I remember being really angry at humanity when I was a kid. People were polluting the earth and I was worried about the future. Then one day, in elementary school on my way to the lunch cafeteria, I saw these huge signs plastered on all of the windows that read, “RECYCLE!” Big chills went up and down my spine. I was overjoyed. There were people that cared about the planet, after all!

Learning about traditional Native American cultures in school also opened my eyes. They seemed to not only care about the planet, but they worshiped Mother Earth in all of her divine feminine glory. I yearned to be connected to others who cared about our Great Mother.

In my early 20s, I had the great fortune of spending time with a Navajo family in their home on their remote reservation in Canyon DeChelly, Arizona. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience where they gave me and two girlfriends a tour of the canyon and initiated us into their family during a powwow they put on just for us. They even let us sleep in a hogan! We had such an incredible experience there. I felt intensely connected to nature and spirit unlike ever before, a high I never wanted to come out of. I vowed to take that feeling with me and do whatever I could to keep the sacred earth/spirit connection alive in my life. One of the ways I have pursued that is through The Fossil Cartel. I get to share Mother Earth’s mineral treasures with everyone and remind people how special she is.

Recently I came across this message from a Hopi elder, White Eagle, addressing these trying times as we deal with this global pandemic:

☀️A beautiful Message from White Eagle, Hopi indigenous on 03/16/2020:

“This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the portal is up to you. If they repent of the problem and consume the news 24 hours a day, with little energy, nervous all the time, with pessimism, they will fall into the hole. But if you take this opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal. Take care of your home, take care of your body. Connect with the middle body of your spiritual House. Connect to the egregor of your spiritual home. Body, house, medium body, spiritual house, all this is synonymous, that is to say the same. When you are taking care of one, you are taking care of everything else.

Do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis, have the aspect of the eagle, which from above, sees the whole, sees more widely. There is a social demand in this crisis, but there is also a spiritual demand. The two go hand in hand. Without the social dimension, we fall into fanaticism. But without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and lack of meaning.

You were prepared to go through this crisis. Take your toolbox and use all the tools at your disposal. Learn about resistance with indigenous and African peoples: we have always been and continue to be exterminated. But we still haven’t stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire and having fun. Don’t feel guilty about being happy during this difficult time. You don’t help at all by being sad and without energy. It helps if good things emanate from the Universe now.

It is through joy that one resists. Also, when the storm passes, you will be very important in the reconstruction of this new world. You need to be well and strong. And, for that, there is no other way than to maintain a beautiful, happy and bright vibration. This has nothing to do with alienation. This is a resistance strategy. In shamanism, there is a rite of passage called the quest for vision. You spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When you go through this portal, you get a new vision of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties … This is what is asked of you. Let them take advantage of this time to perform their vision seeking rituals.

What world do you want to build for yourself?

For now, this is what you can do: serenity in the storm. Calm down and pray. Everyday. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day. Good things emanate, what you emanate now is the most important thing. And sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith and love.”

 

A common response from a customer hearing we’re celebrating our 30th anniversary at The Fossil Cartel: “30 years?! What were you, 12 when you started?” Of course it makes me feel good that at 58, I don’t look quite as old as the fossils in my store…yet. 🙂 When I first started at 28, people would incredulously ask, “You’re the OWNER?!” I suppose 28 is a little on the young side for being a business owner, but I always wondered if it also had to do with the fact that I was a woman. Fast forward 30 years, if my husband happens to be in the store helping me out, people — especially men — often approach him assuming he’s the owner, even though I am standing right there. It doesn’t really bother my ego, but it does show me that misogyny is still a thing, and that’s a problem. I see it as a symptom of the greater malady of dishonoring the feminine principle, from raping women to violating Mother Earth, causing her to become uninhabitable.

In order to reverse course, bring balance and heal this world, women need to take responsibility and take action. The powers that be in our patriarchal society will not do it for us. One of the best ways to empower women and amplify the feminine is to bring women together for that purpose. Besides running The Fossil Cartel, for the past 5 years I’ve been gathering women by hosting Red Tent women’s circles and other events through my Moondays project.

Another way we can honor the divine feminine is to appreciate all of her beauty and mystery. I have always appreciated crystals and fossils as some of the most amazing treasures, gifts from the Great Mother. I hope others honor them the same way. I still delight in seeing faces light up in the store as people marvel about what they are seeing, holding and hearing about. Being able to actually see, touch and hear about something you’re considering purchasing has got to be better in so many ways than shopping online. Plus you’re supporting a local small business!

