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by Margaret Ann Lembo

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Spring arrives, and it's that time for awakening to fresh ideas, new beginnings, and innovative growth. Inspiration for new ideas often comes through creative action. Once the ball starts rolling, it's easier to energize your ideas and plans for this next cycle. The elementals of the gemstone kingdom can help you through their vibration and color as you match your intention and positive thoughts to your various crystals, stones, and gemstone jewelry.

1. 1. Gather your stones and have a spring cleaning ceremony
      As the Sun returns to zero degrees of Aries it signals a time to start anew. One of the best ways to start anew—a new anything—is to clear out the old energy, vibes and space to prepare for the new. Set aside a few hours or an afternoon, depending on how many crystals, minerals, and stones you have, to gather all your collection. Bring them all to your kitchen sink or an area outside near a hose or garden sink. Place a container of a weak sudsy and salty solution next to the sink. I use a gentle castile or natural soap and just a little salt. A little goes a long way in cleansing crystals, because it is primarily your intention associated with this process, not the actual soap and salt to cleanse them. Dip each stone into the cleansing solution and then rinse under running water while holding the intention, and focus on clearing away whatever is no longer for your highest good. Leave the stones in the sun for a few hours and then go onto the next step below.

1. Create a new altar with intentions for spring
   Using your freshly cleansed gemstone collection, decide what you want to start in this new cycle of your life. Grab a piece of carnelian and turquoise to get your creative juices flowing. Hold the stones and keep them nearby as you create a list of what you want to achieve. The list can be as esoteric or as mundane as you wish—from a deeper connection with your guides to a new car, from establishing better friendships to maintaining a regular exercise program. There is no limit to the intentions you make for your altar.

It's easy to pick a stone to match each of your intentions. A general guide is to simply pick the stone by the color of the gem as follows:

• Browns, black, and red for power, grounding, and focus
• Orange to birth those great ideas into reality
• Yellow to shine your magnificence and fabulosity
• Green and pink to be compassionate and kind
• Blues to express your authentic self with wisdom and grace
• Purple to bring forth inspired living
• White to align with purity and clarity

• Establish little altars everywhere
  It's a joy to find inspiration throughout your home and office. Create a little altar for good sleep and pleasant dreams next to your bed using hematite and amethyst. Hematite calms you down and grounds you so you can fall into a nice deep sleep, and the amethyst encourages pleasant dreams. Put a drop of lavender on your pillow case to encourage peace.

Make a little altar on your desk or in your work space with pyrite to keep you focused, orange calcite to flow with the constant changes that happen throughout the day, and blue lace agate to help you listen well and express yourself with ease and grace. A yellow flower, a sprig of rosemary, or a bit of basil essential oil will help you maintain clarity.

• Make a crystal grid for every home in your house
  Crystal grids are easy to create. They can be created inside and outside and anywhere you are. Decide what you need, what you want, and the assistance you want to attract then pick some crystals to place around your space. I have a whole section on how to create grids in my book, The Essential Guide to Crystals, Minerals, and Stones. Here is an excerpt:

  "A crystal grid is the use of gemstone in geometric formations placed in or around a person, place, or thing to achieve the formed intention. Crystal grids can be combined with crystal alignments with larger groups of people at sacred sites.

Often two or three different types of stones are plenty, and even one type is enough.

To get started, do the following:

1. Identify your goal.
2. Visualize the outcome as if it has already become a reality.
3. Contemplate who else is involved and what part of your home or your life it affects.
4. Decide where you want to make the grid.
5. Look at the various suggested stones from the lists below.
6. Use your intuition and follow your gut to determine the perfect stone for your personal situation.
7. Take action and make the grid. Place the stones and establish a clear intention of the end result.

Remember that the most important ingredient is to take the time to form a clear intention of love, peace, well-being, harmony, joy, abundance, health and happiness."

Pick up a copy of The Essential Guide to Crystals, Minerals and Stones to find multiple recommendations of gemstones to use for specific intentions plus a few diagrams to help you visualize how to create your own in your sacred space.

• Experiment and work with gemstone jewelry to activate your heart's desires
  For over 25 years I've owned and operated my own book store, gift store, and spiritual center, The Crystal Garden. I've learned and observed that my customers enjoy the beauty of wearing gemstone jewelry for more than just the esthetic value. They add intention to the jewelry and transform their lives—day by day and week by week. My recommendations from years of experience are as follows:
  • Wear an amber bracelet during those times of life when you need the strength and courage to set boundaries with others.
  • Adorn yourself with a turquoise necklace to help you express yourself, especially to help you believe that what you have to say is important.
  • A garnet or ruby ring on your finger adds more energy when you want more endurance and vitality.
  • Citrine jewelry helps you remember your magnificence and boosts your self-esteem.
  • Use a carnelian necklace or bracelet during those times in your life when you seem to be in a phase of procrastination. It helps you to get motivated and just do it!

Regardless of the stone or the color gem, set an intention so that every time you look at it or feel it, you will have an automatic reminder to stay focused on what you want versus what you don't want!

• Pay it forward—gift stones with the matching affirmation to friends, family, and coworkers
  "Pay it forward" is an expression coined to express repaying good deeds to a person other than the original benefactor. There are plenty of people in our lives who need a little boost, support, and a kind deed to help them with their emotional, mental, and spiritual lives. It feels good to give a gift, and it always is lovely to receive a gift—especially a gift with an intention. A tumbled stone or a pocket stone with a good word on it can lift them up and bring the energy of action to the gratitude that you have in your heart.

• Designate some key gems for specific intentions like meditation and contemplation, action, gratitude, good sleep
  Pick a stone, any stone . . . and make that stone your go-to gem for a given intent. For example, I use my celestial quartz crystal to help invoke inspiration as a writer. My chrysoprase on the windowsill in my bathroom is my reminder to self-nurture and take good care of my physical body. The selenite and huge rose quartz chunk at my front door invites only goodness and love into my home and all the rest must remain outside. In order to create the life you want, your focus must be on what you do want, not on what you don't want. Whatever you focus on becomes your reality. In other words, all of your conscious thoughts and feelings—as well as the subconscious and unconscious ones—create the life you are currently living. This basic principle is at the heart of most universal laws, including the law of attraction and the laws of physics.It is important to have an intention and to focus on the positive so that life reflects your highest potential. Everything that is created is created through intention. We create our lives with our thoughts, actions, words, and deeds. Our intentions vibrate out into the word and return to us in the form of our personal reality.

  When a gemstone is paired with a daily affirmation, the stone amplifies that intention. It is a tool that helps you maintain your focus on what you do want. In my work with color and crystals over the course of three decades, I've found that to use a stone most effectively, it is best to associate an intention with it. And the more information you have about the qualities associated with certain stones, the more creative you can be with using these valuable tools to improve your life.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2014. All rights reserved.