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 Hi folks; It is an amazing time of change. At the Dragon workshop over Halloween weekend, 27 journeyers found themselves in ways that can be described as unbelievably heartwarming. While at the workshop, Bob Simmons and Kathy Warner, owners of Heaven and Earth, gifted two of their latest stones to the class--Dragon Stones and Rosephia (for Rose of Sophia). The details of these healing stones are reprinted below with permission from Bob Simmons. We all appreciated their gifts and presence as participants. More information from Bob and Kathy can be found on their website. www.heavenandearthjewelry.com Our next workshop is one I have not done in 5 or more years. It is an intensive journey weekend where we do more journeys than usual. I call it Emergence of the Soul, because the number of journeys combined with various energies from the stones and crystals results in major discoveries of the Self. We will be doing it at Bethel Horizons January 22-24, 2010. Details are below. As we move into the holidays, daemons from childhood can surface to disrupt our close of the year. I suggest that you find ways to pacify the daemons of the past with offerings of gratitude and a letter of appreciation for what it or they have taught you rather than succumb to the often miserable memories. This small ritual has changed the past into memories that no longer haunt me. Bountiful Blessings xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dragon Stone
Robert Simmons writes: "Dragon Stone is a strengthener of the physical and etheric bodies, and it works very well for knitting the two of them together, when illness or other negative conditions have brought one's vitality down. Its influence assists the body in the spiritual purification of the blood, and of the cells. It is a wellspring of prana, and it can help one find one's inner ‘reset,' so that one's body and energy fields regain their resonance with a pattern of health, stability and emotional wellbeing. It works steadily rather than rapidly, like most Jaspers, although the exceptional potency of Dragon Stone makes it one of the most powerful and dynamic of the stones in this family. It has been said that the best way of breaking an old habit is to introduce a new one. That is Dragon Stone's special talent. If one has––through being buffeted by life's events, through confusion or fear, or through self-indulgence––fallen into unhealthy, debilitating patterns, Dragon Stone offers a strong, self-affirming template to follow. Rosophia
Rosophia is a newly discovered gemstone from the Rocky Mountains of the U.S. The stone is a mixture of reddish Feldspar, clear or white Quartz and black Biotite. The Quartz component of Rosophia has a trigonal (hexagonal) crystal system and a hardness of 7. The Feldspar component has a monoclinic crystal system and a hardness of 5 to 6. The name Rosophia is derived from the phrase "Rose of Sophia," meaning the "Heart of Wisdom." This name was chosen because of the stones' readily perceived heart currents, and the intuition that the stone carries the qualities and presence of Sophia, Soul of the World. Background In August of 2008, my wife Kathy and I traveled to Sante Fe, New Mexico, where we were both invited to offer presentations at the Sophia Conference, hosted by the School of Spiritual Psychology. When we were shown into our sleeping accommodations, one of the first things I noticed was a colorful five-inch chunk of stone on a shelf right in front of the door. After putting down our suitcases, I picked up the salmon-pink, white-spotted rock, and I held it up to my chest. Within moments I could feel sweet, swirling currents pleasantly circulating in and around my heart. The currents felt both strong and gentle, nourishing and inspiring, healing and even playful. I was astonished at experiencing such an immediate and powerful heart connection with this stone. I had never seen such a rock before, and I thought I knew about almost all the world's gemstones and crystals! I passed the stone to Kathy, and she too felt the immediate swirling currents of pleasant energy. I guessed that the stone that had appeared synchronistically on the shelf of our room at the conference must have been left there by someone who found it near the conference center. The center was situated on a hill with an adjoining canyon, and later that day I set out looking among the nooks and crannies of the arroyo for more of the new stones. After searching in the canyon, I was able to find a couple dozen stones to bring home by the end of the conference. When I arrived back in Vermont, I was eager to show the new "stones of Sophia" (as I had begun to think of them) to my friends and co-workers. Once again, the currents of the heart were quickly and easily felt by virtually everyone--even people who had never felt a stone before. I could not forget about these new stones, and I knew I wanted to offer them to all the crystal-lovers who read our catalogs. But there was no way to buy them. If we wanted them, we would have to go back to New Mexico and find them! Guided by the strong feeling that this new gemstone was an essential piece in the unfolding of both the crystal work and the evolution of heart intelligence guided by Sophia, I set off early for my fall buying trip to Denver, planning to go first to New Mexico to look for more of these "stones of destiny." Justin from our mail-order staff came with me, his own sense of adventure piqued by the stories we had told. We drove for thirty-nine hours straight in order to have some days available for our search. In the original canyon site, we found a small amount of the stones I was now calling Rosophia (for the Rose of Sophia). I loved the new name, which was inspired by the swirling heart currents the stones emanated--as if a many-petaled rose were opening in one's heart. We searched elsewhere in the area and in other parts of northern New Mexico and Colorado. By the time we headed for home, we had found enough of the salmon-colored stones to offer them in all the forms I hoped to produce--raw, tumbled, spheres, hearts, beads and jewelry. As soon as we returned from our Rocky Mountain journey, we set to work with Rosophia, in both outer and inner ways.
