It all started with an Amethyst! One experience and co-founder of Energy Muse, Heather Askinosie started her spiritual journey with crystals.For years, Heather travelled the world to remote locations, seeking the wisdom of shamans and healers leading her to create the Prosperity Necklace. With this necklace, her reputation grewand the demand for her crystal jewelry was surpassing her ability to create, cleanse and charge her products.Cue her longtime best friend, Timmi Jandro!
In 2000, Heather and Timmi established Energy Muse as a conscious lifestyle brand set out to help people reach their highest energetic potential with crystal energy. Now, with over two decades of spiritual research and crystal expertise, Heather has become one of the worlds leading influencers in crystals and holistic healing.
As I begin my own crystal journey, I turned to Heather for her expert knowledge and insider info on her book Crystal Muse: Everyday Rituals to Tune into the Real You.
Choupette Social Girl: What got you involved in studying crystals?
Heather Askinosie: Thirty years ago, when I was selling luxury real estate in Southern California, a client asked me to find him a home with good feng shui. At that point in my life, I had no idea what feng shui was or the world of energy, and that’s what truly opened the door for me. From there, I stumbled upon a crystal store and I was hooked. I began to live a double life, selling real estate by day and spending the nights with the crystals in this store. The more time I spent with them, the more I knew that I could no longer live this double life I had to take a leap of faith. I used the money I’d saved from selling homes and traveled the world to study with indigenous healers, shamans, and medicine people who all bestowed their wisdom tome by word of mouth. When I returned, I wanted to test the knowledge and wisdom I’d gained to see how I could share this with more people I’ve always been a skeptic by nature, so I had to see the results for myself. I made 10 necklaces combining my knowledge of feng shui and crystals. It was called Prosperity and it incorporated jade beads and three Chinese coins tied with red string. I gave it to 10 of my friends Timmi was one of them, as I knew she would be honest with me asking them to wear it for 10 days and let me know what happened. Every single one of them came back with some sort of shift in prosperity.After that, everyone wanted to get their hands on one of these necklaces, but I had one problem I didn’t know how to produce product. That’s where Timmi entered the picture, and Energy Muse began.
CSG: What’s your advice to someone just starting to study and have an interest in crystals?
HA: Either go to a local metaphysical shop or browse a crystal website online. Scan the shop (or the page) and see what catches your eye. What crystal stands out to you? Which one are you drawn to? Then, read the meaning and properties of that crystal. 9 times out of 10 you will find that the meaning of that crystal correlates to your life in some way, shape or form. And at this time, that is the crystal for you! We have a crystal test in our new book,CrystalMuse, that shows you just this. Once you can get out of your head and into your heart, about working with crystals, the path opens and becomes much simpler. You can’t choose a wrong crystal; people are always so worried about that!
After you get yourcrystal, take the time to hold it, touch it, and tune in to its frequency. Look at its color,shape, and size. Be aware of any sensations that come up while you are holding it. You may experience atingling or warmth in your hands. And don’t worry if you dont feel something when you hold yourcrystal.It just means, at this time, you dont feel anything! Its that simple. Try not to judge the experiencejust bewith it. Sometimes it may take a while for a certaincrystalto resonate with you, while at other times thatsamecrystalwill make the hairs on your arms stand up.
CSG: What does it mean to “live intentionally?
HA: To get out of your head and into your heart. Let your heart decide what matters to you, what you value and who you are on a soul level. Once you recognize what truly matters to you, you can live intentionally, find fulfillment and tune into the real you.
CSG: Why do you think crystals are becoming increasingly popular and more mainstream?
HA: Crystals have been around for a long, long time. Almost every ancient civilization since the beginning of time has used crystals in a variety of ways from healings to offerings to protective talismans. Queen Cleopatra and the ancient Egyptians used ground Malachite and Lapis Lazuli to create a rainbow of eye shadows and cosmetics. The Romans embedded crystals into their armor and shields to provide protection and strength while in battle. In India, Ayurvedic medicine has used crystal energy to correct physical, emotional, and metaphysical imbalances within the body.
Energy Muse has been in business 17 years, and we wouldnt have stayed in business if people werent buying crystals! The difference is now people are talking about it; sharing it with other people. More than ever, having the energy of the Earth around you – whether its to see it in your space or to wear it on your body – reminds you that we are here on this planet to reconnect with it and reconnect with each other. As a society, humans are continuously looking forward. Its always about bigger, better, faster, and more. Maybe its time to slow down and notice that many of the answers we seek are just below our feet, nestled into the Earth that we share. And I think that people are looking more to crystals to remind ourselves of that.
CSG: What can readers expect from your book?
HA: We wanted to write a different kind of crystal bookone centered around storytelling. Ive had the opportunity to study with healers from all over the world, and much of the knowledge I have about crystals and holistic healing was passed down to me through story telling. That is one of the central themes of our book Timmi and I tell our personal stories (kind of in diary style) about the triumphs and hardships throughout our lives and how we used crystals as touchstones to get through those times.
Think of CrystalMuse like a recipe book with the main ingredient being crystals you don’t have to read it cover to cover, although you can. Each chapter covers a different subject matter or intention with rituals that tell you exactly how to use certain crystals to focus on a specific outcome. You can start reading the book at chapter 10 or chapter 3theres no right or wrong place to start. Were sharing formulas that we’ve perfected and have been working on for over 25 years so it takes the guessing out of the process for the reader. Let our book take you on a crystallized journey to tune into the real you.
