Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Crystal Unpersuasion


This is an entry in the Round Robin Photo Challenge.  The subject this time, as suggested by Steven of (sometimes)photoblog, is "crystal."  So I've gathered up most of the crystals in the house to show you.

Quick quiz for those of you who know me:  which of the rocks and related items in the following picture did I NOT inherit from my Mom?  (Hint:  there's only one item here that I originally bought for myself.)


My first attempt to photograph it all

Despite my mom's borderline Catholicism, she was a bit of a New Ager.  She went to Esalen several times in the late 1960s and early 1970s, learned biofeedback and meditation, and used Gestalt and Transactional Analysis in her practice as a psychologist.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it shows she had a nontraditional, in some cases spiritual approach to the things that interested her. She never said so outright, but I think she even used marijuana a few times.


Can you see 'My Lady?'

So by the early 1990s she was interested in crystals and harmonic convergences and vortexes and stuff like that.  I don't want to insult anyone out in AOL J-Land who believes in such things, but I think it's pretty silly myself.  But I did take my mom to Sedona, home of a reputed vortex, red rock mesas and Pink Jeep tours.  I even bought her a crystal there.  I don't  know whether it's one of the ones shown here or not.  These are the only crystals I found in the fruitcake tin with the cheap beads, loose change and eyeglasses screwdriver.

Two crystal balls, telling me nothing

Sedona isn't the only source  of these items.  Mom may have gotten her favorite crystal from a friend in Florida, and I bought these two crystal balls for her in Tucson.  One of the big tourist draws here every winter is the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.  It fills up every hotel and pretty much every exhibition hall in town, plus tents and roadside tables.  One year I bought the bigger of these balls from a vendor on the I-10 frontage road.  The next year, I got the smaller one in pretty much the same place.  Neither one is perfect; there's discoloration and a little bit of cracking damage on each of them.  They're also quite small.  I doubt that my mom ever attempted a "reading" with either of these, but I'm sure she knew I meant well.

Another attempt to show you Mom's Lady     Another attempt to show you the lady. I guess she's shy.

My mom's favorite crystal was probably this one.  This is almost certainly the one in which she claimed to see "My Lady."  I'm not quite sure whether she meant the Virgin Mary, but I think so.  If I work at it, I can sorta kinda see a female figure there, but I'll be very surprised if you can, based on these pictures.

Messing around with PhotoStudio 2000 #2    Another attempt to show you the lady.


Another attempt to show you the lady.

Since I couldn't get anything terribly interesting out of the stone itself, I decided to mess around with PhotoStudio 2000 a bit, and give this crystal its own vortex.  I hope you like the result!

I don't even know whether all of these are quartz.

The same crystal is shown here, along with the sort-of-rose colored one, the purple geode thingy and a little geode I think I got at the gift shop that used to be inside the dinosaur in Cabezon, California.  That's right.  The geode in the foreground at left is the only one of these I bought for myself.  I also have a ruby ring that came down from my grandmother, but honestly, I don't like it much.  I kind of like opals, but my opal ring doesn't fit and I'm not sure where it is.  And I'm  not sure I own any diamonds at all--not that I care.

But I like quartz.  I used to find bits of quartz in Snook's Pond in Fayetteville, NY, and I always thought it was kind of pretty.  In my Mâvarin books, necklaces strung with quartz play an important role as a plot point.  I also like a few other semiprecious stones, but I have no idea whether any of them qualify as crystals.  And frankly, I don't care.  All I know about crystals is that they are a particular form a mineral can take, when conditions cause it to assume a certain structure.  Oh, and they tend to be clearer than the normal mineral, and maybe faceted, and perhaps refract light.  But I don't care.  Sorry.  What do you want from someone who got a D in Chemistry?

Kind of makes for interesting pictures, though.

Karen.


Now go see the other Round Robin entries, which should be posted between midnight Tuesday night and midnight Wednesday night (in other words, on June 8th).  Updated as of Tuesday 6/14 at 6:28 PM MST:

Carly  (OndineMonet) - Ellipsis   - posted!

Duane (fdtate714) - sotto voce   - posted!

Steven (sepintx) - (sometimes)photoblog   - posted!

Betty (rap4143) - My Day, My Interests   - posted!

Amy/Sharky (babyshark28) substance; or lack of - posted! (note corrected link)

Mary (alphawoman1) Alphawoman's blog  - probably sitting this one out due to moving and such

Dawn (AuburnDawn) - Dawn's Drivel   - posted!

