Dried gourds retain their seeds inside them, making them a perfect natural percussion instrument.
Rattles have many uses, across different cultures, but are often found in healing, spiritual practices. Shamans and Medicine Men use rattles in ceremonies and babies use rattles in their cribs.
I chose to cover the gourd with all of the colors representing the 7 chakras and then some. I used Clear Quartz and Swarovski crystals to amplify all of the crystals on the rattle. I added Obsidian and Tourmaline crystals to ground the crystals on this rattle.
For the crown chakra, I used Rose Quartz and Amethyst. For the third eye chakra, I chose Lapis Lazuli and Chalcedony. The heart chakra is represented by Green Aventurine and Green Jasper. Citrine and Tiger’s Eye symbolizes the solar plexus chakra. The sacral chakra is Carnelian and Red Jasper. For the root chakra, I used Pomegranate Stone Garnets and Red Coral.
Although the rattle had a perfect natural handle built-in, I chose to finish mine with recycled leather from an old reclining chair. Wrapping the handle provided me with stability and grip since the rattle is somewhat heavy with crystals.
When using the rattle, I think the abrupt, sometimes jarring, sound brings our attention to the present. I use the natural, rattling sounds in my crystal gourd reiki to arouse stagnant energy within a chakra. Some cultures use stones, beans, or corn inside their rattles and use inserted sticks as handles. Since I chose to leave the gourd in its natural state, the rattle is perfectly mellow and muted for use in my Reiki practice.