For self-healing, I recommend Rosophia for almost everything, since this is in essence a stone that draws one into wholeness. It helps one to calm the emotional body, release stress, and dissolve repetitive negative patterns on all levels. It is of special benefit to the heart, and my feeling is that its currents are restorative to the natural, healthy functioning of the heart, both as an organ of the body and as a center of consciousness. For diseases rooted in negative self-image or a fearful attitude toward the world, Rosophia can be a powerful spiritual medicine. The self-affirming qualities of this stone make it an excellent ally in dealing with maladies in which the body turns against itself, as in autoimmune conditions. It feels to me like a stone that can work spiritually to aid in circulation of the blood and perhaps the lymphatic system. Psycho-spiritually, Rosophia can facilitate the remediation of problems stemming from feelings of low self-worth, fear of the future, mistrust of other people and all kinds of stress-related difficulties. This lovely stone aids in liberating one from negative patterns created by old wounds, in this life or past lives, and it helps with the recall of repressed material, if necessary, in order to release it. It can facilitate insight into the unconscious patterns that lead to similar problems again and again. It encourages a stronger sense of self, based in the heart's truth rather than in egoic pride. In a more mystical aspect, Rosophia can, I believe, help one awaken to the consciousness present within one's heart. This is its greatest potential gift, because when we meet the self, the "I" residing in our heart, we enter the realm of our wholeness and we have at last found our true home. We realize that our truest self is this heart-dweller, rather than the one we thought we were, and that this heart-dweller knows us in every detail and loves us without any judgment. I feel a resonance between the Rosophia stone and this deeper "I," and I intuit that the stone's heart currents support the growth of a web of ever-stronger and more conscious relationship with this one. Behind the true Self I have described is the Soul of the World, Sophia. Through deepening into the true Self, we simultaneously reach further into conscious, loving, co-creative partnership with Her. This is, from all I have been learning, our truest destiny, and each step on that path is an entry into joy. Rosophia allows us to touch and be touched by Her. New Attunement. All stones on Earth are in some way expressing the qualities of the Soul of the World, even though stones such as Azeztulite seem to carry frequencies that are more attuned to what one might call the Solar Logos, the Divine male energies. Yet even these stones are not without traces of Sophia's harmony and spontaneity of expression. Rosophia seems saturated with the love energies of the Divine Feminine as the Soul of the World. I feel in Rosophia a playfulness as well as this all-nourishing love. The mood with which Rosophia infuses my vibrational field--in addition to the swirling currents of love--is one of a high-spirited playfulness that invites me to wake up and join Her. I feel that the intimate nourishment which comes though the Rosophia is meant to heal and strengthen the parts of our psyche, energy field and body that have been fragmented or damaged through the many stresses and strains of human life. When we are fully whole and strong once more (or perhaps at last), the Being gesturing through Rosophia seems to say, "Dance with me!" It is certainly my feeling that the Soul of the World wants us as her partners, not only as her children. We are invited into the co-creative dance of the becoming of the world, and for all of her capacity to nourish us, my heart tells me that Sophia must have advocates, defenders and lovers who wish to serve her after having seen who She is. All of these things are available through meditative work with the stone Rosophia. When one meditates with Rosophia, the first sense is likely to be an infusion of gentle, swirling currents in the area of one's heart, engendering a feeling of receiving love and being gently invited into loving relationship. As attention is focused on these heart currents, one's entire being "curls around the heart," and heart awareness fills one's consciousness. There is a perception not only of one's own known self, but an echo of the "other" self existing in the center of the heart. Rosophia can help us awaken the "I" that dwells in the cave of the heart, and that "I" is our truest self. Many mystic traditions have maintained for untold years that there are two selves within each person. Our culture of superficiality and materialism has all but annihilated our memory of the Other who lives in the heart's core. Because this being is the spark of Sophia in us, and because Sophia in her essence is love, neither she nor our "I" self will ever force their way into us. Both will wait for us to turn toward them, toward her. When we make the invitation, we must mean it and we must stay attentive and listen, for the heart's voice is a soft voice, especially at the beginning. Only in circumstances of dire need or overwhelming feeling does the heart speak loudly and forcefully within us. This is why it's crucial to develop a dynamic relationship in which one's everyday self turns toward the heart self, which Robert Sardello has called our Perfect Nature. By our doing this, She is encouraged, and our own deepest Self is encouraged to speak to us. Often the messages are not words but images, and these images must be felt. Yet if we give patience and attention to the currents of the heart, a treasure greater than any other we could gain dwells there. Rosophia stone offers, in many ways, this gift that dwells in the center of our heart. Its currents encourage our heart into activity. When the heart awakens and we feel its selfhood, an additional unfolding flows through us the way our blood flows, reaching every part of our being. In this flowing we become the Grail, the holy cup of renewal, and our very bodies hold the nourishing spiritual elixir that can heal the world. All of these things were spoken as I held the Rosophia to my heart and listened to the words that arose. In her feminine attributes, her resonance with our hearts, and her affinity for Earth, Rosophia is, of all stones, the most resonate with Sophia. Sophia is the one in myth who imbued the universe with the qualities of beauty and wisdom. This occurred through her sacrifice, which caused some of her Divine nature to remain "fallen"--as the gnostics have said--in the material world. In this mythos, which pervades many gnostic teachings and those of other spiritual streams, the descent of the Christ was intended to free Sophia from her bondage to the Earth. Some of these tales say that Sophia chose to remain here, out of her love for the world. The mythic pattern of Sophia as the feminine, the Soul of the World, and Christ as the embodiment of the heavenly Light, or the Solar Logos, is reflected, rather astonishingly, in the resonance of Rosophia and Azeztulite. As I described, the stone Rosophia emanates qualities like those one might associate with Sophia--dark, intimate, undulating currents which are gentle, comforting, nurturing and loving. Azeztulite displays some of the qualities one could associate with the pattern of Christ--its mode is Light, its energies have "descended" from the Great Central Sun, and its purpose is to fill the world with Light and awaken humanity. There is much more that I could say here, but I only want to sketch this picture. (I do not mean to take any sort of religious position, except to say that I believe the primal mythic patterns manifest again and again, on all levels of reality. Prior myths reflect the patterns of both Christ and Sophia. The leap I am making here is to say that the stones can also reflect these patterns.) When I first encountered Rosophia, I began wearing two strands of tumbled nuggets--one of Rosophia and one of my other favorite, Azeztulite. After a couple of days, I noticed that I was feeling some amazing and powerful energies while wearing these two stones together. At odd times, even when I was eating dinner or watching a movie, I felt sudden infusions of strong currents pouring down through the top of my head and coming up from below as well. They seemed to be reaching for one another, and they sometimes did link at the heart. I sensed feelings of intense longing between these two streams. When they both entered my heart, I experienced a great sense of joy and fulfillment. For some years I have noticed the parallels between the story and currents of Azeztulite and the mythos of Christ as the Son of the Sun. (Chapter Ten, "The Tale of the Azez," I present an excerpt from one of the gnostic gospels in which a figure identified as Christ is speaking. He is giving initiation instructions for souls ascending through the spiritual realms, and he appears to mention the Azez [!] as protective spirits who help the ascending soul.) It is clear that the purpose of Azeztulite parallels the mission of Christ--to bring Light to the Earth and teach humanity