Tag Archives: selenite

Ulexite VS Selenite | My Pet Peeve

Ulexite

I have to say something about this because this drives me absolutely nuts! It is one of my pet peeves with the world, and I do believe the cause of it is ignorance. Let this post dispel the ignorance!

There is this wonderful stone called Ulexite that I love! It is beautiful, semi-transparent, very soft and looks very similar to a piece of cloudy Selenite. And that, my darlings, is what drives me crazy. I get into an argument with people about this mineral often. There are those selling Ulexite as Selenite. There are those who believe that Ulexite is Selenite. There are those who can’t believe that this “low-grade selenite” is as expensive as it is. The thing is that they are VERY different stones.

Ulexite has a chemical composition of NaCaB5O6(OH)6•5(H2O), aka hydrated sodium calcium borate hydroxide and was discovered by Georg Ludwig Ulex in the 1800s. It is only transparent to white. What is special about Ulexite is that it has a secondary name, the TV Stone, because of its ability to project what is beneath it to the top of the stone. This means you can read through Ulexite. It acts as a natural fibre optic. 

Selenite has a chemical composition of CaSO4·2H2O, aka Hydrous Calcium Sulfate, and is a form of gypsum. It comes in various colours and types – from white to gray to brown to orange depending on the variety. Selenite comes commonly from Madagascar and Morroco whereas Ulexite is from the USA (California and Nevada), Chile, and Kazakhstan. Selenite has been known for a much longer time in modern day history – from at least the 15th century. 

seleniteWhile both stones look similar and can feel similar – both are often white, and both are scratchable with a finger nail being only a 2 on the Mohs scale they look quite different once you know them, and they act quite differently. Selenite is usually long and fibrous, leaving a soft trail of minerals behind it unless its cut and polished. Then it is rare to find one that is transparent in my experience, at least as transparent as Ulexite. The ultimate test for ulexite is if you can read through it, even at an angle in my opinion and how soft it is. When you look at the side of a flat piece of ulexite you can see that the fibres go up and down, not side to side or any other direction. This is the way the stone must be cut in order for the projection to occur.

Both will dissolve slowly in water too! So be careful cleaning those crystals!

On a metaphysical level they both do different things as well.

Selenite is well known for its connection to the moon – the name means stone of the moon. It was once believed that Selenite wax and waned with the moon. This mineral can tune us into Mother Nature’s own cycles – which is very important for city dwellers, provide us with clarity, strengthen intuition and help with dream work. It is a self-clearing mineral that will constantly clear your energy field and help calm the mind down. It has a very gentle relaxing energy to its presence.

Ulexite is known for its clairvoyant and telepathy abilities. It needs to be cleared and easily absorbs the energy around it to the point that it may break (this has happened with one of my pieces). Ulexite will help you develop your psychic abilities and can be programmed to call up on the Angels and other Guides. It will help you learn to read the energy around you, and help you learn to manage your energy.

I actually use Ulexite pieces to do very special psychic readings because of their ability to absorb the energy of the client to such a high degree that I am able to tune in like a radio to give impressions. However, these readings as of yet, are usually very abstract and symbolic – taking another’s subconscious language and translating it is a bit tricky.

Very different stones. Both are wonderful stones.

There is an article here about a form of gypsum that is being sold as ulexite as well (I realize now I’ve seen this before).

Major Sources:
Wikipedia: Selenite and Ulexite

Five Crystal Must-Haves (For Beginners)

Many people ask me what kind of crystal they should get for their crystal collection when they are first starting out. It always surprises me and I’m never sure what to say because where I operate from now is that each mineral is so individualized to give a generic list seems almost impossible.

The more I thought about it though, the more that I realized that I do have minerals in my collection that I view as a must-have in order for a personal crystal collection to be complete. Many of them are just so versatile that to be without would be foolish, in my opinion!

Here’s the list for those of you new to the crystal realms!

