Healing Crystals
Truth or Fiction?

I decided that I wanted to find out something about where this belief might come from.
I don’t mean historically, although that would be interesting. Perhaps someday I’ll have the time to research that as well, and could add it on to this as Chapter 2!

But for the time being, what I really wanted to know was, could there be any validity at all to this belief? Is there some mystifying property that crystals contain that would give people a reason to credit them with such powers?

I feel strongly inclined to say at this point that as much as I am fascinated by crystals, rocks, and minerals - I know nothing of science!

But I had to take a courageous journey into the realm of scientific study to find some answer. It was intimidating and often completely beyond my ability to fully comprehend, but I did survive it! And I can also say it was worth the trip!

So, for your own enlightenment, argument, entertainment or however else it may suit you, here is just a bit of what I have discovered. I have kept this very brief, but you can find the name of the very in-depth book which I poured over at the end of this page.

Yes, Crystals Vibrate!...

In order to understand how,
I had to go back to to one
of the earliest science lessons I probably ever had in my life - the three states of matter. The three states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas.

Okay, I remembered that, and thankfully, it was easy enough to comprehend. Chances are, you probably had this concept demonstrated for you in the same way that I did back in my school days, with water!

Water is one of the easiest ways to vividly portray the states of matter.
When we drink it, it is in its liquid form, when we freeze it, it becomes a solid, and when you boil it, it's steam rising from the pot is its gas state.

Simple enough!

Rather obviously, a crystal is a solid.

But here is the interesting difference between a solid and a liquid or gas.

The book I read illustrated this in the most wonderful way: by showing an illustration of a box, and the tiny little atoms, which make up matter, as little balls inside that box.

The "balls" in a box full of gas were quite far apart, and described as having no order. They were chaotic (sounds like our lives at times!), meaning, that they are free to move about randomly, and have little relation to one another except to perhaps bump into eachother as they bounce about.

In a liquid form, the same atoms have been compressed tightly together so that their movement is much more constrained, although they are still able to move past one another.
Again, the illustation of water helps us visualize this concept, as you can easily see in pouring water how there is form, yet obvious movement as well.

Now imagine your box full of atoms again, as they would appear in a solid state. The atoms are now so tightly compressed that they can not move past one another at all. But... they can move!
Think of the old game show Hollywood Squares...remember how the stars were each seated in their own little cubicle? They could move and speak, but they were contained within their little box.
This is the case with atoms in a solid state. They are constrained within a very orderly system in which there is not enough space between them that they can move by one another. They must stay within their own space. This is described as order.
Yet, even while keeping to this tight order, like the Star in a Hollywood Square, the little atom is able to move within its own imaginary square, or space.

Which means that atoms within a solid are capable of vibrating, as it were.

So that is the science
behind a crystal's vibration, and perhaps a beginning in understanding how crystals have come to be seen
almost as living things.
This, coupled with their breathtaking beauty, has no doubt led some to believe that they must be endowed with real power and special gifts of healing!

Alright, so I led you on with that title at the top of the page! Because I have no intention of trying to actually answer that question! But at least, for the curious, I have presented some facts...I will leave the final answer up to you!

Credit

There is a rather old book that I found at the local library called
Crystals and Crystal Growing, and while it’s original intention, when it was written back in the late 50’s, was that it be used as a sort of supplemental book to science and physics classes, I was surprised to find it fairly readable!
By the way, this book actually gives “recipes” for crystal growing which I think sounds like a lot of fun - except that the “basic” materials which are listed are so foreign to me, I’m not sure where you would even begin to look for them!
I don’t think my local Home Depot or Michael’s craft store would have the items that this book nonchalantly rattles off for your "simpler" crystal-growing endeavors!
Anyway, if you are a more adventurous shopper then I am, and would like to try your hand at growing your own crystals, I would highly recommend this book!
Should you wish to find Crystals and Crystal Growing, the authors are Alan Holden and Phylis Morrison, and the ISBN # is: 0-262-58050-0.

Some naturally-occurring crystal - a rock
studded with small chunks of peridot.

Photo at top - Quartz crystal.

Photo in middle page - Clockwise from left: Peridot, Quartz crystal, Argonite, Mica, Amethyst, smaller Quartz crystal; in center - Green Flourite

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