Executive Editor Matt Sutherland Interviews Tracee Dunblazier, Author of Your Crystal Allies Series

You’re not alone in the world. You have friends and family who love you unconditionally, and others who you trust completely. These relationships should make your heart swell at good times and bad.

And the universe has other, more unlikely ways to offer you kindness and support, as we learn from Tracee Dunblazier, author of a series of books on crystals, gems, and minerals. Crystals, Tracee explains, are powerful sources of positive energy and “we humans can use our intuition, or our imagination, to open to the earth wisdom that each gem and mineral broadcasts.”

Foreword assigned Executive Editor Matt Sutherland, himself a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America many years ago, to connect with Tracee to talk about both the mystery and science of the mineral world. Matt came away impressed at the depth of Tracee’s knowledge, but what struck him most, he whimsically says, was “her use of gempathic skills to receive intimate gemfessions—secret thoughts, wisdom, and desires—from her featured stones. Tracee builds a convincing case for everyone to add the wonders of the mineral kingdom to their support system.”

Enjoy the interview.

Let’s talk a moment about rocks, gems, crystals, minerals, and such—primarily, to give readers a general understanding of the types of natural substances that actually hold energy. Do all stones hold energy? Are single crystals or aggregates of crystals your primary focus and, if so, why?

All things have a unique vibration. When it comes to gems and minerals you can look to the color, mineral content, and crystal habit—the underlying geometric pattern that repeats in the body of a crystal—to begin to connect to its vibration. You can consider that a crystal’s frequency is its voice, the way it communicates and connects with the outer world on subtle levels. Almost all gems and minerals have industrial or cultural uses, however my focus on crystals and stones is for their healing and spiritual properties.

We humans can use our intuition, or our imagination, to open to the earth wisdom that each gem and mineral broadcasts. Crystals transmit and receive energy; they carry information like a computer; we have access to that information on a vibrational level which is why stones have been used for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual healing for thousands of years.

When choosing stones to focus on in this book and altar card series, I began to reflect on the relationships I had inadvertently cultivated over the decades, with some of the crystal and mineral specimens I’d collected. In retrospect, I was able to witness the times and experiences in my life in which certain crystals found me and the impact they had—the way they supported and inspired healing in my life, over time.

These musings revealed themes for healing like trauma and change, giving and receiving love, connecting to the environment and Cosmos, and money or managing resources. It was apparent to me these were topics we all have in common and shared a collective need for transformation; it is the crystals and minerals that supported these dynamics, I wanted to center attention on.

In your chapter on Relationship Quartz in book 1, you write that the quartz crystals grow “with information inside [their] macrocrystalline structure,” and that they have “an innate awareness and connection to a collective consciousness (actually, so do you).” So, let’s clarify what type of energy stones and crystals contain, what realm does the energy exist on—spiritual, magical, scientific, for example—where do crystals obtain that energy, and how we humans can tap into stone energy?

When I read this question, I couldn’t help but to travel back in mind to being seven years old and tackling the question: “Where do babies come from?” The answer itself was really quite straight forward, but it was the answer to the follow-up question that seemed endless and overwhelming— “But why?” I have that same sense of awe and endless possibility with this question as well. I’ve broken down the question into snippets.

What type of energy do stones and crystals contain? As I addressed above, each crystal has an innate pattern called a habit or system. Quartz is macrocrystalline, which means its crystals are visible to the naked eye (all relationship Quartz are macrocrystalline whose typical habit is a 6-sided prism ending in a 6-sided pyramid). The crystal system is the order in which the ions, atoms, or molecules form together to naturally produce symmetrical patterns. There are seven of these systems; Quartz is formed in the trigonal and hexagonal pattern.

Now, imagine how you feel when you walk into a kitchen with piles of dishes, some dirty and broken and strown about; left over and spilled food on the counter tops, stove, and in a pot, spilling over the top. We all have feelings that are evoked from the patterns inherent in our environment.

