Crystal crush

They sparkle in the light, and mesmerise us with their mysterious depths and colours. Crystals have fascinated mankind since the beginning of time, and continue to allure and draw us in.

Whether you believe crystals have special energy or healing powers, one thing is certain. Put yourself in a room filled with them and you’ll find yourself gravitating towards certain types and their colours. Then, if you are open to it, look up the meanings of these crystals and you may be surprised. The ones you’ve been drawn to could be just the tonic you need at the time to help with a certain issue or life stage that you are facing. It may sound airy-fairy, and there is certainly no scientific evidence to show that crystals have special powers, but what harm is there in surrounding yourself with beautiful things when you need a pick-me-up? Just being in the presence of these glorious stones created over millions of years by Mother Nature can lift the spirits.

More than just a pretty stone

Crystals are currently creating a sensation in the fashion world. British designer Christopher Kane sent his models down the runway at London Fashion Week wearing Crocs embellished with raw crystals for his spring/summer 2017 collection. Crystal therapy and energising stones were also front and centre in Paris where Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci, “inspired by the spirituality of nature”, presented slips of printed ‘quartz’ on silk satin and ‘crystal’ silk, and his models wore giant slices of agate around their necks on heavy gold chains. Raw stone jewellery also featured at Marni, Stella McCartney and Maison Margiela, and Elie Saab accessorised his pre-fall 2016-17 collection with natural crystal pendants.

Crystals are a buzzword in beauty, too. New Zealand skincare brand Girl Undiscovered has popped rose quartz and citrine crystals into each bottle of Under the Waterfall Cleansing Water. Shiva Rose Blue Crystal Eye Cream is activated by azurite crystals, and Manuka Doctor’s just-released serum is called Drops of Crystal Cashmere Touch – the oil in this product has been extracted from crystal-shaped resin collected from Pistachia Lentiscus trees.

Crystals are also being used as facial massage tools, with celebrity facialist Georgia Louise creating a butterfly-shaped rose quartz tool called Lift + Sculpt Butterfly Stone; she has used it on Emma Stone, Jennifer Aniston and Linda Evangelista. Louise claims regular massaging with the tool can help reduce puffiness and drain toxins.

Artists are also enamoured. The recent work of Vienna-based Russian artist Karina Eibatova includes a stunning series of paintings of crystals with titles such as ‘Healing Mineral’ and ‘Crystal Calm Keeper’. Eibatova’s inspiration lies in discovering life as a phenomenon, which includes stones. “I try to deliver a distant look on the fragments of nature, therefore I only draw on organic objects, nature and the universe… I feel like all my creativity should be dedicated only to nature, to celebrate its essential pureness and authenticity.”

Meanwhile New Zealand fine art photographer Derek Henderson recently collaborated with jewellers Melanie Kamsler and Tamila Purvis of Maniamania and photographed their crystal collection to create ‘Crystalline’, a series of still life portraits capturing the unique qualities and raw natural beauty of the crystal. With an interest in capturing the metaphysical energies and unique characteristics and personality of each individual stone, Henderson’s wish was to capture crystals in a way they have not been seen before; with a new light and vision.

Crazy for crystals

New Zealand jewellery designer Cathy Pope is doing wonderful things with stones, and her focus is more about style than fashion. She believes the current craze for crystals is partly due to designs becoming more modern and wearable.

“A lot of crystal designs were quite bohemian and alternative in their aesthetic, and cheap imports from India and Bali over the years tarnished the reputation of gemstones,” says Pope. “I try and design modern and timeless jewellery using simple cuts that convey a sense of quality and simplicity... pieces that aren’t just a seasonal fad.”

The main reason Pope chooses to design gemstone jewellery is because of its authenticity. “Crystals are not only beautiful and decorative, but they’re the earth’s DNA, miniature storehouses of the earth’s story over millions of years. For my designs I’m drawn to the sparkle factor and the variations and depths of their colours and shades. I’ve always been drawn to jewellery designs that are one-off originals and less mass-produced, which crystals tend to be. The crystal is so important in telling the story of the design.”

Pope’s winter collection StoneStruck is a glorious mix of pigmentdyed agate earrings and necklaces. Each has been dipped in high pigment dye that has seeped into areas of the natural stone. She was at a trade fair in Jaipur, India last year when she saw and fell in love with the dyed agate. It is a little unusual for her but she felt it was still a way of celebrating nature and gemstones as well as exploring paint and colour.

“Most of the jewellery you see is quite conventional and ‘same same’ but I came across this display of unusual coloured and patterned cabochons (polished gemstones) and strands of bright agate beads, and straight away I envisaged them in settings on chunky bold chains or made into dramatic earrings,” Pope explains. “So this range is a little different... I’ve chosen a wide selection of unusual colours, patterns and shades ranging from K2 jasper, dendritic agate, sodalite, pietersite and malachite, to name a few. I’ve only made two to three of each piece. Each gemstone has such unique meaning too and can help assist in areas as varied as creativity, protection, strength and confidence.”

Auckland artist and jewellery designer Isabella Pachter of Hydrangea Ranger has been working hard to keep up with the demand for her crystal ‘moon mobiles’, ‘dream catchers’ and lockets filled with tumble stones. She has been working with crystals for six years and has just printed a guide on crystals, their meanings, how to look after them and also how to make mandalas with crystals.

“Making mandalas or grids with stones is a nice thing to do. It’s really calming as a process,” Pachter says. “Crystals are such nice things to live with, whether you invest into the meaning of them or not. They reflect the light really nicely, and catch bits of the room.”

