A long time ago on a forum far far away I wrote a post about segulas.  For those non-frummies reading, a segulah is sort of like a charm or action you can take that will help you in some way shape or form.  Some are designed for health, some for fertility, some to find your soul mate.

An example of this is the segulah of praying at certain holy places "known" for helping with certain issues.  Take Kever Rachel (Rachel's tomb) for example.  he was known in the bible for having dealt with infertility therefore her tomb has become a place that can help to focus your prayers on praying for a child.

There are also certain things known for being segulot.  Eating the heel of a loaf of bread to give birth to a son.  Wearing a red string to ward off the evil eye.  This sort of "magic" cross all cultures and religions and leads to things like "never let a black cat cross your path" or "break a mirror have 7 years of bad luck".

This concept often crosses over to holistic healing using stones as well.  We know in the Torah the high priest wore a breast plate with various stones representing different concepts and different types of people.  There is a long standing segulah that wearing a raw ruby will keep a pregnancy safe and help avoid a miscarriage or still birth.  Naturally as soon as I found out I was pregnant I made myself a necklace with a raw ruby and wore it every day for the rest of my pregnancy.

Anyhow, a long time ago on a forum far far away I wrote a long post on how I think that it is not the charm or action itself that brings about the final product, but that the charm/action becomes a prism through which we can focus our own thoughts and prayers and thereby help ourselves to channel our prayers in the right direction.  It is not the thing on it's own that provides the protection.

I think I forgot that while I was pregnant.  I wore that ruby 24 hours a day 7 days a week- but never really thought much  about it.  I remember getting ready for the c section when we found out Gabbi was gone.  I couldn't wear any jewelry.  I took off my earrings and handed them to Jason.  Then he helped me take off the stone I had been wearing for so long.  He said the look on my face was horrible.  I think it was at that moment that it really all came crashing down around me and the whole thing became real.  I remember looking at it aand just thinking "it didn't work.  How could it not have worked?"  I forgot that the power is in the prayer magnified by the object, never by the object itself.

I left that necklace on some table at the hospital.  I don't think I believe in segulahs anymore.