Now, contemplate walking into a kitchen, pristine and clean, with visible shelves of beautifully, evenly stacked monotone dishes, and a single pot cooking at medium heat on the stove with a lid on it. Of course, every personality will respond differently to the stimulus in their surroundings. Some will naturally feel more comfortable in a chaotic environment with irregular patterns and some will feel more comfortable in a well-ordered space. Regardless of which you choose, it is the nature of patterns that connect us to ourselves, and often mirror us and our environment in some way.

These patterns exist energetically in our emotional body as well, as is evidenced by the way hearing different music makes us feel and move. This is how a crystal works with us.

In what realm does crystal energy exist—spiritual, magical, scientific? All of them. Scientific, as revealed by the habit in which it forms. Magical or etheric, as the vibration connects to our aura or energy body and promotes a certain experience or feeling. Spiritual, as while working with a gem or mineral aligns us with different frequencies of information; for example, love at a physical vibration connects with our sexuality, while love on a spiritual frequency connects us with compassion and care.

Where do crystals obtain that energy? The existential answer to this question: I have no idea. (Throw hands up to the sky.) However, the more grounded response is that there is an inherent wisdom that formulates as the Earth and Cosmos evolve over time. Additionally, we see this evolution in species of life, societal and cultural patterns, multiple forms of expression (verbal and nonverbal)—and crystals and stones have been here for all of it. As recorders and transmitters of this history, they align us with our inherent connections to our ancestry (DNA and Galactic), and spiritual records. A crystal can connect, evoke, and promote the vibration we require to support our deepest needs and how to reveal and provide for them.

How can we humans tap into stone energy? We are always tapped into stone energy whether we know it or not. So, when you are inspired to become cognizant of it, this is when the real crystal journey begins. To start with, you can walk, meditate, sleep, or work with a crystal in a sacred space (altar) in your home. You can begin with one small specimen of any sort you are attracted to and spend time with it daily.

Fun exercise: Sit with your crystal or stone in hand and take four deep breaths. You can close your eyes or gaze into the crystal itself. As you breathe, ask for the word or idea you need to receive, allowing your heart to retrieve it from the energy of the crystal. Write down the first word or idea that comes to mind. (One will always come.) Do this every day for a few minutes, for seven days, and at the end of the week, review your journal to see the wisdom that was imparted and how it applies to current experiences or events in your life.

Playful riddle question: What came first, the crystal or the energy?

Definitely the energy. We need only to look to the Cosmos and the patterns of birth and destruction of the stars, to recognize the similarities we experience here on Earth. Although I have never been on a dig myself—unearthing crystals and seeing their freshly retrieved state is powerful. Gems and minerals are not the clean, smooth, and glossy products you purchase at a crystal shop.

No, often they are coated in dirt and sometimes other minerals like iron, which must be removed and the stone, sometimes polished, to be prepared for sale. I feel like I’ve had the crystal foraging experience, as I live vicariously through a friend who digs for crystals in Colorado. He posts daily videos of scaling down mountains and crawling in caves where inevitably he pries loose some amazing Trans-Channeler Quartz clusters that are inspiring.

Trans-Channeler Quartz (book 2) are a unique combination of a Channeling Quartz and a Transmitter Quartz; they are macrocrystalline with terminations (points) that include three seven-
sided faces of equal size, separated by three triangles of equal size. I love working with Trans-Channelers and tend to find them wherever I go. (They help with focus and access to needed information, channeling and connecting with ancestors and guides, and for angelic transmissions.) I digress …

But to hold a freshly cultivated, mineral coated Quartz in your hand is a dynamic experience. Just the awe-inspiring moment of connection when you realize, the Earth made this …

Your back cover copy of book 1 includes the catchy line: “Need the help of a friend, but not the judgement?” I love the idea that crystals don’t come with burden and guilt, scorn or ridicule. Is that true?

Absolutely! But it doesn’t mean they won’t hurt your feelings. (She says with a crooked smile.) Crystals are Truth tellers; it is all they can be. They tend to recognize and unveil our most hidden inner truths and wisdom (beliefs we may hold about ourselves and others, that may not be True), everything from our own judgments of ourselves to our richest compassion and self-love and all the sentiments in between.

