Tom JacobsIn a recent post I discussed beginning to cut and polish work with tiger iron, the crystal I use in a good portion of my channeling and meditation.
Since then I’ve been back to the shop at the lapidary club, taking some pieces of rough and cutting and polishing them to get them closer to being used. When I’ve used a rough piece in the past it was overwhelming so now I’m polishing the pieces I’m cutting. But not making them too pretty – though sharp corners have been polished down some rough edges are intact, as you’ll see in a photo below.
It’s been an interesting process getting to know this particular piece of tiger iron before cutting it. And then working with smaller bits of it as I prepare to make them available to others who are ready to get seriously grounded and improve their self-confidence. (More on tiger iron in general and how I experience it in upcoming posts.)
I’ve also branched out into getting to know some other stones, getting tuned into the frequencies of a handful of different crystals. Over the last decade I’ve worked with ascended masters, angels and archangels, an alien or two, spirit guides of all kinds, the spirits of numerous dead people, and a bunch of cats – is it so much a stretch to learn to incorporate crystals into the mix? They possess a level of consciousness and spending time with them has effects on us. And that’s where I’ve been for the last couple of weeks. As I note that, I realize this is why writing has been challenging. This post has seen 8 drafts over 3 days.
After the last post it was time to take the 4 lb., 9.2-oz. piece of tiger iron and cut it into slabs. The saw that is required for this I needed the shop monitor to operate. To the left is a photo of the saw open with someone else’s rock about to get its last cuts into slabs.
Mine went in next, with each slab taking 20-30 minutes to cut. The saw goes slowly and I’m told tiger iron is about 6.5 on the Mohs scale, which measures the hardness of minerals. Talc is 1 and diamonds are 10 with everything else fitting between. So it’s not the softest of rocks and it takes a while to cut big rough pieces.
If you want slabs to make cabochons, thin pieces for use in jewelry, you make the slabs thin. I want chunks of stone so went with thick slabs.
Click here to see a video of my stone being put into this machine just before cutting.
And then a photo of 3 of the 9 or so pieces I’m currently working with and will make available:
So far it seems that people at the club work shop are working on stones to put in jewelry. I think some are surprised when they look over my shoulder and see these chunks of rock very clearly not intended for use in jewelry. Anyone who asks me what I’m doing and hears that I’m a channel and teach people to meditate in a certain way that these stones will help. All of their stuff is pretty, and often sort of delicate, and mine chunky. So I’m Uranian there like everywhere else!
It’s fun to do but does have a practical application, so my 2nd-house Sun with Saturn still transiting it feels like it’s worth the resource investment. When I go twice each week I gather up the stones in process and now medical exam gloves to keep my hands from getting covered in oily brown-maroon stuff (it takes days to scrub off).
Stay tuned for more posts on this crystal in general and including why and how I use it. I’ll write about why using it can help you feel better about being in your body and on the planet, support your meditation practice, increase your awareness of intuition and subtle energies, and increase your confidence and willpower. This is the most powerful grounding stone and any sort of meaningful growth, evolution, or healing work requires that we get grounded.