The Stone Family - Minerals & Crystal Healing

This month we will look at some of the scientific terms most relevant to crystal healing. While many of us already “know” from personal experiences of the power and energy of rocks, minerals and crystals, it can be useful to incorporate some scientific understanding of how and why crystal healing “works”

The “stone family” is one of the three great families of life on our home planet Earth. The other two are plants and animals. We humans are, of course, part of the animal family. Of the three families, it is the “stone family” that is the oldest and most stable life form. The “stone family” gives structure and provides the foundation for the other two families. The “stone family” would survive without animals or plants, but we could not survive even one second without them. In a manner of speaking, stones are as critical to our existence as the air we breathe and the sun that shines upon us.

The three most important scientific terms related to the stone family are “crystals”, “minerals” and “rocks”. While laypeople and even some “crystal healers” tend to use these terms interchangeably, each word actually has a specific and precise meaning.

Let’s begin with minerals. Minerals are the basic building block of all rocks and stones on Earth, and beyond (think of meteors, the moon rocks, etc.). Minerals exhibit homogenous physical properties and each mineral type has a distinctive chemical composition and crystalline structure. What this means is, basically, minerals are made up of chemicals (i.e. atoms) distributed structurally (crystalline structure). There are about 2,000 classified types of minerals.

Even though the term “crystal” is sometimes used to refer to clear quartz formations, all members of the rock and mineral family are actually composed of crystalline structures. Crystals are the visible expression of minerals and they are geometric bodies. Crystals are homogeneous (have the same characteristics throughout the crystal) and periodic (equivalent atoms are located at fixed and repeated intervals within the crystal). Because of these characteristics, there are only a certain number that atoms can be arranged into a crystalline solid (6 crystal systems/32 classes). The study of crystals is called crystallography.

The Six Crystal systems with some examples are:

Isometric (halite, fluorite, pyrite)

Hexagonal (beryl, quartz, apatite)

Hexagonal/trigonal or rhombohedral (calcite, tourmaline)

Tetragonal (zircon, wulfenite)

Orthorhombic (sulfur, barite, aragonite, celestite, topaz)

Monoclinic (azurite, mica, malachite)

Triclinic (kyanite)

Finally, rocks are aggregates of one or more minerals. In some cases, there may also be included other non-crystalline substances as well. Rocks are often classified in part by their genetic origins (i.e. sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic).

Let me return back to minerals. We have minerals in all of the rocks and stones on Earth. We also have minerals in our own bodies. In fact, minerals are more important to human health than vitamins. They act as the building blocks of the body while vitamins regulate the way these minerals are absorbed and utilized. Minerals are often called micro nutrients because they are only needed in small amounts in the human body

Different parts of the human body serve as storage areas for different minerals. Human mental and physical well being is also dependent on the presence of optimal amounts of certain minerals in the body at set levels. Some very important biological reactions in the human body are started by minerals. A state of deficiency in an essential mineral or a trace element insufficiency is much more likely to affect a person than is a state of vitamin deficiency.

. Interestingly, while the content of essential vitamins in most foods is roughly similar everywhere in the world, this cannot be said for mineral and trace element content of foods eaten in different parts of the world. Minerals and trace elements may be scare in some regions and abundant in others due to differing geologic conditions. For example, soils in parts of China and New Zealand are very poor in selenium while the soil of South Dakota is very rich in this element. Thus, a person may live in some areas, consuming what seems to be an ideal balanced diet and still develop some form of mineral deficiencies or trace element deficiency.

The importance of minerals to human health is just one of the reasons that crystal healing can oftentimes be so efficacious, since rocks and crystals are about the most condensed form of mineral available to us. After all, that is what they are!

When a crystal or stone is placed within the energetic field of a person, the resonant field of that mineral or minerals will cause the minerals of the same type within the body to vibrate with the resonant field. This helps to strengthen the mineral’s energy in the body, causing biochemical shifts and actual physical changes in the systems of the body. These shifts can also help bring about physical and/or emotional healing.

Skye Stephenson Ph.D. enjoys sharing messages and information about crystal healing, and is currently developing LECORA™ as a unique type of rock and crystal healing. The next introductory workshop will be held on March 27^th, 2010. Skye is also founder of Jade Journeys, LLC, which offers transformational travel to Latin America to connect with indigenous knowledge and wisdom. She is also author of a cross cultural book about Latin America and has just finished writing a short novel.

For more information, see www.jadejourneys.org or contact her at hope@jadejourneys.org