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Put your shrine together on a low table covered with a white scarf. Set rainbow candles in an arc and then add black and white candles. Prepare a heatproof bowl containing amber incense (good for creativity and healing), and place it in the center of the rainbow, surrounded by quartz.

Prosperity stones should be placed to the far left on the altar, in the money corner. Romance crystals should sit to the far right on the altar.

Over time, you will doubtless adorn your sacred altar space with many beautiful crystals. Whenever you acquire a new crystal, you need to cleanse it. A new or waning moon is the optimal time to perform this cleansing. Gather these elemental energies:

• A candle for fire
• A cup of water
• Incense for air
• A bowl of salt

Pass your crystal through the scented smoke of the incense and say:

Here are some tips about stones not to mix together in jewelry, as their energies cancel each other out:

• Carnelian counteracts amethyst, as it connects more strongly with the body.
• Lapis lazuli stimulates the mind, and blue lace agate relaxes it.
• Lapis lazuli and turquoise are also opposites, although I can’t help but notice that this didn’t stop the Egyptians from using them together!
• Turquoise dampens the energy of malachite.
• Diamonds and turquoise have such different energies that they conflict.

Now you have been initiated into the art of crystal and magic. You can make yourself a true-love tiara, a seductive toe ring, or a bewitching bracelet, to name but a few of the crystalline projects you have in your new bag of tricks. Gem magic is a merry way to make magic, but it is, in essence, all about improving the quality of your life. These gorgeous gems and sacred stones are all around us, with enhancing energies that you can apply consciously to bring a sense of well-being to your job, your family, your friends, your love life, and your deepest spirit and psyche. Use this special kind of magic to create wonder, fun, fantasy, and fulfillment in all areas of your life.

Gems and crystals can give us messages and warnings or powers of persuasion and perception. Here are a few examples:

• A fossil or a gem containing a fossil, such as amber, will lengthen your life span.
• Jasper carved into the shape of an arrow will be a magnet for good luck.
• If your malachite jewelry chips or breaks, beware! It is warning you of danger.
• Malachite gives great success to salespeople. Keep a malachite crystal in the cash register and wear it during trade shows, presentations, and meetings.
• Moonstone is the dieter’s power stone and helps maintain youthful appearances and attitudes.
• Serpentine worn around a new mother’s neck helps her flow of milk.

Take any silver chain-link bracelet and add “charm” to it! Bracelets act as protection jewelry, and, well, they look simply divine on our delicate wrists, do they not? Of late, the trend has been to layer bracelets, but with gem magic, there’s a danger that jeweled pieces worn together could cancel each other out because they have conflicting energies. So, I’m going to recommend that you wear this bracelet along, without other magical wrist wear.

To make this piece, you’ll need seven stones on small pendent settings, a silver chain-link bracelet, seven jump rings, and pliers. Plain silver chain-link bracelets are easy to obtain at any jewelry department or store, from Target to Tiffany. Jump rings, which have an opening through which you can slide a pendant and then close up with small chain-nose pliers, are readily available at any craft or jewelry store.

You can follow the exact steps above to make yourself finger rings that can bring more grace and less grief into your life. Think about the different areas of your life and then create an entire collection of rings to sprinkle a little magic into those areas.

You can explore and discover dozens of marvelous stones from which to choose. Do you want to be more creative? Try tiger’s-eye. Need to find a job? Plume agate is your stone. Looking to add some pizzazz to your love life? Alexandrite will bring lots of zest. Feeling blue? Citrine or jet can banish dark days. Stressed out? Rhyolite races to the rescue!