Citrine-0051. Citrine ~ works with the solar plexus

This is one of the minerals I probably use the most. Its one of the few minerals that all humans agree doesn’t need cleansing or clearing ever, and it will cleanse/clear your other minerals. It has a focus on abundance, clarity and harnessing your inner power as it works with the solar plexus. It cleanses and purifies the spaces that its in as well. I’ve kept a small piece of citrine in my wallet for years to help clear the energy in my life around finances.

I have a piece on my alter that I regularly use to clear my crystals. The particular piece I use was gifted to me to be used in clearing of spaces ceremony, and it has attended every single house clearing I have done since. It is invaluable to me, travelling in bags with other minerals clearing them as we move to our next destination. In meditations it has brought healing and clearing to my solar plexus.

This mineral isn’t the fastest working mineral. Effects can be amplified with herkimer or quartz, or by placing it in a grid. Otherwise this mineral works slow and steady. Its persistent and determined with a steady pace, and will raise your frequency to be the same.

I recently decided I was going to work more with citrine on an abundance level. In the Liquid Oracle Crystal book (that comes with the cards) there is an exercise I’ve just prepared for: Take one orange candle and place it above the citrine card (in a candle holder). In between place a piece of paper with what you desire written on it. Burn the candle and meditate on what you want for 7 minutes each day for 21 days. What you want will either have manifested or you will know why not.

I’ll let you know how it goes when I try it!

amethyst02a2. Amethyst ~ works with the third eye

A multi-dimensional purple stone that clears spaces. Amethyst is one of the great transmutation stones and has been found in several different variations over the last fifty years or so. Any of the variations from auralite to super seven are great and powerful. Amethyst is a great mineral to have around because of its transmutation properties: it clears spaces, and helps keep everything at a rather high frequency.

It also works with the third eye, the intuitive center. Meditation with a piece of amethyst at your third eye will activate and open the chakra, if it isn’t already. Meditating simply holding the mineral in your hands and visualizing your energy filtering through the amethyst is an effective meditation of changing, healing, shifting your auric field. If your third eye is overactive meditating with amethyst will bring it into balance.

I have clusters, tumbled, and raw pieces of amethyst and its variations that litter my room and crystal collection. They are invaluable to me, and I usually rotate between the different ones which travel with me.

rosequartz3. Rose Quartz ~ works with the heart

This one is a must have, especially for our Western Culture. This is a mineral that helps us to learn to love ourselves. When meditating with this mineral one can feel the pure love it emanates. It heals us by allowing us to receive love from ourselves and from others. It softly and gently leads us to a place where we can take care of ourselves first, and understanding that it’s okay to be selfish sometimes if that means you are taking care of yourself.

I worked with a big rose quartz ball for two years that was gifted to me. This past summer I gifted it to a wonderful woman. Rosie and I slept together almost every night during the period we were working with each other. I began a practice of asking myself when making decisions: Is this an act of self-love?

I learned to be okay releasing that which wasn’t serving me, which was challenging at times due to my own neurosis. I learned to recognize and be okay with the neurosis that I carry, seeing that it isn’t me. And the neurosis when expressed by others aren’t them either. It became easier to see the soul of others and myself. It became easier to not identify with my feelings.

And during that two years I really got to know myself well. And accept most of me.

Rose quartz is such a gentle, loving presence that subtly works on your energetic fields you will hardly feel it. If you do it will feel like you’ve fallen into a soft love cloud.

selenitetumbled4. Selenite ~ works with the aura & all chakras

This is a soft white mineral who’s energy is equally as soft. It is a self clearing mineral as well, and I’ve worked with it in various forms, but mostly wands. This is an epic aura cleanser, and balancer of the energies in your chakras. It is the mineral to grab for healing work if you are unsure which one to use because its so versatile.

I’ve used this mineral to extract and reduce pain, to clear the aura, to clear the chakras, in dream work, to open up my intuition and to faciliate communication with my guides. I keep a selenite wand beside my bed always to clear the dream space to allow me to have good dreams, similar to a dream catcher.