The magical thing about crystals? You always attract exactly what you need when you need it. They will show you mercy and comfort when you are low, information and wisdom when you are curious, humor and irony when you are apathetic, and your most valuable truths when you are ready to take authority over yourself and your life—shoring you up on any level you may require.

Book 1 in your Crystal Allies series is about healing trauma and navigating change. Can you talk about why this subject is important to you? What is Transformative Grief?

I was born multi-spirited—many souls, one body. Everyday I awakened with many perspectives, the clear thoughts and experiences of the multiple souls I carried. I never felt crazy, just full. I was always deeply aware of myself but suffered from the many memories of trauma experienced by the souls I harbored. Some of the profound memories were pastlife imprints of myself: lives I had lived being enslaved, kidnapped, and sex-trafficked; a life being orphaned young and the horror and addiction to which it led. And then there was my salvation: the many spirits that stayed with me for the decades of my healing process.

As an empath, I cried every day of my life until I was fifty. There was no way to overcome all the devastation and emotional and spiritual wounding without surrendering to the revelation, truth, and grief process—I call it Transformative Grief. My book of the same name, Transformative Grief: An Ancient Ritual of Healing for Modern Times, reframes our understanding of, and the purpose for grief.

Our deep transformative emotions are meant to bring us closer to ourselves and in communion with all that is. It is meant to connect within us, the path to our own divinity and freedom. Transformative Grief shows us where we are empowered in any situation, and it is the denial of this grief in our current society that mostly leaves people feeling powerless, angry, and violent.

In Your Crystal Allies series, I led with the twelve best gems and minerals for trauma and transition because it is the support we all need in some way, right now. There is not one person out there who doesn’t struggle, even if just for a moment, from the fear of where we all go from here. I chose a Smoky Cathedral Quartz for one of the chapters, just for this reason.

Smoky Quartz, in general, is a wonderfully soothing stone that grounds fear, deepens empathy, and expands compassion. It energetically offers one the calm, wide-angled view it takes to be honest about what one can do, now, about any situation or condition, and to naturally move forward in doing it. The experience of empowering ourselves to continue advancing keeps new inspiration, energy, and motivation flowing. In motion, the answers we seek always come.

The name, Cathedral Quartz, was given because the staggered appearance of the different partial and flattened crystal points look like many open doors and windows of a cathedral, bringing in light. The energy of this crystal activates and illuminates the heart and brain and their connection. When in meditation with the stone, it will align you with any part of your past or present experience for which you desire information and understanding. It will soothe the grief and sorrow that may accompany it, as well. Smoky Cathedral Quartz is a powerful stone for any form of collective healing and is perfect to be used in a family or group setting.

The first stone that entranced you was a Gold-Lace Black Obsidian pyramid, which you discovered at a gem store at eighteen and soon came to realize triggered past life memories of ancient Central American peoples. Is that experience available to everyone, or are you and others like you more sensitive or built differently than the rest of us?

We all have a spiritual story to tell, and this narrative will be revealed through the things we like and are attracted to, and because of the traumas or conflicts we experience. These natural ebbs and flows will trigger the activation or release of our spiritual records. Some spiritual memories can occur as past life dreams or night terrors, or spontaneous past life waking memories or visions. Others will unfold as one moves along their journey of life, each awakening in alignment with their spiritual development—seemingly effortless.

Everyone will have some level of spiritual development (intuitive understanding) based on their patterns and karmic need. I arrived in this world already developed in the spiritual arts, as the real work for me was to use my skillset to bring balance and peace to myself and all the souls I carried.

For me, this life experience has been a reckoning of multiple lifetimes of trauma, ingrained patterns of victimization so deep they led to a final life (most recent incarnation) ending in devastation, addiction, and murder. One of the earliest memories I have of night terrors was a recurring dream of a “drug-dealer” chasing me with a full syringe of heroin. Every night I would go to sleep and then be shocked out of sleep to him chasing me everywhere I was. I could never completely get away, yet he would never catch me—it was terrifying. The man was olive skinned, with greased back, black hair, with clothing typical of the 1940s. He was always wearing a white, cotton, short sleeved, buttoned shirt, with the sleeves rolled up over his biceps and black, straight-legged pants with black spats.

