What do Veterans Day, Native American Heritage Month, and Black Friday all have in common? November.

After the year’s biggest family feast, Thanksgiving on November 26, Black Friday signals the biggest shopping day of the year and the unofficial beginning of the holiday season.

Crystal Keys Enchanted Emporium in Fort Myers is kicking off the 2026 shopping season by showcasing the crystals and stones symbolically connected to November, which is also recognized as Family Stories Month, a crowd-sourced observance. Family Stories Month began gaining popularity online and through community calendars around 2015, largely because families traditionally gather during the Thanksgiving holiday to share, record and preserve multigenerational stories.

“This year, we’ll be telling the kinds of stories that include the ancient harvest festival, Samhain and the Celtic New Year, traditionally observed from October 31 through November 1, as well as the sparkle and intrigue of obsidian, citrine and Imperial topaz,” says Sandy Tedesco, owner of Crystal Keys Enchanted Emporium.

Samhain

“Samhain sits at the crossroads of history, mythology, seasonal change and the modern Halloween tradition,” says Tedesco. Marking the transition from autumn to winter, it was regarded as a threshold between seasons and, in Celtic tradition, a boundary between the ordinary world and the Otherworld. At this time, the veil between the two was believed to be especially thin, making divination and communication with the unseen more possible.

Obsidian

Obsidian, technically a form of volcanic glass, is created when silica-rich lava cools rapidly, preventing crystals from forming. Its deep darkness and glasslike, mirror-reflective surface made it especially significant in ancient Mesoamerican cultures. The Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, associated with the night sky, was known as the “Smoking Mirror” and was connected to obsidian and divination.

In modern spiritual traditions, black obsidian is often associated symbolically with grounding, protection, confronting what has been hidden, transformation and shadow work.

“Symbolic or spiritual associations do not have to be scientifically measurable to be meaningful. Intention matters. People can experience genuine psychological or emotional benefits from working with meaningful objects. A crystal can serve as an anchor for intention, meditation, reflection or ritual without requiring the crystal itself to possess a scientifically demonstrated healing energy,” advise Tedesco.

Citrine

Citrine, a yellow-to-golden variety of quartz, is sunlight made visible. Its color comes primarily from iron-related impurities within the crystal. During the Victorian era, citrine became fashionable and was sometimes called the “money stone” because of its association with prosperity and commerce. That symbolism has continued into modern crystal traditions.

Its golden color is often associated symbolically with sunlight, warmth, creativity, abundance, prosperity, manifestation, motivation, personal power, vitality and harvest.

Paired with Samhain, which marks the transition into the dark half of the year, citrine takes on another layer of meaning. Sunlight that once illuminated the outer world becomes something to be discovered within.

Obsidian invites reflection, honesty and release. Citrine suggests warmth, creativity, vitality and the preservation of what is life-giving. Symbolically, one asks what is ready to be released; the other asks what is worth carrying forward.

Imperial Topaz

Imperial topaz is a rare and highly valued variety of topaz, prized for its distinctive golden, orange, peach and reddish-pink hues. Some scholars trace the word topaz to the Sanskrit tapas, meaning “fire,” a fitting association for a gemstone whose colors can evoke flame and sunlight.

Tedesco advises that for centuries, topaz has carried associations with strength, beauty and intelligence. Ancient Greeks, for example, believed topaz could provide strength. In India, topaz worn above the heart was traditionally believed to promote long life, beauty and intelligence,”

As a mineral formed under conditions involving heat and pressure, Imperial topaz offers another compelling metaphor for transformation. Perhaps it symbolizes intelligence ripened into wisdom—the refinement that comes through the experience of living a fully life.

Citrine can represent the promise of sunlight. Imperial topaz can represent sunlight transformed by experience. And obsidian can represent the wisdom found by entering winter’s darkness.

Together, they offer a symbolic journey through November: releasing what no longer serves, preserving what is life-giving, and allowing experience to transform what has been gathered along the way.

Crystal Keys Enchanted Emporium is located at 1939 Park Meadows Dr., Ste. 6, in Fort Myers. For more information, call 239-490-6095 or visit CrystalKeys.shop.