What's Behind the Crystal-Healing Phenomenon?

[dinging]

[soft piano music]

Crystal as a gemstone was seen as a symbol of purity,

and transcendence.

The ancients thought of it as the most precious stones

because it came from the heavens,

it could allow light to pass through it,

but it also had this ability to preserve cold,

but also refract light.

I think in the present moment,

we're in this situation where people

kinda wanna find their own spiritual state,

but also be connected to earthly things.

So, there's a sensuality and materiality to it

that also attracts people.

Those two things, I think, play into the fascination.

[soft music]

We can just read in an contemporary magazine,

oh, you see certain stones.

They have certain effects on you if you believe in it.

Even though there might be a critique

of if crystals actually have healing properties,

it doesn't diminish the powers

that crystals have in popular imagination.

We've gone in the past 50 years in a country

that has focused on things like salvation

to a country that's focused more on self help and healing.

In 1990, the number of Americans who self identified

as Christians started to go down from 86% to 85%.

Now in 2019, it's more like 69%.

Even though you see a sort of decline in Americans

who practice traditional religion in church,

you don't see a decline in the spiritual beliefs.

So, in the absence of sort of church life,

what are people doing?

Thinking about crystals, thinking about energetic body work,

thinking about healing.

We pass on to this new stage

where crystals are actually legitimized to a certain extent,

and they're seen that they can have healing properties,

that people are specialists in them,

and that you need to pay a lot for their services.

As far as I know, there's no scientific proof

that crystals actually do emanate a real energetic force,

but there are real psychological benefits

to believing, to having faith.

When we do a crystal reading,

your energy connects you with stones that have information

to help you navigate something that's coming up.

When they're placed on the body, their perfect state

allows your vibration to match that state.

If you go back to the Greek word,

krystallos means frozen ice,

and the reason for that is the ancients believed crystal

to be one of the most precious gemstones,

and had its origins from the sky.

There's a reason why we say,

oh, my thoughts crystallized into something.

It's because they kind of represent a mental activity

in which one can get closer to God,

closer to themselves, closer to the earth.

But it all begins with an engagement with the stone.

whether it's in one's mind,

or whether it's holding it close to your skin.

So, our number one best selling crystal is quartz.

Quartz can kinda do it all.

The number two bestselling crystal is rose quartz,

and that's for love, and for the heart,

and certainly in this city,

we could all use some more softness.

I'm gonna totally be in your way.

Wait, you know what you want.

You're like, I want that one!

[laughing]

That's what I'm here for.

Is that for sale?

[Lisa] Yeah.

I'm due in August with a little man, our first.

We are doing a home birth.

Maha Rose has these beautiful selenite plates,

and I just thought I would make an amazing base

for a birth altar.

I basically go to whatever calls me,

and like to think that he's guiding.

As an essential aspect on the past

that plays into the current contemporary fascination

is the way crystals are associated with desire.

My favorite story is Romance of the Rose,

which is a 13th century French text.

There's this one part where a lover comes upon a fountain,

and sees two crystals at the bottom of the fountain,

and he doesn't know if it's himself, or his lover.

I think it's something that people gravitate towards,

as something that can have special powers to them,

and have a sensual, intimate experience with.

When I was first beginning this crystal journey,

I remember sitting at the desk at Maha,

and I remember seeing this stone off to the side.

It was just like, by itself.

I just remember

it felt like it was starting at me the whole time.

So, finally, I was like, all right, I've had enough.

I'm gonna buy you, I'm gonna take you home.

It was just wild,

the way that it completely transformed my dreams.

I think the American mind is still really enchanted,

or still really spiritual,

but American religious practices have kind of shift.

All of that cultural history

plays into the current fascination

in which there is this tension

between oh, I want something more than myself.

At the same time, I like pleasurable experiences

that come from interacting with materials.

I don't think crystals in particular

have healing properties.

I guess you could call it a placebo effect,

in the same way a watch from your father who's passed away,

or an image, a very precious picture of someone

can have an affect on you.

I do believe that if someone has a crystal,

and wants to put in all their beliefs,

that it can have that effect.