101 Power Crystals: The Ultimate Guide to Magical Crystals, Gems, and Stones for Healing and Transformation - Judy Hall 2011
The Power of Release: Banded Agate
✵ Chakra correspondences: Soma, third eye, solar plexus; stabilizes the aura
✵ Physiological correspondences: Eyes; skin; detoxification; oxygen assimilation; cellular function; the brain and cognitive processes; circulatory, urogenital, and nervous systems
✵ Vibration: Earthy
LEGENDARY POWER
Some of the most ancient artifacts were created from Banded Agate, including a five thousand-year-old Mesopotamian amulet inlaid with minute golden writing that called on the power of the planetary god Marduk (Jupiter) to protect the wearer from evil. An even older votive offering, a ceremonial ax carved from Banded Agate, was dedicated to the fearsome weather god, Adad, who threw thunderbolts and lightning. The Egyptians used Banded Agate for amulets to protect their heads. Almost certainly one of the stones in the Breastplate of the High Priest, it perhaps symbolized the All Seeing Eye of God.
Many Banded Agates resemble an eye; therefore, they were considered especially efficacious against the evil eye. They were an indispensable part of a magician’s equipment, as the bands controlled the power of the dark spirits being invoked. Banded Agate was also believed to convey the power of sight to statues. A third-century Greek lapidary advises seafarers to wear Banded Agate to safeguard them on the surging ocean.
An eleventh-century description of the eight magical virtues of Agate suggests Banded Agate’s power of release. Several virtues involved protection, one in particular against what today would be called “entity possession” or “undue influence,” described in those days as “a loathsome fiend” that had secretly attached. According to the lapidary, drinking Agate-infused water immediately detected and removed the astral hitchhiker.
HEALING POWER
A powerful holistic healer, Banded Agate harmonizes the subtle bodies with the physical and removes inner conflict. Placed on appropriate chakras, it enhances cellular memory, assists detoxification, and increases oxygenation in the cells. Botswana Agate supports anyone who wishes to give up tobacco. Gridded around a room, Banded Agate provides healing for the environment and protection against incursion by wandering spirits.
TRANSFORMATIONAL POWER
Agate’s bands are a useful vibrational ladder for carrying out subtle healing and past-life soulwork, particularly if, in a previous religious incarnation, the body was regarded as sinful. Pink Botswana Agate gently releases and heals childhood abuse. People who need to learn to love and value themselves can do so under its tender influence. Banded Agate gently reestablishes the notion that sexuality is a normal and natural part of physical incarnation. This stone is especially helpful for children or adults who were sworn to secrecy or who were part of a cult, setting them free to step into their own power. (See Agate, page 20.)
HARNESSING THE POWER
Place Banded Agate on your third eye to remove ties to any authority figure who has disempowered you or whom you have outgrown.