95. Crystals

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Hooray, GIA here.

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I'm this week's host of the

Creative Spiritual Journey podcast

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where Judy and I talk about those

things that bring us joy for me.

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I find joy by connecting with

nature, connecting with Jesus

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Christ and our heavenly parents.

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Seasonal living, and all the bits of magic

and wonder I come across while navigating

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this remarkable journey we call life.

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Do you know why I say hooray at

the beginning of every podcast?

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Because it's such a miracle

that I'm here and that I have a

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podcast ready to share with you.

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For some people, another podcast

episode isn't a big deal, but for

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me it's a grand accomplishment.

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So I say hooray because I want

to celebrate and just proclaim

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how happy I am to be here.

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Well, I am especially excited today to

share with you one of my favorite topics.

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As you know, I am always looking for

ways to connect with Jesus Christ and

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our heavenly parents through nature.

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I am already drawn to nature, but

when that nature connects me to my

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God, ah, that puts me over the top.

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So today I want to talk about

crystals, jewels, precious stones,

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whatever you want to call them.

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They are all a place where I see a

natural connection to God and I love

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it, and I think God loves it as well.

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Listen to these scriptures from Zacharia,

Isaiah and doctrine and covenants, and

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the Lord, their God shall save them in

the last day as the flock of his people,

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for they shall be as stones in a crown

lifted up as an ensen upon his land

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Thou shall also be a crown of glory

in the hand of the Lord and a royal

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diatom in the hand of thy God.

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For I the Lord rule in the heavens

above and among the armies of the earth.

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And in the day when I

shall make up my jewels,

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All men shall know what it is that

Bess speaketh the power of God.

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God's most prized possessions.

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He calls his jewels he holds them

and cherishes them in his hands.

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and there is more evidence of

God's love of precious stones.

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Ezekiel describes God's

throne as a sapphire.

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What He sits on a sapphire.

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That is so cool.

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That will be something to

see someday, don't you think?

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And when describing

Zion, God said in Isaiah,

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Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair

colors and lay thy foundations with

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sapphires, and I will make thy windows

of agates and thy gates of car, uncles

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and thy borders of pleasant stones.

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And all thy children shall be

taught of the Lord, and great

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shall be the peace of thy children.

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Uh, I love these scriptures and there is

another awesome mention of gemstones in

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the Bible, and that is of the stones worn

with the sacred clothing by Aaron and his

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sons as they ministered in the temple.

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The description gets very detailed and

frankly it loses me, But it talks

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about fine linens woven with gold and

blue and purple and scarlet And on top

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of it all was a breastplate made of

pure gold set with four rows of stones.

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One for each of the 12 tribes of Israel.

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the stones were sardis, topaz, and Carle

on the first row, emerald, sapphire,

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and diamond on the second Lauri,

agate, and amethyst on the third, and

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burial, ony and Jasper on the fourth.

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I don't know about you, but many of

these names are unfamiliar to me.

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But what I have learned is that,

for example, carbu was a garnet, and

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Lire was a reddish orange zircon.

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But even the ones we think we

know aren't what we might expect.

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Scholars believe that the diamond

was probably clear courts and that

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the sapphire was most likely lapis

lazuli within these 12 stones are

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layers of symbolic meaning way

more than we can get into here.

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But I just want to point out a few things.

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I'm going to oversimplify this so

it doesn't get too complicated, but

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it's interesting to note that each

of the stones was engraved with

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the name of one of the 12 tribes of

Israel as a member of the Church of

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Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

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We know that names are important.

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There are lots of examples in the

scriptures that illustrate this point,

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but just look at the name of our church.

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It certainly wasn't chosen

for its marketability.

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It was chosen because God wants

it to say something very specific.

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The words that come out of our

mouths are important to him.

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Names are important to him.

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And besides being engraved with names,

the stones were explicitly given a name.

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They were called stones of Memorial,

and that word memorial in the Hebrew

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can be translated as remembrance.

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These stones were meant to be enduring

words, and they were engraving in

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stone so that they couldn't be lost.

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The stones in the breastplate were

not just any precious, sparkly jewel.

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They had to be stones

that could be engraved.

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I think that's part of the reason scholars

speculate that it wasn't actually a

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diamond in the breastplate, because with

the hardness of diamond, it could not

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have been engraved with primitive tools.

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Stones similar to the ones in the

breastplate, were often used for

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seals representing authority binding

agreements, and enduring obligation.

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does that sound like the engraved stones

could represent a covenant promise?

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I think so.

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I think in ancient Israel when the high

priest was wearing the breastplate,

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it wasn't a simple show of authority.

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It was a physical witness Or a

memorial representing an ongoing

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covenant relationship with God.

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Okay.

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By bearing the names of Israel, the

high priest symbolically carried

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the covenant people into the Lord's

presence, affirming their identity,

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responsibility, and continued inclusion.

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In the covenant, There is

also an idea that the stones

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represent the plan of salvation.

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The Red Stones were for

blood and sacrifice.

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The blue and clear stones were for heaven,

God's throne and divine communication.

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The opaque stones symbolized

earth and foundation.

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Durability and sure footing.

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I love all of this, but

we aren't done yet.

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There's more.

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I personally believe in the

subtle energy of crystals.

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I'm not a person that can

feel those energies other

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than to be attracted to them.

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And seriously isn't everyone

attracted to jewels?

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you can suppose it's just because

of the way they look or the

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show of prestige they may offer.

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Personally, I believe it's more than that.

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I believe we are attracted to them

because of the subtle energy they emit.

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This just makes sense to me because

I believe that everything on, in

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and about this earth was created

to fulfill its divine potential.

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Nothing is an accident, I believe,

like so many of God's other creations,

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such as herbs, food essential oils,

sunrises, And that crystals are gifts.

