Spiritual Fridays: What does losing a crystal mean? A personal story…

Just a day before I was headed to Belgium for a trip, my boss and I were talking about my plans; she said, “Buy some crystals, Belgium has good ones.” To which my immediate reaction was, “But I don’t wear stones.”

At Brussels I was tempted to buy some beautiful blown-glass chandeliers—the ones at my hotel’s reception were chic and elegant; some lovely clothes displayed in shops that I passed by; as well as waffles, chocolates and tartelleties (by the end of the trip I’d indulged on the last three). The next day, I checked out Ieper’s World War I memorial, where names of Indian soldiers who had lost their lives were also listed, and to go back from solemn to holiday happy I spent the rest of the day in the romantic town of Brugge. As I stepped out of my Brugge hotel for a stroll, the first thing that stuck me were huge, interestingly-coloured stones (some almost reached my waist); some were so oddly shaped or shapeless, my mind likened them to amoeba and others on display reminded me of marine plants. Curious to know what they really were I entered the shop, and guess what? I was told they are crystals! Wow, I had no plans to take my boss's suggestion and had never imagined such huge ones. Fascinated, I looked around, inspecting the different stones, quizzing the young shopkeeper about their uses and then the shopaholic devil in my head, nudged, "Find out if there's a crystal for love...just ask."

But honestly, I can't blame the devil. Since a few months I'd been in a dilemna about someone who liked me and whom I liked back. And still saying yes was difficult. To put it simply, it was complicated. So I gave in, and asked, "Do you have a crystal for love?" And she said with a smile, "Yes, rose quartz. They're the pink ones." So I took another quick tour of the shop to checkout the 'pink ones'. A cat caught my eye and went meow, meow, meow... I really wanted to buy it! But the practical voice in head kept saying, "You won't wear it, don't bother. Don't buy it." So I spent 45 minutes trying to resist the pink cat pendant. But in the end, I gave in. Again. I bought it. Now all I needed was a black thread to hang it in and tie around my neck. I'd have to wait till I reached Mumbai for it, but just having the rose quartz, especially in the cat form, made me so happy that instead of putting it safely in my main luggage, I carried it around in my wallet.

About 10 days after I returned to Mumbai, I still hadn't found time to buy the thread, but the crystal continued to remain in my wallet. Then one night, I was meeting with a couple (that I didn't know too well) for dinner. This was actually the first time I was dining with them, but they had connected me with someone in Belgium, who actually spent an entire day with me and showed me around. Yet, not wanting to make it a formal acquaintance, I didn't carry any souvenir for them. At dinner, our conversations ranged from food and travel to unusual experiences and spirituality. Crystals and gemstones somehow featured in it too and excited about my new prized possession, I removed it to show them what I had picked up for myself. I was about to tell them about how I felt that the crystal had called to me even before I asked about a stone for love, when the young lady exclaimed, "It's lovely, I love cats... Thank you so much." She assumed it was a souvenir I'd got back for her. At first, my mind said no!!! I got it for me. But I didn't have the heart to tell her that; she just seemed so overjoyed. And just like that the cat had changed owners. She left me. I'd heard somewhere that once crystals or gemstones compete their job, they just disappear--they could get lost, crack...or just somehow, go away. I told myself, that's what had happened.

I expected to feel low, but interestingly in my case the crystal did its job by leaving.

By the time I went to my car and headed home after dinner, I felt a certain joy, a certain calm... My mind said, "You don't need the crystal to get love." I had a sudden realisation that for a short period I had lost confidence in myself, and losing that crystal had just brought it back. I realised that love wasn't missing, it was waiting to be noticed and accepted by me. So well, sometimes you have to lose, to gain.

If you have a story too, write to me poojabhula@gmail.com