Be lionhearted. Be nerdy as f***. Stay sexy. Remain intelligent. Be courageous. But, above all, embrace the sh*t out of your insanity.
—ERIN VAN VUREN
WHAT’S THE MOST COMMON REQUEST I GET from editors and clients alike, aside from what must-have crystal they should have in their life? It’s “Can I travel with you? Take me with you!” In this chapter, I want to do the next best thing by sharing some of the most gem-tastic adventures I have been on, from the high mountains of the Andes to the cavernous crystal caves of California that are practically in my own backyard. Get ready for a snapshot of how I learn, connect, work, and play with gem lovers from all over the world. Who do I hang out with? Where do we go? Finding new crystals to add to my collection through my travels is always so exciting, and every stone has a story.
Interview with Hannah Rae Porst, Founder of Willka Yachay
HANNAH HAS BEEN LIVING IN PERU FOR ALMOST A DECADE, collaborating with and learning about the wisdom of the Andes from the Q’ero shamans. Hannah is an incredible person, a total badass, and the founder of a nonprofit that supports the indigenous people of Peru.
How did you start Willka Yachay? And what is the organization’s goal?
I was twenty years old when I first heard of the Q’ero people and felt in my heart that I needed to travel to their mountain home to meet them. Once I did, I fell in love with them, their culture, and the mountains. I spent time researching the intersection of indigenous culture and global development, and during a community dinner one night, I asked village parents how I could thank them for their hospitality. There was initial talk about soccer shoes, but what they really needed, they told me, was a school. So in our early years of working together, we built and opened preschools, elementary schools, a high school, and a school for adults. Today, Willka Yachay’s goal is to help indigenous communities thrive in the modern world. We are empowering the Q’ero people of Peru to elevate their standard of living, guide their community toward sustainable modernity, and preserve their cultural identity.
Could you describe your training as a shaman?
Over the past several years, I have been formally apprenticing with the Q’ero medicine men and women. One of my teachers, Cipriana, is one hundred years old and has never left her mountain home. I have been blessed and initiated with centuries-old healing stones and crystals, transmitting energy cultivated through the ages. I am grateful for what the Q’ero people have taught me about how to love and revere our natural world.
Can you tell us about your work with crystals?
During my seventh year working with the Q’ero, I was riding a horse up at 16,000 feet at the base of Waman Lipa, the most sacred mountain in the Q’ero tradition. A voice told me to get off my horse and that a heart-shaped crystal would be waiting for me. I jumped off my horse, walked ten steps and looked down in amazement to see a heart-shaped crystal. I used this stone to start my mesa, my Andean healing bundle.
EXPLORING THE ORIGINS OF STONE MEDICINE IN PERU’S SACRED VALLEY
A big part of my training has involved studying Peruvian shamanism with the Q’ero in Peru, who are modern-day descendants of the Incas and pioneers of stone medicine. I want to take you on an adventure through Peru’s Sacred Valley, where the Q’ero live between 16,000 feet and the Amazon Basin. They have settled along select points of this area, at various altitudes, where they engage in activities like farming, tending animals, weaving, and selling goods. This area is wild, raw, and magnificent, and the mountains cradle you at every turn. I recently traveled to the Sacred Valley to document one of the origins of ancient stone medicine with photographer Amy Dickerson and Hannah Rae Porst, founder of the Peruvian NGO Willka Yachay, which is an organization dedicated to supporting all members of the Q’ero community and fostering sustainable development and a strong intercultural connection between the Q’ero and the outside world.
We began in the city of Cusco in southeastern Peru, and journeyed into the mountains, called the apu, which have long been revered as gods and spirits at the center of ancient Andean spirituality. This unforgettable pilgrimage pushed me to my physical limits, as we tackled steep climbs, navigated narrow mountain passes, and dealt with incredibly cold weather at dizzying altitudes.
PASS THE SALT: THE MARAS SALT FLATS
One of our first stops was a tiny town in the Sacred Valley called Maras (located at 11,890 feet), known for its tiered salt ponds, which have been in use since pre-Incan times. Since Incan times, the salt harvested from these ponds has been freely available to all members of the Maras community. Halite is the mineral name for the substance we commonly know as salt, and its metaphysical properties are vast, including:
- Attracting abundance and manifesting desires
- Promoting healing, physical well-being, and longevity
- Providing spiritual protection and purification
- Providing insights on life, death, and spiritual rebirth
- Balancing emotions and tapping into altered states like dreaming and meditation
- Preventing spiritual “decay” (Many religions and spiritual modalities sprinkle salt, or create circles, lines, or piles of it, for this purpose.)
