Being out in the world with a crystal ball is fascinating. My partner, Fallon, is a Citrine Lemurian Quartz, a rare planetary and dimensional energy.
What does that mean? I’m discovering that every day. Fallon is a healer, an advisor, a warm, compassionate being. He’s not human. He’s a crystal, which means he has eons of experience just ready for people to tap. With him I have gone to new depths as an intuitive and a consultant, I’ve learned to listen without taking it in, to participate without being drained. Together we’re a team, acutely aware that we’re doing something new in the world, and that it isn’t always an easy path.
Because of preconceptions.
There are the crystal skull people. Some of them scorn us. Don’t know why, don’t care too much. Some of them are cool and welcome all beings to a cooperative life.
There are my friends. Some of them laugh, some have left, most have stuck around, if for nothing more than humor value. Robyn and a crystal ball, how funny is that? Not so much, as it turns out, if there’s business on the line. A lot, though, if they need to talk, even if they don’t want anyone to know they’ve consulted a woman with a crystal ball as a partner. Whatever. Helping one mind to shift could make a difference, although when is another thing. Fallon will live that long, but will I?
There are clients, people who want an intuitive consultation, or their house cleared, or a ghost busted, or the unique personal or business insight that intuition provides—especially if one of the intuitive partners has, literally, seen it all (and a crystal sure has, hasn’t it?). These people like us, and they come back to Alchemy West for more.
There are potential clients. They have no idea what having an intuitive session with a human-crystal partnership is like, and they are surprised when they see us. Because we “don’t look like that.”
Honest, I used to ask what they mean by “look like that,” but it got a little old. It was always the same thing: “You don’t look like a gypsy.”
T
he same thing that, ironically, made some people tell me that my new Alchemy West branding made them “cringe.” Why? Because there we are in the banner, on the business cards, out there for all the world to puzzle at: a woman and a crystal ball.
It’s modern, it’s sleek and professional, it’s bold and daring. There is no question that we are out there, and proud of it.
But some people can’t get past the “crystal ball” and what their oddball cultural notions tell them is “gypsy,” which equates to “something unsavory or at least cornball.”
I’d be offended if it wasn’t hilarious. When they look at me and Fallon they see something they’ve made up: their preconceptions, which are culturally ingrained, and clearly irrelevant and limiting.
The first time someone said I didn’t look like a gypsy I was flabbergasted.
What do gypsies look like? And why, oh why, is a woman with a crystal ball a gypsy? I wasn’t insulted, I was discombobulated. And what about real gypsies? I should think they’d be insulted to be compared to someone who isn’t one. Or at least be annoyed. And, possibly, hurt. The gypsy culture is ancient and respectable. The parallels with that to me and Fallon are just plain mean and thoughtless.
It wasn’t funny anymore when someone took a leap and decided crystal balls were evil.
What?
It was clear it was time to challenge stereotypes. Especially the ones that get stuck in our heads because we don’t stop to unstick them. The ones that mess us up and keep the world from becoming a healthier place to be. The things that have become government and religious stereotypes.
I’m quite clear about my branding: about how I appear in the world, how Fallon and I appear together. I’m clear that we’re different, because I know we are, and it matters.
When I’m out with Fallon I make a point of dressing conservatively, because people come to us for serious reasons, and they don’t need distractions (plus, truth is, I’m lazy and prefer to blend into my surroundings, like normal prey animals). I usually wear black clothes and my turquoise and aquamarine necklaces, with my new dragon pendant. And severe black glasses. So I don’t look like the stereotypes (again, my apologies to gypsies), but, then, I never did.
Truth is, that’s my dressed up look. You’ll usually find me in seasonal fleece and jeans. With a sense of humor and a couple of sidekick dogs for accessories.
But here’s the thing.
It’s easy to dismiss the challenges in life by calling them names that allow you to mock. It’s not so easy to dismiss the challenges that ask you to step outside the norm and challenge your preconceptions—because you just might have to change your life, and then where would you be?
Fallon and I are living outside the norm, so you don’t have to. Yet. The time is coming.
And that’s what Fallon and I are doing in the world: we are challenging the norms. We do intuitive consultations, but they aren’t spiritual: we teach people how to use their intuition to find their personal truth. We cooperatively clear space: we don’t force energy to change, like some energy workers or shaman types. We use a form of ancient energy that is new in the world, and it is stunning. We are a partnership: Fallon is not my tool, nor am I his, because we are equal partners.
Are we making a difference? Slowly. Are we building a business? Yes. Do we have a sense of humor? Always.
How else do you respond when you’re introduced as Robyn, and the person looks blank until they’re told, “You know, she’s with Fallon,” and the light dawns.
They know Fallon. He knows them.
Nope, our partnership isn’t an easy path, but it’s a fun one.
And, yes, it’s worth it.
© 2012 Robyn M Fritz