Stuff in my pockets...

Today I would like to discuss physical items that we view as holding some kind of power...talismans, jewelery, stones, bits of wood, bones, ritual tools etc.  Many people of a non Pagan persuasion, and even many Pagans themselves, view the practice of creating and venerating such items as a silly superstition or very "new age."  I could not disagree more with the aforementioned view, these items are often very personal and hold a great deal of value to us!  I am not saying that anything of the things we hold near and dear to us have any grand mystical power, however they have a strong impact on us as individuals.  The question is, what gives these items their power?  In most cases I would say that is the individual that gives the item power; by focusing so intently on the value of said object we project upon it the power we want it to hold.  With that being said I'm sure many people would say that the power is inside of us all along and we do not need an object give us that power.  I do agree with that to a degree, however having a physical object can act as something for us to channel our thoughts and energy...a focus.  Now the next question I ponder is, could your personal focus hold value to another individual?  That is a tough question to answer, I think sometimes yes sometimes no.  I suppose that after a long period of time of focusing so intently on the purpose of an item it could possibly retain some of that purpose without actually the original user channeling their thoughts and energy through it, but I feel the receiving individual would have to focus their own thoughts and energy into to produce the same results.  Then their is always the question of items that supposedly hold some inherent power on their own such as gemstones.  While various stones have been used through out the ages to symbolize certain things or act as talismans, I think it is a relatively new age concept that each and every single gemstone has inherent power.  Now those of you that know me would be sort of confused right about now, as I regularly work with gemstones and have more crystals and things around my house then I will ever know what to do with...do I think gemstones have power? Absolutely!  They are a piece of the planet and a part of nature, their formation probably took years longer then the human race has existed.  That being said they certainly have power inherently, but I think we project a good deal of the specific metaphysical properties they may have.  What about biological materials such as plants and animal products?  There is energy in these things, that is not metaphysics that is scientific fact.  Anything that was once alive has energy; it is why we eat formerly living things, it is how we fuel our bodies.  I think the same can be said spiritually; but once again out side of medicinal uses of various plant or animal compounds, I believe we project a good deal of the specific qualities into these things.  To sum it all up...I am all about the stuff in my pockets everyday, the jewelry that I won't ever take off, the tattoos on my body, the herbs and tools I use in rituals.  All of these things aid me in focusing my thoughts and energies to various purposes and I don't think I could ever be without them, it's just not as hocus pocus as many outsiders would view it as.