Petrouchka Alexieva

Photo credit: https://crystal-shop.co/moonstone-meaning/

Moonstone

Intuition - Awareness – Divine

 

Moonstone is a child of the Moon

and the Rainbow with a milky face

and sparkling shades of sky-blue.

It enhances good emotions;

teaches natural rhythms of life;

aids in finding someone’s path.

 

It escorts the true joy of love.

It is a supportive intuitive guard

in a traveling time. It is the stone

of inner grow, strength and vision;

enhancing feminine healing and power;

promotes dream work and inspiration.

 

In this divine midnight I light white candle

under this extra-large face of the Moon

and charge my crystal necklace.

I chant. I ask my Queen-Moon

to enhance my life with her celestial power

for fortune, abundance and blessings.

 

Aside, I keep a bowl with white salt

to protect my soul from negative ones.

“Moonstone, moonstone, quid my eternal path!”

 

Photo credit: https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/ editorial /long-journey-our-lunar-touchrock

The Very First Touchable Moon Rock

Only the Moon knows who stepped first on its surface. After five previous moon landings, the touching down of Apollo 17 on December 19, 1972, was a significant way to end the NASA’s “Apollo” moon program.

 Astronauts Harrison “Jack” Schmitt and Eugene Cernan brought back to Earth 243 pounds of lunar soil and rocks. This included over 740 individual rock and soil samples. They also carried on board the largest rock they gathered that was weighing 8 kilograms (18 pounds) located near the Lunar Module. The samples of rocks enable scientists to map the age of their locations. Most of the samples were gathered from the crater’s rim, what later was found to be composed of volcanic glass formed during a volcanic explosion, which tells Moon’s origin story. After lunar rocks were successfully delivered to Earth, geochemists analyzed them by the isotope-decay method and it was discovered that the moon samples were between 3 billion and 4.5 billion years old. In comparison, most rocks on earth are even younger.

A ‘touchrock’ is a type of rock called basalt, dark, rich in iron, magnesium, and plagioclase feldspar. Like many lunar basalts, the touchrock contains more titanium than normal Earth basalts.

One of the rocks was gathered from the lunar Taurus-Littrow Valley, just to the south-east of Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity). It was sliced and put on open display. In fact, visitors can touch a rock, on loan from NASA, in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. It tells a volcanic history of our galactic companion. It is one of only a few touchable lunar samples displays in the world. When the Museum opened to the public in 1976, the very first touchable Moon rock was part of the exhibit. The other touchrock moon samples are taking place at the Kennedy Space Center, Space Center Houston, the Museum of Science of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City, and the MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

Another significant milestone made by of Apollo 17 is the image of our planet Earth, called "Blue Marble", that is the most widely reproduced image. It became a symbol for Earth Day and environmental causes. Humans, fueled by ingenuity and perseverance, are always driven to explore the unknown. I believe that one day, which might be pretty soon, the offspring of the first explorers will be able to touch the rocks from Mars and other distant planets and moons with their own bare hands. But always going to be the first one that we can touch and admire. 

Upon Apollo 17’s landing, an incredible dialog was recorded:

”04 14 23 28: Cernan: “Oh, man. Look at that rock out there.”

Schmitt: “Absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible.”