Crystals cut into shapes

[Moon_Glow]

Originally Posted by Hilary

That sounds like so much fun. Here in South Florida, there isn't much to find. I guess. I could be wrong.. Lots of shells though. Fossils, too.

I'm in s. Florida too! SW Florida actually... I find the same thing, lots of fossils but not too many real stones, when I was living in New York state I collected SOOOOO many I miss it.

[Lynn]

Hello

I have a mix of natural and man altered crystals. I find that is the energy "we" put into them that makes them work for us. Like proper cleansings and placements in the home. If its jewelry then your asking the crystal to work with your own body energies.

Look at times when you go to wear a piece and you struggle to get it to do up. I have this a lot where I just cant clasp it so I move to another piece. I listen to what I have around me.

Lynn

[Moon_Glow]

Originally Posted by FairyCrystal

I don't know if you still want your OP answered but alas....

Generally I prefer polished versions of a crystal, but sometimes it has to be rough. Like when I wanted -more like 'fell in love with'- hemimorphite. That was a larger rough chunk and I held it before sleep every evening for maybe 2 years.
To date I have not seen a polished one as beautiful and intense blue as mine.

I often prefer polished as then you can see layers and/or colours better.

Sometimes I buy because of the shape. Like a picasso dolphin. I would not have bought that had it been another shape. It was the dolphin that attracted me. Dolphins have a specific energy which I felt matched with or enhanced the crystal.

I have a few clear crystal angels. You can't have angels without carving. Same with skulls :)
But I also have rough crystals. Depends on what I need.

Thank you, this makes sense, I, for some reason, kind of felt like cutting the stone would degrade the energy but then again every tiny stone is just a fragment of a larger one. Thank you for taking the time to always provide such thoughtful answers. I really appreciate your experience and advice.

[StrandedSnowMonkey]

I started out with tumbles and some quartz points. From there on I picked up
more tumbles and palmstones. I suppose my main natural crystal is a large
Danburite point. The main thing now is spending some time to appreciate them.
Holding them up to the light. Now I have a larger collection I will also use my
tingshas and singing bowl to cleanse them. To make these things quicker I will
separate a group of stones to work with. Some stones need to be worked to
stabilise them. Right now I like rough and druzy pendants to go with my other
cabochons. I guess a good balance is best :)

[Sylmar]

Originally Posted by StrandedSnowMonkey

I started out with tumbles and some quartz points. From there on I picked up
more tumbles and palmstones. I suppose my main natural crystal is a large
Danburite point. The main thing now is spending some time to appreciate them.
Holding them up to the light. Now I have a larger collection I will also use my
tingshas and singing bowl to cleanse them. To make these things quicker I will
separate a group of stones to work with. Some stones need to be worked to
stabilise them. Right now I like rough and druzy pendants to go with my other
cabochons. I guess a good balance is best :)

That's pretty much how it's for me as well. I have a balanced collection of natural crystals and tumbles. I don't have any cut crystals except for some hydrothermal stones. A crystal or stone can appeal to me sometimes in the rough sometimes tumbled.

[FairyCrystal]

Originally Posted by Moon_Glow

Thank you, this makes sense, I, for some reason, kind of felt like cutting the stone would degrade the energy but then again every tiny stone is just a fragment of a larger one. Thank you for taking the time to always provide such thoughtful answers. I really appreciate your experience and advice.

You're welcome and happy you appreciate it!

I think many stones are cut in one way or other, even rough pieces. Not necessarily really cut, maybe chopped, not sure. But haven't you ever seen the large chunks they got out of Mother Earth? Really shocking to see as you then begin to get an idea just how much is harvested from our planet.
These huge chunks aren't sold but made into smaller, sell-able pieces, whether still rough or polished.
What they get out of the ground aren't necessarily small pieces of 5-12cms...

As for diminishing the value/working... you can also see it the (Brazillian skull master carvers do: They have a larger piece of top quality crystal and they see, sense, feel, the skull in it. So they 'liberate' it by getting it out by carving it. It is why the skulls carved by the Brazilian masters have so much soul.
I think -not sure- this is also one of the main differences with Chinese skulls which I feel are carved to get as many out of a piece as possible to make more money.
In any case, you can also see carving something like a skull, point, dolphin etc. as 'liberating' the energy of the crystal, of what it holds inside.
I assume that if there's a lot of 'waste' material it isn't wasted but made into tumbled or beads. But then at least the carving is out.

I've carved a beautiful dolphin from soapstone and I used the natural shape of the chunk. It was a leftover piece from a skull which wasn't carved by me, but I bought it from the woman who did. The skull has a Selkie energy. I wanted a dolphin from the same piece of soapstone and I did it!

[Native spirit]

I like crystals either way i go by the Energy they give out. if you hold a piece in your hand and it feels right then it is


Namaste

[Hilary]

FairyCrystal... WOW! Nice work, that looks amazing.

[BigJohn]

Fairy Crystal,

I am amazed you could carve the Dolphin in proportion to a real dolphin!

What are the dimensions of the dolphin?

[FairyCrystal]

Originally Posted by Hilary

FairyCrystal... WOW! Nice work, that looks amazing.

Thank you, Hilary! It was really exciting to do as the piece I had wasn't that big and I wanted to get it right, and I insisted on a tail that wasn't flat which wasn't easy as the piece didn't have much height. But I pulled it off!
I am still so happy with my dolphin