Nice job here, Ryan. Good to feel into the stones and their hidden sides.
Obsidian, I find, is a difficult stone to handle. It has unpredictable qualities.
All black stones will give a certain amount of protection and can neutralize or transmute negative energy because black itself is the pure feminine/yin force, the place where everything goes and comes out of. The origin of all color. The void that voids. Obsidian has something different about it though than, say, onyx, which is very clearly stable and useful for grounded and calming, as well as creating. Shamans and priests have used obsidian knives for cutting energy cords, releasing entities, and (gulp!) cutting out hearts in some cultures.
Black tourmaline is terrific for stabilizing an energy field and might be a winner if left by the side of the bed at night for protection. It sort of makes negative or imbalanced energy bounce away.
Thank you Parisse, for reading and for sharing. I appreciate your wisdom. I've never worked with black tourmaline before, and will look into it further
What a fascinating experience. I sleep with a chunk of black tourmaline on the bedside table. It has a couple of pieces missing, pieces that broke loose during 1) a nightmare visitation and 2) when I slept in an unpleasantly haunted place (the dream tourmaline travels with me.) I figure it’s like a bike helmet, it absorbs the impact so that I don’t. I think it’s good for at least one more use in this way! I like what you said about the liminality of the stone, how it sits in both worlds at once, I hadn’t thought of it that way.
whoa interesting! I appreciate the bike helmet metaphor. I came about this study not from an appreciation of stones and gems but rather through the study of cognitive archaeology, dreamwork, and rock art studies. so I'm learning a lot from intuitives like yourself. Thanks for the note!
It’s interesting reading the other comments. I find that I'm unable to work with tourmaline as it gives me headaches. Obsidian is nice to have around. I suppose I've had best experience with onyx for it’s shielding and protective qualities. I had an onyx and tiger eye bracelet break — its beads fell all over the kitchen floor, in a dramatic fashion, when I mentioned intergenerational trauma. It felt like synchronicity. I took that as a sign that I'm done with those stones, at least for that purpose.
I find that my need for energetic protection has evolved over time.
Maybe, I’ll go back to black stones, but they don’t, honestly hold much fascination for me right now. The idea of using black in dream work does not appeal to me as I've dealt with many nightmare dreamscapes. I prefer to work with amethyst and Chrysocolla. But, I guess it depends on one’s intention.
Thanks for the article, Ryan. It’s a reminder to me that it might be time to take stones out again.
Thanks Anna. I'm learning so much from comments like this -- I'm no expert in the energetic use of stones -- it's my leading edge. I have long had an attraction to amethyst and currently keep a piece near one of my study desks. I'm not sure I've even heard of Chrysocolla -- will dig deeper.
I don't know much either. I've a bunch of stones. Now I don't even remember their names. Lol. I used to be in San Francisco Bay Area where there were wonderful stone and metaphysical stores that were such a wealth of information. I would tell them what I was working with and they'd give me recommendations. When I was doing ketamine assisted psychotherapy, I started working with colors as it came up during trips and medication. I see at as connected to the chakra system and it can have correspondence in the body system. I was working with greens, oranges and purples. There's all of these correspondences you can find on the internet. When I go into a store, I try to trust my own intuition. What colors am I feel drawn to working with? And when I pick a stone among a number of stones, what feels good?
I love the idea of lucid dreaming. I'm not so great at it though. I find passiflora tincture helps me go deep in dream state.
how cool! So much obsidian in CA. and much of it found on ground away from sources are manuports from prehistoric times. All of CA is a lithic environment, sprinkled with tool making debitage from the last 10000 years.
Nice job here, Ryan. Good to feel into the stones and their hidden sides.
Obsidian, I find, is a difficult stone to handle. It has unpredictable qualities.
All black stones will give a certain amount of protection and can neutralize or transmute negative energy because black itself is the pure feminine/yin force, the place where everything goes and comes out of. The origin of all color. The void that voids. Obsidian has something different about it though than, say, onyx, which is very clearly stable and useful for grounded and calming, as well as creating. Shamans and priests have used obsidian knives for cutting energy cords, releasing entities, and (gulp!) cutting out hearts in some cultures.
Black tourmaline is terrific for stabilizing an energy field and might be a winner if left by the side of the bed at night for protection. It sort of makes negative or imbalanced energy bounce away.
Happy dreaming : )
Thank you Parisse, for reading and for sharing. I appreciate your wisdom. I've never worked with black tourmaline before, and will look into it further
What a fascinating experience. I sleep with a chunk of black tourmaline on the bedside table. It has a couple of pieces missing, pieces that broke loose during 1) a nightmare visitation and 2) when I slept in an unpleasantly haunted place (the dream tourmaline travels with me.) I figure it’s like a bike helmet, it absorbs the impact so that I don’t. I think it’s good for at least one more use in this way! I like what you said about the liminality of the stone, how it sits in both worlds at once, I hadn’t thought of it that way.
whoa interesting! I appreciate the bike helmet metaphor. I came about this study not from an appreciation of stones and gems but rather through the study of cognitive archaeology, dreamwork, and rock art studies. so I'm learning a lot from intuitives like yourself. Thanks for the note!
And then there's Obsidian "mirrors" for scrying...
Cool article, Ryan ;-)
thank you Kim and yes! I didn’t even get into contemporary practices, such as Mayan dream ceremonies. Lots more to dig into here!
If you can find a scholar-practitioner of Mayan dream ceremonies willing to do a presentation for The Dream Portal, that would be amazing!
I’ve always been fascinated by obsidian! I’ll definitely be putting my obsidian “wings” under my pillow tonight. Thanks for the insight!
✨🦋🌈
Report back! Obsidian can serve as a nightmare protector too
Reporting back 🫡 that in fact, my dream were incredibly vivid and interesting!
It’s interesting reading the other comments. I find that I'm unable to work with tourmaline as it gives me headaches. Obsidian is nice to have around. I suppose I've had best experience with onyx for it’s shielding and protective qualities. I had an onyx and tiger eye bracelet break — its beads fell all over the kitchen floor, in a dramatic fashion, when I mentioned intergenerational trauma. It felt like synchronicity. I took that as a sign that I'm done with those stones, at least for that purpose.
I find that my need for energetic protection has evolved over time.
Maybe, I’ll go back to black stones, but they don’t, honestly hold much fascination for me right now. The idea of using black in dream work does not appeal to me as I've dealt with many nightmare dreamscapes. I prefer to work with amethyst and Chrysocolla. But, I guess it depends on one’s intention.
Thanks for the article, Ryan. It’s a reminder to me that it might be time to take stones out again.
Thanks Anna. I'm learning so much from comments like this -- I'm no expert in the energetic use of stones -- it's my leading edge. I have long had an attraction to amethyst and currently keep a piece near one of my study desks. I'm not sure I've even heard of Chrysocolla -- will dig deeper.
I don't know much either. I've a bunch of stones. Now I don't even remember their names. Lol. I used to be in San Francisco Bay Area where there were wonderful stone and metaphysical stores that were such a wealth of information. I would tell them what I was working with and they'd give me recommendations. When I was doing ketamine assisted psychotherapy, I started working with colors as it came up during trips and medication. I see at as connected to the chakra system and it can have correspondence in the body system. I was working with greens, oranges and purples. There's all of these correspondences you can find on the internet. When I go into a store, I try to trust my own intuition. What colors am I feel drawn to working with? And when I pick a stone among a number of stones, what feels good?
I love the idea of lucid dreaming. I'm not so great at it though. I find passiflora tincture helps me go deep in dream state.
Here's some information about Black Chakra (working with black stones) versus other chakras. https://planetmeditate.com/black-chakra/
You can read information about Chrysocolla here. https://www.crystalvaults.com/crystal-encyclopedia/chrysocolla/
I love the symbolism here with the obsidian in the eye. Really great article... And now I want to add obsidian to my collection!
how cool! So much obsidian in CA. and much of it found on ground away from sources are manuports from prehistoric times. All of CA is a lithic environment, sprinkled with tool making debitage from the last 10000 years.
Send me a couple pics!