5. A grounding mineral ~ works with the root/sacral depending on mineral

I couldn’t decide what to make the fifth mineral. There are so many amazing ones, so I tried to imagine that I had a back of these four minerals, what would make it feel complete? A mineral for grounding! But which one? That depends on the person’s frequencies!

This last mineral I would say would need to be one of the following: Hematite, Black Obsidian, Black Tourmaline or Carnelian. All of these minerals can be used for grounding from a different frequency and a different way. It’s up to you to use the one that is most effective for you.

Some minerals I find too heavy for me and get headaches, slow and a lack of clarity. Other minerals don’t seem to affect me, while some minerals are just perfect for me, like carnelian.

So if I were to give you or sell you a bag of minerals as a starter set to the mineral kingdom that’s what I would put in the bag, with whichever grounding crystal you would prefer. This gives you ample minerals to explore and get you used to their energies and the way they work without overwhelming you. The minerals are powerful and versatile but gentle, so its a beautiful introduction to the mineral kingdom in my opinion.

5 Ways to Cleanse Your Crystals

So you have a shiny new friend and you are wondering what to do with it. Well, one of the first things that I used to recommend to all people is to cleanse the new crystal or gemstone that you have so its clean and shiny when you play with it.

Used to?

Through my continuous work with the mineral kingdom I’ve discovered that no crystal or gemstone or mineral needs to be cleansed or cleared. All of the minerals are little pockets of unconditional love, and nothing negative can live in unconditional love just as no virus can live in an alkaline environment. What this means is that each crystal contains the vibration of unconditional love and is always transmuting any energy lower than that which it encounters. Consistently. It never stops.

However when the mineral gets an overload of energy to transmute they do tend to break. So if you are doing a lot of work with a particular crystal (wearing it each day, using it daily, etc.) I recommend you take the time to cleanse it so your crystal stays in one piece! They tend to do their best work when they are feeling shiny, clean and loved, just like us. Remember, the mineral that your  holding contains a consciousness that is very different from ours. The mineral still enjoys being treated like the sacred being it is, just as we do.

This means that when we take the time to cleanse or clear our mineral we are doing a service to that mineral and helping it do its job more effectively and faster. We are showing the love and gratitude we have for the mineral giving its service here. The way minerals have described being left out under the moonlight is like a human going for a day at the spa. They feel loved, pampered, joyful, and ready to be of service again with a renewed zest.

MoonlightAnd that leads us to the first and most common way to clear minerals: By the light of the full moon.

The light of the full moon contains a particular energy that has been harnesssed for centuries by all sorts of mystics, alchemists, witches, yogis, and pretty much anyone who is in tune with natural cycles. The moon’s energy controls most of life on the planet, from the tides, to the cycles of each woman on the planet. The full moon is known as the time to release all that binds us and all that no longer serves us. Crystals are commonly left outside on the night of the full moon in a ritual type way so that the light can clear them. Minerals can also be left on a window’s ledge if you don’t trust the raccoons and crows. 🙂

By moonlight is the way to give your minerals the VIP treatment.

The second common way to clear minerals is with cold water. 

This is the process of washing the mineral under running cold water. Water has a cleansing effect and with the intention to release any energies that are not serving from the crystal most people find this to be an effective way of clearing a crystal. This method can be a bit dangerous if you don’t know about the crystal you are washing as there are minerals that will dissolve in water. You do not want to put selenite nor halite in water. For a full list of highly soluble minerals click here. For common somewhat soluble minerals click here.

This method is a good quick method that I’ve commonly used between crystal healing sessions.

Another common way to clear minerals is energetically. 

This is one of my personal favourite ways because it is easy, simple, and doesn’t require anything so it is ideal while travelling. For this one you hold the mineral in your hand and close your eyes. Imagine white light cleaning and clearing the crystal, travelling from Source into the middle of the mineral expanding outward. Continue to imagine this until you feel or know that the mineral is clean. For me I will see wolves running from the crystal. When there are no more wolves I know the mineral is clean. What happens for you may be different and is just as true.

