FOR thousands of years people have been drawn to crystals for their beauty, value and spiritual significance. Many Stone Age people lived in caves which were full of rocks, minerals, metals and crystals. As I type this there has been news today that the earliest known human cave art - 40,000 years old - has been found in crystal lined caves in Indonesia.
Rolling forward in time we find that over 3,000 years ago the ancient Egyptians held certain crystals in awe and reverence. We can see the magical treasures of Tutankamum dripping in precious metals and crystals. The famous solid gold death mask and necklace of King Tut are inlaid with Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Quartz, Obsidian and Green Feldspar. Other treasures have very significant inclusions made from 'Libyan Glass'/Libyan Gold. This naturally occuring 'glass' was gathered from the Libyan desert where it was formed by a meteorite striking the desert many thousands of years ago. The intense heat melted the desert sand and turned it into yellow glass crystals. This made it very highly regarded by the Egyptians.
We know that crystals were used as decoration in ancient Greek and Roman temples. There were crystals given at the birth of Alexander the Great. Indeed he was buried in a sarchophagus made from Rock Crystal. We know that Antinous was given a 'Adamantine' crystal spear head. This name refers to a wide range of potential materials but was probably either flint, onyx or diamond.
So what has all of this to do with modern day Pagan worship or the day to day lives of LGBTU people? Well, of course we now use crystals in many ways. Diamonds are used in precision cutting tools making many of the products we now use. We use many crystals like rubies, sapphires, peridots, amethyst and aquamarines to wear and look fabulous. Lenses for precision instruments - even those going into space - use finely ground rock crystals such as quartz.
In recent years, however, people with spiritual and scientific connections have begun to realise that those ancient folk used crystals in worship for a reason. All earthly things have a vibrational frequency - you, me, the cat, the table, the house, the earth. We are all made of particles in constant vibration and the frequency of these vibrations differ from material to material. By getting the right vibrational frequency we can heal things. This isn't hippy dippy nonsense, we use ultrasound machines to scan babies but also to vibrate gallstones at such a high rate they break down. Scientists have found that cats purr at a low vibrational frequency that helps to strengthen and repair their bones, relieve pain, and heal wounds.
Of course crystals all vibrate at certain frequencies too. People have begun experimenting with using crystals for healing and have found magical results. It takes a leap of faith but if you can open your mind and be accepting of any and all healing processes then you can work with crystals.
You may already know that one side of your body, or one hand, one ear, one eye are where you feel, see or 'sense' things other than those visible. If not, then close your eyes and imagine a flow of energy (or blood if that makes more sense to you) emanating from your heart and flowing down your arms. Imagine it and then feel it. Focus on its flow. Feel it flow through your hands and fingers and then back up your arms, into your heart and then up into your brain. Feel how it feels. One side will feel a stronger flow than the other. this is your spiritually sensitive side.
Using the hand from your sensitive side pick up any crystal that appeals to you (whether it is by colour, texture, size or affordability!). Close your eyes and do exactly what you have just done but focus on the energy flowing into your hand, through the crystal and back.
You will 'feel', 'sense', 'hear' something that tells you that crystal is vibrating its freqeuency through you. Some you will love, some you will hate, some will do nothing for you at all!
I can't work with Moldavite because its meteorite origins vibrate too intensely for me, I feel dizzy or overwhelmed. Once you have 'tuned in' to a few crystals you will know which are your loves and hates. Over time you will find some that alter your mental or physical state. I use Carnelian to cheer me up, Fire Opal to help me get through hard times and Tigers Eye to ground myself and stop being distracted.
So, the way I suggest you use your crystals is during Antinous (or the deity of your choice) focused spiritual or healing meditation. I will advise you which crystal is recommended for that day, moon phase or period of time. Don't worry if you don't have one. You can 'tune in' to a picture of one or even just the thought of one. Tune into the crystal held in your sensitive hand or the image or thought of it - just as outlined above. Focus on the energy flow between you and it. Now allow a thought into your head focused on the moon, star, historical or spiritual significance of the day (whether it be for Antinous or any other deity). Hold both in your thoughts and allow them to merge and become one flow through you, into the crystal and back. Try to maintain this through the whole of the mediation. Don't worry, I don't always manage to do so - Tibetan monks take decades to perfect it! I hope you will feel that the thought is magnified or positively altered in some way by the vibrational frequency of the crystal. It takes practice but I promise you, it does work!
If you have a favourite crystal you can use this for any mediation on any subject because you are tuned to it and vice versa.
I hope this is helpful to you. Happy tuning!
MARTIN
MARTIN CAMPBELL is an author living in Britain who is adept at Antinous Moon Magic in its special forms of pendulum, card reading and crystal magic. He is the author of THE LOVE GOD, a historical novel tracing the life of Antinous from the moment his tousle-haired head emerges from his mother's womb under auspicious stars in Asia Minor to the moment his head sinks beneath the swirling waters of the Nile on a starry evening in Egypt.
