New Age crystals

[mikan]

Please indulge me this one, last crystal question; I won't ask any more, I promise!

What do followers of New Age practices "do", exactly, with crystals? Are the crystals simply left lying around the house (in strategic locations, perhaps), or are they used in some more focused manner (say, for meditative purposes)?

(I'm not looking for arguments about whether or not crystals are efficacious, along New Age lines [which I believe Cecil has covered]; just want to know what people actually do with them once they have them.)

[Sam Stone]

One new-age type (my wife's hairdresser) explained in great detail how hyperactive her son was, and how much better he'd been since she found a great 'calming stone' and made him carry it around in his pocket all day.

I'd guess that since none of this has any basis in reality, that the numbers of ways people use these crystals is limited only by imagination.

[phouka]

Let me preface this by saying that, as a Wiccan, I don't do crystals.

That is, I don't believe crystals hold any particular power (except for the piezo-electric properties of some).

But pick up any book on Paganism, witchcraft or spellcasting rituals, and there'll be a list of what crystals have what properties. Some are for healing, some for love, some for protection. The list is pretty encompassing.

Some people will carry a bit of crystal on themselves. Others will incorporate different crystals into their rituals. Wands - an altar tool - often have crystals tied on to them.

If I use a crystal in a ritual, it's because I think it's pretty and makes a good focus point for meditation. Not because it have "vibes" or powers.

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"I'm surprised that you've never been told before, that you're lovely, that you're perfect, and that somebody wants you." - Semisonic, f.n.p

[mikan]

I'm surprised: does no one on this board know what New Age practitioners themselves actually *do* with crystals? Surely they must come with prescriptive advice (instructions?) about how they are to be used, no?


("Comfort stones" -- which I remember from the 70s as "worry stones" -- are a different matter, I would think. If they give a child a sense of comfort, or serve as something onto which anxieties can be projected, so be it. It makes no sense to say they have no basis in reality; that's like saying a Teddy Bear has no basis in reality.)

[Sam Stone]

Uh, I'm not even sure the kid knew he had them. The hairdresser told the story in the context of describing all the different crystals that she uses to enhance her life.

I know Crystal Meth can be eaten or snorted, but I prefer to shoot it.

I try to hold back and not make fun of religion, but I couldn't resist this one.

[Abe]

I know some people who swear by crystals, although I prefer to laugh at the little rocks. I'll give you what little I have bothered to retain about their uses so far:

Activation/personalization: it's not enough that you get charged for buying the world's most common mineral at an inflated price of 1000% (Cecil's info), but once you have a stone in your hands, you have to prepare it, or activate it. Depending on what crystal you bought, you have to wash it a certain way, let it dry a certain way, carry it around on your skin a certain number of days (presumably the crystal wil be infused with your body heat, aura, whatnot), lay it on a windowsill a certain number of days, expose it to the sun a certain number of days, and so on. Once the crystal is "prepared" it stops being a common piece of mineral and becomes a magical mystical rock with all sorts of powers.

What you do with them: Supposedly there are crystals for almost every single use you can think of. If you have high blood pressure, you can get crystals to help you. If you have loud hyperactive kids, Crystals will be there for you. If you suffer from AIDS, there are crystals to help you. It's pathetic. More generic crystals can be carried around to purify your body and your aura, or a number of them can be placed in strategic locations to purify a room, remove bad energy, and so forth. I am sure there are even toilet crystals that act as air fresheners by purifying the air. If there aren't there definitely should be, because this is the sort of thing that new age noodleheads are going to love.

Each stone has different properties. generally you use them by carrying them around on a necklace or something like that. many crystals are actually very pretty, it's a shame that they have to be marketed in the ignorant way that they are. I'd much rather go out and buy a crystal because it looks good than have some advocate of witchcraft try to sell me a common mineral for its nonexistent powers.

[matt_mcl]

I don't subscribe to the notion that a crystal per se has powers. However, crystals do come in several types, and the species thereof can be associated with a magickal usage (in the same way as a particular herb, colour, moon phase, etc.) So, the act of gathering the materials with the appropriate correspondence is a means of gathering the power used in the spell; knowing that you used an appropriate type of crystal can help to focus your mind on the spell you are working.

[Sam Stone]

What do you do if you have gastrointestinal problems caused by having a small dwarf or newt living in your stomach?

