Savannah King

"A huge part of my love of stones is that stones remember. The stones we have used to build temples and sacred sites hold the energy of all the ceremony and work that has been done there before. I would highly recommend that if there is a boulder in your neighborhood just go lie on it, and you’ll get a great treatment!"

How would you describe the work that you do? 
I work with stones as healers and as medicine for our journey of life. It is about being in relationship with the earth, about honoring ourselves as earth and the stones as earth. 

How can people work with you and stone medicine? 
I offer intuitive readings where I sit with a client and channel what is coming through by allowing the stone spirit to drop in. I then share rituals and guidance using those stones for that person to practice with and to integrate into their own life. This could be bathing with a certain stone or placing one by their bedside to support dreaming. I do one-on-one treatments using a layout of stones over the body, similar to acupuncture, and work with the meridians of the body to connect and open those energy fields. I also offer classes and retreats on stone medicine to teach people about how to integrate learning and practice rituals in their lives.

What qualifies as a stone? 
For me it is all encompassing - from humble rocks and garden stones to any mineral that is coming from the earth, all the way to cut gemstones or a pearl from the ocean. It goes so much deeper than crystals. Anything that is coming out of the earth. 

What do you love about stones? 
A huge part of my love of stones is that stones remember. The stones we have used to build temples and sacred sites hold the energy of all the ceremony and work that has been done there before. I would highly recommend if there is a boulder in your neighborhood just go lie on it, and you’ll get a great treatment! 

What led you to this work?
When I started making jewelry I began to see how much energy goes into creating adornment that can hold your vibrational intention. I was living in New York City at the time and was seeking a teacher, and then I had a terrible apartment fire, and lost everything! It was a beautiful clearing and it gave me the permission I needed to get weirder and follow my path. I found my teacher in Sarah Thomas in North Carolina, and I just started flying down there and studying with them. That experience allowed me to go deeper into what my heart was longing for, to bring spiritual meaning into the art I was creating.

How do sacred adornments work? 
Adornment is a really beautiful way to work with stones for a couple of years and see the full arc of transformation over time. Stones work in cool and synchronistic ways - whether it is in dreams or by someone showing up in your life to help you move through something at an accelerated rate. 

What is your lineage? 
It is a daoist lineage and it was started around 250 AD by matriarch Lady Wei, who was the founder of the Shangqing school for internal alchemy practices. At the core of this school is the idea that nature is our greatest source of wisdom and healing. This method of working with stones is called the jade purity lineage. It was Jeffery Yueen, 88th generation Daoist priest who also received a visitation that he should share stone medicine with the West. It was in New York that my teacher Sarah Thomas started studying with him, and then moved back to North Carolina to set up their own practice of healing with stones. Sarah has blended temple magic and earth science into this beautiful school of stone medicine. I went through initiation as a teacher with them last year so that I can now offer classes.

What attracted you most to this lineage? 
I must have had a past life as a Daoist, because the beliefs go straight to my heart. A lot of people see stones as woo woo but there is a lot of earth science there. The tenet of stone medicine is observing nature - how can we understand something better and how can that help us understand ourselves better. Minerals feed soil, which feeds plants, which feed us. We can look at the chemical makeup of a stone and see how it will vibrationally work with our own bodies and own essence. 

What are some of your daily stone rituals?
I am pretty deep into playing crystal singing bowls right now as a daily practice. The further I get with my learning of vibrational medicine, sound feels even more present. I like bathing with rose quartz to tend to my heart space. 

What about your other daily practices? 
I sit with tea everyday, which is also a daoist practice. My teacher is Wu De of Global Tea Hut. I have had such huge heart openings with the tea. I love the simplicity of the tea practice - all you need is tea, fire, water, and your breath. 

What do you keep on your bedside table?
I have a big pyramid of Shungite, which is really cleansing and good for EMF (electromagnetic field) protection. I have a spiral shell I found on the beach during a low tide morning. Spirals help us to unravel. Since it has been on my bedside my dreams have been really active. 

What are some of your go to stones? 
These are a couple I recommend a lot because they are heavy hitters. Watermelon Tourmaline is big time for the heart. They are stones you would give someone when they are ready to give their true gift to the world - which is love. Garnet is one of my favorite women’s health stones in that aspect of being able to ground, and have a connection to our vitality and sexuality. Hematite is also coming in for iron rich protection, you could put it by your feet at night to help you ground and detox  It is the mother of the stone kingdom, so it also helps you work with the mother wound and our ability to receive nourishment.

What are some of your favorite sources for stones?
To some extent with mining there is a lot of duality there. We have to trust that these stones are coming out of earth at this time and want to be in a relationship with us, and have medicine to share. I have put together some stone medicine kits on my site, and here are a few other sources I like:

Rock Belly 
They are lovely people with good prices and ethical sourcing in mind. They are also happy to put together custom sets, just send them a message and tell them Savannah sent you.  
Mineral Mandalas
Lovely couple from Oregon with great taste.
Narnia Vintage
Molly is a friend and has some really special stones. Feel free to reach out to her as well for custom sets and special requests as most of her stones aren't listed on her website.

Someone gifted me a stone and I don’t connect with it, what do I do?
Give it back to the mother. One of the coolest things is to think about is stones coming from the earth, so giving it back as an offering.

How do you stay in balance between business and the earth?
I try to give back through my site. With every $100 you spend, a tree is planted in a fire ravaged area. Recently I did a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen. I tune in to what feels present for me at the time and it helps my customer be in the right relationship with the pieces that are calling them.

What words of wisdom are you calling on these days?
How we do anything is how we do everything. If I can be living my whole existence as poetry, then how can I fall in love more deeply with my daily life and embrace the challenges that come up as part of the learning. 

What are 3 things that bring you joy?
1. My puppy Opal brings me so much joy, I forgot my heart could hold so much. I am so grateful to love and be loved by her wild spirit.
2. Time spent barefoot on the earth, I feel very grateful to have landed in Topanga Canyon with a mystical labyrinth trail right up the road and the ocean just a quick drive down the mountain. 
3. Adventuring with loved ones. I’ve had the privilege to travel to some incredible places with my family (and soul family) in recent years and these journeys always expand my sense of self and the world.

What 3 books do you recommend?
She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo
The Way of The Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary by Clarke Strand and Perdita Finn
M Train by Patti Smith

Photos by Bunni Nishimura