{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Here\u2019s what I have learned about \u201chealing crystals\u201d", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/667964344892522496/", "html": "

headspace-hotel:

headspace-hotel:

Here\u2019s what I have learned about \u201chealing crystals\u201d

Crystals have powers. Why do they have powers? I asked some weird crystal healing websites.

It is because they have energy. What kind of energy? Vibrating energy. Vibrating faster is better.

I would not like to vibrate faster. I have anxiety. I move on from this for now.

The \u201ccrystal healing\u201d websites (there are dozens) maintain that the vibrational energy powers of crystals come from their crystalline structures, made of a repeating lattice of molecules. Things that have a specific chemical composition in a lattice structure are crystals, which have powers.

This is okay. This is a scientifically accurate understanding of what a mineral is, except for the powers.

Having established a firm foundation of scientific understanding of what \u201ccrystal\u201d means, the crystal healing websites immediately flush that understanding down a toilet of ignorance into the septic tank of stupid.

How? Firstly, many of the most commonly recommended \u201chealing crystals\u201d are stones that are definitionally not crystals. Lapis lazuli, obsidian, tiger\u2019s eye, and opal are some of the most commonly recommended crystals that have powers. The problem is that the powers come from the specific chemical composition in a crystalline structure, and lapis lazuli, obsidian, tiger\u2019s eye and opal don\u2019t have a specific chemical composition in a crystalline structure. But the websites say they have powers anyway.

Wikipedia says opal is amorphous and has no crystalline structure. THAT MEANS NO POWERS! What is the truth? Make up your mind!

I am troubled further still. By what, you ask? Primarily the quartz.

I look at lists of the rocks that have powers. On them is clear quartz, smoky quartz, rose quartz, amethyst, aventurine, chalcedony, jasper, agate, citrine, and carnelian. What do all these things have in common? Being quartz! The base chemical composition that is in the repeating lattice structure is quartz. They are different because of impurities. I thought the impurities meant no powers. But all these quartzes have hella powers\u2014different powers! What is the TRUTH?

What powers do the rocks have?

I have documented many powers:

It is too much to write. There are many, many, many others. Mostly, websites discuss more general powers, like \u201cprotection\u201d or \u201cmanifesting.\u201d

I visit many different websites, and I notice that they are all highly inconsistent about what powers each type of crystal appears to have.

So I quickly draw this chart:

Along the side I list major powers of crystals, along the top I list important crystals. Then I mark the boxes whenever one of the website mentions one of the powers as a major important quality of one of the crystals.

Online sources are both highly inconsistent in what crystals do and very broadly attribute their abilities. One website focuses on amethyst as one of the best cleansing stones, another says its main quality is unlocking psychic powers, and another says it is the calming stone. Smoky quartz is well-known for its protection qualities according to one site, well-known for being a calming stone according to another.

\u201cProtection\u201d and \u201cclearing negative energies\u201d seem to be attributable to practically all of them. \u201cCalming\u201d is also like a majority of the stones.

I begin to wonder why there aren\u2019t any stones that make you feel worse. Where are the rocks that make you sexually frustrated, give you headaches, attract toxic people into your life, and put more ghosts in your house.

A few things are weirdly consistent:

But for the most part, the websites are all in a lot of disagreement over what the crystals do.

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Friendly reminder that it is not a mistake that “invisible powers from specially resonating/emanating crystals/minerals” became a major theme of woo when, with things like radio, radar, and X-rays, that was in fact the cutting edge of technoscience

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