So, because I am dyslexic and get lost so easily, I took Rt. 1 which runs parallel to 95 all the way to this rock shop. It took forever but the traffic wasn't bad. I decided fear be damned and took 95 north home lol. I'm writing this so that means I didn't get lost or die on the way back lol. Anyway, the shop is small and right next to it is a Hispanic Evangelical Church. You could hear them singing and clapping the whole time I was in the shop as it was Sunday and service was in session. The shop owner later informed me that one time they smeared all the windows of her shop with annointing oil because they wanted to protect themselves as she was Satanic lmao! I immediately recognized the woman who runs the shop from her picture I had seen on the web site for the store. She has flaming red hair and striking deep turqoise eyes. She let me peruse the isles and asked a few times if I needed any help. Her elderly father-in-law was sitting by an electric heater in the back and they would quietly talk off and on. I can't recognize too many stones/gems on site, so I asked her to help me find stone correspondances for the 7 chakras. She did not bat an eye lash and had all seven in my hand within two minutes. There were so many lovely things I wanted but what caught my eye was a large perfectly cut clear quartz cyrstal. I began looking in that area for a few minutes and another two customers came in. One was an awkward fellow that was seeking her help. She had quite a bit of trouble getting him out of the store but was helpful and supportive. He was a regular customer and she had been helping him it appeared with a variety of problems. She gave him an amulet free of charge and said she would make something for him personally after they "discussed in further detail" his newest problem. I asked about him and she said he didn't even talk about two years ago and now had a job and was seeking relationship advice. I told her in my unofficial oppinion he appeared to have social anxiety disorder. She said yes and that he was on medicine for it but he didn't start getting better until he came to her shop. I believe it is because we all need to believe in something. Even if we believe there are no Gods, that is still a belief.

The other customer was a lady who seemed to be more interested in opal jewelry than stones and such. She asked the shop owner if the stones were tumbled, cut, polished, etc on site. The shop owner replied, "Oh no! I could never harm these stones. They speak and sing to me all day. I buy them rough cut or tumbled and polished from all over the world but there is no way I could do that to them myself". I had never considered that a person in tune with stones the way I am in tune with trees could feel this way. Silly of me really. I abhore harvesting wood for my wands from a live tree. I almost always harvest from the ground. To me, it's like ripping someone's arm off!

Once she was done with the last customer....the lady left kinda quickly after that "hearing the stones" bit lol, the shop owner came over to help me with the crystals I'd been looking at. This large one had inclusions in it. Purple and green moss like stuff. It's called a "veil" and litterally looks like lace floating in the middle of the crystal. It also is called a black ghost because another substance is contained within the crystal. She held it up to the light coming in from the window so I could see it better and then things got weird. I heard it sing. Yep. Sounded like a medium to high pitch keening sound. Just like you hear on some types of relaxation music. I of course bought it after that. I got several things and walked out very happy. She and I completed each other's sentences a few times and before I left she gave me two small gifts free of charge. A fragment of a yellow quartz crystal and a dessert rose. The dessert rose is formed when lightning strikes sand. The heat from the lightning crystalizes the sand quickly and forms tiny ball like structures that look like rough petals from a rose.

I will go back to see her and possibly let the boys rummage through the arrow heads and trilobites. I took away knowledge too. She said all the stones are living, not dead. This was easy for me to accept because I believe the same thing about herbs and tree wood. She asked if I new how to charge my crystals and I told her I planned on cleansing with salt water and using sun and moon light. She said, "you can do all that if you want, but let me ask you....how do you come into this life? How do you leave it? You take a first breath and a last breath! You want your crystal to be a part of you. YOUR ENERGY! Breathe on it, and it will be yours". How simple and profound I thought and the only tweak I'll make is warming it up to my body temperature before I breathe on it.

If you are ever in Richmond, VA..........

S.