Crystal Companions

A few weeks back, I purchased a large Herkimer piece. The large central piece is nearly four inches long with smaller herkimers partially included. I hadn't visited the farmer's market crystal stand in a long while.

While at The Om my eye settled on a large piece. I can't recall exactly what it was, but it was something new. And it was expensive. Over $100. I didn't get the sense that it was unequivocally mine and that I needed to buy it. It's energy was commanding and I needed to hold it a while, but that was it. After several minutes I sat it down. As I've noted in an earlier post, I can generally tell by energetic scan which pieces are new. My physical eye is drawn to them by the impression they make on my third eye.

After scanning the whole of the farmer's market booth, my eye settled on a very large herkimer. It was one of two they had displayed. As soon as I saw it I knew it was going home with me. It is an amazing feeling that I've described on several occasions. The certainty and clarity of what belongs to us. There are certain stones that as soon as I see them, I know they are meant to go home with me. A favorite story of a friend that helps me act on these moments deals with an item that he saw in a market on a trip to Spain. He loved it at first sight, but hesitated to make such an expensive decision hastily. By the next day, he knew with all his being that it was exquisitely perfect for him, meant for him. Unfortunately some other soul concluded the same and made the decision without hesitation.

The failure to act haunts him to this day. It isn't that his life has suffered because the item didn't make it into his hands. It's the regret of having doubted what belonged to him. A version of the girl that gets away.

Not that the point isn't made, but it also reminds me of a jacket that a motorcycle-riding buddy of mine saw at a huge convention center expo years ago. He'd tried on dozens of jackets at several different booths. Finally, there was one that was gorgeous on him. He didn't seize the moment. The next day when he went back, it was gone. Five years later, he's still in search of the perfect jacket.

Perhaps its these stories of others that enable me to take seriously those moments of certainty and act on them.

This herkimer was what I'd come to the booth to buy. I was delighted that this was the stone. Part of the delight was that it was a herkimer and everyone knows these are pretty cheap. I thought, "yeah, I dodged the $100-plus item". And then I turned over the Herkimer to reveal the price underneath. We know what I found.

No time to be cheap. I'd already committed to it, already acknowledged we belonged together. It has proven to be priceless.

Among the many smaller pieces attached about the larger herkimer was an inch-long and 1/2-inch thick herkimer which sat atop it like a child resting on it's mother's belly. It was certainly my favorite part of the whole to gaze upon and finger. It's citrine-smokey flavor gave a distinct character from its mostly clear and white host.

I bought it a few days before my trip to Turks and Caicos (TCI) and knew I was meant to take it with me. I took it and five others to be cleansed in the Caribbean Sea.

Since purchasing it, I sleep with it every night. Just over a week ago, it managed to fall to the ground. I don't know if it hit the metal of my bed frame or the lamp post, but I know the impact was enough to break it apart. Three pieces came off. The first was this very lovely smokey-citriny flavored piece perfect for the pocket each day. My days have been much more peaceful and protected since I began carrying it around.

The other is a smaller herkimer, the more typical 1/4 - 1/2 inch variety. I'm planning to have it placed in a ring setting so that I can carry this energy with me all the time--either the pocket piece or the ring. The third piece that fell off was a small slab. As for the larger piece, it is with me as I sleep every night and has been since TCI.

Why tell the tale of the breaking herkimer? It feels like a writing companion. Since purchasing the Herkimer, my ability to communicate with the muses collaborating with me on Luzca's story has increased. I had it with me on TCI when the breadth of the story typed its way onto the page while I watched.

I've been writing regularly and have seen an increase in the integrity of my personal boundaries. Beautiful stuff.

Fate went to a lot of trouble to bring that special herkimer from a mine in New York to a farmer's market on the other side of the continent. It arranged an unexpected pocket of time for me to spend ten minutes at the same market the day after I'd booked my trip when I had a ton of errands to run.

It's not always easy to say yes to fate, yes to the universe when it gives us what we want and need. At some point we learn it is even harder on us if we say no.