I have just been to my favorite shop to buy crystals and upon laying them out on the table I had the urge to do a crystal grid with them... I knew nothing about crystal grids so I Google whacked crystal grids and my favorite American Lady popped up with a You Tube video which I would like to share with you... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG2EFdrOEqw&list=PLC6FE1F55388C5E01&index=1 So from the video I have learned that I should have the long moonstone on the outside of the circle and use it to charge the others to the moonstone in the middle. A bigger piece of moonstone would be better but I will see how this works and if not them I will use my Quartz Geo in the center and Quartz on the outside too. From the long piece of moonstone working clockwise there is Amethyst, White Opal and Green fluorite. Once I have it all cleansed and then charged up I will sit with it and Meditate. I cant wait to see the wonderful Journey it takes me on.

In Life you meet and awful lot of wonderful and inspirational people. As I may have mentioned I have been doing the 21 day Oprah and Depak's meditation and its really good and informative.
I'm currently on day 8 and it is making me greatly aware of the people and relationships all around me, and how people interact with each other. It has made me question 'how could you ever be truly happy with so many negative people everywhere?'. Yet the human spirit is such a wonderful thing, it doesn't want to be negative, it wants to be free, open, fully loved unconditionally. In different places i have been told a lot recently that we are spiritual beings first and humans second. This is such a wonderful statement. As I have been meditating I have become more centered in myself and feel an awful lot more love for myself and within it too.
Every day I read the new centering thought and I post it on my status so during the day I can reflect back on it easily and also so hopefully it can inspire other people too. There was one day out of the last 8 and the centering thought for that day I found really hard to post. Not only did I not believe what I was saying about myself but I felt like people would judge me for it also. However, if I was going to fully embrace this 21 day ritual the I needed to post this one also. I've been working a lot with angels of late and there was definitely one of them listening to my reluctance as no sooner had I posted the statement than several of my friends replied to it in support and that was all the reassurance I needed. Something which I struggled to believe about myself others believed it and instead of being laughed at I was supported, when I needed it the most.
How does this relate to my jewellery you may ask... Well I have started using one of my own Mala's when I meditate, a 21 bead black Onyx, a piece of Calcite and a beautiful fluorite pendant wrapped in copper on a copper chain. While I'm NOT a registered practitioner nor am I even a student (although I hope to be soon) of crystal healing, I use the Onyx for grounding and spiritual healing the Calcite for connection with high spirit and my own spirit and the fluorite keeps me focused. I would advise anyone needing medical attention to seek a register medical expert.

There are lots of different ways to meditate, we meditate at various different times of the day, sometimes without realising.

I just started a 21 day course of meditations and I'm on Day 3 so far. It is really nice to have a structure to focus on and keep you coming back each day thus not letting life bog you down. If your not doing it already you should try it out https://chopracentermeditation.com/programs/index its only about 15 mins each day and it feels like 5 mins

In my defense I have been busy uploading items to the shop so I haven't been completely neglecting the site.

I have been vegetarian for over ten years now. My decision to give up meat was due to the condition the food was being kept in, the various different food scares at the time and of course the thought of eating another living thing really didn't appeal to me.

I am a huge animal lover but I wouldn't consider myself an animal rights activist. I would take in an animal who needed a home a lot quicker than I would pay for some mass produced breed. I condemn cruelty to animals, but I understand animals are still breed for food. Unless I feel you are out of order on any issue, I am not the sort of person to inflict my view on anyone who didn't want to hear it. I digress...

All that said, I learned something very interesting and deeply upsetting today. I had just finished making the above dream catcher and a friend asked if I could make a similar one with artificial feathers. Until this point I had no reason to question the use of feathers in my earrings or other jewellery. I had assumed (and you know what assumed did) that the feathers were plucked after the animal was dead or gathered round about like Peacock feather.

So as with any bespoke request, I hit the internet. I did a lot of looking for synthetic feather to no avail. Even the feathers claiming to be artificial only do so as a result of them being dyed, they still come from a real bird.

In my ignorance I searched for reasons why people wouldn't want real feathers.
-Was it because of it coming from an animal or
-Was it because of some form of cruelty to the birds.

I challenge you to do the same. I vow here and now, never to buy another feather again in anything, except maybe peacock feathers as they seem to be almost guaranteed to be humanely gathered (but more research is needed into that one before I will consider it). I am sickened that here in the UK it is legal to pluck the feathers out of living birds. Why should it matter what stage of the process the feathers are at? I have even read research describing how when tested the animals hormone levels changed when plucked showing that they do feel it. I ask you would you like the hair pulled out of your head to make a wig or extensions...

That leaves me with two issues...
-Can you actually buy synthetic feathers and
-What do I do with the feathers I currently have??
My first reaction is continue to make items with only the feathers I have left and with everyone sold make a donation to a bird charity. I doubt the feathers I have were plucked from live birds as this is mostly down feathers for pillows and bedding but as I have no way of knowing that the feathers were plucked after death then I would hate for a bird to have suffered in vain...