The same guy every time. I was between four and seventeen when these dreams were frequent. Over my life, I attracted many drug-dealers, career criminals, and addicts. Of course, this statement comes at a point at which I have become a witness to my own life and am narrowing the scope to generalize the patterns. I did not see any of these folks solely as criminals or addicts, or for the patterns that bound us, for that matter. I only witnessed them as divine, charming, industrious people who could see something deeper in me, as I did in them—their souls were powerful and full of imagery and wisdom that resonated with me. They were an opportunity for me to have complete compassion for the wounded and unintegrated parts of my soul.

Finally, as I wrote Heal Your Soul History: Activate the True Power of Your Shadow (book two of the Demon Slayer’s Handbook series), the stories began to flow in an order that gave me understanding and context of the multiple past life visions I’d had over the years, including the Olmec life.

Until I was twenty-five-years-old, I didn’t believe I would live until the age of twenty-five. Twenty-six came with huge relief, and shortly thereafter, I received the understanding that I’d been murdered at the age of twenty-five—high on heroin, and shot in the back of a Clipper, in the 1940s. Dying in that state of torment, in my most previous life, was the karmic pattern that everything in this life revolved around. I attracted drugs, dealers, sex-workers, and musicians—all living aspects of the life I’d lived—only now I was sober. It was the healing work and companionship of that Gold-Lace Black Obsidian that created a gentle place for me to fall into the transformative grief that would become my sanity and salvation.

The common ground here is that each soul is imprinted with spiritual patterns that over the term of their life will be revealed, reviewed, and reconciled, either to be empowered or released. Stones and crystals help to draw out and mirror these storylines for us. They offer the vibrational wisdom that triggers our own internal remedy, and then support the integration and healing of the past life memory.

You write about certain stones like Andaras as being relatively rare but that it will soon be discovered (you use the word “revealed”) in many new places on the planet. All of which suggests an active role played by these mysterious energy powerhouses, as if they sense when they are needed and arrive to save the day. What do you know?

Yes! These gems and minerals are very similar to the superheroes we see in the movies, but I am a little biased. I think the best way to describe it: As the student is ready, the teacher appears. Contemplate that everything vibrates to a specific frequency. Emotions like anger and fear vibrate at a slower rate, and emotions like openness and unity vibrate at a faster rate. Each emotion attracting others that vibrate at a similar pace.

As each of us move through our own spiritual and emotional patterns, continually processing our feelings, reconciling our wounds, and raising our vibration to experience emotions of compassion and inclusivity, two important things happen. First, a tipping point occurs where the collective is required to shift. And an emotional breakthrough happens for the masses that releases some of their emotional burdens, allowing them to finally, and safely, grieve. This collective shift, however, will throw others into chaos and turmoil, fighting for the illusion of their survival and riotousness.

It is at this time that many new crystals and minerals are being discovered because the state of the collective spirit requires balance. Balance in this context doesn’t necessarily mean peace. To become even, one must first uncover and reconcile the beliefs and ideals they hold that are not sustainable over their lifetime and the lifetimes of their descendants. It begs to mention here that the discovery and retention of many powerful gems and minerals are being mined in less-than-ideal to absolutely awful conditions, in a mostly, unregulated, global industry.

You might ask: If stones and crystals are so powerful and healing, how can they be brought onto the market under such horrible conditions? Very simply, gems and minerals do not care or judge, they exist. The supply and demand mechanism of our global economy generates a pace that requires folks to step up and fulfill the demand, not necessarily that they do it in a legal or sustainable way that serves everyone. Cultivating integrity is the singular work of each individual who chooses it.

You can, however, rest assured that the souls who bring darkness and pain to others will, at some point, be led by their patterns to accountability, reconciliation, and healing—even if it takes a few centuries. The power that each of us has is to do our own work to support change in the collective.

