One of the changes that humans have experienced with the rise of industrialization, and more recently, consumerism, is a shift away from creating our own lovingly crafted objects, objects created with precision, skill, high-quality materials, and care and into using things that instead are made by far away people and machines. I wrote a little bit about this before in a post on wood. In speaking of the 17th century, Eric Sloane writes in the Reverence of Wood:

“In 1765, everything a man owned was made more valuable by the fact that he had made it himself or knew exactly where it had come. This is not so remarkable as it sounds; it is less strange that the eighteenth-century man should have a richer and keener enjoyment of life through knowledge than that the twentieth-century man should lead an arid and empty existence in the midst of wealth and…

View original post 4,562 more words

Ozark Encyclopedia – E – Eggs

ECHOES OF THE ANCESTORS: ABALONE SHELL

Good Witches Homestead

Abalone strengthens the structure of the body and the functions of the heart chakra. Increased emotional expression and a strengthening of the immune system can also be expected. As well abalone encourages individuality and expansion.

Energy: sensitive, family-oriented

Uses: Abalone is especially useful for handling and calming emotional situations. Having abalone nearby when working through an emotional situation with someone is said to be soothing, and promotes cooperation. Mystical lore suggests that abalone is helpful for arthritis and other joint disorders, muscle problems, the heart, and digestion.

Star Sign: Cancer
Planet: Moon
Element: Water
Chakra: Throat