A story about the Harmonia necklace

The Harmonia necklace is a collaboration between Casey Van Zandt and I. We designed and created this necklace for Casey’s soul vacation retreat in Bali. The necklace combines the strength and balance of the hexagon with the power of clear quartz and labradorite. We hope that every time you wear it you will be reminded to find your work and life balance. To create the life your soul is calling you to live. For the last five years Casey has been teaching, preaching, and creating work-life balance programs to alleviate burnout and balance work and life. You can read more about Casey on her site. 

I sourced the clear quartz stones in Tuscon from a stone vendor from India who happened to be the brother of another vendor I work with! I was immediately drawn to these stones and sent a Casey an excited message. These stones have the Star of David carved in to each stone which is also the symbol for the anahata (heart) charkra. In Sanskrit anahata means unhurt, unstruck and unbeaten. It felt perfect since the necklace will be worn close to the heart next to 3 labradorite stones that are wrapped in to the chain on the side of your heart.

Every stone is cleared and charged with reiki light before it makes its way to you. Since the first necklaces from this collaboration were gifted in Bali on the retreat to me they carry a little extra magic in them from the island back to our lives here. These necklaces came along on some truly special experiences that Casey organized for all of us. In the photo above we were all at a private Melukat ceremony with our favorite laughing priest. His energy was so special and I know one of the things I hope to bring in to my life here is his deep joy, playfulness and his full body laughter and smile. Casey is just radiating joy in this photo.

I've always chosen stones for the jewelry I create just by what I am drawn to. I encourage people to choose the crystal they are drawn to and to trust their intuition. Then after they choose the piece I can tell them more about the meaning or where the stone is from. For this necklace we chose Clear Quartz and Labradorite.

About Clear Quartz: It is a stone for clearing, cleansing, healing and memory enhancement. It is programmable and can amplify your intention as well as magnify ambient energies. It is a storm element stone and good for all chakras. It has been used in many cultures and beliefs across history. It is a stone of Light bringing a heightened spiritual awareness to the wearer. Sleeping with clear quartz can make dreams more vivid. If you use it during meditation it can help deepen your experience. It can also collect lots of psychic debris so it is a stone that you should clear periodically. A few of the ways I like to clear my stones are by placing it on a selenite bar overnight, waving sage or palo santo around the stone, holding it under running water or burying it in the ground (as long as you remember where you buried it).

About Labradorite: It is a stone of magic and protection. A wind element stone that works with all of the chakras. Although Labradorite is said to have been discovered in Canada in 1770 the Red Paint People of Maine have been using it was over a thousand years. It awakens you to your intuitive abilities. It is also a gemstone for adventure. It can give you an awareness of the multiple layers of reality. It can aid in uncovering unconscious and subconscious belief patterns that create unpleasant emotional states.

During this retreat we were given so much time and space to journal, meditate and just check in with ourselves that we so often don't choose to find in our daily lives. I am so lucky that I have had a journaling and meditation practice since I was a teenager, but on this retreat I was able to go so much deeper. Bali cracked me open in ways I never could have imagined and I am so grateful to Casey for creating such an intimate retreat that I was able to explore parts of my soul that I have been ignoring for years. I remembered childhood experiences that I'd forgotten and felt in to the darker parts of myself that I am not always willing to explore. We talked about what we wanted to leave on the island and what we wanted to take back. Each day I expanded my gratitude list to include parts of Bali and the people we met that I hoped to bring back. A few of the things on this list for me were: Rahtu's laughter, Big Buddha and Pande's smile, Dewa's cooking, the feeling of no rush in the days, the phrase sin kenken that means no problems, the many colored dragonflies and butterflies who visited us every day, the yellow butterfly who landed on my arm, the sunlight and beautiful flowers, the electricity and energy of the waterfalls. There was so much more, but the biggest lesson is just to slow down and get present and curious every day, so that I can enjoy this life and not miss the little things that bring so much joy.

I stayed at Villa Selat if you're planning a retreat or a trip to Bali I highly recommend talking to Scott and Ayu.

I will do another post about Bali with more pictures next month. I just wanted to share a little more about this special collaboration.