Several weeks ago I suddenly had the urge to get a piece of Shungite. I saw some advertisement online about how Shungite had been used to purify water and placed near computers or mobiles to counter the electromagnetic pollution. I heard about this stone a few years ago but I thought it’s just another black stone. I already had a big collection of black stones. So, I decided not follow the trend as people were flocking to crystal shops looking for Shungite.
I did tell myself to stop buying crystals and stones as there was no more money for frivolous things any more, I had to be realistic about survival. I had to avoid getting into debts. Besides, packing up my collection of stones and crystals had consumed a lot of my time and muscle power. I still have a big pile of loose stones and trays of stone bracelets to sort out and packed up for moving one day.
But the urge for getting Shungite was quite strong and it just popped up in my subconscious out of the blue. This puzzled me and made me decided to follow this pull towards crystal shops in Chinatown. I had no idea how I would react towards this stone as I couldn’t find any description of spiritual properties of Shungite. So, I took the hot-bus (with no air conditioning) from New Road towards the good old Chinatown which was used to be my childhood’ s playground.
The weather was very hot and humid with some scattered grey clouds as rainy season has officially arrived. I had a brisk walk along Yaowarad road and turned into side alley as my short cut towards the crystal alley. The old surroundings remained unchanged over the years though some souvenir shops had disappeared after the Covid lockdown. I was glad things changed very slowly in this area.
I was quite surprised to see several new crystal shops in the narrow alley. This meant traders became more optimistic about the economy and the positive prospect in tourism. But most buyers would be local Thais so it meant more local customers have returned to the crystal market. I was quite hopeful for these old vendors who took the full impact of the two years lockdown. Some of the old vendors I used to know had gone with all their stones.
There were some new and modern designed shops with much younger vendors. These vendors didn’t have the art of conversation, they only pushed people to buy their goods. In the old days, elderly vendors would offer me Chinese tea and we would have long conversations. The fine and civilised way of doing business deals had slowly vanished with time. That’s probably why I lost the urge to visit Chinatown this year as most of old Chinese vendors were gone. I had no way of knowing whether some had been injured by their vaxx injections.
At least I found three crystal vendors who still recognised me and treated me like old friend. Some vendors seemed to have suddenly aged during the last three years. These vendors were used to let me taking photos of their shops, so they just let me snapping away. After I became less excited with taking photos, I would gather my scattering mind to focus on my purpose of being there. It turned out that only one vendor had some Shungite beads; raw pieces of unpolished Shungite were sold out a long time ago. I asked her why she didn’t order more raw Shungite. She told me that her customers had enough of raw ones and they wouldn’t buy any more. I thought that sounded very funny and unusual.
This shop had a big collection of beautiful quartz crystal balls whose prices have increased by three to four folds over the last two years. I was glad that I decided to but those big chunks of rocks and crystal balls years ago. I could never afford to buy a nice and big crystal ball at these new prices. I did wonder how those mountains could produce such beautiful rocks and crystals. Those poor mountains had to be opened up and damaged by diggers who made profits from natural resources in the earth. It’s quite a dilemma to me; I wouldn’t mind having some nice pieces of crystals for my spiritual support and healing purposes. Yet, I wouldn’t want those mountains to be destroyed or damaged as a result of humans’ desires.
One foreign healer told me that these rocks and crystals played their parts in healing people in difficult time of sudden changes. It was as if they offered their assistance to humans in times of troubles. I knew my life would have been quite miserable and my health wouldn’t have improved so much without the assistance of several crystals and stones. So, I always treated them with respect and gratitude as they were from Mother Earth.
Being in crystal shops was like being a kid in a sweet shop full of chocolates. My eyes just drank all the colourful energies flowing from these stones and crystals in the shops. It was much better than going to a good cinema or concert. These crystals really did affect my mind and feeling as their frequencies were very sympathetic to mine. Very seldom did I encountered a stone with strong negative vibes which made me sick and threw up. I learned that these stones were badly treated and full of negative memories.
So, I did what I could to help them releasing their bad experiences. Some shop owner was quite shocked by my reactions to some newly acquired stones and I could describe where they came from including their surroundings. Then I instructed the shop owner to clean these stones immediately. In some cases, I had to improvise a cleansing method to help those stones in a watehouse. Then, I discovered that I could really talk to stones. But not all stones could communicate with people, the stones had to have some spiritual connections (vibes) to Mother Earth.
There were only Shungite beads on offer at this shop. I couldn’t get much information by touching the polished black beads. But I had to get a string to find out what Shungite could do for me. This vendor always gave me a good price as an old customer and friend. Then, I went to visit other two shops to take more photos and check out some old friends.
I noticed that the crystal market was rather quiet and not at all crowded as usual. The vendors weren’t very enthusiastic about talking to potential customers. They probably knew I had no budget for splashing on buying beautiful crystals as I could in the past. Some white crystal ball called out to me and I knew I had to get one as a gift for a friend who has been sending me boxes of home cooked food every fortnight. One day, this friend just had the urge to send me food. I haven’t the courage to ask her why she offered me cooked vegetarian meals. I was afraid of embarrassing her if she had to tell me the truth.
My eyes caught yellow calcite and white calcite crystal balls. The white calcite told me that my friend’s husband would need this energy. So, I bought two crystal balls: howlite and white calcite. I did wrapped these crystal balls and placed them in the bag of empty food boxes to be collected by my friends’ chauffeur the following day. I was so glad that she was pleased with the crystal ball. After I told her about the kind of energy and effect this crystal would exert in her surroundings, my friend told me that would be very helpful in her situation. I didn’t have the chance of talking to her husband yet; he’s too busy with his work.
The old vendor was pleased that I supported his business. I did want two bigger size crystal balls for more energy and effect. But he ran out of these and had only the jumbo size and small ones in his shop. I was glad that some crystals still communicate with me. Sometimes I thought I might have lost my ability to communicate with stones and crystals as I hadn’t been visiting any crystal shops for ages.
I often felt sorry for some stones which the vendors had been treated just like boxes of soaps. These vendors weren’t able to get connected with spiritual vibes, so they couldn’t appreciate what these stones could do for them. The collections of brass statues and old Tibetan items weren’t attractively presented to attract customers’ attention. These vendors had invested lots of money to stock up their goods hoping that booming tourism would make them nice profits. Unfortunately, the spread of coronavirus and eventual lockdown crushed their expectations. I hoped things would quickly improve with increasing numbers of tourists and spending power.
After I made myself a Shungite bracelet, I had to cleanse these beads and placed the bracelet on the shrine at least one day. Then I started getting used to wearing my new bracelet of black and dull stones. Within an hour, i could feel something has changed in my energy field and my mind. I became more focus and stop procrastinating about my next moves. I could get things done with much more concentration and calmness.
Life seemed more practical and down to earth. Fuzzy anxiety about the uncertain future was banished. I was very surprised by Shungite properties and positive effect on my mind and energy; this made me just get on with practical tasks and priorities. Shungite has arrived in my life to assist me with unfinished tasks and projects. I was so grateful to these unassuming black stones who are willing to support my energy and endeavours. Crystals and stones carry special vibes and spiritual properties which could be very beneficial to those who are spiritually inclined and friendly to all natural beings.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
#marketfriday hosted by @dswigle
I am always enamored by your photographs and your words describing the yesteryear in Chinatown. Your pictures reach in and conjure up how life is there now.
Shungite is not that hard to get here. I have a small piece of it, but, I just looked and it is readily available here. I wonder why it is not there. It is not overly expensive, but, I guess it is not cheap either. It depends on what you want.
I am glad that you got what you needed and it seems to be doing what you wanted it to do. Isn't that what we all hope for? Much happiness for you and that is so kind of that woman to send you homemade food. That is truly what we are all supposed to do. Help those in need. Just like you always do.
Have a good week ahead!
#MarketFriday began as a way to reach out across the globe and learn about different cultures through their markets, especially local markets and farmers' markets, and eventually branched out and evolved over time from straight shopping to a cultural affair as it highlights how we differ and then again, how much we are alike. We have become a melting pot of culture, but it is still the Rituals, Festivals, food, architecture, and even your language/languages that separate us... Along with the fact that these things are normal for us. There are unwritten rules that rule our social behaviors. I see this as allowing for increased tolerance between cultures and nations, and opportunities to come together on an even playing ground. A strong culture can be beneficial to a country as it promotes unity, especially during a crisis, peaceful debate, and open dialogue. I have learned so much about all of you and it has been an amazing experience. I can only hope that learning about each other can help us work together for a peaceful world.
Thank you for being a part of #MarketFriday
Thanks so much for your kind and encouraging words. You already have a piece of Shungite! That’s wonderful, I couldn’t find a rough stone of Shungite yet. They are so expensive and small on online stores here!
I haven’t tried my Shungite beads in purifying water yet. But it’s very grounding and energising, I couldn’t concentrate well without Shungite these days! 🙀😂
I bet you have quite a collection of stones and crystals!
Have a wonderful day!
Best.
Ah, very nice to see some crystal shops from your part of the world. The spheres with the yellow needles are rutile in quartz and the Asians love them. So much so they have really driven up the price.
There is another sphere I saw in your pictures that is worth a decent amount. It's the Ocean Jasper, orbicular patterns of different colors. The deposit was mined out, but it has become worth so much $$ that the miners are now following the vein into the ocean!
Congrats on getting the Shungite. Hope it helps you.
Glad you enjoy the short tour. These shops are sort of low ends shops with modest pricing. There’s another place at jj mall which has several shops selling top grade stones and crystals. Too expensive for me!
Ya I could tell, but most of them probably don't know much about the good stuff so occasionally you can find a gem in the rough!
Yay. That’s a shame that these Chinese vendors have very little knowledge about rocks and crystals.