At the time of writing I’m teaching a course about working with crystals.  This post grows out of that and was written to support the study group.

Find a stone or crystal.  This may be one you have at home, a stone from your garden or the beach or a river.  If you have standing stones or a stone circle near you (lucky!) then you could do this there instead.

Find a comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed for at least ten minutes.

Hold your stone in your non-dominant hand.  Allow your breathing to fall into a comfortable, wave-like rhythm, not forced, flowing.  If you’re with a standing stone rest your non-dominant hand on it, or even lean your hold body against it.

Now listen.  You are listening with your energetic body and your intuition.  Send your attention down to your hand, feel the place where it contacts with the stone.  Reach out in your imagination into the spirit of the stone and send your greetings, respectfully.  This being is many millenia old.

Now ask if this stone has anything to teach you.  Wait to hear what this might be.

My own experiences with this exercise at a standing stone led me to an understanding of geological time.  I saw the stone rooted in the earth, ageless, here for time out of time. The stone showed me the seasons whirling past like a speeded up film, and people coming and going across the moor in costumes from time passed, quickly, moving like shadows or dreams.

My own life suddenly seemed less than a blink long, so fleeting, like the gossamer of a spider’s web or the seed of a thistle.  Glimpsed and then gone into the ether.  This was a huge comfort.  It gave me a sense of spaciousness, freedom and of perspective.  The weight of the world was no longer on my shoulders.  I could only do my best in the time given.

When you are ready,  you may want to journal about the messages or sensations you receive.

When finished thank your stone ally and ground yourself with some food and drink and a good body stretch.