THE GREATER GELSTEI
THE SILVER
The silver gelstei is made of a marvelous substance called silustria. The crystal resembles pure silver, but is brighter, reflecting even more light. Depending on how forged, the silver gelstei can be much harder than
diamond.
The silver gelstei is the stone of reflection, and thus of the soul, for the soul is that part of man that reflects the light of the universe. The silver reflects and magnifies the powers of the soul, including, in its lower emanations, those of mind: logic, deduction, calculation, awareness, ordinary memory, judgment and insight. It can confer upon those who wield it holistic vision: the ability to see whole patterns and reach astonishing conclusions from only a few details or clues. Its higher emanations allow one to see how the individual soul must align itself with the universal soul to achieve the unfolding of fate.
In its reflective qualities, the silver gelstei may be used as a shield against various energies: vital, mental, or physical. In other ages, it has been shaped into arms and armor, such as swords, mail shirts and actual shields. Although not giving power over another, in body or in mind, the silver can be us too quicken the working of another's mind, and is thus a great pedagogical tool leading to knowledge and laying bare truth. A sword made of silver gelstei can cut through all things physical as the mind cuts through ignorance and darkness.
In its fundamental composition, the silver is very much like the gold gelstei, and is one of the two noble stones.
THE WHITE
These stones are called the white, but in appearance are usually clear like diamonds. During the Age of Law, many of them were cast into the form of crystal balls to be used by scryers, and are thus often called 'scryers' spheres'.
These are the stones of far-seeing: of perceiving events distant in either space or time. They are sometimes used by remembrancers to uncover the secrets of the past. The kristei as they are called have helped the master healers of the Brotherhoods read the auras of the sick that they might be brought back to strength and health.
THE BLUE
The blue gelstei, or blestei, have been fabricated on Ea at least as far back as the Age of the Mother. These crystals range in color from a deep cobalt to a bright lapis blue. They have been cast into many forms: amulets, cups, figurines, rings and others.
The blue gelstei quicken and deepen all kinds of knowing and communication. They are an aid to mindspeakers and truthsayers, and confer a greater sensitivity to music, poetry, painting, languages and dreams.
THE GREEN
Other than the Lightstone itself, these are the oldest of the gelstei. Many books of the Soganom Elu tell of how the Star People brought twelve of the green stones with them to Ea. The varistei look like beautiful emeralds; they are usually cast - or grown - in the shape of baguettes or astragals, and range in size from that of a pin or bead to great jewels nearly a foot in length. The green gelstei resonate with the vital fires of plants and animate, and of the earth. They are the stones of healing and can be used to quicken and strengthen life and lengthen its span. As the purple gelstei can be used to mold crystals and other inanimate substances into new shapes, the green gelstei haw powers over the forms of living things. In the Lost Ages, it was said that masters of the varistei used them to create new races of man (and sometimes monsters) lbut this art is thought to be long since lost. These crystals confer great vitality on those who use them harmony with nature; they can open the body's chakras and awaken the kundalini fire so the whole body and soul vibrate at a higher level of being.
THE RED
The red gelstei - also called tuaoi stones or firestones - are blood-red crystals like rubies in appearance and color. They are often cast into baguettes at least a foot in length, though during the Age of Law much larger ones were made. The greatest ever fabricated was the hundred-foot Eluli's Spire, mounted on top of the Tower of the Sun. It was said to cast its fiery light up into the heavens as a beacon calling out to the Star People to return to earth. The firestones quicken, channel and control the physical energies. They draw upon the sun's rays, as well as the earth's magnetic and telluric currents, to generate beams of light, lightning, heat or fire. They are thought to be the most dangerous of the gelstei; it is said that a great pyramid of red gelstei unleashed a terrible lightning that split asunder the world of Iviunn and destroyed its star.
