There are places in the world where the unseen feels close. Vancouver Island is one of them — a land where mist moves like breath across the treetops, where moss glows electric-green after rain, and where ancient forests hold stories older than memory. It’s why so many seekers, healers, and intuitive women feel called here. And it’s why Moonstone Sanctuary was born on this island — a home for rest, retreat, and reconnection.

In this land of cedars and shoreline, energy doesn’t feel abstract. It feels alive.

And within that living energy, we find tools — Reiki, stones, and sacred symbols — that help us anchor our inner worlds. These tools are not trends, and they are not accessories; they are part of a lineage of meaning, intention, and deep feminine knowing.

This week in our “Lore & Crafting” series, we sink into the magic behind these practices — their symbolism, their purpose, and how to use them in your own life or during your next Vancouver Island retreat.

The Living Language of Reiki

Reiki is often described as energy healing, but that label barely scratches its surface. Reiki is a language — one spoken not through words but through intention, presence, and touch. When I first studied Reiki more than two decades ago, it was during a time in my life when everything felt scattered. Reiki became the first place I learned to listen without trying to fix, to hold without force, and to trust what I could feel but not yet name.

At its core, Reiki connects us to universal life force — the same intelligence that turns a seed into a tree, or draws the tides in and out along the shores of Vancouver Island.

The traditional symbols used in Reiki each carry a particular frequency:

• Cho Ku Rei — power, protection, activation

• Sei He Ki — emotional balance, harmony, healing

• Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen — timelessness, connection, distance healing

• Dai Ko Myo — spiritual awakening, illumination

These symbols aren’t “magic spells”; they are universal patterns, like energetic mandalas, that help us tune into the qualities they represent. When a practitioner traces a symbol, they’re connecting to that frequency — not forcing energy, but evoking it.

At Moonstone Sanctuary, where so many women come seeking calm, clarity, and reconnection, Reiki is often the first modality that helps them soften. The island itself seems to amplify the practice — its groundedness, its slowness, its rhythm mirroring the gentle pace of healing.

Power Stones: Carries of Energy, Memory, and Meaning

Long before crystals became mainstream, women used stones as tools for grounding and guidance. Stones are not charms; they are mineral stories — shaped over millions of years, transformed by heat and pressure, polished by water and time.

Here are a few of the stones most intimately connected to our retreats and teachings:

Moonstone — the stone of intuition, femininity, and cycles

Moonstone is the namesake of our sanctuary for a reason. It symbolizes inner knowing, lunar wisdom, and the quiet strength of change. It is for women who are entering new phases — motherhood, healing after loss, stepping into leadership, or beginning again.

Rose Quartz — the stone of compassion and the heart

Soft but powerful, rose quartz helps unthaw emotional armor. It is the stone I reach for when grief rises, when self-judgment creeps in, or when I need to soften into the present moment.

Amethyst — clarity, protection, serenity

Amethyst supports those who feel overwhelmed or overstimulated. It clears mental fog and helps soothe the nervous system — a perfect companion for retreats, meditation, and gentle leadership practices.

Labradorite — transformation, magic, synchronicity

For many women on Vancouver Island, labradorite is the “awakening stone.” Its flashes remind us that magic is real and that things are not always as they seem.

How Stones Work on a Scientific Level

Crystals vibrate at stable frequencies — more stable than our own emotional and energetic fluctuations. When we hold them, wear them, or meditate with them, our energy begins to entrain to their steadier frequency. This is not superstition; it’s resonance.

Your body responds to stones the way it responds to music — instinctively, without overthinking.

Jewelry as Ritual: Why Wearing Symbols Matters

When women come to Moonstone Sanctuary or to our Vancouver Island retreats, they often arrive wearing tokens — a pendant from a grandmother, a ring that survived heartbreak, a small stone carried through years of change.

Jewelry becomes ritual because:

• It holds memory

• It anchors intention

• It gives the body something to feel and the heart something to remember

Symbolic jewelry, such as Reiki symbols or power stones, acts as a companion for the journey. It’s not decoration; it’s a reminder.

I’m often asked, “How do I know which stone or symbol is right for me?”
Your body usually knows before your mind does. Notice which stone you pick up without thinking. Notice which symbol you draw again and again. That is intuition speaking.

A Simple Lore-Crafting Ritual for Your Week

This practice is gentle, grounding, and perfect whether you’re at home or visiting Vancouver Island for a retreat.

Step 1 — Choose Your Companion

Let your hand or your intuition choose a stone today.
Not what you think you need — what you reach for.

Step 2 — Hold the Stone and Breathe

Place the stone in your palm or against your heart.
Take three slow breaths.
Feel its temperature, its weight.

Step 3 — Whisper Your Intention

Choose one word only:
Courage. Calm. Clarity. Release. Truth. Softening.

Let the stone hold that intention for you.

Step 4 — Place It Somewhere Meaningful

• In your pocket

• On your nightstand

• On your desk

• Under your pillow

Let it become your quiet spell of grounding.

Why Vancouver Island Is the Perfect Place for Ritual Work

This land is inherently energetic — ancient cedars, volcanic stone, roaring waterfalls, and coastlines shaped by storms. Some of the most powerful places for ritual and symbolic work here include:

Cathedral Grove

An old-growth forest where 800-year-old Douglas firs stand like guardians. The air here vibrates differently — thicker, quieter, ancient.

Englishman River Falls

A place of cleansing and flow. Many women bring stones here to charge with the energy of moving water.

Ammonite Falls

A hike into the island’s deep belly. The waterfall lands like a drumbeat — strong, cleansing, awakening.

The Wild Beaches of Ucluelet or Tofino

Perfect for releasing rituals. The Pacific always takes what we are ready to let go of.

Including these places helps your blog rank for:

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And it gives readers places to explore when they eventually come stay at Moonstone Sanctuary.

Why Lore Matters in a Wellness Journey

Lore is the story beneath the story — the meaning, the myth, the lineage. When we incorporate stones, symbols, and energy practices into our life, we are not escaping reality; we are deepening into it. We are remembering that life is more than schedules and screens — it is ritual, connection, energy, and intuition.

Women crave this.
Women are built for this.
And Vancouver Island nourishes this.

In our upcoming retreats, we weave these practices into workshops, meditations, and shared moments of grounding. Not as performance. Not as aesthetic. But as remembrance.

Because everything is energy.
Everything carries meaning.
And everything — from the stone in your pocket to the moss beneath your feet — wants to support your becoming.