The A to Z (agate to zircon) of stone power. Popular seller that includes color identification keys to gems as well as illustrations of significant body points.

Children of the Stone is the unlikely story of Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan, a boy from a Palestinian refugee camp in Ramallah who confronts the occupying army, gets an education, masters an instrument, dreams of something much bigger than himself, and then inspires scores of others to work with him to make that dream a reality. That dream is of a music school in the midst of a refugee camp in Ramallah, a school that will transform the lives of thousands of children through music. Daniel Barenboim, the Israeli musician and music director of La Scala in Milan and the Berlin Opera, is among those who help Ramzi realize his dream. He has played with Ramzi frequently, at chamber music concerts in Al-Kamandjati, the school Ramzi worked so hard to build, and in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra that Barenboim founded with the late Palestinian intellectual, Edward Said. Children of the Stone is a story about music, freedom and conflict; determination and vision. It's a vivid portrait of life amid checkpoints and military occupation, a growing movement of nonviolent resistance, the past and future of musical collaboration across the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and the potential of music to help children see new possibilities for their lives. Above all, Children of the Stone chronicles the journey of Ramzi Aburedwan, and how he worked against the odds to create something lasting and beautiful in a war-torn land.

"This book introduces you to the miraculous metaphysical powers within you right now, by giving you the methods you need to put them into positive action. In a few days you can be demonstrating these powers in many ways. If I tell you in what ways now it will astound you. But these incredible happenings will become commonplace for you by the time you finish this book." (From the introduction by Dr. Stone.)

The ancient Mesoamerican city of Izapa in Chiapas, Mexico, is renowned for its extensive collection of elaborate stone stelae and altars, which were carved during the Late Preclassic period (300 BC-AD 250). Many of these monuments depict kings garbed in the costume and persona of a bird, a well-known avian deity who had great significance for the Maya and other cultures in adjacent regions. This Izapan style of carving and kingly representation appears at numerous sites across the Pacific slope and piedmont of Mexico and Guatemala, making it possible to trace political and economic corridors of communication during the Late Preclassic period. In this book, Julia Guernsey offers a masterful art historical analysis of the Izapan style monuments and their integral role in developing and communicating the institution of divine kingship. She looks specifically at how rulers expressed political authority by erecting monuments that recorded their performance of rituals in which they communicated with the supernatural realm in the persona of the avian deity. She also considers how rulers used the monuments to structure their built environment and create spaces for ritual and politically charged performances. Setting her discussion in a broader context, Guernsey also considers how the Izapan style monuments helped to motivate and structure some of the dramatic, pan-regional developments of the Late Preclassic period, including the forging of a codified language of divine kingship. This pioneering investigation, which links monumental art to the matrices of political, economic, and supernatural exchange, offers an important new understanding of a region, time period, and group of monuments that played a key role in the history of Mesoamerica and continue to intrigue scholars within the field of Mesoamerican studies.

The Power of Crystal Healing will focus primarily on practical application of stones as a source of healing for afflictions ranging from fatigue to high blood pressure. Uma Silbey, applying her 40 years of experience, presents proven crystal and stone techniques that work to heal the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Step-by-step instructions for both the beginner and the advanced show how to use crystals to help heal a diverse array of physical ailments like the flu and colds, cancers, nerve and blood disorders, migraine headaches, exhaustion, and stress, as well as emotional concerns like anger and depression, shame and guilt, loss, heartbreak, and finding love. The use of crystals to help heal common mental issues, such as anxiety and narcissism, OCD, suicidal ideation, PTSD, abusive behaviors, and self-harm, is also included. Though the use of crystals themselves can lead to a vastly expanded consciousness, the ability to “feel” or sense the vibrational fields that form the basis of all manifestation can help develop vast intuitive and psychic abilities and bring a deep sense of self. Specific techniques are given to help accelerate these processes. With easy-to-follow instructions, guidelines for building a personal “Crystal Healing Kit,” a diverse array of practices and powerful meditations, and over 100 beautiful pictures of the most powerful healing stones, this book will be an amazing first step for readers seeking a path of transformative healing.