how to overcome the forces of limitation and death. Rosophia embodies and emanates the types of currents we associate with Sophia--love, generosity, wisdom, harmony, beauty, tenderness, grief, creativity and courage. When one holds or wears Rosophia and Azeztulite at the same time, their currents combine in an amazing way. I sense the currents of Azeztulite as the Light reaching down into matter, as the spiritual realms extending themselves in a gesture of love and blessing. I see these currents inwardly as golden Light descending into the body from the crown chakra, pouring Light into and through the Liquid Crystal Body Matrix. Emotionally, Azeztulite feels like utter benevolence and love from the vastness of the luminous Divine. I feel Rosophia as the feminine counterpart to Azeztulite's rather masculine radiance. Rosophia's currents arise from within matter. They feel dark, nourishing and intimate. Her longing reaches "upward," from matter toward the Light of Spirit. When these two streams meet in the heart, there is an astonishing alchemical transformation. One can feel the two long-separated beings uniting in the vessel we have offered them--the Grail of our heart. I see inwardly that this meeting gives birth to a new spiritual being. It is related to the "I" that we carry in our heart, although it is much greater than I have ever known it to be. Seeing such visions, and feeling them bodily, inspires devotion to the realization of the great potential of what can be. I have become convinced that these two spiritual streams, or beings (we can call them Christ/Sophia or Masculine/Feminine or Heaven/Earth), long for union within the realm of matter. In spirit they may already be united, but their opportunity for incarnation depends on us, upon our free choice. If we offer ourselves as the vessel for their union, they can fulfill their longing. Their marriage within us transfigures us into the fulfillment of our destiny--free and awakened spiritual human beings, co-creating in union with the Divine, transforming ourselves into beings of Light, and the Earth into a Planet of Light. These Divine beings have entered into the stones Azeztulite and Rosophia. As with the other spiritual beings or streams embodied in the stones, their potential is frozen until we come into relationship with them and free them into expression in the world. Spiritually, they become the Divine parents and we become the Holy Child. In a sense, we all create one another--just as in human life, in which there are no actual "parents" until the child is born. When one wears or meditates with Rosophia and Azeztulite together it is common to feel the penetration of the crown chakra by high-frequency Light currents, and to feel that the Earth's invisible currents of love are reaching upward through one's body to meet the Light currents entering from above. I hesitate to begin speaking of the more superficial benefits or potential of Rosophia because my heart is so ardently supportive of what I see to be Rosophia's deepest purpose, as well as Azeztulite's. However, I will offer a few words. I feel that Rosophia would benefit the heart in every possible way, from the most deeply spiritual to the physical. Certainly Rosophia's influence helps one to let go of stress quite readily. (I have found that holding a Rosophia stone near the heart when I am ready to sleep works to dispel stress, relax the mind and emotions, and usher me into a deep and restful sleep. It can also facilitate dreams of Sophia.) Rosophia's influence encourages us toward self-love--to experience oneself as love. Rosophia allows us to feel close to the Divine Feminine. It helps us remember that we are not alone in the world, that we are every moment within her embrace. All of these things work psychospiritually to engender peace throughout one's being, and when peace is present, disharmony is gone. Thus, as a stone for spiritual healing, Rosophia encompasses our bodies--physical, astral, etheric and all other levels--and it brings harmony, which is her essence, into them all. Like the Philosopher's Stone of alchemy, Rosophia is rather humble-looking and might be easily missed as one passes by. However, if one notices her and turns to her with the heart's attention, her touch is unmistakable and is immediately treasured. Rosophia is a reddish stone, and the Philosopher's Stone appears in alchemical texts as both red and white, depending upon its stage of transformation. (I liken the white aspect of the Philosopher's Stone to Azeztulite.) A great many references are made in alchemical texts--most notably the Aurora