This method may take some practice but comes in handy when travelling or when there is a lack of time to cleanse the minerals. The exercise can be expanded to include several minerals at once.

There is a method of leaving your minerals in the sun. This is a good way to clear minerals but there are some minerals that will actually loose their colour or shine with this method including amethyst, rose quartz, flourite, aquamarine, kunzite, smokey quartz, hiddenite, and spudumene. If you’ve done this already you may be able to bring out the colour again by rubbing a small amount of mineral oil into the mineral.

sageThe fifth way I will mention here to cleanse your minerals is to smudge them. 

This is an easy way of taking whatever your preferred smudge method is, and smudging the minerals you want clean. As per most methods it is up to you and your intuitive feelings to know when your minerals are clean. This is a subtle feeling or knowing, or just simply guessing when your first learning to listen and trust your intuition, that will tell you the mineral is clean.

You can’t “over-clean” a  mineral, nor can you “not clean it enough”. This is an additional step you can take to help the mineral be of more service to you. Even a little help is better than nothing.

These methods are the ones that I feel are easiest and most effective ways of clearing crystals. There are many more ways that you can cleanse your minerals that are much more ritual based including the use of herbs, burying the crystals, and using other minerals to cleanse minerals that you could research.

Keep in mind that there are three minerals that it is said never need to be cleansed. They are kyanite, citrine and selenite. These minerals can be placed touching other minerals and will clear them overnight.

Bonus Methods: Rice and Sea Salt. 

Placing the minerals in a bowl with rice or sea salt will clear minerals but in a different way than the ways mentioned above. Rice has a neutralizing effect. The mineral will feel more “in-balance” and often cleaner after sitting in rice (preferably submerged) for a few hours. With sea salt the crystals definitely feel clear after a few hours. The sea salt absorbs quickly any negative energy and rebalances, while often charging the mineral as well. I do not recommend eating the rice or salt afterwards as I’ve noticed that the rice often will change colour.

Happy Clearing!

Sugilite – The Dreamkeeper

sugilite_rough2This is a wonderful, beautifully coloured purple gemstone that is silica based. This crystal is more often used by those who are metaphysically inclined, though it makes a beautiful piece of jewellery as well.

Resonating most wit the third eye chakra this is a gemstone that will open up your senses and allow dreams to become vivid if you have them or start them if you don’t.

As with all personal work for best results you want to combine techniques for best results. Use sugilite to kick start your dreaming, and record your dreams daily. Keep the sugilite beneath your head when you sleep. He can also be used to enhance astral projection for some. This crystal will allow certain messages to be received, heard, and kept by the dreamer.

When set in silver this crystal is amplified in its work.

Speaking to the Deva, she tells us that she has often brought visions forth and that there are many times she’s been ignored. The she stops working with the person.

Sugilite is able to draw the crown energy into the third eye removing the blockages or imbalances that may be there. When meditated with it moves stagnant energy in the etheric body where it is near placed. This crystal loves the sunlight, but be careful to him too much sun – he may loose some of his shine. An ideal meditation with sugilite would be to place a piece on the third eye with selenite and rose quartz in each hand. Tigers eye at the fee and lie down outside, on grass. This creates a grounded connection of love. Allow yourself to fall asleep if it comes.

This beautiful crystal is definitely fun to work with so enjoy experimenting!

Do you have a gemstone or mineral inside your collection that you love and are curious about it? Do you wonder how best to work with it? Or what its purpose is for you? I do gemstone readings in person and by distance! Click here to find out more.

Serafina Christine is a creative free spirited cyclist and mystic who has committed to learning how to best Follow Her Bliss. She is the creator of Willows Lavender, where she specializes in readings and gemstone therapy, including gemstone elixirs.