You open each chapter with a gemstone speaking in first person—a crystal tell-all explaining how they can help open-minded humans. Here’s a garnetimonial from book 3, Your Crystal Allies: The Twelve Best Gems and Minerals for Making Money and Managing Resources:

“Hello, my name is Garnet (I’m the red one)—the cupid of gems. Not only in the ways you might expect (romance, connection, or the expression of love) but in other ways as well. I help you to expand your heart energy on all levels beginning where you are. When you are with me you cannot help but be filled with divine gratitude for yourself, all you’ve been through, all you are becoming, and the many sacrifices others have made to get you here. I bring the energies of love and safety together. Ultimately, where there is the presence of love—warming, generating, ever-expanding love—fear loses its potency. It becomes a clarifying agent instead of the all-dominating vibration humans often experience. I can show you how to make fear your ally, not your foe.”

Can you talk about how you channeled or sourced these gemfessionals?

I just love both your terms, garnetimonial and gemfessionals.

All things communicate through vibration, and as a medium, I channel and interpret that vibration. Over the years of working with crystals and stones, I’ve noticed that many of them seem to have well-defined personalities and sometimes offer up names by which they’d like to be referred—a verbal representation of their frequency. Although, before this project, I didn’t often seek a reason or a source for the strong energy I felt coming through; it was just the way it was.

One of the reasons this project came about is that I have a select group of large, unique crystals that are intended to work with the collective, and one of them suggested it was time to go public, to share their presence with the world. I was struck—it was such a simple idea, yet so powerful: create a traveling museum with books and cards. Anyone who wanted to begin to work with the healing frequencies of stones could do so, easily and without a huge investment.

As I began to plan out the angle and scope of the books and 44 Sacred Altar Card & Oracle Set, all the crystals who wanted to participate became very animated. Even for me, it was astonishing. “You need to talk about me.” I’d hear from the corner of the room.

“We’ve worked together for almost forty years; you need to share me.”

“I can help with cultural trauma, use me.”

“People need to feel the love right now, I’m in.”

It was through a series of these “conversations” that I chose the twelve best gems and minerals for trauma and transition of the first book. They volunteered!

Now, as you can imagine, their input didn’t stop there; they were adamant about telling their own story in their own words.

As I sat down to write each gemfessional, I cleared my mind and prepared to receive their narrative as they desired to tell it. Each and every one of them was so surprising to me. I learned something I hadn’t previously known about the stone or understood about their energy. For the first time in my relationship to crystals, I was beginning to put together the connection between how they were geologically formed, the location of the material, the impact it had on their vibration and what they sought to teach or communicate to others. I also awakened to the reasons so many new stones are being uncovered at this time, and why the beings of this planet need them. This series has been one big aha moment for me as I hope it will be for others.

Please describe your day-to-day interaction with the crystals and minerals in your life?

I have to say, since the completion of the series, it has gotten a little crazy in my house. Crystal people are known for the sentiment, “you can never have too many crystals,” and I procured quite a few new specimens under the guise of research—similar to the cat lady I’d surely become if I were researching kittens. Each gem and mineral is unique and miraculous, and it is often hard to say no. I am happy to report I will be listing many of these gems and minerals on my website for sale as the books launch in October.

I have crystals on every surface in my environment—the ottoman, the coffee table, the buffet. The ones I am currently working with are a Garnet, a Phantom Quartz, an Epidote, an Aura Quartz Cluster with three windows, and a Smoky Quartz Twin from Brazil. We all just sit here and share space together, until at some point, one of them catches my eye and I pick it up and gaze at it for a while. My favorite time of day is late afternoon as the bright four o’clock sun enters the window and shines directly on the ottoman where the Smoky Quartz sits. It lights up and for the first time of the day you can see the rainbows and other interesting designs within it. It feels as if I am looking into a whole other universe.

I think the most valuable aspect of my crystal work is using them for crystal healing with my clients. When a person comes to work with me, we often begin a session with them walking the room to choose a crystal or several, to accompany them on their session journey. (This is possible in remote sessions, as well.) It is phenomenal to watch the impact of each stone and the shift in vibration they inspire. Each individual intuitively chooses exactly the stone they need for the topics sure to come up in the session.

How does someone begin? In other words, what is the best way to locate (buy, find, discover) a personal family of crystal allies?

