Thanks, LC. He responded a little bit ago (the "10%" is referencing the 10% weirdness of my holding the stone):
"Just got to my email today, so hopefully you didn;t think I was avoiding responding. All is well - we can talk more about the stone on Monday and perhaps I can better explain the 10%. Talking about it may help it less than that 10%, or perhaps help us understand why there is such strength in the talisman for you. Either way, on my end there hasn't been any threat to our working together. Hopefully you can get back to a nice weekend!"