Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific alternative-medicine practice that uses semiprecious stones and crystals such as

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

, agate,

amethyst Amethyst is a Violet (color), violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek from - , "not" and (Ancient Greek) / (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from Alcohol into ...

opal Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silicon dioxide, silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to the amorphous (chemical) physical structure, it is classified as a ...

. Despite the common use of the term "crystal", many popular stones used in crystal healing, such as obsidian, are not technically crystals. Adherents of the practice claim that these have healing powers, but there is no scientific basis for this claim.Regal, Brian. (2009). ''Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia''. Greenwood. p. 51. Practitioners of crystal healing believe they can boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform a body's aura. There is no evidence that crystal healing has any greater effect upon the body than any other

placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

. While the practice is popular, it fosters commercial demand for crystals, which can result in environmental damage and exploitative

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

to mine the crystals. Several popular crystals used by believers such as shungite frequently contain heavy metals and present toxicity risks to those handling them for extended periods or ingesting substances which were in contact with the crystals.

History

Origins

Ancient Egyptians used amulets, which they believed to possess magical properties. The amulet's shape, decoration,

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, color, material, or

ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

performed with the amulet dictated its power. Amulets were worn or placed on the body, in the form of stones, piercings, rings, necklaces, or other jewelry. The Egyptians used amulets to benefit their afterlife, often representing an Egyptian deity and its specific powers. Amulets were also placed on mummies or in between the mummy's bandages, with funerary pieces usually being larger than those worn by the living. In funeral practices, they also used headrest amulets, which were full-size headrests placed in tombs to protect the dead; they also symbolized the deceased rising and being revived, and the sun rising between two hills, which symbolized resurrection and rebirth. The

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...

assigned many properties to crystals. The word '

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

' is derived from the Greek word "krýstallos" which translates to "ice". The Ancient Greeks believed that clear quartz crystals were a water that had frozen to the point where it would remain in its solid form. Precious stones have been thought of as objects that can aid in healing—in a practice known as lapidary medicine—by various cultures. The

Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

Native Americans of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

use quartz crystals to assist in diagnosing illnesses. The alleged medicinal properties of precious stones, as well as other powers they were believed to hold, were collected in texts known as lapidaries.

Contemporary use

New Age

In the English speaking world, crystal healing is heavily associated with the

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

spiritual movement: "the middle-class New Age healing activity ''par excellence''". In contrast with other forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), participants in crystal healing view the practice as "individuated", that is ''dependent on extreme personalization and creative expression.'' Practitioners of crystal healing purport that certain physical properties such as shape, color, and markings, determine the ailments that a stone can heal; lists of such links are published in commonly distributed texts. Paradoxically, practitioners also "hold the view that crystals have no intrinsic qualities but that, instead, their quality changes according to both" participants. After selecting the stones by color or their believed

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of h ...

qualities, they place them on parts of the body. Color selection and placement of stones are done according to concepts of grounding, '' chakras'', or

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

grids.

Sales and industry

Worldwide, retail sales of crystals were estimated to amount to more than US$1 billion per year in 2019. India, China, Brazil, and Madagascar are the main producers of crystals. In

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, one of the sources of crystals, most crystals are mined in unsafe, non-industrial or "homemade" mines, with parents and children working together to dig crystals from pits and tunnels they dig with shovels. The miners are usually paid between 17 and 23 cents per kilogram for rose quartz (≈ 8 - 11 cents per pound). The miner's income may be just 0.1% of the final retail price. Some people in the industry say that the low pay for miners is because customers in developed countries want low retail prices; others say that it is due to shops in developed countries wanting to be more profitable.

Scientific evaluation

There is no

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

scientific evidence Scientific evidence is evidence that serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis, although scientists also use evidence in other ways, such as when applying theories to practical problems. "Discussions about empirical ev ...

that crystal healing has any effect; it is considered a

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

.Spellman, Frank R; Price-Bayer, Joni. (2010). ''In Defense of Science: Why Scientific Literacy Matters''. The Scarecrow Press. p. 81. "There is no scientific evidence that crystal healing has any effect. It has been called a pseudoscience. Pleasant feelings or the apparent successes of crystal healing can be attributed to the placebo effect or cognitive bias—a believer wanting it to be true." Alleged successes of crystal healing can be attributed to the

placebo effect A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

. Furthermore, there is no scientific basis for the concepts of ''chakras'', being "blocked", energy grids requiring grounding, or other such terms; they are widely understood to be

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

or spiritual in nature. Energy, as a scientific term, is a very well-defined concept that is readily measurable and bears little resemblance to the esoteric concept of energy used by proponents of crystal healing. In 1999, researchers French and Williams conducted a study to investigate the power of crystals compared with a placebo. Eighty volunteers were asked to meditate with either a

crystal or a placebo stone, which was indistinguishable from quartz. Many participants reported feeling typical "crystal effects"; however, this was irrespective of whether the crystals were real or a placebo. In 2001 Christopher French, head of the anomalistic psychology research unit at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and colleagues from

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

outlined their study of crystal healing at the British Psychological Society Centenary Annual Conference, concluding: "There is no evidence that crystal healing works over and above a placebo effect." Crystal healing effects could also be attributed to

confirmation bias Confirmation bias (also confirmatory bias, myside bias, or congeniality bias) is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or Value (ethics and social sciences), val ...

(which occurs when the believers want the practice to be true and see only things that back up that desire). Crystal healing techniques are also practiced on animals, although some veterinary organizations, such as the British Veterinary Association, have warned that these methods are not scientifically proven and state that people should seek the advice of a vet before using alternative techniques. Crystal healing proponents and 5G conspiracy theorists have falsely alleged the pseudoscientific and misinformational belief that shungite may absorb 5G radiation.

References

External links

Crystal Healing: Stone-cold Facts About Gemstone Treatments
– LiveScience
Do You Know Where Your Healing Crystals Come From?
at ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

''
James Randi debunks Crystal Power
{{Authority control Energy therapies Pseudoscience Crystals Supernatural healing Gemstones in culture