Sunshine Challenges 2022 #3: Luna Rocks

sunshine_challenge has made it to the third prompt, where I know a little bit more about the alternate some than the primary one, but can talk plenty about what the legendary origin of the prompt stone is.

Prized for its blue to white adularescence—a billowy, moonlight-like sheen—Moonstone has been closely associated with the Moon. The ancient Romans believed it was frozen moonlight, a gift from the goddess, Luna. Therefore, some consider it an alternative birthstone for those born on Monday, the “Moon’s day”. Due to this lunar association, as well as its calming influence, this gem is considered an excellent aid for those with trouble sleeping. Moonstone is a stone of inner growth and strength; it soothes emotional instability and stress and stabilizes the emotions, providing calmness. Because of all this, Moonstone is often associated with wisdom and dreams.

The properties that this description attributes to moonstone also basically describes Garnet, from Steven Universe. Coincidentally, Garnet is the bonus stone. Although, Garnet's balance and calmness is due to being a fusion of a hotheaded Ruby and a cold-hearted Sapphire. She's got both of their strengths (Rubies are strong soldiers, Sapphires have the ability to see the future) and their weaknesses, but they complement each other well. Garnet is often the one that the other Crystal Gems (and Steven) look to for advice on how to do things or how to maintain a calm state during scary or upsetting things. Garnet certainly isn't perfect, but she is a good example of a couple that loves each other and are compatible. (Contrast Lapis and Jasper, who hate each other, creating Malachite as a hostile and fighting fusion.)

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It's no slight to the writers of the challenge, or of the resource the challenge creators drew from in building this, that the shadow, the dark, and the nightmare parts of the moon aren't present in the stone description. People looking for the energies in stones are rarely looking to tap into their shadows, but instead to capture them and send them away or transform them into brighter or more positive entities and energies that can be used constructively. (Which can become toxic if taken too far, as Eve Forward's Villains By Necessity depicts.) It seems like the shadow may be needed more in the days to come, especially for those who have classically had their menstrual cycles defined in terms of the moon, as well as those of us existing outside what a very narrow band of powerful people believes is normal and real. Well, either that or assembling a team of heroes based on celestial bodies using the powers contained in makeup compacts.