THE BLACK
The black gelstei, or baalstei, are black crystals like obsidian.. Many are cast into the shape of eyes, either flattened or rounded like large marbles. They devour light and are the stones of negation. Many believe them to be evil stones, but they were created for a great good purpose: to control the awesome lightning of the firestones. Theirs is the power to damp the fires of material things, both living and living crystals such as the gelstei. Used properly, they can negate the working of all the other kinds of gelstei except the silver and the gold, over which they have no power. Their power over living things is most often put to evil purpose. The Kallimun priests and other servants of Morjin such as the Grays have wielded them as weapons to attack people physically, mentally and spiritually, literally sucking away their vital energies and will. Thus the black stones can be used to cause disease, degeneration and death.
It is believed that that baalstei might be potentially more dangerous than even the firestones. For in the Beginnings is told of an utterly black place that is at once the negation of all things and paradoxically also their source. Out of this place may come the fire and light of the universe itself. It is said that the Baaloch, Angra Mainyu, before he was imprisoned on the world of Damoom, used a great black gelstei to destroy whole suns in his war of rebellion against the Galadin and the rule of the Ieldra.
THE PURPLE
The lilastei are the stones of shaping and making. They are a bright violet in hue, and are cast into crystals of a great variety of shapes and sizes. Their power is unlocking the light locked up in matter so that matter might be changed, molded and transformed. Thus the lilastei are sometimes called the alchemists' stones, according to the alchemists' age-old dream of transmuting baser matter into true gold, and casting true gold into a new Lightstone. The purple gelstei's greatest effects are on crystals of all sorts: but mostly those in metal and rocks. It can unlock the crystals in these substances so that they might be more easily worked. Or they can be used to grow crystals of great size and beauty; they are the stone shapers and stone growers spoken of in legend. It is said that Kalkamesh used a lilastei in forging the silustria of the Bright Sword, Alkaladur. Some believe the potential power of the purple gelstei to be very great and perhaps very perilous. Lilastei have been known to 'freeze' water into an alternate crystal called shatar, which is clear and as hard as quartz. Some fear that these gelstei might be used thus to crystallize the water in the sea and so destroy all life on earth. The stone masters of old, who probed the mysteries of the lilastei too deeply, are said to have accidentally turned themselves into stone, but most believe this to be only a cautionary tale out of legend.
THE SEVEN OPENERS
If man's purpose is seen as in progressing to the orders of the Star People, Elijin and Galadin, then the seven stones known as the openers might fairly be called greater gelstei. Indeed, there are those of the Great White Brotherhood and the Green Brotherhood who revered them in this way. For, with much study and work, the openers each activate one of the body's chakras: the energy centers known as wheels of light. As the chakras are opened, from the base of the spine to the crown of the head, so is opened a pathway for the fires of life to reconnect to the heavens in a great burst of lightning called the angel's fire. Only then can a man or a woman undertake the advanced work necessary for advancement to the! higher orders.
The openers are each small, clear stones the color of their respective chakras. They are easily mistaken for gemstones.
THE FIRST (also called bloodstones)
These are a clear, deep red in color, like rubies. The first stones open the cha
kra of the physical body and activate the vital energies.
THE SECOND (also called passion stones or old gold)
These gelstei are gold-orange in color and are sometimes mistaken for amber. The second stones open the chakra of the emotional body and activate the currents of sensation and feeling.
THE THIRD (also called sun stones)
The third stones are clear and bright yellow, like citrine; they open the third chakra of the mental body and activate the mind.
THE FOURTH (also called dream stones or heart stones)
These beautiful stones - clear and pure green in color like emeralds -open the heart chakra. Thus they open one's second feeling, a truer and deeper sense than the emotions of the second chakra. The fourth stones work upon the astral body and activate the dreamer.
THE FIFTH (also called soul stones)
Bright blue in color like sapphires, the fifth stones open the chakra of the etheric body and activate the intuitive knower, or the soul.
THE SIXTH (also called angel eyes)
The sixth stones are bright purple like amethyst They open the chakra of the celestial body located just above and between the eyes. Thus their more common name: theirs is the power of activating ones second sight. Indeed, these gelstei activate the seer in the realm of light, and open one to the powers of scrying, visualization and deep insight.
