GUEST AUTHOR BLOG: MARSHA A. MOORE

Mystical Moonstones in Staurolite: Enchanted Bookstore Legend Four

by Marsha A. Moore

Patty, thanks so much for inviting me to be here today and talk with your readers.

In my new release, Staurolite, the fourth book in the Enchanted Bookstore Legends, I’m expanding and developing the foundation of the magical lore of my fantasy world. The characters find themselves needing the world’s ancient wisdom to solve their own present day problems. The basis of this ages-old magical power is a group of four mystical gemstones that parallel the four Chinese elements of nature: air, earth, fire, and water. These stones serve as four powerful keystones which, together, can empower the good Alliance to overcome the threatening attacks of the evil Dark Realm. There is one controlling master gemstone, the Staurolite, which gives this fourth book its title.

The gem corresponding to air I’ve chosen to work with is the moonstone. When I selected

my keystone which corresponds to air, I considered many attributes that would make it an empowering symbol.

I’ve long been fascinated with blue-white opalescence of the stone, sometimes described as ‘billowy light’ gliding over the smooth cabochon surface. Gemologists refer to this characteristic as adularescence, and a synonym for the stone is adularia. Moonstone can be colorless, white, yellow, green, brown, orange, pink, or grey, but it always has a white or blue sheen. The best moonstone is colorless with a blue sheen. The colored varieties mainly come from India.

The mystical connections of the gem intrigue me. Moonstone is considered a birthstone for February, a mystical birthstone for June, an astrological birthstone for the star sign Cancer, and the Ayurvedic birthstone for September. I’ll be studying Ayurvedic yoga during my teacher training this year and am eager to learn how this stone is used in that science.

Traditionally, some believe moonstone can be used to balance a one's yin and yang. The gemstone is thought to soothe and balance emotions and evoke calm responses. Called a visionary stone, moonstone brings inspiration, strengthens intuition and sensitivity, enhances creativity, allows the wearer to see situations from different angles, and helps one to see things more clearly. It has even been said that moonstone has the power to grant wishes. Some believe this stone will build self confidence, enhance compassion, and promote happiness and longevity. It is also thought to be a stone of protection, especially for travel at sea, pregnancy, and childbirth.

It is also considered an ideal stone for lovers, since moonstone is reputed to bring forth tender feelings, protect true love, support a person's emotional and dreamy tendencies, and increase sensitivity to others. It’s said to attract friendship and loyalty to the wearer, encourage personal attachments, help obtain romance, and arouse tender passion.

In Heritage Avenged (book two), a large rainbow moonstone is used as the focal point of an instrument which interprets information hidden in the stars. The device is called the Spheres of Sidus. It helps the reader find an answer a chosen question from the his or her past. Three onyx balls are positioned according to current positions of the birth stars of specific ancestors. When, at last, the focal moonstone rondure is placed and given sufficient power, it conjures an answer in the form of a hologram-like image.

In my latest release, Staurolite (book four), Lyra again uses rainbow moonstone of the

Spheres of Sidus to help her discover clues about the locations of the four missing keystones. Additionally, through her studies of ancient texts, she learns about the air keystone, a moonstone originally from Aria, the sky world above Dragonspeir. Centuries ago, when the second Scribe was forced into Aria by attacks from the Dark Realm, she recovered the lost moonstone. It was enchanted by the queen of the sky world, to keep the folks in the Alliance safe until they could reclaim their lands. A riddle within the Queen’s poem gives Lyra clues about the location of that precious moonstone keystone.

Learn about the enchanted moonstone and all the keystones in Staurolite: Enchanted Bookstore Legend Four. Lyra must learn how to find all four in time to save the Alliance from the attacking Dark Realm.

Photo credit for moonstones: By Memecry2 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons