Rock hunting had it's heyday in the late 50s . The rock hounds of that era were prolific. A great deal of the easy to find material was taken. Fortunately, quartz crystals are fairly common and the harder to reach ones are still there. Another benefit of that era was the extensive mapping of sites with good crystals.

If you have never been rock hunting, you will probably have an unrealistic idea of what it's like. Imagine relying on a poorly drawn map intended to guide you to a location 250 miles away. A good 1/10 of the trip is likely to be on a bare dirt road that would make the road leading to Doña Soledad's house look like a modern highway. Sometimes you'll need 4 wheel drive. If it's wet, the roads wash out. Flash floods are something to take seriously and private land can overlap with the sites.

There may be crystals lying around, but they won't be long enough. You'll have to dig using pick axes, chisels, sledge harnmers, and shovels.

Unless your are trying to "tame an ally", I suggest you purchase them. Crystals for dreaming are just a prop. The inorganic beings don't seem to care how you got them.

Be prepared for a lot of digging if you still insist on finding them yourself Remember that most crystals are not long enough to use as a dreaming aid. Out of twenty sites only one will have these type.

There are excellent books available that give locations of sites. I recommend the "GEM TRAILS" series. There is one for each state. They do not get detailed about the length of quartz crystals. Most people are not looking for quartz crystals and few have a desire to press them between their fingers.

Look in your yellow pages under "Lapidary" and you will probably find the local rock shop. These shops will have crystals for sale, but it is unlikely there will be 6 finger length ones. Typically they will also cut and polish them. They will have magazines and information available about local rock shows. These are excellent sources.

The rock shops sell what you need to cut and polish crystals. You can purchase the materials, corundum grit and cerium oxide powder, for around $10. Grinding and polishing will be hard work. You can purchase a machine for under $200. If you buy a machine, don't get the type that looks like a table grinder. Crystals have large flat facets. Buy one of the modem lapping machines made for that purpose. They grind quickly and you won't need to slice the ends. These machines can remove as much material as needed.

If you finish the crystals by hand, don't expect to remove more than 1/32 inch material. You can grind with "emery" type sandpaper and water from a hardware store if you are on a small budget. Make sure the surface is corundum or "gamet" and waterproof. You will need cerium oxide powder for polishing. Polish by putting powder and water on a flat piece of hard plastic such as a clipboard. Rub the crystal face in a figure 8 motion.

I still recommend purchasing the crystals. Six nicely polished finger length crystals will cost around $45. Perfect ones with no internal flaws will cost around $150. The dealer is very important. A bad dealer might sell you synthetic material cut to look like a crystal. Here's a reputable dealer who was asked if he wanted to be in the newsletter:

Before purchasing crystals, try pressing pebbles between your fingers. There is a significant barrier of concentration to overcome. Expect to concentrate intensely on shutting off the internal dialog for as long as 2 hours before sleep each night for weeks. Reward yourself with crystals if you succeed in passing the barrier.

I can't say what form success will take for you. For me the experience was vivid. Besides becoming aware of being asleep, I experienced seeing energy radiating from my solar plexus. That was coupled with a frightening feeling of paralysis and the feeling of being held down at the wrists by an electric charge. I feared I was having a heart attack the first time it happened. After that I got used to it.

If you have trouble getting your pebbles or crystals to work, remember that you must be able to shut off your internal dialog and you must have sufficient freed energy to apprehend the results. Recapitulating will help with both.

The Nagualist Newsletter and Open Forum / Issue 1 June/July 1994