When most people talk about crystals, they mean rock crystal, the most common form of quartz on our planet. This is the Grandfather of the Mineral Kingdom and many authorities estimate that as much as one-third of Earth’s crust is made up of some type of quartz.

Brazilian Quartz

Physically, a quartz crystal is a solid material composed of silicon dioxide (silica and oxygen) with a chemical formula of SiO2. Quartz crystal belongs to the hexagonal crystal system, and have a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale. Most quartz crystals are between 100 to 125 million years old, so treat these venerable ancients with the respect they deserve.

All quartz crystals have a precise regular hexagonal internal arrangement of atoms, often referred to as the crystal spiral. This spiral revolves either left or right and even mineralogists aren’t sure why some spirals move one way and some the other, and frequently in the same quartz cluster. But it is this reliable arrangement of atoms which gives quartz crystals their priceless talents, both for crystal lovers and technology.

Clear quartz crystal may not be “clear” at all. It is often milky or snowy in appearance with visible or invisible inclusions of water, air, gases, or other minerals. But it will almost always be called clear in books about quartz crystal. Perfectly clear quartz crystal, however, is fairly hard to find in today’s market.

Other members of the Quartz Crystal Clan are: Amethyst, Ametrine, Citrine, Rose Quartz, Snow or Milk Quartz, Smoky Quartz, Rutilated Quartz, Tourmalinated Quartz, all Agates and all Jaspers….All of these Crystal Clan members will be listed in mineral books with a chemical formula of SiO2, even though it is obvious they have inclusions of other minerals or substances. The good news about this is that every time you see the chemical formula SiO2 connected with your stone, you know you are working with a form of quartz crystal, and all quartz crystal will behave the same at the quantum level.

What Crystals Do

How do crystals work for and with you? In a much oversimplified explanation, the energy radiating from quartz crystal automatically resonates at the quantum level in harmony with human (and other) frequencies, in other words with human energy speeds.

Sound, color and light are really just energy vibrating at different speeds. For instance, on the part of the color spectrum visible to human beings, the frequency or speed creating the color red vibrates the slowest and the frequencies of the color violet the fastest. And since the human body is, among other things, a large receiver (and has even developed specialized parts to receive and translate certain vibrations:

Amethyst Portal Sphere

eyes, ears, skin, nervous system, etc.), we can use the analogy of your brain as your tuner and your nervous system as your antennae. Crystals, then, can act as your satellite dishes, radar, amplifiers, CDs, and even computer networks. In other words, crystals naturally boost and extend your inherent powers in each of these analogical areas. In fact, the primary function of quartz crystal is to boost and amplify.

When you hold a crystal for even a few brief seconds it begins to vibrate on a frequency in harmony with your physical body, and this harmonization extends to your mind. Think of them as members of a band or orchestra or choir. Different crystals play or add their own unique notes (frequencies), not the same notes you yourself play, but harmonizing notes which boost, amplify, condense, intensify, and dramatically spiff-up your own.

Crystal energy frequencies also have the inherent ability to support your efforts in surfacing information from your subconscious, information you already “know” on some level but stuff you are not consciously aware of at the moment for one reason or another, which we won’t go into here.

Naturally terminated crystals are synchronized, are “in alignment,” with the primal cosmic force, or life itself. In other words, quartz crystals are just naturally in harmony with the life force, even in its raw unformed state. The precise internal arrangement of quartz crystals we spoke of earlier ensures this constant and consistent harmony, and your crystals quite literally help you “stay in tune.”

This is why holding a crystal, meditating with one, sleeping with one, or even just having them around you works so well. Your crystals continually automatically try to keep you in tune with their own harmonic synchronization with the primal energy of life, thereby keeping you more in harmony with life. It is important to remember that each crystal is a distinct individual with its own harmonic frequency oscillations, so, yes, it can make a difference which one you use when.

While crystals don’t actual hold electrical charges of energy (in the way a battery does, for instance), each individual crystal when rubbed or squeezed does produce an electrical charge called piezoelectricity (piezo just means applied pressure). This is the talent of quartz crystal that has made it the darling of the technological crowd. Crystals in fact are so effective in technology they are now grown in environmentally-controlled laboratories to ensure that their structures are absolutely perfect….

Smokey Quartz Generator

Lead crystal is not actually quartz crystal at all but is glass mixed with lead. While lead crystal prisms refract light spectacularly, they will not have the qualities nor be capable of functioning like natural quartz crystal.

Crystal Symbolism

Stones have symbolized spiritual truth and even the Spirit itself from our earliest beginnings on this planet. Stones are also strong symbols of the human soul, of Spirit manifested within Matter, of inner growth, durability, and of knowledge made tangible or “solid.”

