I was pregnant with my first baby and the “father” was non-existent. Instead, I had met an amazing man who I had warily started dating. I had no idea what to expect while my body morphed and transformed in order to bring forth the life growing inside of me. This man's mother, who would later become my first child's grandmother, gave me a rose quartz in the shape of a heart at my blessingway, just a few weeks before his arrival. My heart, which was trepidatious and afraid to let anyone in, suddenly began opening to the possibility of love with the aid of rose quartz. This was not the first time I had experienced the power of this crystal, but it might have been the most profound.
Rose quartz is a member of the quartz family and comes in shades of pink to red. It is perhaps one of the gentlest stones to begin working with if you are new to crystals and gems as healing tools. As one of the most inexpensive stones you can purchase, the soft, warm, pink rays of rose quartz are sure to win your heart by way of pocketbook, first.
Self Love First
Before you can learn to love another person, or even be open to the prospect of receiving love and affection (especially if there has been heartbreak and betrayal in the past), it is critical to learn to love the self. Self-love is one of the most essential ingredients required for a happy and healthy life, yet so frequently this crucial element is missing for so many. Numerous people are walking around “looking” for love, yet unwilling to truly embrace all the aspects and quirks that make up their own person.
Sometimes we look for someone else, unknowingly, to fill in the gaps where we don't really like ourselves, hoping if we can find someone to love us, we can look past the unhealed wounds in our own hearts. Rose quartz helps to melt the heart and shine a soft light on the beauty that lies within, allowing the pains to surface and be healed through the power of compassion, grace and soft feminine love offered by this pink stone.
Age-Defying Beauty
Historically, Rose Quartz was made into face masks in ancient Egypt, so as to help bring out the youth and natural beauty of skin. I find this incredible, as the gifts bestowed by Rose Quartz assist in waking one up to their own innate beauty -- how fitting that this stone would then be ground into paste, due to its softness, and applied directly to the skin to help beautify. Physically, Rose Quartz can actually help to soften scars, reduce burns and blisters (if gently rubbed over the top), soften complexion and even remove signs of aging.
The Mother Rose and Her Child
As one of the best stones to use for pregnant women, Rose Quartz imbues the owner with a sense of nurturing, as if by “mother,” and has often been termed “the mothering stone” due to its embracing effects and actual physical support it lends to mothers. I too felt this sensation when keeping a heart of Rose Quartz on me during pregnancy. I was far away from my own mother, and was wanting to attune with my own capacity to be a mother which, as a not-yet-mother, felt often out of reach. Rose Quartz soothed my nerves and even gave me courage I didn't know was possible during a very vulnerable and transitional time of my life.
Beyond helping mom emotionally, Rose Quartz can also amplify the benefits of breastmilk and baby food, when placed on a nursing mother, or around baby food – which, in effect, can soothe a troubled infant, ease colic and ensure better sleep and digestion for little ones. As Rose Quartz is good for strengthening the heart, it can also assist babies who struggle with weak hearts early on, if left near them, in a crib or intensive care unit.
Heart Stuff and Relationship
Rose quartz can be placed over the heart to ease pain and attachment issues, soothe a broken heart, or help to alleviate suffering while supporting compassionate sensations. Physically, it can assist adults with arrhythmia or other heart conditions and is beneficial to prevent heart disease. This beautiful and peaceful stone helps to calm the body and nervous system and can be a great aide to one dealing with stress or trauma. It is helpful as a touch stone and a small piece carried in the pocket is a wonderful reminder to love oneself, each time it is touched.
In relationships, Rose Quartz assists in softening the space between two people by opening the hearts to healing and release while adding in sensual stimulation and attractive energies. It promotes forgiveness and trust as well as nourishing and balancing the reproductive organs. This stone promotes fertility and connection and is great to keep in the bedroom or on an altar dedicated to love and relationship. If you are not in a relationship already, Rose Quartz is a great magnetizer of love and is a fabulous Feng Shui tool to use in the relationship quadrant of your home and bedroom in order to draw in love and union. By taking care to use Rose Quartz in ways that complement union and the quest for union, you are offering the gift of love to yourself, recognizing that your environment is the first place where self-love is reflected.
How Else to Use?
This stone can be added to a bath, placed at the bottom of the tub, or encircling the tub, for a nourishing, self-love soak in times of self-consciousness and discouragement, or to simply “feel the love.” You may also set a piece of Rose Quartz into a glass of spring water and place in direct sunlight for 20-30 minutes to drink a Rose Quartz infused tonic for enhancing self-love.
I highly recommend engaging in a self-love ritual with rose quartz that I found in the phenomenal book The Crystal Lotus Handbook: An Essential Guide to Crystals by Margherita. She suggests working with Rose Quartz for 40 days, wearing it on your person, as a necklace or in a pouch and writing in a Self-Love journal daily, how you feel about yourself. As you wear or carry the Rose Quartz with you, you take note of how you feel about yourself and in your own skin. This is a powerful practice and really helps to illustrate the potency of what often appears to be such a simple and benign rock.
However you choose to add Rose Quartz to your reality, it will be, without a doubt, a valuable investment for elevating self-love and reconnecting to the beauty within and without. Learn to love yourself more today with Rose Quartz as your companion and tool for Self-love and appreciation.