THE CITY SURROUNDED BY QUARTZ: OLLANTAYTAMBO
The next stop on our journey was the town of Ollantaytambo (9,160 feet), an Incan archaeological site located along the Willkamayu, or Sacred River, in the Sacred Valley. Formerly the home of Incan nobility, Ollantaytambo is now a popular tourist destination and starting point for the four-day, three-night hike along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. There is a great shopping market in the middle of the town with a plethora of handwoven goods for sale. But the most impressive part of shopping is looking up at the town’s ancient stone backdrop: pre-Incan terraces and megaliths that are made of mostly Quartz crystal. The stone isn’t local, but was dragged from the other side of the valley. How the ancient builders moved mountain-size stones that great distance remains a mystery today, although many archaeologists have theories.
THE OG CRYSTAL CITY: MACHU PICCHU
Following Ollantaytambo, we boarded a train to Machu Picchu (8,040 feet), arriving after nightfall in the town of Aguas Calientes, which sits at its base. Machu Picchu, which means “old mountain” or “old peak,” is a fifteenth-century Incan citadel that was built as an estate for the Incan emperor Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. And it, too, is primarily made of Quartz. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana (“Hitching Post of the Sun”), the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. The four sides of the Intihuatana represent the four compass directions (north, south, east, and west) and the Medicine Wheel in shamanism, and the structure was used for astronomical observations and ritual ceremonies. Only the priests and the Inca were allowed to enter the Temple of the Sun, which was used as a solar observatory and a place for animal sacrifices. In the Room of Three Windows, the three remaining windows (there were originally five) each represent a part of the world: Ukhu Pacha (the Lower World), Hanaq Pacha (the Upper World), and Kay Pacha (the Middle World, or Present Time on Earth).
Machu Picchu is not just a mysterious architectural feat with breath-taking views of Peru’s mountains. It also happens to be an energy vortex. Vortexes are high-energy sites that can be found all over the world. Other well-known vortexes include Sedona, Stonehenge, and the Great Pyramids of Giza. The energy of vortexes can’t be detected by the naked eye, but we can measure their effects with divination methods, and with tools like a pendulum or a magnetometer. Vortexes often have high-vibe stones, which store information and harness energy, placed on the land by Mother Nature (Sedona) or designed by man (Stonehenge, Machu Picchu). Most vortexes have a heavy concentration of Limestone, Quartz, and Magnetite. Why did the ancients build these ancient structures on top of vortexes using stones and crystals? They believed that they could use them to create, transmit, and channel energy—sort of like acupuncture needles that worked with the earth’s energy. Travelers visit well-known energy vortexes for a variety of reasons, from contemplating the meaning of life to increasing their physical wellness to looking for their next big business idea—and many claim to have found these things at vortexes, Machu Picchu included.
PLAYING DRESS-UP WITH SEÑORA VALENTINA!
One of my favorite moments on the trip was being carefully and lovingly dressed by one of the elders of the community, Señora Valentina, who happened to be the village fashion plate. I felt a bit like a five-year-old girl trying on my mom’s high heels! Valentina pulled out her favorite pieces and advised me on all the key items. My favorite piece was a pollera, a very heavy wool square dancing–esque skirt decorated with embroidery, beading, rickrack, and sequins. Valentina told me that on an average day, Q’ero women wear three or four skirts at a time! Not only for style, but for warmth. I don’t have an exact weight on the skirts, but it is a full-time job wearing one. The finishing touch was when Valentina added a colorful 4-inch-wide woven belt, tied even tighter than the skirt (which was tight!) to exaggerate my shape. How these badass mountain women can herd llamas, do their daily chores, or even breathe in these skirts is beyond me.
Señora Valentina and her family members Señora Maria and Señor Jose Luis also wanted to show me how to hand-dye baby alpaca fibers, which are used in the beautiful textiles and weavings of the Q’ero. They put on their Sunday best and treated our dyeing lesson as a ceremony. We sat next to the rushing river and used insects, dried herbs, flowers, natural indigo, and crystals to color the fibers. The fibers were first spun into yarn, then dipped in the dye, then cooled and dried and handed over to the women to make the colors come to life in their beautiful weavings. Designs are specific to family groups or tribes (ayllu), as textiles are representative of specific communities and their cultural heritage. Additional decoration in the form of tassels, brocade, feathers, and beads made of precious metals or shells is then added to the weavings.
