January 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

There's Something About Madagascar



On the coastline of Madagascar.  Can you see the winking boulder?

There’s Something About Madagascar


Many months ago, a customer came into the store and we were discussing the amazing variety of stones coming out of Madagascar, and he said something to me that gave me goose bumps. He mentioned that scientists used to think that Madagascar was proof of ancient Lemuria or Atlantis because the fossil, plant, and rock history of the island was so like other places, it was as if huge chunks of land must have been missing that once should have connected Madagascar to mainland Africa or India. The acceptance of the “continental drift” theory of plate tectonics finally dispelled any scientific belief in Madagascar being evidence of those fabled missing landmasses. However, the acceptance of that theory does nothing to diminish the fact that the stones from Madagascar are either completely unique to the island, or the variety of rocks and crystals that are found there are simply more gemmy, vibrant and, in my humble opinion, more “energetically juicy” than those found in other areas of the planet. The more I work with the stones from Madagascar, the more I am convinced that there is just something special about the crystals and gemstones coming from there. 
 

My first exposure to the unusually hot nature of Madagascar minerals was over a year ago when I came into the store as a customer. I bought a star rose quartz sphere that so impressed me that I left my resume’ with Carol, the store manager, before I left downtown that day. I’ve been an energy worker and all around crystal-toting, tree-hugger for well over a decade. I’ve spent a good deal of my time rolling around in various energetic healing modalities of all kinds and even authored an energy healing activity book called, Awake in Angelscape. Most of my own learning process revolved around working with stones in some way, so I’m always interested in specimens groovy enough to knock my booties off after all this time. I was thrilled when Carol called to offer me a job here at Enter the Earth. I knew I’d never have a dull day, and boy, is that an understatement. 
Enter the Earth, Inside the Grove Arcade, Asheville, NC
 

So what is it about Madagascar? Why is it that so many of the stones that come from there are so functionally “smoking”? I suspect that the land there must be a convergence of high vibrational sacred sites and vortices of potent Earth energies. How else could the gemological resources from there be so powerful? I have not visited the island myself, so I cannot do more than theorize; but Madagascar, you have my undivided attention.


I also suspect that part of the reason why the resources at Enter the Earth are so “zoomy” is because Nader, the owner of the business, goes to Madagascar himself to hand select the rocks that end up getting shipped back to the States. He goes twice a year and stays for a month at a time, visiting the mines and selecting the resources that speak to him. I’m not sure that he is aware of how fine-tuned his own senses are in selecting therapeutic grade, energy-healing tools, but he is what I call “a natural” at it. Whatever inner prompts or nudging he responds to in his selection process couldn’t possibly be more “in tune”. 

Nader looking over some Smoky Amethyst crystals in Madagascar.

Many of the rocks and crystals coming out of Madagascar are new to the market. They aren’t in any of the metaphysical rock books yet. The ones that have made it into the books are often found under trademarked names that you wouldn’t identify with the actual mineralogical names of the stones that we use to describe them. So, that leaves us with an interesting challenge in providing the energy-healing community with the information that they can use to select and utilize some of these amazing new tools.


We have a brand new perspective for this New Year. Enter the Earth, the retail store, is going to provide new workshops and learning demonstrations on a variety of crystal healing and energy healing topics that will range from extreme basics to more in-depth learning and sharing opportunities. I will be facilitating most of the workshops, but I’m also interested in having more experienced workers come in to share some of their specialties too. In between the workshops and in-store demonstrations, I will do my best to “whisper” the crystals and gemstones that we have, so that we can effectively share that information with you. Crystal Whispering is a skill I’ve developed over the last decade that I’m happy to be able to put to good use in this coming year for Enter the Earth. I will endeavor to do a full reading on at least one new Madagascar crystal or rock resource a month, and to communicate that information through a monthly newsletter and on the website. If I can do more, I will.

If you have had an interesting experience with anything you’ve gotten from the store and would like to share how you work with your tools and resources, please, please… write in and let us know! 
 
Christopher and I have a brand new website and blog. :)  I'm going to leave archived blog articles up in here, but all new articles will be published under the new site.

Our new website is here:
http://www.etemetaphysical.com

Our new blog, which we have integrated together, is here:
http://blog.etemetaphysical.com/