[mikan]

Uh, isn't that when you go to see a psychiatrist? Just a guess.

[WallyM7]

Don't be too quick to judge, people.

I once kicked aside a very ordinary pebble lying on my driveway.

The very next DAY, nothing unusual happened.

Explain that to me.



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If you're an optimist, you haven't been paying attention.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Don't hold back, TennHippie, this crystal nonsense is not a religion, it's superstition.

[Road Rash]

Here's a reason to like crystals. They are shiny and pretty and make good necklaces.

[matt_mcl]

I'd agree with you, Peyote, but one must tread lightly. Remember that there are those who believe perfectly daffy things as a part of their religion. Crystals don't happen to be one of them, but there are others of which one must be aware/sensitive/careful.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Dear matt_mci:
Yes, you are certainly right about the need to step carefully when discussing religion. I would not make that comment about Christian sects, Islam, Hinduism or any other religion of the world.
However, every it seems to me that the New Age movement swipes whatever it wants from all the world's religions, and ignores the rest. I refuse to consider that mismash a religion.

[The_Peyote_Coyote]

Edit out that every out of the last post people; I am going to go home and go to bed.

[kellibelli]

*sigh*

I'll regret this but...

I had a crystal, I have books etc, and this was my experience:
I bought this crystal, the stone itself should not be damaged to make the setting, so usually you get them with the setting as a band around the end. on the flat end of mine, inside, you could see an image of another crystal, a stone within a stone so to speak.

I never took it off.Fast forward a year or so... Some bad things began to occur in my life (early shitboy crap) , and the chain got broke or something, anyway I stopped wearing it. A few years later, I got it fixed ( it was the setting- I remember now
and everytime I put it on I was plagued by unhappiness, a strong feeling of sadness that I couldnt shake. I put my crystal in a box, and I dont wear it anymore.

Its not my religion, and I am not a new ager, but I do think there might be something to the theory that inanimate objects can hold the energy or vibes of the people around it.

Let the ridiculing BEGIN!!!

[WallyM7]

I wouldn't redicule you, Kelli, but consider this:

While you were wearing the crystal, some bad stuff happened to you.

You stopped wearing the crystal because the chain broke.

Now when you wear it, you experience a strong feeling of sadness.

Could it be that you are unconsciously connecting that crystal to an unhappy time in your life?

That would imply that it's not the crystal, but your memories that make you happy. The crystal is just a trigger.

I'm not trying to be a smart ass.

It's just a thought.

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If you're an optimist, you haven't been paying attention.

[WallyM7]

That should have read - "but your memories that make you unhappy."

Sorry.

[WallyM7]

Also, my keyboard obviously doesn't know how to spell "ridicule."

[kellibelli]

Wallyhoney, I dont think you could ever make me mad :)

I dont mean to imply that the crystal is what is causeing the bad vibes...I just wont dismiss the possibility, thats all.

I dont gaze into a crystal ball either ;)

[Atrael]

I'm gonna throw my 2¢ in.

Do I believe that crystals have powers to do..."whatever"?..No....do I agree with the statement that inanimate objects can't have ...(for lack of a better word) "vibes"...no.

I'm not catholic, but when I visited Rome and walked into St. Peter's, I could feel the sense of age and echo of a thousand prayer's offered up. Likewise, when I visited a concentration camp in Germany, I could feel the terror and pain in the walls wherever I went. Is it too much of a stretch to think that objects (crystals) can also have these sorts of feelings?...Not if the people that use them believe in them. After all, isn't that the bottom line of all religions?...Faith?

[matt_mcl]

However, every it seems to me that the New Age movement swipes whatever it wants from all the world's religions, and ignores the rest. I refuse to consider that mismash a religion.

What's wrong with that? Why can't someone's own beliefs, taken entire or piecemeal from elsewhere, be considered his or her religion? Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc., are religions, but no two people share the same personal religion. So call it eclectic, but don't say it's not a religion.

[kellibelli]

Atrael...

Skeptics would say you got those vibes because you knew what happened there....but I believe that as all things are made up of energy, there is a possibility that inanimate objects, or places can hold an 'echo' of the lives/energy that touched them.

There is no scientific way I know of to proove it. But hey, proove god exists.
matt_mcl is right, its all a matter of faith, and open mindedness.


Thanks to all for not roasting me.