Reflections on Extraordinary Talismans For Everyday Life
From amethyst to obsidian, Basic Witches author Jaya Saxena explores the multi-faceted meanings and history behind eleven popular crystals in this relatable personal essay collection. Highly prized for their beauty, crystals can take the shape of jewelry, household objects, and an array of self-care products. But it’s the ideas they stand for that draw people to their raw forms. Like astrology, tarot, and modern witchcraft, crystals help practitioners understand themselves and the wider world around them. In this collection of sharply observed essays, Jaya Saxena reflects on—and challenges—the ideas associated with eleven popular stones, including unconditional love (rose quartz), happiness and success (citrine), balance (amethyst), self-care (black tourmaline), purity (pearl), imposter syndrome (pyrite), toxic positivity (carnelian), change (opals), traditional concepts of marriage (diamonds), presentation versus identity (obsidian), and death (amber). The result is a deeply personal book with universal appeal, exploring how we assign meaning and power to crystals in order to give meaning and power to our lives.
Reviews with the most likes.
I've been a fan of some of Jaya Saxena's online wrings and I've been semi-ironically getting into crystals but I probably wouldn't have picked this up if I hadn't read some online reviews that were like “uh this is not a guide to crystals it's actually set of beautiful personal essays” and I was like, sick, I love beautiful personal essays!!!
Each essay focuses on one crystal and its alleged purposes/abilities but then applies that out to moments in Jaya's life/personality/whatever and they're all just really honest and #relatable and lovely. Highly recommended even if you're not into crystals. (But also it's 2021, why not get into crystals.)