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Contents: Fairy stone cross pendants, necklaces, bookmarks, plain crosses & matrix; Andalusite Chiastolite stone crosses; Legend of fairy stones
LEGEND OF THE FAIRY STONE
Found in the area of Fairy Stone State Park, Stuart, Virginia. Many hundreds of years before Chief Powhatan's reign, fairies were dancing around a spring of water, playing with naiads and wood nymphs, when an elfin messenger arrived from a city far away. He brought news of the death of Christ. When these creatures of the forest heard the story of the crucifixion, they wept. As their tears fell upon the earth, they crystallized to form beautiful crosses. When the fairies disappeared from the enchanted place, ground about the spring and the adjacent valley was strewn with these mementos of the event. For many years people held these little crosses in superstitious awe, firm in the belief that they protected the wearer against witchcraft, sickness, accidents and disaster. |
A CHEROKEE INDIAN LEGEND A Cherokee Indian legend of the staurolite is an ancient story, and has been passed down through many generations. It was told to us by an old man of Cherokee descent, who said that he believed the crosses are better than gold.
The legend speaks of a ceremony that would be held once a year, at the time of the Spring Equinox. The festival, centered on the staurolite "cross" brought many different Indigenous tribes together for food and trade during the special event. People brought their personal "crosses" to the ceremony; and special "crosses" that were kept in a vault made of soap rock would be unearthed. All were put into a fire that was built at sunset. There the "crosses" would be heated until glowing hot, and they would be carried with green sticks to a special mound or rock. The staurolite would glow for hours; and would be kept continuously hot by reheating until the rising of the sun. This legendary ceremony was to assure the people safe passage, rain during the growing season and an abundance of food in the fall. Thus, the staurolite has been a symbol of good luck and faith for centuries with many Cherokee people.
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PENDANTS
Wired pendants are full drilled through from top to bottom with a pin insertion, made into loop at the top. |
SMALL FAIRY STONE CROSS PENDANTS
(average 1/2") Individually photographed below, you get exactly what you see in each photo. |
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1/2" NATURAL FAIRY STONE HALF DRILLED, SILVER LOOP |
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#CR506-1 $14 SOLD |
JUST THE CROSSES, NOT MADE INTO JEWELRY |
FAIRY STONE CROSSES
(EXTRA SMALL, 9/16") Individually photographed below, you get exactly what you see in each photo. |
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LINSEED-OILED | |||
#CR592-103 $14 |
#CR592-117 $14 |
#CR592-118 $14 |
FAIRY STONE CROSSES
(1-1/16") Individually photographed below, you get exactly what you see in each photo. |
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LINSEED-OILED | |||
#CR598-200 $36 |
VIRTUAL TOUR TO FAIRY STONE STATE PARK AREA to find FAIRY STONE CROSSES
We met with our good friends Dale & Renee (left-hand photo), who introduced us to the Fairy Stone Man's family: Pete, the Fairy Stone Man: Glenn, Heidi, and Dale with Pete: Searching for our own fairy stone crosses, only Pete has a permit to dig: The day's finds were not too bad! |
Here's Pete going to the shed where he files the crosses:
Here you see the finished cross, he has filed away the softer stone to leave only the hard cross crystal itself: Some are just too hard to file, they end up outside: |
"The Hand of God" cloud formation, I'm sure you'll enjoy. This phenomenal natural photo was taken by Sue Beatrice in southern New Jersey:
She contacted me with more information from her online gallery on how it was taken, except for resizing and color correction, this is really what she saw & photographed:
Here's another image taken moments later as the cloud was dissolving:
pbase.com
Kudos, Sue, on a once-in-a-lifetime photo! |
Here is the beauty wrought by our German customer Sabine with the fairy stone crosses into necklaces: |
Fairy stones in matrix, this great specimen from France is displayed at the Smithsonian Museum: |
STONE CROSS MOUNTAIN MUSEUM
April 2007 We visited the museum in Martinsville, Virginia and had a personal tour of the museum by Don Hopkins himself. The museum represents a lifetime labor of love for him, and it made our tour that much more interesting and educational. Here is Don at the museum: An impressive array of fairy stones in all sizes and thicknesses that he found in Virginia: Here are many stone crosses Several hundred fairy stone crosses in matrix in this showcase, wow! |
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STONE CROSSES FROM OTHER STATES & COUNTRIES | |||
From Georgia & North Carolina: | Minnesota, Australia, Madagascar, and New Mexico: | From Minnesota: | From Maine: |
From Madagascar: | From Russia: | From New Mexico: |