Follow your gut, is the first directive of crystal foraging. A part of the reason I designed Your Crystal Allies: 44 Sacred Altar Cards & Oracle Set was to offer an opportunity for people new to crystal healing, or professionals alike, to discover and form relationships to different types of stones so that when they began searching in the marketplace, they would already have a connection to the stone that is theirs to steward.

The crystal community is vast and now with online buying opportunities it can be overwhelming. I suggest finding your local crystal shop and beginning your hunt buy choosing the type of crystal you are looking for before entering the store—you can always branch out from there. Quartz of any type is a good starter stone. If you tend to amplify energy or experience anxiety, you might want to choose more of a relaxing or grounding stone like Rose Quartz, Tigers Eye, or Aventurine.

If you are the adventuresome type and like to jump in headfirst, I recommend taking five minutes before you begin your shopping experience to organize in your heart and mind, the spiritual, mental, emotional, or physical journey you are embarking on. For example, if you’d like to change your relationship to money, be more communicative, feel safe in daily life, laugh more, be kinder, set solid boundaries—or get an A on your math test. Wherever you would like to be in life, gems and minerals can support the process. Once you’ve become clear on your focus, go, and let the crystals get your attention. You will be astounded how the ones you are attracted to are exactly what you need to support your goals.

By now, you must have gleaned that working with stones is an intuitive experience—regardless of how you recognize your skill level, working with crystals will show you things about yourself and insights into life and others, that will blow your mind. Start slow and be consistent. Here are some strategies to try:

1. Create a small sacred space in your home, such as a shelf space; clean and clear it of all things. This will be the place for your crystal(s) or Your Crystal Allies card. Now, place your stone or card in the space and let the magic begin. Over time, your stone will offer information and energy on subtle levels. If you’d like to witness the process, you can meditate or journal for a few minutes every day with your stone or card, and at the end of seven days, evaluate to see how things have changed.

2. Carry one of your chosen stones in your pocket or bag.

3. Keep your crystal or YCA card by your bed when you sleep.

4. Create a healing grid layout with three or more stones or YCA cards. A healing grid can be found here: https://traceedunblazier.com/crystal-grids/. Print one of these, and lay your stones upon it with an intention or affirmation like, all is well in my world. This is considered a healing layout and the grid is the sacred geometric representation of yourself on different levels. Placing the crystals on points of the grid will connect the vibration of the stones to you and begin moving and balancing your energy. Keep in mind that the healing process will reveal where there are inner conflicts to be resolved— experiencing deeper emotions while healing is natural.

5. Begin your crystal journey by working with all the different types of Quartz, first: Channeling Quartz, Trans-Channeler Quartz, Tabular Quartz, Double Terminated Quartz, Phantom Quartz, Self-healed Quartz, or Cathedral Quartz, to name a few. (The italicized ones are in the series.)

6. Begin your crystal journey by finding specimens of each: Aventurine, Sodalite or Lapis Lazuli, Citrine, Carnelian, Black Tourmaline, Rose Quartz, and Amethyst. This is a good smattering of interesting frequencies that you can compare and contrast, to see how they inspire you.

My final thoughts on crystals:

It is clear today that gems and minerals for healing/wisdom purposes are becoming more popular and reaching a much wider demographic than the rockhounds and new-age crowd of yesteryear. People are crying out for new ways of transforming their pain into new ideals and self-trust.

Crystals aren’t something to believe in or a philosophy of any sort, they are almost 20 percent of the Earth’s crust, on which we make our homes and the lives we share with one another. No matter what we know or believe, Quartz impacts some aspects of our lives every day, and this is an invitation to activate your curiosity as to the possibilities they hold for you.

Gems and minerals are amplifiers, reflectors, and wisdom keepers of the billions of years of evolution on our planet and the Cosmos—as is every soul on this planet. It is my hope that through Your Crystal Allies book series and Your Crystal Allies: 44 Sacred Altar Cards & Oracle Set, you, the reader, will answer the call of your imagination and open your heart and mind to all the fascinating prospects for healing, reconciliation, and expansion the world of crystals can bring.

Matt Sutherland
August 22, 2023

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