Fancy Rock or Healing Device?
The Truth Behind the Use of Crystals
By Carmen Oguike '23
Most of us have either heard of or seen crystals due to their massive surge in popularity, especially in recent years. Some people value them as good luck charms, use them for spiritual practices or collect them for their healing properties and they are a staple within alternative medicine. With the explosion of the crystal trend, there has been a lot of speculation around how much truth there is to their supposed properties. Can these colorful rocks really make a difference in your life?
Crystals have existed on Earth for billions of years. They have been used for their ‘magic’ properties as far back as the Ancient Sumerians. The Ancient Egyptians used lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian, emerald and clear quartz in their jewellery- they were used for protection and health. Other Ancient uses, which would probably be considered more unorthodox nowadays, include putting crystal powder into food and even breastmilk for babies. Crystals also have a large religious and spiritual relevance- a famous reference being the Breastplate of Aaron mentioned in the Bible.
The commonly held belief is that crystals have effect on people due to the concept of vibrational energy. Albert Einstein said “Everything is energy and that's all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality.” Therefore the idea is crystals vibrate at a certain frequency and these vibrations interact with those from our bodies. Each crystal, like each person, vibrates at a different frequency which is the explanation for their varying effects.
Crystal expert Jude Polack says: “It’s this frequency, unique to each type of crystal, that users are relying on when working with crystals, and given that many pain and anxiety relief devices work on similar principles, we do believe they can help in these areas.” Some of the successful relief devices which he described use electric current to treat pain, anxiety and other disorders- examples being radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and electronic muscle stimulation (EMS). A study done by Pierre and Jack Curie has shown that crystals can even go as far as to create electricity under certain conditions, which suggests that holding them can have effects on the body’s energy. However like many alternative medicine methods, the healing power of crystals is still being debated in the science world.
Many crystal believers think beyond the physics, the strongest impact that crystals can have are thanks to the Placebo effect. They are similarly believed to act more symbolically; for example rather than curing your anxiety, having a certain crystal may help/remind to you create a sense of groundedness. I think that the growth in popularity of crystals leads to more research into their true power, and even if they work as a Placebo they can do more good than harm- so why not get on the fancy healing rock wave?
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_03ZVHE0I&list=TLPQMDEwMjIwMjI11msZZH36Vw&index=2https://www.healthline.com/health/healing-crystals-what-they-can-do-and-what-they-cant#science