THE SEVENTH (also called clear crowns or true diamonds)
One of the rarest of the gelstei, the seventh stones are clear and bright as diamonds. Indeed, some say they are nothing more than perfect diamonds, without flaw or taint of color. These stones open the chakra of the ketheric body and free the spirit for reunion with the One.
THE LESSER GELSTEI
During the Age of Law, hundreds of kinds of gelstei were made for pur poses ranging from the commonplace to the sublime. Few of these have survived the passage of the centuries. Some of those that have are:
GLOWSTONES
Also called glowglobes, these stones are cast into solid, round shapes resembling opals of various sizes - some quite huge. They give a soft and beautiful light. Those of lesser quality must be frequently refired beneath the sun, while those of the highest quality drink in even the faintest candlelight, hold it and give back in a steady illumination.
SLEEP STONES
A gelstei of many shifting and swirling colors, the sleep stones have a calming effect on the human nervous system. They look something like agates.
WARDERS
Usually blood-red in color and opaque, like carnelians, these stones deflect or 'ward-off psychic energies directed at a person. This includes thoughts, emotions, curses - and even the debilitating energy drain of the black gelstei. One who wears a warder can be rendered invisible to scryers and opaque to mindspeakers.
LOVE STONES
Often called true amber and sometimes mistaken for the second stones of the openers, these gelstei partake of some of their properties. They are specific to arousing feelings of infatuation and love; sometimes love stones are ground into a powder and made into potions to achieve the same end. They are soft stones and look much like amber.
WISH STONES
These little stones - they look something like white pearls - help the wearer remember his dreams and visions of the future; they activate the will to manifest these visualizations.
DRAGON BONES
Of a translucent, old ivory in color, the dragon bones strengthen the life fires and quicken one's courage - and all too often one's wrath.
HOT SLATE
A dark, gray, opaque stone of considerable size - hot slate is usually cast into yard-long bricks - this gelstei is related in powers and purpose, if not form, to the glowstones. It absorbs heat directly from the air and radiates it back over a period of hours or days.
MUSIC MARBLES
Often called song stones, these gelstei of variegated, swirling hues record and play music, both of the human voice and all instruments. They are very rare.
TOUCHSTONES
These are related to the song stones and have a similar appearance. However, they record and play emotions and tactile sensations instead of music. A man or a woman, upon touching one of these gelstei, will leave a trace of emotions that a sensitive can read from contact with the stone.
THOUGHT STONES
This is the third stone in this family and is almost indistinguishable from the others. It absorbs and holds one's thoughts as a cotton garment might retain the smell of perfume or sweat. The ability to read back these thoughts from touching this gelstei is not nearly so rare as that of mindspeaking itself.
BOOKS OF THE SAGANOM ELU
Beginnings
Mendelin
Sources
Ananke
Chronicles
Commentaries
Journeys
Book of Stars
Book of Stones
Book of Ages
Book of Water
Peoples
Book of Wind
Healings
Book of Fire
Laws
Tragedies
Battles
Book of Remembrance
Progressions
Sarojin
Book of Dreams
Baladin
Idylls
Averin
Visions
Souls
Valkariad
Songs
Trian
prophecies
Meditations
The Eschaton
THE AGES OF EA
The Lost Ages (18,000 - 12,000 years ago)
The Age of the Mother (12,000 -9,000 years ago)
The Age of the Sword (9,000 - 6000 years ago)
The Age of Law (6,000 - 3,000 years ago)
The Age of the Dragon (3,000 years ago to the present)
THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR
Yaradar Marud
Viradar Soal
Triolet Ioj
Gliss Valte
Ashte Ashvar
Soldru Segadar
Table of Contents
Black Jade
Acknowledgements
Contents
Maps
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Appendices
Heraldry
THE NINE KINGDOMS
FREE KINGDOMS
THE DRAGON KINGDOMS
THE GELSTEI
THE GREATER GELSTEI
THE SEVEN OPENERS
THE LESSER GELSTEI
BOOKS OF THE SAGANOM ELU
THE AGES OF EA
THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR
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