Tag Archives: ammonite

Snake Stones

Snake Stones: Ammonite with Living Chamber

Ammonite
Like their cousin the nautilus, ammonites had a compartmentalized shell.  Most of their body was housed in the largest, longest, and last one known as the living chamber.  It often filled with debris after the animal died, like the shells and limestone “mud” in this example.  Because the living chamber is often damaged or less preserved than the middle of the shell, it is typically trimmed when preparing commercial fossils.

This cut pair ammonite comes from the Mahajanga River Basin, near the village of Ambatolafia, in the Sitampiky commune, in the Boeny region of northwest Madagascar, in the former province of Mahajanga.  They date from the Early Cretaceous period, Albian age (~100 to 113.0 million years ago).

© 2014, Images and Text, Christopher Lee Matthews

Be sure to visit our TWO online stores: The Metaphysical Department of Enter the Earth and Enter the Earth.

"She Said", Metaphysical Properties of a Stone

She Said: The Metaphysical Properties of Ammonites

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Ammonites WTH are Ammonites?
Ammonites are fossils. Fossils are rocks that used to be critters. The organic matter of the critter has been replaced by the rock so the appearance of the critter is more or less maintained in stone. Fossils are old.  Really old.  OMG old.  If you don’t mind, I’m going to remain vague about the exact age of ammonites because 1) it’s Christopher’s job to get technical 2) some people don’t think the world is that old and I have ZERO interest in having a conversation about how old the Earth is with anyone.  Less than zero, actually.

Ammonites BC
In this instance, “BC” means “Before Chris”.  Christopher is my co-host of the Metaphysical Department.  We have been working together since he began here at Enter the Earth back in 2012.  While we do have a strangely common foundation in the way we have studied energies before we met, we also have our own things.  Fossils were a Chris “thing”, more so than a “me” thing, and he spent way more time dancing with them than I did.  I was kinda like… fossils. Meh.

My understanding of the properties of ammonites “Before Chris” was that they were “Dream Guards”.  In other words, the ammonites that I had worked with seemed specifically useful for protection during sleep. I hadn’t dug much deeper into the energies of ammonites beyond chucking a nice one into my sleep pouch.  Interestingly, that is one of the historical/traditional uses of ammonites.  (Imagine that, my intuition is in alignment with traditional info. Ha.  I love it when that happens.)

Ammonites AC
Chris began working for ETE about the same time that I began to have significant “kundalini misfiring” issues.  Kundalini is the energy said to rise up your spine as part of a personal spiritual evolution process.  Apparently, this process isn’t always a tidy thing.  Doah.  For those of you who are unaware of kundalini misfiring issues, let  me sum it up for you in one simple phrase, “Hurts like a Mo Fo.” We’re talking, “kneeling-on-the-floor-doubled over-while-crying” kind of pain.

Christopher recommended that I work with ammonites to help me release the blockage that was creating the misfiring pain.  Since I’m not a fan of pain as a general rule, I began attuning to and working with some ammonites.  I went many months with an ammonite in my pocket to mitigate the rather brisk pain that I was experiencing and it DID help.  I have to admit, Christopher made a believer out of me.  I am no longer someone who says, “Fossils, meh.” 

Chris is still far quicker to grab them for active working sessions, but you know, my memory isn’t as good as it used to be and he will remind me of nifty things I may be forgetting. Yay.

Since that time a couple of years ago, Christopher and I have created ammonite pocket rock sets that were intended to support energy body health and flow, such as in “Kundalini Rising” and “Chakra Aligning & Protection“.

Keeping them in the pockets would be useful, but placing them at the site of suspected blockages would be good too.  Breathe with them and get that stuff moving again. We also integrated ammonites into our energy body support specific grid, called the Chakra Alignment Whirlwind Grid.

This grid is a trip, actually.  We like to set it up on the ground and put a chair over it so that the central vortex of the grid literally interacts with your immediate energy center.  I call that technique a “sit and spin” and it’s very effective when you want to use grid energies as an intense energy healing session.  We had our non-wooey co-workers sit on the chair while we were trying out the combinations and everyone got a sensation of “wind” or whirling motion around the energy field.  It was pretty cool. When I did the sit and spin of that grid I was in the middle of a fair amount of personal crisis and trauma, so …. good golly, it took me ~down~ and did major work.

We’ve used that grid in workshops for emotional alchemy before too… even one that we facilitated at Asheville’s Therapeutic Salt Cave.  Wee haw.  It’s not a party until someone cries!! Christopher will cover all the geological, historical, and traditional information about ammonites when he catches up to my “She Said” articles.  🙂  He’s really quite the smarty pants about rocks.   To see ammonites at our website, click on the photo of the big ass ammonites in crates at the top of this article.

Copyright 2015 Stacie Coller & Christopher Lee Matthews

Updated 2/17/2015

Snake Stones

Snake Stones: Iridescent Ammonite Shells

iridescent ammonite
Iridescent ammonite shells, drenched in rain at the wholesale Denver gem show.   Ammonites may retain some of their original mother of pearl, known more technically as nacre.  When they are wet or polished, the colors can be as vivid as opal.

These particular ammonites come from the Mahajanga River Basin, near the village of Ambatolafia, in the Sitampiky commune, in the Boeny region of northwest Madagascar, in the former province of Mahajanga.  They date from the Early Cretaceous period, Albian age (~100 to 113.0 million years ago).

© 2014, Images and Text, Christopher Lee Matthews

Be sure to visit our TWO online stores: The Metaphysical Department of Enter the Earth and Enter the Earth.

Snake Stones

Snake Stones: Ammonite with Sutures and Chambers

Split Ammonite with SuturesTwo ammonites, one half, one whole, from the Morondava River Basin, near the town of Sakaraha, in the Atsimo-Andrefana region of southwest Madagascar, in the former province of Tuléar.  They date from the Late Jurassic period, Oxfordian age (~161 to 156 million years ago).  Cut ammonites are uncommon from this area because the interiors are not always well preserved.

The one on the left shows the open chambers of the shell, known more technically as the camerea (Latin, “chamber, room, enclosed space”).  The one on the right shows its sutures (Latin, “stich”), patterns created where the inner folds met the exterior of the shell.  The ammonite  was polished to reveal them.

© 2014, Images and Text, Christopher Lee Matthews

Be sure to visit our TWO online stores: The Metaphysical Department of Enter the Earth and Enter the Earth.

Yah Mule

Yah Mule: Giant Crated Ammonites

Ammonites in Crates

Giant Madagascan ammonites in crates, from our tent at the 2013 JG&M wholesale show in Denver, CO.  Click on the photo to see more giant ammonites from Enter the Earth.

Enter the Earth is a retail, online, and wholesale company.  We maintain a wholesale warehouse in Asheville, NC and set up at gem shows across the country.   For wholesale inquires, please visit: wholesale.entertheearth.com.

Rock Life

Rock Life: Enter the Earth Downtown Store, Asheville

Enter the Earth Front DisplayThe “Mother Madagascar” table at the Enter the Earth gallery, showcasing all the amazing minerals, rocks, and fossils that come from the island.  We are suite #125 in the historic Grove Arcade, in downtown Asheville.

The most visible things in the photo are a gigantic pair of split ammonite fossils and a large labradorite free form.

To see a virtual tour of our store, click here!