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God placed on this earth with a purpose.

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So all this said.

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My question is, did the stones

in the breastplate offer

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more than visual symbolism?

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I like to think so.

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Let me share with you just

a few of the qualities these

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stones are said to resonate.

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Garnet inspires love, devotion, loyalty.

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Lapis brings the qualities of

honesty, compassion, and uprightness.

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Jasper imparts determination, courage,

and helps transform ideas into action.

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and those are only three of the 12.

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Imagine the influence and resonance

such a breastplate could produce.

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I can't say what God had in mind

here, but it sounds wonderful to me.

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I think that often as members of the

Church of Jesus Christ, we shy away from

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things like crystals because they seem

witchy or magical and therefore unreal

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or even dangerous, And that's okay.

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If Crystal Lo makes you feel

uncomfortable, I'm fine with that.

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But for me, I want to take Crystals back

from the spiritual new age practitioners

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and ground them to the earth and to

nature and to the God that created them.

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I believe in using my own intuition,

my own sense of knowing, my own

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wisdom to recognize truth from error.

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When it comes to interacting with

crystals, I don't believe in using

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them like a witch uses a magic wand.

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I just like to have them in my

space and I like knowing they're

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outside in the earth and that wherever

they are, their vibrations, energy,

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influence, whatever you want to call

it, is doing the job they were given.

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They are fulfilling the

measure of their creation.

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The idea that there are crystals

in the earth fills me with

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so much hope and excitement.

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I love knowing that I am

surrounded by crystals, and we

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truly are surrounded by crystals.

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Crystals are some of the most powerful

players in the story of life on earth.

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They literally form the framework

of our planet from stabilizing the

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crust beneath our feet to regulating

minerals and nutrients in the soil.

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And oceans life itself depends

on crystal and structure.

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We can even say that in a way.

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Crystals are part of what

keeps the earth steady.

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Fertile and vibrant for all living things.

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Let me explain a little bit more At

the tiniest level, everything is

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made of atoms In most materials.

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Those atoms are kind of messy in random.

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In a crystal, the atoms line up in a

perfectly repeating pattern, like tiles

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on a bathroom floor or bricks in a wall.

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That repeating pattern is called a

crystalline structure, and it's basically

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the hidden blueprint of modern life.

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Our cell phones work

because of silicone crystals.

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Computers rely on crystal

structures to control electricity.

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lasers, solar panels, LEDs and clocks all

depend on crystals behaving predictably.

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Crystals are one of the few places

in nature where we can find perfect

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order at the microscopic level.

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This order can split light into rainbows.

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It gives strength to our bones and teeth.

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Crystals aren't just pretty rocks.

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They're nature's way of

organizing matter according to

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highly structured natural laws.

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Which leads me to this interesting fact.

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Did you know that DNA atoms are arranged

in a regular repeating pattern, giving

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DNAA crystalline like structure?

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That is so cool.

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I love it.

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Now here is one more thing I

want to mention in regard to

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Crystals doctrine and covenants.

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One 30 verse nine reads This Earth

in its sacred and immortal state

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will be made like unto crystal.

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crystal, the earth is going to be

made like crystal, not a crystal

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specifically, but like unto crystal.

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This totally makes sense to me when

I think about crystals being highly

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ordered, structures that obey laws.

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This sounds exactly like what the

God I know and the God I have learned

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about from scripture and the God

I have learned about in the temple

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would expect his celestial lies.

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Kingdom to be made of my God is

the God of order that obeys laws.

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So of course he would love crystals,

and that is all the permission

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I need to love them as well.

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Now in closing, I have to tell you that

I have an ulterior motive for sharing

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my thoughts about crystals with you

today, and that is because I wrote a

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young adult fantasy novel where crystals

play a central role in the plot, I

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thought it would be fun to share my

novel with you here on the podcast.

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so in between the usual episodes that

Judy and I put out, you will find

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chapters of my book called Raven Crown.

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If you aren't into fantasy,

skip these episodes.

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But if you like a good fantasy,

I think you will enjoy my novel.

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I designed the crystals to

represent the young women's values

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from the old young women's theme.

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Do you remember that one?

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It was written by Art Kapp in

: 1985

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divine nature, individual worth,

knowledge, choice, and accountability.

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Good works, integrity and virtue.

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I truly hope you will enjoy listening.

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Okay.

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I have one more thing to share with you.

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Judy and I are switching up

our programming a little.

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The plan is to share a thought

in one episode of our podcast and

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then share what we call a prayer

meditation that goes along with

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that thought in the next episode.

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I plan to keep my meditations fairly

short because I don't know about you, but

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when I sit down to meditate, I generally

have a list of things waiting for me

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to do as soon as I'm done, which means

sitting still for a few minutes can

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take all the determination I can muster.

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but you know what they say.

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If you don't have time to meditate for

10 minutes, you should meditate for 20.

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Just by way of introduction, if this

kind of mindfulness prayer, meditation

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is not already a part of your life,

I just want to say that you can sit,

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you can walk, you can fold laundry,

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And you can even lay down whatever

is most convenient for you

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Personally, I generally do a few

yoga, sun salutations to connect

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my body with my breath, and then

I sit cross-legged on the floor.

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First, I just breathe in and out my nose,

noticing that my breath goes into my

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belly and not into my chest, Then I chant

a mantra or listen to a meditation, and

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then I say a classic prayer, preferably

out loud ending with three slow breaths,

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paying attention to any promptings

or impressions I feel, and that's it.

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Easy.

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There are lots of ways to meditate.

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If you have a different practice that

you're happy with, just keep doing

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that and hopefully prayer meditation

will enhance your experience.

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So be watchful for my prayer

meditation about crystals that

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will be coming out next Monday.

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See you then.