WEAVING THE STORIES OF THEIR LIVES
Q’ero women have been using looms to weave for centuries. A wichuna, or llama bone pick, is used to weave images of animals, lakes, rivers, plants, spirits and other sacred symbols that bring meaning in everyday life through the vibrantly dyed alpaca fibers. Women weave most textiles and garments, though men do make chullos, ear-flapped Andean hats. A Q’ero woman’s knowledge of motifs and her skill at weaving fine cloth increases not only her status in the community, but also her ability to provide for her family. The Q’ero women weave the stories of their lives and their ancestors into their textiles. Storytelling through weaving is one of the most important ways the Q’ero people preserve their cultural traditions.
Textiles are an integral part of Q’ero life from birth to death. When babies are born, they are wrapped in the traditional mestana cloth, which, as they enter into adulthood, becomes their personal medicine bag, or mesa. When death comes, Q’ero people wrap the deceased in their finest cloth for burial. Clothing has always been a symbol and indicator in Incan society of a person’s wealth, status, and region and family they come from.
SHAMAN CENTRAL: QOCHAMOQO
Our next stop, the most dangerous and exciting part of our adventure, began in the village of Qochamoqo (14,500 feet), which has the highest concentration of resident shamans of any of the fourteen high-mountain villages that are part of the Cordillera de Vilcanota mountain range.
To get there, we had to drive for eight hours southeast of Cusco with our guide Santos and horse-wrangler Raymundo on windy mountain back roads through small villages, and down dirt roads, with wild dogs often running alongside the car and old women in vibrant outfits waving from their doorways.
The president of Qochamoqo Village, Alejandro Ordoñez, was there to greet us at the start of our trek up the Apu Waman Lipa, along with eight horses and a few community members to escort us up the mountain. To ascend Waman Lipa, you must travel on horseback, wearing a backpack that holds, along with your other supplies, a small, portable oxygen tank because of the altitude. The guides led our horses on a two-hour-long climb, at 45-degree inclines. We navigated skinny rocky trails as herds of llama and alpaca frolicked around us. We had to be prepared for whatever weather conditions the mountain would throw at us, from clear blue skies to torrential downpour. The journey was treacherous, but I felt completely safe climbing with our guides, who know the mountain like the back of their hand.
Interview with Don Augustine, Third-Generation Q’ero Shaman
WHILE VISITING PERU’S SACRED VALLEY, I was lucky enough to spend time with third-generation Q’ero Shaman Don Augustine. He is an altomisyoq, which means “wisdom keeper,” and he is the highest level of Andean ritualist, one who is traditionally known to directly converse with the apu, or “mountain spirits,” on behalf of the people.
How were you chosen as a shaman in your tribe?
First, the Apu Waman Lipa sent dreams to my father, who was also a shaman, that I was to be a shaman. Next, my father went to have my coca leaves read to confirm that this was true. Once it was confirmed, I was able to begin my training. I then received the first initiation rite from my father.
Where did you get the stones in your mesa?
Many of the stones are from my father, grandfather, and older generations. A spirit came to my father to tell him I was allowed to use the stones to heal people. My father was given permission by the spirits to pass the stones to me. The other stones were received as gifts from the mountains or through karpays (shamanic rites of initiation).
How many years have you been a shaman and who do you work with?
I am fifty-eight years old and have been a practicing shaman for thirty-two years. I started my initiation rites when I was sixteen years old. When I first started to work, it was with the Q’ero people, and now I also work with the foreigners that come to visit Cusco. I would also like to come to North America and work.
What energies do you work with?
Apu Waman Lipa is my medicine. I received my first initiation at Apu Waman Lipa and feel most connected with the energies of this place.
If you were a crystal, which crystal would you be?
Clear Quartz
Upon reaching the summit at 16,000 feet, the spectacular sky-blue Scissor Lake comes into view when you look down a deep ravine. I truly felt like I was on another planet as we dismounted our horses at the summit and took a stretch and a group photo. For the next leg of our journey, the descent, we had to hike back down the mountain on foot, because the incline is too steep to ride on horseback, which took about an hour. The guides lovingly slapped our horses on the ass to let them know it was time to go, and they tore off down the mountain. It became dark, cold, and rainy as our hike progressed, and then finally Qochamoqo Village, with its picturesque stone and straw-thatched houses peppered across the hill, reappeared out of the mist.