Kat (mskatdabrat) From Every Angle - posted!

Robbie (krobbie67) Robbie's Ruminations  - posted!

Michael (madmanadhd) Confessions of a Madman...    - taking a rain check this time

Monica (photographybymon) Mamarazzi   - posted!

Patrick (pattboy92) A Stop at Willoughby  - posted!

Aunt Nub (montaukny) - Aunt Nub's Empty Head   - posted!

Alan (botdotdotdot) - F-Stop   - posted!

Coy (coy1234787 - Dancing in the Rain   - posted!

Becky Yanagi (ryanagi - Where Life Takes You   - posted!

Celeste (csandhollow) My Day and Thoughts - posted!

Tess (tc01hm) - First Digital Photos   - posted!

Derek (deveil) - Picture of the Day - NEW!

Gypsy (wildwickedgypsy) - GypsysJourney - NEW!

EB (benu4444) Creativity - Bits and Pieces - NEW link!

If you'd like to join in, but  haven't given us a head's-up, you're still welcome to post your own "Crystal" photos. Just post the link to your journal in comments to Steven's blog entry, or email it to me.  We'll do our best to get the word out, so people can come see what you did.  

Have fun!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen :)

This is wonderful! I did see the woman's image in the crystal. She appeared to be from a side profile with long hair. Well, that's what I saw anyway. :) Great entry love.

Always, Carly :)

Anonymous said...

Wow...what a collection!  Where I grew up, geodes were plentiful.  We always played that they were full of diamonds.

Anonymous said...


Love the crystals, Karen!  I found a book about crystals and the healing properties associated with them in a book store's bargain table and ended up using it for my work in progress...it's amazing how many different kinds are out there.  

My favorite in the photos are those are the geodes:  I'm fascinated by the beauty that can be "hidden" inside a "normal" looking rock.  There's a lesson in there somewhere, I'm sure.  :)

Patrick

Anonymous said...

In the fruitcake tin, eh? LOL! I love the irony there.  I went through a crystals phase, myself, in the late 80s. I wore a rose quartz pendant (natural cord, no metal to interfere with the crystal's power). Uh...yeah.

Anonymous said...

Love crystals, not for "mystical purposes", but I love how they look.  I just LOVE quartz.  I love your entry! -Krissy
http://journals.aol.com/fisherkristina/SometimesIThink

Anonymous said...

Celeste has one too!

Comment from: csandhollow
"Not sure how to do this but here is my Crystal picture!
http://journals.aol.com/csandhollow/Mydayandthoughts/entries/2007
Celeste"

Anonymous said...

Far out, groovy & mystical!  I have lots of crystals like this, too.

~~Aunt Nub~~

Anonymous said...

Your Mom had a heartfelt collection. The tin story is great, little treasures!

Anonymous said...

Your Mom had a heartfelt collection. The tin story is great, little treasures!

Anonymous said...

    WoW!!! Crystal was a good subject for you, looks like you have plenty of the stuff. Thanks for sharing you Mom story with us!                  
                         *** Coy ***



http://journals.aol.com/coy1234787/Dancingintherain

Anonymous said...

Your mom sounds like an interesting woman.  I enjoyed reading about the crystals and you have me thinking I'd like to look into a few for myself. :-)

Monica
http://journals.aol.com/photographybymon/Mamarazzi/

Anonymous said...

A very neat collection there.  I think your mom's favorite is mine too, but I don't see a lady in there.

Anonymous said...

I think your stories along with your pictures makes them all the more enjoyable. But, really, I don't care. ;-p (Just kidding - I got a kick out of how many times you said that.) :-) ---Robbie

Anonymous said...

I love the story about your mom.

Anonymous said...

hey, great shots with lots of info, I like that.
I enjoyed the read.
and hey, if you don't care, then niether do I.
great job!

Anonymous said...

Interesting Collection!!! I love the history that goes a long with your photos.
Betty

Anonymous said...

Interesting Collection!!! I love the history that goes a long with your photos.
Betty

Anonymous said...

Great collection. The crystal orbs are my faves!

Anonymous said...

That's a nice collection.  Thank you for sharing them with us.

Anonymous said...

Nice Crystal!  I thought I could se a womans face in the last photo...  but maytbe I am just trying hard...
Dawn

Anonymous said...

I do like the result!  now I have to find something sparkly so I can get in on this round robin too!

~ www.jerseygirljournal.com