy the book for $15. To order, go directly to http://eftconsultations.com/eftandcrystals/class.shtml

To learn more about the course, please continue reading.

"I am getting so much out of this course. I have read several books on chakras but wasn't able to grasp the concepts. You have made it simple to understand. Thanks."--Robin Johnson

When we understand what the chakras have to do with our emotions, health, and mental well being we have a new way to understand ourselves. When we learn how to rebalance the energy of the chakras we can raise our lives to a new level of empowerment.

This self-paced course can assist you in rebalancing your life. I've expanded it and made it available in a more attractive format. It includes:

• Detailed descriptions of many crystals
• A quiz to help you begin
• Several articles describing different ways to work with the chakras
• An appendix of supplementary information

To see a complete lesson online, please go to http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/crystal/thirdchakra.html

To learn more about this course in general, please see http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/crystal/class.html

If you have any questions, please email me at elfspirit333@gmail.com

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Two Popular Email Courses
Now Available in Ebook Form

Allow More Love in Your Life
Think More: Work Less

Previously only offered as email courses for $50 each, the material for each of these classes is now available, either for easy reading on your computer screen or in printable form.

The books are in Microsoft Word format. With this format, you can easily search through the table of contents and chapter headings for specific material. You can also make a copy of the document and do the homeplay in the book itself. This makes it a true workbook -- or, as we prefer to say, Playbook.

To order or learn more, please see http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/books/book.html

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To subscribe to this newsletter, please go to http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/subscribe.html