Following a mysterious gacha pull, an unlucky soul is reborn into a fantastical world as the young Ein Roundheart. He possesses a skill that allows him to break down poisonous substances—which is nowhere near as cool as his little brother’s flashy combat skill! Ein does his best, but even so, his father and stepmother bypass him to proclaim their youngest son the heir to the household. And things only get more complicated from there. On the heels of a fateful encounter with a young girl named Krone, Ein and his mother are shunned by the family and decide to take refuge in her home kingdom...where Ein is suddenly declared the crown prince! This marks the beginning of a whole new life for Ein, and he’s out to prove that he’s worthy of the crown.

Winner, American Library Association Booklist’s Top of the List, 2019 Adult Nonfiction Acclaimed writer Marie Arana delivers a cultural history of Latin America and the three driving forces that have shaped the character of the region: exploitation (silver), violence (sword), and religion (stone). “Meticulously researched, [this] book’s greatest strengths are the power of its epic narrative, the beauty of its prose, and its rich portrayals of character…Marvelous” (The Washington Post). Leonor Gonzales lives in a tiny community perched 18,000 feet above sea level in the Andean cordillera of Peru, the highest human habitation on earth. Like her late husband, she works the gold mines much as the Indians were forced to do at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Illiteracy, malnutrition, and disease reign as they did five hundred years ago. And now, just as then, a miner’s survival depends on a vast global market whose fluctuations are controlled in faraway places. Carlos Buergos is a Cuban who fought in the civil war in Angola and now lives in a quiet community outside New Orleans. He was among hundreds of criminals Cuba expelled to the US in 1980. His story echoes the violence that has coursed through the Americas since before Columbus to the crushing savagery of the Spanish Conquest, and from 19th- and 20th-century wars and revolutions to the military crackdowns that convulse Latin America to this day. Xavier Albó is a Jesuit priest from Barcelona who emigrated to Bolivia, where he works among the indigenous people. He considers himself an Indian in head and heart and, for this, is well known in his adopted country. Although his aim is to learn rather than proselytize, he is an inheritor of a checkered past, where priests marched alongside conquistadors, converting the natives to Christianity, often forcibly, in the effort to win the New World. Ever since, the Catholic Church has played a central role in the political life of Latin America—sometimes for good, sometimes not. In this “timely and excellent volume” (NPR) Marie Arana seamlessly weaves these stories with the history of the past millennium to explain three enduring themes that have defined Latin America since pre-Columbian times: the foreign greed for its mineral riches, an ingrained propensity to violence, and the abiding power of religion. Silver, Sword, and Stone combines “learned historical analysis with in-depth reporting and political commentary...[and] an informed and authoritative voice, one that deserves a wide audience” (The New York Times Book Review).

Ein begins a new chapter of his life at the academy, where he’s forging friendships and honing his swordsmanship. Krone, too, is doing her best to become the crown prince’s ideal partner. But academy life isn’t all studies and school-day shenanigans! Ishtarica is soon besieged by malicious schemes and the terrifying Sea Dragon. Against everyone’s wishes, Ein decides to face the legendary beast head-on! With his new life and homeland in jeopardy, the boy-turned-prince is willing to put it all on the line!

When summoned by the Elven chief, Ein makes the trek to the village of Syth Mill to meet with her. This wise elf was once close with Jayle, Ishtarica’s First King, and she claims to know a thing or two about the red foxes. With his trusty knight Chris by his side, Ein learns of a sealed shrine nestled deep within the village’s holy grounds. But just as our crown prince solves the mystery of this shrine, he discovers that Syth Mill has completely transformed. Meanwhile, a mysterious string of noble kidnappings has left Heim in shambles. With no end in sight to these terrors, one has to ask: who’s behind all of this? When Elena stops to ask this question herself, she comes to a horrific realization—Heim may not be the kingdom she once thought it was. Now scared for her life, the noblewoman no longer knows whom she can trust.