Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: stones

  • Crystals A complete guide to crystals and color healing

    Crystals A complete guide to crystals and color healing

    Perfect for the person who is interested in Crystals for healing, or simply as an identifier of various beautiful stones, Jennie Harding’s latest book Crystals will make understanding but more importantly, identifying stones simple and easy.

    Drawing on her knowledge gained over more than twenty-five years as a healer working with various modalities, Harding has created a well thought out and constructed reference book, which as it is colour coded, simplifies the task of discovering the names and properties of more than 100 crystals in daily use.

    Brightly coloured stones or crystals have held massive fascination down the centuries, being endowed with, in many cases, powerful magic, healing properties, with their uses for adornment being legendary. They are also a simple and yet beautiful way to instantly connect with the earth, with their fascination still as popular today as it was centuries ago.

    Jennie Harding sets out to educate from the beginning of the book, with a very informative chapter on Colour and the importance of colour in everyday life, the effects it can have on the body, mind and spirit.

    In an excellent chapter, The World of Crystals, looks at how crystals are formed, the different structures, forms and the reasons why these precious objects need to be treated with respect, before getting into the various colour codes and specifics of the gems being researched.

    Towards the end of the book there is a section Crystals in Your Life, which goes on to explain how to use the crystals, how best to utilise their energy in your home, in healing, or when wearing as a simple piece of jewellery, and so very much more.

    For the novice or avid collector of these beautiful gems, Crystals, with its stunning images, clearly showing the gems, their colours and individuality, along with a well presented set out history and structure, makes this the perfect reference book for collectors, practitioners or anyone who simply enjoys collecting small, elegant stones of great beauty.

     

  • The Crystal Fix A modern guide to the healing power of crystals

    The Crystal Fix A modern guide to the healing power of crystals

    Crystals and healing have been known about and have been an accepted feature of ancient and modern civilisations going as far back as the ancient Sumerians, who believed these beautiful rocks had healing and magical properties.

    Not only were they much prized to be worn as jewellery by so many of the ancient cultures, they were also used in cosmetics, for healing, ground down to be taken as powers to used in rituals and ceremonies, to connect with spirits and the earth.

    Minerals, Rocks, Crystals and Gemstones are still used in similar ways today, for healing, adornment, and connection. Julietta Thornbury has created a beautiful, modern guide to sourcing, understanding and using crystals in a modern context in The Crystal Fix, which could be considered as the beginners guide to working with and understanding these beautiful stones, but a work that can also be considered as more than beneficial to those familiar with crystals and their healing abilities.

    As the founder of Luminosity Crystals, she has spent many years resourcing and working with crystals, passing this knowledge on in a careful, well-constructed style that sets out with clarity living with crystals, how to select the right ones for you and where, when and how to use them.

    A comprehensive directory of each of the crystals provides a guide to their healing properties, colour, source, history, uses, and chakra use, with helpful tips included with each of the crystals.

    Each stone comes with a large clear photograph of shape and colour which is very helpful when selecting stones, particularly when first beginning to understand and work with crystals.

    Rituals, along with a comprehensive directory of Crystals By Need and then by Alphabet bring this easy to use, very informative, well presented guide to enhancing your life and surroundings with the magic of Crystals, to a delightful and informative close.

     

  • Celtique

    Celtique

    In this his twelfth album, Doug Hammer does not disappoint with the beautiful and intriguing Celtique, a solo piano juxtaposition of Celtic influenced pieces, where the piano is used to create the wonderful richness that is Celtic music.

    Delightful and dreamy in parts, vibrant and full of life, powerful, strong and peaceful in others, the album is a wonderful composition of mood and movement which will enchant from beginning to end. Based about the life of a fisherman the album begins and ends with Celtique, completing the circle of a day on the seas.

    Celtique (Daybreak) introduces the work with a delightful, gentle, melody immediately bringing to mind the grey white softness of misty morning as the fishermen get ready to head out for the mornings work, which slowly builds to a faster, more frenetic pace as the boats reach the open waters of the sea.

    As with all Doug Hammers albums they contain the unexpected as is shown in Wandering Path, a complete change creating the mood of a gentle stroll along the cliffs edge or across the vastness of the moors: wandering along at times as if enjoying the moment, brisker as the pace increases, perhaps to lead towards an interesting object on the pathway. Or perhaps a cold drink at journey’s end.

    Ancient Stones is a favourite track as it has been created in tribute to the majestic and wonderful rows of the standing stones of Carnac. The three fields – Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan – contain around 3,000 aligned megaliths, which date from 4000BC and were dug out and erected where they stand in timeless witness to the world passing them bye. She Beckons is once again introduced with a gentle soft melody that quickly moves into a vibrant and playful dance rhythm which fits well with the previous track.

    Each of the song titles chosen introduces the moments of the day with the glorious Wind And Waves, a perfect piece to create the vision of the sea beginning to rise, become choppy as the wind begins to stir the water, the day beginning to draw in, the fishermen beginning to point their boats towards a Safe Harbor, a piece with a refreshing, bright and energetic melody which perfectly completes the safe coming home.

    A change of pace is created with Voices of the Past a hauntingly beautiful piece whereas Moss and Earth introduces a deep and sombre melody, before moving into a jaunty little rhythm that intrigues, as it once again changes to a full bodied melody and then changes back, yet again.

    Celtique (Twilight) draws to close a day in the life of a fisherman, the evening drawing in, the mood gentle, slow and peaceful; a fitting and relaxed final piece.

    Delightful, full of joy and peace, this work from Doug Hammer is unashamedly, beautifully Celtic!