Quartz crystals are ancient symbols for the Light of the Spirit (the intellect of the Spirit). Crystals represent Truth received by the human mind as Truth is able to operate through the physical medium of the personality. They are extremely old symbols of self-illumination, perfect insight, and the passive aspect of the human will. Quartz crystal also symbolizes purity, clarity, the union of opposites (Spirit with Matter), and Truth on the Higher Mental Plane of Existence….

Kirlian photographs of quartz crystals show a white light radiating out from a blue star-like center, another good symbol on its own. And since each crystal is an individual, its Kirlian photograph is as distinctive to it as yours is to you. Experimentation with Kirlian photography and crystals also clearly shows that a crystal’s energy patterns change as its environment changes, just one more thing crystals and humans have in common.

Metaphysical Aspects of Crystals & Gemstones

The energies of the mineral kingdom are “universal energies”. Hence, when one contacts and is willing to receive this energy, and begins to exercise personal creativity via exercise of the Higher Will, one can contact and synthesize the energies from which the entire universe is

African Citrine

comprised. This is the reason that crystals and other minerals are so very powerful and also why their powers must only be used through the highest consciousness of the individual. The individual universal energies contained within each mineralogical structure is activated and directed by interaction and/or contact with same…

The consciousness of the planet is leading humanity to the re-discovery of an ancient and forgotten healing art in which the utilization of crystals is prominent….The members of the mineralogical kingdom have been used for centuries to act as a catalyst and to assist one in becoming re-united with the source….Crystals have been used and/or revered since the dawning of civilization. The Christian Bible refers to crystals over 200 times….Many of the early civilizations of the Earth (e.g. Mayan, Aztec, American Indian, African Native, Celtic) often used quartz crystals in ceremonies.

Selecting a Crystal or Gemstone

Using the “first impression” method to “find” your crystal in a shop is excellent: Stand in front of a group of crystals. Close your eyes and relax. Open your eyes quickly and pick up the first crystal you see. At other times, one may be drawn to a particular crystal without knowing the reason. This crystal has “found” you and wants to be with you (at least for the present). Meditation may provide the answer with respect to its purpose in sharing your life…If one is choosing crystals for a specific purpose (e.g. healing, meditation, etc.), that purpose can be held in the mind and/or projected to the crystals; subsequent openness, to which crystal(s) responds, is necessary. Some people will actually sense an energy response from a certain crystal….

Care of Your Crystal or Gemstone

Upon receiving a “new” crystal, a dedication is always recommended. This may be accomplished by holding the crystal while consciously “willing” that the crystal be used only in love, in light, and for the good of all….There are a multitude of methods which have been utilized for crystal cleansing.

It is recommended to clear your crystal of other people’s vibrations, before you begin using it. Once you begin using it, it adjusts to your existence and it is advisable not to have anyone else hold or touch it. Stones in the quartz family can be cleaned by soaking them in a

Rose Quartz Wands

solution of sea salt and water for 7 hours to 3 days. Be sure the water is the same temperature as the stone, when you put it in, as stones cannot expand and contract rapidly and they may crack with sudden temperature shifts. (Some other types of stones are too soft for this type of cleaning.) You can place your stone in the sun (except for colored stones that fade, such as amethyst and rose quartz) or moonlight. You can meditate on the crystal, and clear it this way. You can place the crystal or stone in a large crystal cluster or on another mineral that is specifically an energizer for 12-24 hours. You can place a crystal catalyst bead (“Electronic Smog Buster”) next to the crystal and it will clear and re-energize the crystal in a few hours.

Some Special Uses

Crystals can be used to enhance the intensity of the meditation experience, either by holding a pre-selected stone in your hand, placing it on the appropriate chakra or energy point, or by placing it on your shrine or table and focusing on it as you enter meditation. You can wear crystals around your neck, as amulets or decoration; and as earrings, rings, bracelets, etc. to strengthen and align your aura and energy fields. You can place most gemstones (but not some) in distilled or purified water and it will create a mini-elixir that is refreshing: a genuine gem elixir can be made with greater care. You can place gems or quartz crystals on various of the chakras to help realign and energize them.

Crystal and Gemstone Personalities

Each type of stone has its own personality and type of consciousness. These are so clearly defined that people sensitive to these vibrations have been able to define for us specific purposes for which various stones can be used (see listing of “Properties of Gemstones…). However, as in all such fields, use changes with individuals, with the level of consciousness at which one is working (physical, emotional, mental, psychic and/or spiritual), and what type of balancing is required at that time for that person. Gemstones can’t harm you as they work to rebalance to natural universal energies; it’s just that some are particularly good for your specific need. The fun is in experimenting, checking if your feelings are in accord with the experience of recognized experts and if not, why not.

© 2010 Crystal Life Technology, Inc.