The other day a young man came into the bead and mineral store where I’ve worked for the last two months and asked me which stones would help prevent him from turning into a werewolf. He didn’t actually use the word “werewolf.” He said, “I’ve been going through a lot of changes—spiritual, physical, mostly physical, metaphysical… I’ve been injured.” He rolled up his sleeves and showed me some healed scars that looked like claw marks on his arms. “I wasn’t necessarily human when I got these.” He said, “I need something that will keep me from changing. I need something to help me heal. I need something that will open my heart to loving and being loved.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I said, “That’s a pretty tall order. Is that all?”
He didn’t mind me laughing. He said, “I need spiritual protection. The change doesn’t seem to be triggered by anything in particular, changes in light or anything. I’m an Aries. I need something that will help balance my masculine and feminine energies.”
He was very sweet and earnest. I suppose I might have felt a little worried about being alone in the store at the end of the day with a self-avowed werewolf and his friend, but I didn’t find either of them threatening. Or at all wolflike, for that matter.
I picked up an obsidian tower. “Also, I don’t have any money,” he said. I said, “Let’s look at beads, then,” and found him an obsidian bead. “Obsidian works like a psychic vacuum cleaner,” I told him. “It sucks the negative energies out of your surroundings and grounds them in the earth. It can also facilitate communication with the spirit world.” Under other circumstances I might have been a little more circumspect in my claims, but if this guy was a werewolf, then my beads were magic, simple as that. I handed him the bead. He dropped his head back ecstatically, “Ohh! That feels amazing!”
“Good!” I said. “Now something for loving and being loved.” “That’s rose quartz,” his friend said. Everyone knows that. “Rose quartz,” I agreed and handed the werewolf another bead. “This one opens your heart to divine love, and when you know how fully you are loved by the universe, it’s natural and easy for that love to flow through you to others.” Again, he dropped his head back. He said, “I’m starting to understand how much my family loves me. I’m sorry I didn’t understand that before. I feel like crying.” His voice choked up.
I moved to another table to give him a little room to collect himself while I picked out another bead. “Malachite is also a protective stone. It strengthens your inner defenses. It’s also a heart healer. And like all green stones, it helps you move into right relationship with the rest of the natural world.”
He took the malachite. “These are getting hot in my hand. What does that mean?” I said, “It means they’re working. You have chemistry with them.” He said, “I need something to keep me from changing.” I handed him a piece of pure red coral. “This is for your Aries sun. To strengthen your commitment to your chosen physical form, your root chakra, to help you stand your ground.” Then sunstone. “This is for energy, vitality, growth, development. Second chakra, it’s the creative force that converts an acorn into an oak tree. It’s for making positive change and becoming who you want to be.” And citrine. “This is for strengthening the will, by summoning the joy and enthusiasm you need to support you on your path.”
Each bead he received as a gift, like a thirsty plant grateful for water. In the end I gave him a bead for each chakra, light blue chalcedony for clear communication, cooling the emotions, and connection to the divine feminine, lapis lazuli for converting knowledge into wisdom, amethyst for opening the channels to spiritual insight and healing. He said. “Are you a shaman? Are you a mermaid? Can you look into someone’s past and tell if they’ve met their soulmate?” I was touched by his faith in me but I told him no. I was none of those things. He asked, “How should I use these beads?” It was ten minutes after closing time. It was no time to offer to make him a bracelet. I said, “Find a pouch and keep them in your pocket, or you can string them onto something and wear them. They won’t do the work for you. But they will help support you in the work you need to do.”
As I ushered him and his friend, who had paid $12 for the handful of beads, out the door, he said, “I think I met my soulmate when we were little. She wanted me to kiss her on the playground. But I’ve looked for her and I can’t find her. She’s not on social media. Can you tell if she’s my soulmate?” “No,” I said, “But keep looking. If she is, you’ll find her again.” And I locked the door behind them.
After I’d closed the shop and was walking to my car in golden hour light, a rabbit hopped across my path and eyed me from the tall grass beyond the dumpster. It clearly had no concerns about lurking wolves. Neither did I. I felt like laughing. Which of us was crazier? The guy who said he was a wolf or the lady who sold him a handful of magic stones, Jack-and-the-beanstalk fashion, and solemnly assured him they would help? It didn’t seem to matter. He’d told me his story and I’d told him mine, and afterwards, both of us were happier.
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