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The Alchemy of Stones: Co-creating with Crystals, Minerals, and Gemstones for Healing and Transformation
A full-color illustrated guide to co-creative alchemy with crystals and stones for personal and planetary healing and enlightenment
• 2021 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award
• Reveals that those who love and work with crystals and stones have been intuitively following the path of spiritual alchemy
• Provides meditative practices with specific stones to go with each stage of the alchemical transformation process as well as other tools and techniques
• Includes an illustrated dictionary summarizing the spiritual qualities of more than 375 different minerals, crystals, and gemstones
The Alchemy of Stones presents an inspired breakthrough in Robert Simmons’ thirty-five year career of exploring and revealing the spiritual qualities and potentials of minerals, crystals, and gemstones. This holistic, Earth-based framework for understanding stones and their energies initiates readers into an alchemical worldview that leads to spiritual healing, transformation, and transcendence.
Engaging readers step by step, Simmons provides guidance on discovering and harnessing the three human powers of intention, attention, and imagination, each a crucial component for meeting and working in harmony with the energies of the Stone Beings. Simmons also introduces us to the Divine Feminine intelligence known as Sophia, or Wisdom. The Stone Beings are her emissaries, and through relating and co-creating with them, the healing and redemption of ourselves and the Earth becomes a reality.
Offering an illustrated dictionary of the spiritual qualities of more than 375 different minerals, crystals, and gemstones, Simmons also explores in depth what he calls the Four Cornerstones of the Alchemy of Moldavite, Phenacite, Azeztulite, and Rosophia. He discusses the stages of alchemical transformation and provides meditative practices with specific stones to go with each stage. He also explores how to work with stone mandalas, crystal body layouts, gemstone elixirs, and Orgonite energy devices and details powerful techniques for working with stones. Woven throughout are Simmons’ personal stories of the pivotal mystical experiences that triggered his capacity to feel stone energies and led him to develop his relationship with the stones, revealing how this work can open minds and awaken hearts.
Lavishly illustrated, The Alchemy of Stones is an invitation to a journey of enlightenment, transformation, and spiritual metamorphosis aligned with the path of our living, conscious Earth.
• 2021 Coalition of Visionary Resources Gold Award
• Reveals that those who love and work with crystals and stones have been intuitively following the path of spiritual alchemy
• Provides meditative practices with specific stones to go with each stage of the alchemical transformation process as well as other tools and techniques
• Includes an illustrated dictionary summarizing the spiritual qualities of more than 375 different minerals, crystals, and gemstones
The Alchemy of Stones presents an inspired breakthrough in Robert Simmons’ thirty-five year career of exploring and revealing the spiritual qualities and potentials of minerals, crystals, and gemstones. This holistic, Earth-based framework for understanding stones and their energies initiates readers into an alchemical worldview that leads to spiritual healing, transformation, and transcendence.
Engaging readers step by step, Simmons provides guidance on discovering and harnessing the three human powers of intention, attention, and imagination, each a crucial component for meeting and working in harmony with the energies of the Stone Beings. Simmons also introduces us to the Divine Feminine intelligence known as Sophia, or Wisdom. The Stone Beings are her emissaries, and through relating and co-creating with them, the healing and redemption of ourselves and the Earth becomes a reality.
Offering an illustrated dictionary of the spiritual qualities of more than 375 different minerals, crystals, and gemstones, Simmons also explores in depth what he calls the Four Cornerstones of the Alchemy of Moldavite, Phenacite, Azeztulite, and Rosophia. He discusses the stages of alchemical transformation and provides meditative practices with specific stones to go with each stage. He also explores how to work with stone mandalas, crystal body layouts, gemstone elixirs, and Orgonite energy devices and details powerful techniques for working with stones. Woven throughout are Simmons’ personal stories of the pivotal mystical experiences that triggered his capacity to feel stone energies and led him to develop his relationship with the stones, revealing how this work can open minds and awaken hearts.
Lavishly illustrated, The Alchemy of Stones is an invitation to a journey of enlightenment, transformation, and spiritual metamorphosis aligned with the path of our living, conscious Earth.
496 pages, Paperback
Published October 13, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 14, 2020
This reviewer received a review copy from the publisher.
This attractive book is the result of a lifetime of working with various stones and minerals and their energies. The cover itself is a mandala, whose meaning you will find halfway through the book. All the numerous illustrations are full color. The book follows Simmons’s adventures learning about and using the stones. He speaks about the subtle realm, different from physical reality, in which the stones have individual and familial healing properties. Three-hundred and seventy-five different stones, gemstones and minerals are discussed and itemized in the glossary following the last chapter. In addition, two separate indexes follow, one with stones that impact the healing of physical ailments, and the other that addresses emotional ailments. Simmons indicates the properties of each of the nearly 400 stones and its healing powers and the chakras with which it resonates. From other sources you can find tarot correspondences to the stones, and astrological correspondences.