We were invited to stay overnight in the 150-year-old family home of our guide Santos and his father, Shaman Don Augustine. We were as out of pocket and off the grid as could be, with no indoor heating, plumbing, electricity, or WiFi. We slept on a bed of llama skins and wool blankets at night, and what was lacking in modern-day creature comforts was more than made up for by the warmth of our hosts.
I had long heard my shaman teachers talk about the importance of respecting and worshipping the apu, but I didn’t fully appreciate what they meant until this trip. Coming face-to-face with the mountains at those altitudes and in extreme weather conditions with nowhere to hide was so humbling. And I was often in awe of the Q’ero people, who are so tough. I would stand there freezing in my parka and boots, next to the smiling Q’ero who don’t wear closed-toed shoes (only a flip-flop-like sandal to cover the sole of the foot over rocky terrain) or heavy jackets because their bodies have acclimatized to the weather.
THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY: SHAMAN SCHOOL
Ten years into my crystal journey, after spending time as a student at the Four Winds, a school of energy medicine; receiving my training as an Usui Reiki master; continuing intuitive study with my teachers; and founding Style Rituals, the universe asked me to step even deeper into the healing world. Stephen Feely, a mentor and former teacher from the Four Winds, approached me to say that said he was founding a Peruvian-based school called Pampamesayok Shaman School (pampamesayok meaning “earth keeper” in Quechua) in his home state of Tennessee, and he wanted me to be his co-teacher. I was honored, but also intimidated. Crystal healing is only one aspect of shamanism. Did I really know enough about shamanism, its lineage, and everything that goes along with it to accept this position? As we say in shamanism, Stephen was holding space for me to step into a role as teacher. He said I was already teaching in my private sessions, and he knew I could do it. So I said yes!
WHAT DO WE TEACH AT SHAMAN SCHOOL?
Our teachings focus on Peruvian-based Incan shamanism; however, we sprinkle Nordic, Chinese, Siberian, and Mexican shamanic traditions into our curriculum. The curriculum we teach is Shamanism 101, and it’s the perfect place to start if you are interested in learning about shamanism for self-healing or want to become a shamanic practitioner. We teach The Medicine Wheel, which is the foundational teachings of shamanism (more on that later), and we also teach practical ways to incorporate these ancient wisdom practices into your daily life by combining aspects of psychology, neuroscience, quantum physics, cultural anthropology, mysticism, and a bit of alchemy. Our curriculum is also largely based on what is taught at the Four Winds, and we teach it with the permission and blessings of Four Winds founder Alberto Villoldo.
WHAT IS THE MEDICINE WHEEL?
Stepping up as a shaman in your community means you agree to become a pampamesayok, or “earth keeper.” As a pampamesayok, you take on the responsibility of caring for the land and its inhabitants to the best of your ability with your gifts and skill set. In each of the four directional classes, different components of our being are examined on a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual/energetic level. Each direction represents aspects from each of the following categories:
- Stages of life (birth, youth, adult, death)
- Seasons of the year (spring, summer, fall, winter)
- Elements of nature (fire, air, water, earth)
- Animal archetypes (animals vary per shamanic lineage; in the Peruvian tradition we speak about the serpent, jaguar, hummingbird, and eagle/condor)
- Sacred herbs (sage, cedar, sweet grass, tobacco)
- Through “directional” storytelling on a symbolic level, ancient teachings and hands-on healing practicum that accompany each direction, we are able to guide and empower our students into a personal journey of transformation.
WHO COMES TO CLASS?
Shaman School is open to anyone who feels called to attend. In our classes, we see a lot of healthcare professionals who are looking to add a new skill set to their current practice, whether they’re psychologists, acupuncturists, massage therapists, nurses, hospice workers, counselors, meditation and yoga teachers, or Reiki practitioners. Other people we see? Those in community leadership roles, executives, public relations and marketing directors, ministers, human resource consultants, and motivational speakers. And then there are the wild cards, like fire-fighters, rocket scientists, and fashion stylists (ahem!). Our classes are typically around 80 percent female, but come on guys! The door is wide-open.
Interview with Stephen Feely, BSA, RP, HLB, Founder of Pampamesayok Shaman School
STEPHEN AND I ARE LIKE PEAS AND CARROTS when we get together to teach: Stephen speaks with great poetic wisdom and thirty years of shamanic experience, and I bring the beauty and sparkle through ceremony and ritual, and by making sure we have a killer altar decorated to perfection. Stephen is a certified energy medicine practitioner, Usui Reiki master and senior faculty member at the Four Winds. Besides his energetically inclined accolades, he is also a writer, father, community leader, biodynamic farmer, environmental educator, and one of the wisest and most interesting people I know. He is most known for sharing his deep connection to the healing forces of nature.
When did you first get into crystals?
I started collecting stones as a child, and many of these became the stones that are in my shaman medicine bag today. I have been playing with stones forever. In middle school, I had a geology teacher who took us out rock-hunting and really opened my eyes as she talked about the spirit of rocks and their properties. This experience was really formative, and I started associating rocks with a sense of place and a profound knowing of the dynamic qualities of the earth. I grew up farming with my family, and I knew that when I touched rocks and placed them in certain places, it meant something. My whole life, my interest in crystals has been led by a sense of play, wonderment, and creativity!
How do you use crystals in your shamanic work?
I use crystals in a session to create a safe and inviting space for the heaviness that may be in a client’s Luminous Energy Field. It’s like the light of the crystal is “mulching” the energetic heaviness and turning it back into light. That is what shamans do—we honor the heaviness, and we love it back to a high vibration so that it can become light. My crystals are like a support team that I can use to activate a healing intention. I think of them as a bridge between earth and sky, and this is the pathway I travel when I journey to support a client in his or her healing or intention.
What was it like for you to study with the Q’ero?
Humbling. These medicine men and women live in a space of never having forgotten why we are here and who we are as human beings. It’s like the innocence we’re all born with has never been extinguished in these extraordinary men and women and their beautiful children. Studying with them has allowed me to discover a new fuel within myself, allowing me to claim a kind of second innocence. The Q’ero are very wise, yet they should never be put on a pedestal. They are some of the most authentic human beings I have ever met. And therein lies their magic.
What is the most rewarding part of your work?
Watching people get back in touch with how beautiful their souls really are, once they let go of all the stories that tell them otherwise, and as they return to love and claim an empowered path to walk forward into their destiny.
What else do we need to know about crystals?
No matter how many crystals we humans collect during our time on this planet, they will all eventually end up back in the earth. We are only borrowing them for a brief visit, and then the earth will take back what was borrowed. Our crystals choose us, knowing that we need their medicine to get back in touch with what it is to be human.
If you were a crystal, which one would you be?
Amethyst, because it changes through time. For example, recently I watched a particular Amethyst on my farm change from deep purple to a cloudy white. Then all these fuzzy, tiny crystals started forming on the outside of it. I started wiping off the crystal fuzz, aka baby crystal dust, and putting it into several beds of soil on my farm that were ready to be planted. The places where I added the dust, the plants grew bigger, stronger, and more flavorful. This particular Amethyst crystal then went back to being purple again. Amethyst is the most dynamic crystal I have ever seen, and it is its own playground of wisdom and transformation.
GOING ON A CRYSTAL DIG
I recently went with a bunch of my rock hound friends to dig for gems at the Pala Chief Mine, in Pala, California. Pala Chief is one of the oldest gem mines in San Diego County, and it’s one of the only historic mines still being actively worked in the hunt for American gemstones. It’s a freestyle dig, so you bring your own tools: bucket, shovel, hand rake, pry bars, rubber gloves, and toothbrush. All you have to do to get in on the crystal madness is to book an appointment through their website and pay a fee. We were on the hunt for gems the mine is best known for: Aquamarine, Garnet, Kunzite, Morganite, and Quartz.
Crystal Digging at Pala Chief Mine, Step by Step
- Put on sunscreen, sun hat, and your hot pink gardening gloves!
- Fill your bucket with a pile of dirt, rocks, and gems to sift through.
- Carry the bucket to your designated station and dump everything over the ¼-inch mesh screens to sift through what you have.
- Submerge your screen in water.
- Pick out the larger rocks first, then grab your toothbrush. Gently scrub each stone with the toothbrush to see what treasures were covered by dirt.
- Take your screen out of the water and select the stones you want to keep.
TAKE IT TO THE BANK!
Most of the miners at Pala Chief have been doing this for years, and are trained and certified in various specialties. On this most recent trip, we got to hang out with Steve Carter, who is an expert in drilling and blasting (he knows a lot about explosives!). Steve offered to take us on a personal tour of the mine, and needless to say, we were all fighting for shotgun in his golf cart! As Steve whisked us through the canyon hills, he gave us the rundown on how the Pala Chief Mine got started. It was originally owned by J. P. Morgan and George Frederick Kunz, an American mineralogist and former vice president and buyer for Tiffany and Co. Along with being a money man, J. P. Morgan was also a notable gemstone collector and was responsible for funding some of the world’s greatest gemstone collections, which can be seen in museums today. In 1911, J. P. Morgan’s contribution to the gemstone world was acknowledged when Kunz named a newly found gem, Morganite, after the financier. They also discovered Kunzite, named of course for Kunz.
