How I use gems to change my affective state.

Let me start right away by saying that in no way am I actually "enchanting" anything.

When I was about 20 years old, I had a friend who introduced me to semi-precious stones and the mysticism around them. I won't go into much detail about our crazy lives during that time.

The only thing that I took away from that conversation was that I should google the "definition" of a ruby.

I found a site that defined a ruby as the most powerful gem in the universe. Above that site (in Google search results) was an online store located in Ohio, which sold jewelry made of semi-precious stones. I found a ruby zoisite pendant and purchased it for $75.

Upon arrival, the package contained a small note with instructions on how to enchant the stone.

The instructions were simple and clear. They were as follows:

1) Run the gem under the tap and make the intention to "cleanse" the stone.

2) Hold the gem in your hand and state the intention, i.e., "I intend to use this stone to __________."

3) Hold the gem and "feel its energy."

4) Anchor the intention by repeating it.

It's been so long ago now, but even then, I knew what the ritual was meant to represent. I wasn't kidding myself into believing in any sort of magic. Despite being a Pagan, I understand the meaning behind the rituals. I know how they work.

Nothing happened to the stone, but my unconscious mind received the information and stored it. The cleansing of the stone is meant to break unconscious associations just as declaring the intention is intended to create new ones. To this day, I use mystical phases when programming my unconscious mind, but that is because I know of no other way, other than legitimate scientific practices which, to me, take all the fun out of it anyway.

I still have that pendant, as you can see from the above photo. It's broken now, and it will cost me $250 to fix it, which I find outrageous, so I keep it in a little pouch around my neck. I also use two bracelets: amethyst and carnelian. Amethyst to counter the raw strength of the ruby, and carnelian to pick me back up. From time to time, I create new associations using the formula above.

I make no claim that this practice helps me in any way. It doesn't solve my problems. It doesn't even help me fix them! All it does is change how I feel. To me, it is a way of programming my unconscious mind to execute a series of commands upon the activation of a trigger (i.e., putting on a bracelet).

We know from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) that we can choose to experience a different state at any given moment. I decide to create associations to stones and then wear them to maintain the desired state without any conscious effort.

Once I had even programmed my gems to enable me to open a portal to hell to summon demons. Effectively, this made me so terrified of my own shadow that I had to smash them. I kind of miss it. In fact, it's been so long since I've been to hell. Too long, I should say. Be right back, that bastard Satan owes me.