Clearly this book is a fantastic reference for anyone who uses stones in any way. It is also a history of alchemy and a how-to guide for alchemy. Spiritual alchemy happens when we intentionally work to evolve our consciousness. This can be done with the stones as indicated in Simmons’s book, or using poetry or music, or other means. As Simmons says, “When you begin paying attention to alchemy, alchemy begins paying attention to you.” You will begin acquiring an alchemical worldview. Alchemists in the middle ages had to protect themselves from religious persecution. Their means to do this was through symbolic and metaphoric language. For example, the metal gold was a tie to the astrological Sun and thus symbolic of leadership, fame, and glory.
Simmons gives four stones a chapter apiece; these are his four cornerstones of Moldavite, Phenacite, Azetulite, and Rosophia. You might want to think of them as the keys to the mineral kingdom, or the Lords of the mineral kingdom. Each is worthy of particular study, according to Simmons. Each holds a piece of mankind’s connection to the mineral kingdom.
Even for those who have little interest in the stones themselves, this book is a guide for exploring the subtle (also called the imaginal) realm. For those familiar with the works of Ken Wilber, this is the subtle state, as opposed to the physical state so many of us limit ourselves to.
While the book is a fabulous reference to the stones, the author’s advice is to let our intuitions and our hands guide us to the right stones for our current purposes. Having consulted this book, you are best served being able to browse through a store in person, letting your intuition guide you to the kind of stone, and the particular stone, that is for you at this time. I recommend this book for all who are curious about the stones, or wish to have the protection and healing power of the stones.
This attractive book is the result of a lifetime of working with various stones and minerals and their energies. The cover itself is a mandala, whose meaning you will find halfway through the book. All the numerous illustrations are full color. The book follows Simmons’s adventures learning about and using the stones. He speaks about the subtle realm, different from physical reality, in which the stones have individual and familial healing properties. Three-hundred and seventy-five different stones, gemstones and minerals are discussed and itemized in the glossary following the last chapter. In addition, two separate indexes follow, one with stones that impact the healing of physical ailments, and the other that addresses emotional ailments. Simmons indicates the properties of each of the nearly 400 stones and its healing powers and the chakras with which it resonates. From other sources you can find tarot correspondences to the stones, and astrological correspondences.
Clearly this book is a fantastic reference for anyone who uses stones in any way. It is also a history of alchemy and a how-to guide for alchemy. Spiritual alchemy happens when we intentionally work to evolve our consciousness. This can be done with the stones as indicated in Simmons’s book, or using poetry or music, or other means. As Simmons says, “When you begin paying attention to alchemy, alchemy begins paying attention to you.” You will begin acquiring an alchemical worldview. Alchemists in the middle ages had to protect themselves from religious persecution. Their means to do this was through symbolic and metaphoric language. For example, the metal gold was a tie to the astrological Sun and thus symbolic of leadership, fame, and glory.
Simmons gives four stones a chapter apiece; these are his four cornerstones of Moldavite, Phenacite, Azetulite, and Rosophia. You might want to think of them as the keys to the mineral kingdom, or the Lords of the mineral kingdom. Each is worthy of particular study, according to Simmons. Each holds a piece of mankind’s connection to the mineral kingdom.
Even for those who have little interest in the stones themselves, this book is a guide for exploring the subtle (also called the imaginal) realm. For those familiar with the works of Ken Wilber, this is the subtle state, as opposed to the physical state so many of us limit ourselves to.
While the book is a fabulous reference to the stones, the author’s advice is to let our intuitions and our hands guide us to the right stones for our current purposes. Having consulted this book, you are best served being able to browse through a store in person, letting your intuition guide you to the kind of stone, and the particular stone, that is for you at this time. I recommend this book for all who are curious about the stones, or wish to have the protection and healing power of the stones.
October 4, 2020
A Crystal 'Bible': Clear, Comprehensive, Colorful, and Classy
If The Alchemy of Stones was a diamond, it would be graded at the highest level of quality. This most recent book by best-selling author Robert Simmons certainly captures the four C's of gemstone book excellence for its clarity, completeness, colorfulness, and class.