It’s been a really great 30th anniversary year for us. With all of our celebrations, contests, special promotions, having Nicolas Cage shop in the store, and being on TV, we’ve had a lot of fun and got to connect more with all of you. I am so grateful to all our customers for appreciating the mineral and fossil kingdom as much as we do. Thank you for continuing to keep us in business all these years! May we all tread softly and treat Mother Earth kindly, so she may continue to provide a wondrous, bountiful, beautiful home for us all.

Here are the links for the two segments we were in on the show More Good Day Oregon:

https://www.kptv.com/good_day_oregon/more/rare-and-unique-finds-at-the-fossil-cartel/video_59c9b05c-c0c1-5147-8814-afff14c55224.html

https://www.kptv.com/good_day_oregon/more/holiday-gift-ideas-that-will-rock-your-world/video_3848a274-b38a-574e-9567-73f0a345374a.html

Standing in the bowels of the National Western Complex, with our palette safely wrapped for shipping, Susan recaps our shopping trip at the 2018 Denver Fossil Gem & Mineral Show. Before a short tour of just part of this venue (home of the National Western Stock Show), Susan lists all the new goodies we are bringing back to The Fossil Cartel.

In this episode of our Metaphysical Monday series, Susan displays and discusses healing stones for autumn equinox. Some people have issues with the shorter days, balance and change in seasons around this time of year. Healing stones that can help include carnelian, Oregon Sunstone, red jasper, citrine, dendrites and pop rocks (aka “Boji stones”).

 

In this episode of our Metaphysical Monday series, Susan discusses the substance known as “Orgonite” — a man-made combination of resin, metal and minerals thought to balance and harmonize our bio-energy, also known as orgone, prana or chi. People kept asking for it so we started carrying it, but had to do our research first. Easily confused with “oregonite,” a rare nickel iron arsenide mineral first described from Josephine Creek, Oregon, Orgonite is resin-based and created for metaphysical use. This video is a great introduction to Orgonite and its uses. Susan shows examples of Orgone sold at The Fossil Cartel, and describes some of its history, uses and attributes.

This installment of The Fossil Cartel’s Metaphysical Monday series on Facebook Live discusses the metaphysical healing properties of August’s birthstone, peridot. Susan talks about the various healing properties unique to peridot, and how you can wear it or use it. We have lots of peridot in the store, from small tumbled stones and large rough specimens on basalt, to jewelry of all kinds.

Peridot is the gem-quality variety of the silicate mineral olivine. Iron inclusions create its light green color. Volcanoes sometimes hurl peridot-rich “bombs,” chunks of hardened basalt containing peridot crystals. Egyptians mined peridot as a gemstone as early as 1580 BCE. Most peridot seen in jewelry today comes from Globe, Arizona. Metaphysically, peridot is used for protection, to bring prosperity, balance moods and open the heart chakra. Fine specimens of peridot are found in Arizona, Brazil, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

 

Starting at 1:50 in this video, Susan addresses a common conundrum: how to tell similar-looking rocks apart. Often minerals resemble other minerals in color and/or pattern, and it can be difficult to tell which is which. This can be important especially because sometimes cheaper minerals are passed off as rarer more expensive minerals, and sometimes not even on purpose because it can really be hard to tell. Lapis vs. sodalite? Jade vs. aventurine vs. serpentine? Opal vs. opalite vs. moonstone? Ulexite vs. selenite? Susan shows examples of each and explains how to tell them apart.

 

Part of The Fossil Cartel’s Metaphysical Monday series on Facebook Live, this video addresses the many metaphysical healing properties of fluorite. It is especially useful as a protection stone, especially electromagnetic fields emitted by computers and mobile phones. Susan discusses various additional healing properties of fluorite, and displays the many varieties of fluorite available in the store, both in jewelry and as specimens.

Fluorite has the widest color range of any mineral and often exhibits several colors in the same specimen. Fluorite forms as cubes, octahedrons, massive granular, or compact. Its name is derived from the Latin fluere, meaning “to flow,” due to its use as a flux in iron smelting. The word “fluorescent” comes from fluorite crystals being the first minerals found to fluoresce. Fluorite is also used to make opalescent glass. Fluorite deposits are found in USA, China, Mexico, Canada, Spain, and UK.

 

This installment of The Fossil Cartel’s Metaphysical Monday series examines healing stones for the summer solstice. Starting at 1:30 in this video, Susan and new sales associate Jacob Adams show and tell us about which healing stones we may want to use this time of year and why. Stones include: carnelian, citrine, pyrite, tangerine quartz, sulfur, amber and tiger’s eye. Jacob shares some of his impressive knowledge of and experience with the metaphysical properties of minerals.