Author: Don’t believe the hype but benefits are crystal clear
The market for healing crystals has, according to the Financial Times, grown so much in the past decade that, during the Covid pandemic, demand for quartz, amethyst and citrine, among others, has outstripped that of diamonds.
Google searches for the term have not only risen by 60% in the past 10 years, but “metaphysical wellness” could be worth as much as $4 trillion globally – not to mention the fact there are more than 7.8 million posts on Instagram dedicated to #Crystalhealing.
So, can strategically placing gemstones on the body really bring balance to your life and mind?
Researchers at Stirling University found young people selecting different spiritual and religious elements from the “spiritual marketplace” and mixing them to form their own individual beliefs and practices, rather than tying themselves to a single belief system or practice.
According to some research, this pick-and-mix spirituality is fuelling some of the rise in popularity of crystals today.
David Hamilton explains in his book that, although crystals are at the forefront of the booming health and wellness craze – with people in their 20s and 30s making up a large portion of those who use, carry or wear them – the renewed enthusiasm also has a spiritual component, which could explain their potential power.
He said: “Some of the derision and woo woo label that crystals get is because we assume people working with crystals think there is a chemical emitting from them – that a magical ray of energy is coming from within them – but people who seriously work with crystals don’t believe that.
“Most of the use of crystals is within meditation. In Buddhism, there is a teaching called Dzogchen that uses clear quartz, with the clarity of the crystal representing the clear state of mind that one wishes to attain.
“In cognitive psychology that is called mental representations, and it’s immensely beneficial. It’s almost similar to writing the word ‘clarity’ on the wall and then meditating – you’ll probably get a clearer mind, faster, because the visual cue reminds you to focus when your mind wanders.
“So, I’m not talking about anything emanating from them, it’s more about your perception, and that can be grounded in science.”
He added: “Yes, there’s a small number of people totally convinced the crystals will do anything. I’m not appeasing the people who think one crystal will stop me needing surgery for cancer, or another will heal chronic kidney disease. There’s no scientific evidence for that.
“But research does show that crystals can serve as aid to meditation, and also impact our behaviour through the science of colour psychology, which is used extensively in pharmaceutical drug marketing, as well as advertising.”