Consurgens--that identify Sophia with the Philosopher's Stone. The fact that Rosophia resembles the Philosopher's Stone in both its appearance and its qualities is an exciting discovery. In alchemy, creating, achieving and receiving the Philosopher's Stone was said to bring the alchemist the gifts of enlightenment, healing, wisdom, rejuvenation and even immortality. Whether this was meant as physical immortality or something purely spiritual is not known, and the alchemist had to do much inner work to reach the stage of union with the Stone. My sense is that alchemy itself was inspired by visionary experiences of the coming potential for human and Divine transformation, which is beginning to ripen in these times. This may account for the discovery, at least in our era, of physical stones such as Rosophia and Azeztulite (and Moldavite) with qualities resembling those of the fabled Philosopher's Stone. My own intention is to pursue the path of inner alchemy, in conjunction with my stone work, and to see for myself what is possible. I encourage interested readers to join in this endeavor. Rosophia works in a special harmonic resonance with the stone called Master Shamanite, which deepens Rosophia's link to the interior of the Earth and to the worlds in the depths of consciousness. These are the domains of dreams, the realms of shamanic journeys, the dwelling places of the Black Madonna and of Kali, which are faces of Sophia (and Rosophia) as much as are the beings Kwan Yin and Mary. Yet all of these are human masks covering the invisible ever-becoming evanescent dancing beauty which is Sophia and which gestures to us through this, her stone. The combination of Azeztulite, Rosophia and Master Shamanite is energetically resonant with the Tree of Life. Master Shamanite works in unity with Rosophia and Azeztulite in a way that creates the Tree of Life pattern and energy state within one's body. The grounded and protective, purifying energies of Master Shamanite stimulate the "roots" of our body-tree. The Rosophia, centering as it does in the heart, fulfills the function of the tree's trunk--bridging the Below and the Above, providing stability and circulation of life currents. Azeztulite awakens the "leaves" of our energetic Tree of Life, stimulating the upper chakras and bringing in the Light of the Great Central Sun, which gives Life to the entire tree and provides the energy for growth. Human beings are destined to be the living bridge between the realms of matter and spirit, just as a tree literally bridges heaven and Earth, drawing nourishment from below and the Light of life from above. The image of the Tree of Life as our own divine template helps us bring our conscious will into alignment with this purpose. Combining the three stones--Azeztulite, Rosophia and Master Shamanite--invites and awakens this pattern into manifestation within each of us and the world. Rosophia speaks "I am Wisdom, love and intimacy. I am the strength of the Earth, and the power of tenderness. I am your Beloved, as you are mine. I am the all-giving, and I need your gift. Our Love is a circle and a spiral, ever-living and always becoming."
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Dragon Stone is a newly discovered green and red Jasper from South Africa. Its dramatically contrasting and vivid colors make it an eye-catcher, and its energies do justice to its beauty!
Key words: The Love of Sophia, awakening of Heart Awareness, co-creating with the Divine, alchemical transmutation 
Rosophia is first and foremost a stone of the heart. Its currents quickly and deeply move into and throughout the chest, in and around one's heart, bringing sensations of soothing, calming, loving caresses. Through this stone, it feels as though one is being touched with the loving invisible hands of the Divine Feminine, the Intimate One who is vast enough to fill the world and even the cosmos, and is at the same time fully aware of and cares for each human being. There is a feeling quality engendered by these stones that I can only describe as a delicate yet powerful sweetness. They bring an inner feeling of beauty, a serene sense of centeredness within the heart, a gentle appreciation of each perception and all the beings who make up the world. Holding Rosophia, one softens inwardly with no loss of strength. One sees more truly, because the veils of stress and anxiety are lifted. Compassion is enhanced, because fears have been quieted. The heart-centering engendered by Rosophia encourages one's capacity to meet each moment fresh and free, ready to respond with clarity and creativity.