A great deal of reverence and respect toward stones and Stone Beings is evident in the subtitle of The Alchemy of Stones: "Co-creating with Crystals, Minerals, and Gemstones for Healing and Transformation." Those who already appreciate the ways that stones can enrich our lives in a multitude of ways, and those who are more skeptical will benefit from an explanation of why Simmons refers to 'Stone Beings,' and what he means by this term. Simmons explains, "... we can say that every center of consciousness, expressed as any self-organized object or creature, is a 'self.' Both we and the stones we work with have self hood. That's why I call them Stone Beings." Simmons backs up this assertion with a great deal of historical background describing four overlapping areas of ideology in this area, including: soul, imaginal, psychoid, and subtle. The words of Novalis about the Seat of the Soul having to do with the space of awareness "where the inner world and the outer world meet" has everything to do with relating to stones. The alchemy suggested in the title of this book thus has a great deal to do with encoded intentionality, or entelechy: the realization of potential, development and functioning of an organism. Simmons elaborates, "We meet the Stone Beings within the realm of the soul, which is also the imaginal realm, AND the realm of subtle matter/energy and subtle bodies."
The Alchemy of Stones is beautifully written and organized to showcase and share a lifetime of accumulated wisdom and knowledge about crystals and stones. Readers focusing primarily in some specific area of interest--such as orgonite, stone elixirs, crystal waters, stone labyrinths, stone purification, stone body layouts, crystal wands, or stone grids--can quickly find the appropriate chapter, and dive into those areas immediately. Color illustrations and photographs bring the subject to life, including in the extensive Stone Dictionary at the end of the book, showing detailed descriptions of hundreds of stones. Exercises are abundantly provided to encourage readers to explore an extraordinary depth and breadth of approaches to relating with crystals and stones.
Highly recommended!
If The Alchemy of Stones was a diamond, it would be graded at the highest level of quality. This most recent book by best-selling author Robert Simmons certainly captures the four C's of gemstone book excellence for its clarity, completeness, colorfulness, and class.
A great deal of reverence and respect toward stones and Stone Beings is evident in the subtitle of The Alchemy of Stones: "Co-creating with Crystals, Minerals, and Gemstones for Healing and Transformation." Those who already appreciate the ways that stones can enrich our lives in a multitude of ways, and those who are more skeptical will benefit from an explanation of why Simmons refers to 'Stone Beings,' and what he means by this term. Simmons explains, "... we can say that every center of consciousness, expressed as any self-organized object or creature, is a 'self.' Both we and the stones we work with have self hood. That's why I call them Stone Beings." Simmons backs up this assertion with a great deal of historical background describing four overlapping areas of ideology in this area, including: soul, imaginal, psychoid, and subtle. The words of Novalis about the Seat of the Soul having to do with the space of awareness "where the inner world and the outer world meet" has everything to do with relating to stones. The alchemy suggested in the title of this book thus has a great deal to do with encoded intentionality, or entelechy: the realization of potential, development and functioning of an organism. Simmons elaborates, "We meet the Stone Beings within the realm of the soul, which is also the imaginal realm, AND the realm of subtle matter/energy and subtle bodies."
The Alchemy of Stones is beautifully written and organized to showcase and share a lifetime of accumulated wisdom and knowledge about crystals and stones. Readers focusing primarily in some specific area of interest--such as orgonite, stone elixirs, crystal waters, stone labyrinths, stone purification, stone body layouts, crystal wands, or stone grids--can quickly find the appropriate chapter, and dive into those areas immediately. Color illustrations and photographs bring the subject to life, including in the extensive Stone Dictionary at the end of the book, showing detailed descriptions of hundreds of stones. Exercises are abundantly provided to encourage readers to explore an extraordinary depth and breadth of approaches to relating with crystals and stones.
Highly recommended!
July 25, 2022
Robert is a living legend. This book is one of the best contemporary explanations on alchemy. He’s clearly a master in his field.
He goes into depth on what a stone really is. A conscious and numinous being. How can this be? He introduces the imaginal realm. A place that sits in the overlap of the outer and inner worlds. Where the alchemist can use their imagination to see and interact beyond the mundane reality. However, not to be confused with mere fantasy. The imaginal realm is not simply a manifestation of the mind.
All in all, one of the best books on alchemy I’ve come across. It shows our world in its true grandeur—one of great beauty and magic.
He goes into depth on what a stone really is. A conscious and numinous being. How can this be? He introduces the imaginal realm. A place that sits in the overlap of the outer and inner worlds. Where the alchemist can use their imagination to see and interact beyond the mundane reality. However, not to be confused with mere fantasy. The imaginal realm is not simply a manifestation of the mind.
All in all, one of the best books on alchemy I’ve come across. It shows our world in its true grandeur—one of great beauty and magic.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews