Philip's Crystal Blog

Sunshine joy can last forever... just take an imperial (golden) topaz crystal and hold it in the sunlight, willing it to store some of the sun's radiant energy for you when you need it. Sharing love and crystal light xx

Summer Solstice
Interesting facts about the Summer Solstice
1. The words come from the Latin words for ‘sun’ and ‘stand still’
2.  It’s the longest day of the year
3.  It is also the shortest night of the year (in case you hadn’t worked that bit out)
4.  It’s in June in the real bit of the world but for some bizarre reason our antipodean cousins celebrate this event in December – waltzing Matilda indeed!
5. People call it different things like St Johns Day – if you don’t like Pagans, Litha for the pointy hat brigade and Midsummer if you’re on the same planet as Shakespeare!  (Or Marlow or whoever wrote the Bard’s plays and sonnets.
6. Different people like doing very different things. Some like getting up VERY early in the morning, gathering with many people they have never seen before near VERY big stones and chanting a lot, whilst others simply like setting fire to things, especially on top of hills and rolling these burning things into the nearest convenient bit of water! This tradition dates back to Viking times when the invading Pagan hoards had great fun playing this game with Christian Priests. The Romans had a festival for everything that usually involved lots of orgies and drinking of wine from amethyst goblets. Still others just like to sit in the sun.
7. The midsummer moon is known as the honey moon. This may be because: a. it’s a traditional time for weddings and the traditional drink at weddings is mead b. it’s the time of year when bees are most active or c. it’s quite a nice name really.
8. It is reputed to be a time when evil spirits roam the earth plane. To counter this it is traditional to wear garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most effective is St Johns Wart… which many pagans wear in deference to the people who don’t like Pagans!
9. It’s a time of magic and mystery.
Crystals to meditate with or focus the sun’s energy and bring it into your life for the Summer Solstice include imperial topaz (golden topaz), amber, citrine and gold. Quartz crystal can be very powerful too, but beware the sun’s rays being magnified and setting fire to anything nearby!
However you choose to celebrate have a wonderful day

Keywords: summer solstice, imperial topaz, golden topaz, amber, citrine gold, quartz crystal

The biggest full moon in years! This weekend will see the biggest full moon for two decades. On Saturday the moon will be the closest it's been to Earth in 19 years and will appear 14% bigger and up to a third brighter than a normal full moon. She'll actually be 221,567 miles from us (someone has a long tape measure!) and the brightness is disproportionately enhanced brining a midnight twilight if the sky is clear.

Some people say "supermoons" can cause all sorts of natural disasters and are historically linked to many such events. The last supermoon was 10 January 2005, around the time of the Indonesian earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale and hurricane Katrina in 2005 was also associated with an unusually large full moon. But this one will be much bigger still.

We all know the moon can move the tides in the ocean and is linked to fluids in us, hence the idea of lunacy. Did you know that police departments the world over run their staff rotas on the lunar cycle? New York's finest and the Sussex Constabulary are just two examples.

Some more interesting facts are that in England the Lunacy Act of 1824 stated that people were likely to go mad when the moon was full. "The moon is made of green cheese" from John Heywood's proverbs 1546 means that it is new, or not aged and acts like a child. The full moon is also associated with lycanthropy where a man (or woman) becomes a werewolf (or Mrs Werewolf). And if you are scared of things that go bump in the night, then this weekend you'd be safer indoors! If you need a crystal to protect you as you venture out then wear a tourmaline crystal pendant or take a tourmaline crystal with you. Just pop the stone in your pocket or bra and it's protective crystal energy with wrap round you and you'll look just like the "Ready Brek" kid. There are many alternatives for example lapis lazuli and golden topaz which also keep you safe or aquamarine and turquoise that both traditionally protect travellers - and we all travel along our path...

But going back to the moon, these special supermoons can also be powerful times to complete a project or make a final step towards starting something new too and tourmaline can help here as it promotes change. It is a wonderful time to cleanse your crystals in the moonlight. Just pop your crystals outside and let the moon shine on them through the night. Even if it's cloudy your crystals will still pick up the powerful energy of the full moon.

Right that takes care of Saturday and in case you haven't had enough celestial happenings, Sunday is the Spring equinox, also known as the Vernal equinox. It is the New Year for a majority of ancient cultures, some of which are still going today! In fact even in the UK it was celebrated as the New Year up to 1751. It's the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. The time when life is renewed after its winter death. It is a time of renewal and re-birth and a perfect moment to start new projects and let new ideas flow freely through your mind. The equinox is at 11.21pm (UK time); a perfect time for your crystals to be bathed in the light of the silvery moon.

Of course the Spring equinox also links to Easter as the season of re-birth and this is represented by the giving (and let's not forget the eating) of Easter eggs. The ovoid form being a symbol of fertility and birth.

Enjoy the changes that the season brings and welcome the changes into your life.