Where Love Begins: Emerald Meditations

You have probably heard Ireland referred to as the Emerald Isle. However, it is also described as having the forty shades of green. This is more accurate. The shade of green I noticed on my first trip was more like the cheerful chartreuse hue of peridot. Not until I went to the northwest part of the country (where it rains more) did I experience the energy of the emerald ray.

The breathtaking sight vibrated the kind of healing that goes deep into the spirit. I remembered why emerald is one of my favorite crystals and why more kinds of physical healing have been ascribed to the emerald than to almost any other stone.

The Emerald Prescription

During the third century A.D. emerald was believed to lessen eyestrain, and many gem engravers kept it on their worktable. Various cultures attributed to it the ability to heal a range of digestive troubles.

Emerald was also widely believed to offer its wearer supernatural protection. Hindu physicians claimed that it destroyed demoniacal influences; while others believed that it protected one from the attacks of venomous creatures and evil spirits.

I make no such claims, but emerald does seem to have the gift of banishing emotional venom and the unfriendly spirits that dwell within us.

Love’s Confusion

To understand the gifts of emerald, it’s important to write about some common misunderstandings about love.

Many people who talk about its lack in their lives (“I don’t have a lover;” “My children don’t love me;” “No one likes me”) are speaking about what they aren’t receiving.

Sometimes they talk about love as a transaction (“I give. Why don’t I get?”). If you think about that, it has a stop-and-start quality. I give, pause, I get-or I don’t get.

To speak of love as a one-way or a two-way street indicates an interruption or blockage of energy. Energy’s natural pattern is to flow, not to stop for red lights or wait for a transaction to be recorded. Love is energy, and though it is romantically connected to the heart, it is spiritually connected to the soul. So is the energy of emerald.

The heart, however, is the area where love’s energy often gets blocked. Traditionally in chakra balancing, the pink stones (most commonly kunzite, rose quartz, rhodonite, and pink tourmaline) are placed on this area for issues like lack of love during childhood years, sexual or emotional abuse, the reluctance to love because of previous betrayals, sacrificing one’s best interests in favor of those loved, and other conditions that have caused blockage or imbalance in this area.

It is certainly vital to clear these issues, and it may take much patience and willingness for pain to temporarily arise in order that the clearing occurs. I believe, though, that to address difficulties on the heart level alone, however, creates a closed circle. The issues focus on “Me/You,” whether the “You” represents the people who failed to give love in earlier years (or now) or the people from whom one wants love in the present.

This circle opens when we reach for a greater source of love. One way of saying this would be that the relationship we seek is one of “Me/Thou.” In this case, “Thou” represents one’s greater self, a self connected to an infinite source of love.

Love’s Source

This is the energy of emerald. When we are addressing the hurts of the past, we can feel smaller than our pain. Working with emerald reminds us that we are much more than that suffering. Emerald doesn’t specifically relate to interpersonal love relationships. By helping to open our connection to Spirit, it infuses us with nonphysical energy so that our ability to love and forgive becomes much more powerful than our experience of injury and loss. Because the spiritual source of love is unlimited, we are constantly replenished when we make that connection.

Emerald Meditations

You can practice this meditation in one of two ways. The first involves an emerald and a quartz crystal of any size. (Note: it is not at all necessary to have a gem-quality emerald. Tumbled emeralds are available at very reasonable prices.)

Hold the emerald in one hand and the quartz in the other. You can be either sitting up or lying down for this meditation.

The second meditation uses more stones, and you will want to be lying down.

Crystal Layout

All of the crystals listed below are relevant to the chakra indicated. I am listing my favorites, but these are only recommendations.

At the base of the feet (first chakra): smoky quartz or hematite

Pelvic area (second chakra): red jasper or carnelian

Navel area (third chakra): tiger’s eye

Solar plexus (diaphragm): rhodochrosite. This stone assists in deep breathing.

Heart (fourth chakra): rose quartz

Throat (fifth chakra): aquamarine

Third eye (sixth chakra): charoite

Crown of head (seventh chakra): clear quartz

Statements About Love

You may want to prepare for this meditation by writing a series of statements. Here are some examples:

Even though when I was little, I didn’t get enough love from my mother, I recognize that she, too, didn’t experience much love in her life.

Even though I wanted more love, I choose not to let a lack from the past prevent me from giving myself love now.

Even though I’ve looked to others to give me love, I realize that I can choose to be the source of love.

I recommend keeping each meditation to a few statements and one relationship. As you repeat the statements to yourself, be sure to breathe fully and deeply. Be aware of the emotions that pass through you. Allow them their full expression.

Allow a pause between each statement. Listen to the thoughts that go through your mind. If particular memories arise, make note of them.

After each meditation, you may want to record your emotions and memories. I strongly recommend keeping a journal as you go through this process. Just write down whatever occurs to you without judgment or censorship. After a week, two weeks, or whatever works for you, you may want to reread these entries.

Also keep track of any insights and changes you notice in your relationships with others.

You may have heard this: Love Conquers All. I believe it’s more true to say that love dissolves anything that isn’t love. This is the energy of emerald.

more info on healing crystals and gemstones: Beyond the Rainbow