Pachter believes it is the colours that draw us to certain crystals. Crystal lover and bestselling author of The Soul Searcher’s Handbook

– The Modern Girl’s Guide to the New Age World, Emma Mildon, agrees. If you looked in your wardrobe right now, what colour would you see the most of? What colour do you always gravitate toward? Can you see certain colours you wore more in happier or more difficult times? According to Mildon each colour has a deeper meaning that tells us something about ourselves. They can also influence our moods and energy.

“Crystals are the earth’s DNA, miniature storehouses of the earth’s story over millions of years.” Cathy Pope

“You can trust your gut reaction on the crystals you choose. There is a connection to colour and texture.” Isabella Pachter

When Pachter is selling her works at markets she observes how people are drawn to certain stones; when they find out the meaning of it, it makes sense. “You can trust your gut reaction on those things. There is a connection to colour and texture, and that’s where the initial reaction comes from,” she says.

Pachter’s helpful guide (see page 39) is designed to be fun as well as useful, and also outlines how to use stones in your house, from placing rose quartz in the relationship part of your home to promote love of yourself and others; or quartz in the centre of a room to remove blockages so that energy can flow smoothly.

Model Miranda Kerr carries a small rose quartz crystal in her handbag to encourage “healthy self-love” … Rose quartz can bestow compassion, forgiveness and acceptance. It is also soothing, calming and reduces stress and tension, says Kerr.

Victoria Beckham carries a black tourmaline in her handbag to help keep her mind positive, and she is said to have given them to her staff too. According to Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Spencer King, who teaches meditation workshops that incorporate crystals and other minerals, black tourmaline is the go-to stone if you’re surrounded by negative energy. Spencer King believes it can translate negative energy to positive energy, creating “a zone of protection”.

We are drawn by the stones we need

When it comes to choosing crystals Pachter believes what is most important is people’s personal reactions to them, before they know the crystal’s meaning. “Instead of saying an amethyst is for balance and spirituality, which I think is relevant, if someone is drawn to it, it probably has more power personally for them,” she explains.

The first gemstones author Mildon bought were clear quartz, rose quartz and angelite. “I didn’t even know what they were for. I just thought they were pretty,” she says. “Again, when we go with what feels natural, what resonates with us when we listen to our souls, we will be drawn to the things we need most and the things that will help us most on our journey. It turned out that I needed those exact energies... at that exact moment in my life – at that time, I was going through a string of turbulent relationships and was experiencing a lot of negativity in my life in general. You can imagine my surprise when I began to research the three stones I’d spontaneously picked up and discovered their powers to aid with the healing of hearts, clearing negativity, and communicating with your angels.”

Ethically sourced crystals

Something we often don’t think about is where crystals come from and how they are sourced. It’s a hard rock fact that crystals are a big part of the mining industry, and often a by-product of mining for other materials such as diamonds or copper. Mining isn’t great for the environment and there are also working conditions in mines to consider. The good news is that crystals are generally hand-mined and carefully extracted from the surface or underground seams, rather than blasted with dynamite or machine extracted. Neil Douglas of Crystal Light in Albany, Auckland is confident his crystals, sourced from around the world, are ethical. “I hand-pick all my crystals, and deal with legit, genuine, good people as I’m all about creating good energy with my crystals,” says Douglas. “The crystals are extracted very carefully... blasting damages the crystals, so is not used in crystal mines.” New Zealand jeweller Cathy Pope admits one of the most challenging, and satisfying, parts of starting her own business has been finding good suppliers and manufacturers who are ethical and who align with her values. After a few rocky starts with unreliable makers in Bali, she went to Jaipur, a city in India she already knew well. Pope knocked on many doors and visited factories, met with owners and observed the working conditions and quality of jewellery making. “I chose my manufacturer because he and I respect each other, share the same values and he cares about his people,” Pope says. “He donated beads to an art project I did with friends in India last year and he and his children offered to help at a children’s home I was involved with in Jaipur. He ticked all my ‘ethical’ boxes – he pays his workers a fair wage, the factory is clean, they wear laundered uniforms, he pays for their transport to and from work and health insurance for his workers and their families. He said if his workers leave they always come back. I could see how happy they were and I’m thrilled with their ability to understand my designs and translate them into beautiful jewellery.” Every year Pope spends two weeks working in the factory in India finetuning her designs. “It’s so important to build that relationship. I’m proud to be able to tell this story,” she says. Stone magic is as old as time, writes Scott Cunningham in his book

Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic. It began when the earliest humans sensed some force or power trapped within the stones around them. He believes stones are magical tools that we can use to cause change. “Transformation is the essence of magic, and stones help us achieve this by lending their powers and providing focal points for our own energies,” writes Cunningham. “When a stone lying in a dry riverbed calls you to pick it up, when a shimmering crystal seems to pull your hand, when a faceted jewel set in a ring captures your imagination, you’ve felt the old powers of stones.”

On the flip side are the sceptics who say it’s all in the mind. Most medical doctors and scientists refer to crystal healing as a pseudoscience. There is no scientific evidence to suggest crystal healing can cure illnesses, and no studies showing that crystals can treat a particular ailment.

There is also what’s recognised as the placebo effect, where a person feels better after undergoing crystal healing treatment, but there’s no scientific proof that their feeling better had anything to do with the crystals used during the treatment.

Mildon’s answer to that is, “So what? Seriously. So what if the link between crystal and healing hasn’t been scientifically proven? The link between what we think, how we feel, and how these things manifest in our physical being is undeniable, and if something makes our bodies and minds happy, then our souls are going to be happy too – and in the end that’s all that matters.”