1.30.15 Healing Gems

I don't know what I thought the theme of January was going to be at the start of the new year, but at the end of the month I can tell you it is summed up in an old Yiddish proverb:

Man plans, God laughs.

I am a moderately observant Jew, and I believe in God - in the sense that there are is some force greater than any of us - driving the universe.  Barbara Bradley Hagerty is NPR’s religion correspondent, and the author of a fascinating book, Fingerprints of God: In Search of the Science of Spirituality. I was a religion minor in college, and was intrigued, so I bought the book when it first came out in the summer of 2010.  It's a good read, and it resonated with me in a very real way.  I also practice yoga regularly.  I started as a way to manage my pain and improve my flexibility after being in a nasty car wreck several years ago.  My goal then, and largely still, was physical improvement - but I have found that my practice brings me a great deal of emotional stability and mental clarity as well.

I don't know how I feel about gemstones as a source of healing - although I am a staunch believer in the benefits of retail therapy - but I decided it was worth looking into for a blog post at the end of what has been a rather topsy-turvy month.

According to the American Gem Society, amethyst is considered to be the "gemstone of meditation, peace, balance, courage and inner strength".  I could certainly use a dose of that moving forward.

I've long been a fan of amethyst - both because of its color (generally shades of purple, but it also pinks and greens) and its price.  Amethyst is a form a quartz, which makes it a semiprecious stone, and generally more affordable than other richly colored precious gems.

Two of my favorite personal pieces are a child's ring, from one of Uncle Bernard's trays, which I wore as a pinky ring for many years, and a pendant that my mother bought me on one of her early trips to visit me when I was in graduate school.  Coincidentally, amethyst is also the birthstone for February, and I've pinned a number of lovely pieces to my Pinterest board, February birthstones (how's that for a segue?).

Until next time.

is considered the gemstone of meditation, peace, balance, courage, and inner strength. - See more at: http://www.americangemsociety.org/healing-gemstones#sthash.lOGBK7n6.dpuf

is considered the gemstone of meditation, peace, balance, courage, and inner strength. - See more at: http://www.americangemsociety.org/healing-gemstones#sthash.lOGBK7n6.dpuf

is considered the gemstone of meditation, peace, balance, courage, and inner strength. - See more at: http://www.americangemsociety.org/healing-gemstones#sthash.lOGBK7n6.dpuf