FREE: Encyclopedia of Crystal Gem & Metal Magic by Scott Cunningham

This book is the definitive guide to working magic with crystals and gemstones. Cunningham presents a whole curriculum of working with stones and their meanings in this all-in-one reference "field guide". The first few chapters cover the basics of stones and metals and gives a bit of magical background. He also shares how he collected some of his information and provides some tips for becoming a seasoned rock collector.He then dives headfirst into the practical uses for stones and metals, how to buy stones and how to get the best deals, from haggling in swap meets to store purchases. An appendix lists a few select places to purchase stones. He suggests ways to interact with stones by in how one selects, attunes and cleanses them. There is a chapter devoted to divination and another on spells. The exercises are fun to do and do not require lots of pagan wisdom or background training. One could base an entire magical practice just on this book alone.
The book explores the different crystals, gems and metals. Cunningham divides these sections into two chapters. One contains crystals and gemstones, and the other has the metals. The sections are alphabetized by the rock's and metal's common names. Each entry contains a list of stones and their associations to planets, colors, days, etc. followed by a quick summary of power associations. All this information is used to match the best stone or metal with what you intend to use it for. Cunningham goes into great detail and depth with his explanations on the magic and background lore of each. The center of the book contains a colorful guide displaying "best" examples of some of the stones. I found this color-inset useful as I was reading through the text and trying to grasp a mental image of what each and every stone looked like. A quick Reference Table follows these chapters summarizing all the book's information.

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