Hello and welcome to month two of my Spotlight Stone series!
For September, I’m featuring amethyst, a stone easily recognized by its purple hue. Yes, I know that amethyst is February’s birthstone, but September is back to school season, and purple was the good luck color I wore to every one of my medical school exams. For me, purple and school go together, making amethyst the perfect choice for this month’s spotlight stone.
I didn’t go straight from college to medical school, choosing instead to take a few years off to work and breathe. When I eventually returned to the classroom, my study habits and academic confidence were rusty. I used a number of mental tricks to keep my failure anxieties in check, including the wearing of specific clothing pieces to exams that would bolster my confidence. On the day of my first anatomy quiz, I donned a bright purple top and scored well on the test. I wore another purple item a few days later for my first histology quiz, scored well again, and from then on decided that wearing purple on exam days was my winning ticket. In fact, this ritual was so important that I even purchased a pair of purple Nike hiking boots to wear in case I didn’t have time to do laundry! Over time, some of my classmates would make a point of looking for my purple attire before tests; I think it ended up being part of their pre-exam good luck checklist, too.
As a kid, I was the one who always looked forward to the new school year, even in high school. How about you? Did you like this time of year? What do you remember? Lunchroom lines? Recess time? The smell of new notebooks? What about covering your textbooks with brown paper bags? I loved doing that because it meant a clean canvas for my endless classtime doodling. Sadly, some of my most vivid memories resulted from activities that many current students will not experience this year: large group presentations; choir concerts; drama productions, and simply the sheer craziness of kids jostling each other in the hallways while walking from room to room.
Damn COVID.
There’s so much that’s up in the air right now: school, work, family, health, politics, and on and on. I know I’m stressed beyond my normal baseline level of anxiety/worry. What about you? How are you managing your stress? One strategy I’ve used with decent success is visualizing myself physically throwing away distracting worries. When it works, I feel more in control and better able to focus on one challenge at a time.
When I first started making I AMulets, I chose to pair amethyst with the affirmation I Am Safe. I’ve been leaning on this safety intention statement a lot lately because it’s easier to put distracting fears and voices on mute from a safe mindset. Feeling safe is also essential for one’s mental and physical health. I know that the concept of safety is even harder than usual to find these days, and sometimes feels completely impossible. But when you are able to create a safe space in your mind or heart, it anchors you during the most turbulent of times. You can use a variety of props to help visualize a calm and safe space: a memory, a mantra, a picture, a loved item, or even a stone. This is another reason why I chose amethyst this month. Known for its calming energy and clarity vibe, amethyst is a solid choice for setting a safety intention and claiming that small slice of personal sanctuary.
On a (much) lighter note, I also chose to spotlight amethyst this month simply because I have some gorgeous stones I want to share with you.
I planned to bring them to this year’s summer fairs.
Yeah, we all know how that turned out.
Damn COVID.
You can find September’s special amethyst items on the Limited Pieces page of the shop. If you are looking to start an I AMulet necklace, this month’s limited edition Spotlight option would be a powerful one to choose. If you already have an I AMulet and you’d like to add an amethyst to your intention toolkit with its I Am Safe affirmation, I’ve put together a groovy galaxy pendant for you to consider. Each stone is dark purple with lighter swooshy patterns. unique, and quite lovely. If you prefer, you can choose to add one of the original design I AMulet amethyst pendants, too. You’ll find those HERE in both sterling silver and gold filled options.
I’m also offering two different Spotlight earring designs this month, because I would have loved to have similar purple options for my medical school exam ritual. The first is made with handcut, five point amethyst stars hanging from a simple wire. I used sterling silver to up the sparkle factor, but if you’d like a gold filled pair, send me a message and I can rewire them for you. The second uses dogtooth spheres, a form of amethyst that has white quartz interspersed with the purple areas. Besides the eye catching appearance, the added quartz also adds an extra dose of centering energy to the amethyst’s baseline calming and insightful presence. These earrings are available on either sterling silver or gold filled wires.
Here’s to a new month and the unknown road ahead!
Take time to create a safe sanctuary anchor in your mind, put on something purple for luck, and step forward into September with positivity, power, and purpose.
In good health and happiness,
Melissa
P.S. You know, I really like the look of the dogtooth amethysts. I’ll likely make another item with them as the month goes on, so check back to see what I’ve been up to.