We ended our day at Pala Chief with plenty of gems in our pockets, but also super dirty and dusty—sort of like emerging from the Mojave after Burning Man. Caution: DO NOT wear anything you care about to either event.
THE TUSCON GEM SHOW: GEM SHOPPING IN THE WILD WEST!
The Tucson Gem Show is the oldest, largest, and sparkliest in the world. It takes place every year in late January or early February, and this year I headed out there to see gem distributors and colleagues, and to visit one of my mentors, Brian Cook, who is one of the top experts on ethical gem mining in the world. I also had a lengthy shopping list from private clients with me! The experience is always incredible: Running around Tucson, literally hugging Smart car–size gems, and sitting in a carved Rose Quartz bathtub were a couple of the highlights from this year.
There are two main tents at the show: the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) tent, and the Jewelers Circular Keystone (JCK) tent. The tents of these two big crystal organizations house all the high-end pieces at the Tucson show, and you need to be in the gem business or have an all-access press pass to get in. Once inside, you get to interact with everyone from Smithsonian gem geeks to technologists promoting the newest lasers for gem cutting. In addition to what’s going on in the tents, there is also a symposium given by experts from around the world. Lectures and interactive experiences start with a sage energy clearing in the morning, followed by sessions that cover jewelry retailing, cutting and mounting gems, technological advancements, education and professional development, ethical practices, and Oscars-style design awards.
Tips for Navigating the Wild West of Crystal Shopping
- Bring your tax ID! Purchasers must have a retail business and proof of the business with resale certificate.
- Crystals are heavy AF! Bring a TSA-approved carry-on or a collapsible grandma-style grocery cart. If you get really crazy with your purchases, or buy the “big one,” the vendor or your friendly neighborhood UPS will help you get them home safely.
- What to wear? I came in with a blow-out and left with a dusty, disheveled top-knot. You’re going to be in and out of the hot Arizona sun all day, so wear sunscreen, a hat, and some sh*t-kickers you don’t mind getting dusty and that you can stand in all day.
- Drink plenty of water. The combination of desert weather and energetic vibes from the crystals will leave you sucked dry and with a nasty high-vibe hangover the following morning if you don’t.
- The official gem show starts at the end of January, but serious buyers and deal-hounds are already lurking around Tucson in mid- to late January, hoping to be the first to score.
- How do I speak the purchasing lingo?
NET: The purchaser pays the full price marked on the label.
KEYSTONE: 50% off the price marked.
DOUBLE KEYSTONE: 75% off the price marked. (That’s like hitting the big one at the craps table!)
WHOLESALE: 50% off the price marked. The purchaser must have a retail business and have proof of the business with resale certificate. All wholesalers require resale licenses.
INTERLAGOS: These letters correspond to the numbers 1234567890. A mineral priced “TAG” = $378.
- There is no standard pricing system at the gem show, so when you first arrive in a dealer’s room or tent, look for any of the terms mentioned above. These will indicate the pricing plan used by the dealer. If there is no indication of pricing, ask the dealer how the minerals are priced to avoid confusion during checkout. P.S. Yes, you can barter!
- Cash is king! It’s a rookie mistake to think you can use plastic in the parking lot, which is where all the vendors who aren’t in the AGTA or JCK buildings with the expensive gems set up shop. There are literally parking lots, hotel lobbies, and sidewalks with makeshift crystal tent cities throughout Tucson during the show. The entire town turns into a gem market! You don’t want to find yourself pleading with a Brazilian dealer to let you send him some PayPal love for a piece you just can’t leave behind (like I did recently!). Bring cash!
A combination of following my intuition, a nomadic way of life, and my wanderlust nature has led me to continuously jump down one mystical rabbit hole after another. I am super blessed to be greeted on the other side by diverse people and their deeply rooted spiritual traditions and rituals everywhere I go. I am grateful to be welcomed into so many “tribes” who have helped fuel my love, education, and exploration of all things sparkly so that I, in turn, may share my knowledge and experiences with you. My crystal adventures will continue to be an integral part of my work as a healer because it is the one aspect of my work that unifies everything I have ever done, and continues to ignite my curiosity and inspire me.
