Worked mostly on the fine details of Vaydas hair and shading Alices fur. Fining tuning areas now that the drawing is laid out. Had to take a break from my art and let all the inner work I've been doing lately sink in fully. Then I attended an amazing conference called the Global Leadership Summit. I attended about five years ago and won two tickets to the summit this year. The most inspirational conference I have attended yet. Two days spent filling my head with ways to improve my relationships. What it means to be a leader, how to get there, ways to maintain the momentum. How to make it through devastating circumstances and still forge ahead. Understanding true qualities of a leader and the hard inner work they have done to succeed. The determination and discipline required. Truly inspiring and much needed at this exact point in my life to cement everything I have been learning and applying in my life.
Then I had a dream. I thought I might share it here. My husband even suggested I share my dream after I told him. In my dream I was standing inside a catholic church with many other people, the Pope was blessing us and then cast a fistful of stones onto the floor. Everyone scrambled for them but I found two! I gave the woman next to me the smaller of the two stones, but she seemed ungrateful so I ended up giving her the larger stone and keeping the smaller one for myself. The stones the Pope cast out were Staurolite, also known as Fairy stones. Then I left the church and John Leguizamo was waiting for me outside, I told him I had something for him and pulled out a tangerine quartz and citrine from my pocket. He told me he didn't want them. He said that he had something to tell me and told me to turn around. Then I woke up because the kids were awake and yelling for me.
After consulting with two dear friends and my husband it seems clear I am ready to move on from work within the solar plexus representing the citrine crystal, essentially balance - self esteem, confidence, willpower. The tangerine quartz represents the sacral chakra, essentially creativity - emotions, connection, pleasure. I had been doing some work this year on finding balance and creativity within myself. I've been told I may be ready to move on to a new level of spiritual work and connecting with spirit directly.
From what I have been told and what I have read is that Staurolite is rare and come to those who are ready. Staurolite comes from the Greek word Stauros, which means cross. There are numerous tales behind these stones. One in particular I keep seeing over and over is that these stones were first formed when the fairies cried as they heard the news of Christ's death, which is why they form in a cross. Staurolite is a strong stone to aid spiritual grounding and a stronger connection with beings in the natural world, such as devas, fairies, spirits of animals and plants. They are known as stones that will allow you to accept more easily, the gifts that Jesus brought to the world. An unconditional love for others and for the earth.
And from what I gathered from others and my own intuition about the ungrateful woman and the two stones, I am generous in nature and can recognize that a small stone or big stone, the medicine is still the same. There may also be someone taking from me and not appreciating me, leaving me with the smaller of the two stones. So I will watch out for this, I am no stranger to this type of person. I think as a giver and creative person, takers are naturally attracted to me (at least that what it seems from my own 35 year experience on this earth). All in all it was an amazing dream, I've never dreamed of crystals before this time. My husband agreed I needed to find a stone like the one in my dream. This one is the closest I could find, they are rare and there are not many listed for sale online. I believe the one in my dream was more of a 90 degree angle, rather than 60 degree - but as stated previously "the medicine is the same." The stone in my dream had a huge piece of mica on the side (and I found none with this particular quality) but I this stone is actually set in mica! The photo doesn't show its immensely shimmering and sparkly background for the cross. I've been keeping this stone very close since it arrived Friday, keeping it in my pocket, in my medicine bag or under my pillow while sleeping. I love it. I also finally felt like creating again last night. So I've been busy with batik, finishing up projects promised for others and a surprise for Lucias mother.
