What’s the deal with crystals? Explore how these stones can help right now
Being isolated and homebound during the COVID-19 crisis has many people searching for different ways to cope and heal.
For some, especially those who are keen to connect on an earthly level, utilizing crystals is one way to stay centered and calm during particularly rocky times.
“They’re from the earth, they are earth!” says crystal healer Angelana Zayas of Brujitxs del Barrio, a Barrio Logan healing consortium focused on decolonizing new age healing for marginalized people, “like the black, indigenous, brown, queer communities, as well as other marginalized people,” she explains.
“There’s something about earth energy,” Zayas says. “A lot of us are confined to our homes, so crystals and plants are these access to the earth we can’t touch right now.”
Yes, at the end of the day, crystals are rocks.
Far from ordinary rocks, however, they are naturally occurring formations prized for their individual colors, textures, shapes, luminosities and purported energies. At some point early on in humanity, people caught on and sought to harness the power of these seemingly magical stones. Though there is no one modality of crystal healing, they have been used to heal throughout human history, especially in indigenous cultures.
Our blocked frequencies
But how can crystals help people from a therapeutic perspective?
Kayma Englund, owner of Carlsbad’s The Kamali Temple, explains how people can use the vibration of crystals to treat specific physical and mental ailments.
“Crystals are a physical object, but they radiate subtle, energetic frequencies. So just like us humans, right?” she says.
Englund goes on to explain that we, as humans, have a physical body, which encompasses physical growth energy. We also house subtle energetic frequencies comprised of thoughts, feelings, experiences and beliefs. It’s here that people get stuck, holding on to these things in their energy body and, as a result, they operate at a lower or blocked frequency.
“There’s this study that’s been done numerous times with two identical pendulum clocks,” Englund says, referring to the phenomenon of pendulums syncing up. “One pendulum is moving at a faster speed than the other and, every single time, the slower speed pendulum attunes itself eventually to that of the faster, never vise versa. So, in the same way, crystals come in and it’s allowing for our energy body to attune itself to that of the crystal. A lower vibration will automatically assume itself to a higher vibration.”
Getting in sync
Practitioners achieve this in myriad ways: holding crystals, placing them on the body, displaying them on an altar and using them in rituals are all fair game.
Zayas from Brujitxs del Barrio says that even visualizing a crystal can have benefits.
Since crystal work deals with trauma, healing, feelings, experiences and more, Zayas says that sometimes a needed crystal “comes up” in a healing session but she may not own it. So, she channels it instead, using an energetically clean stone like clear quartz as a proxy. Because everything is being accessed on an energetic level, the crystal’s vibration is able to connect with the client’s. It sounds particularly useful in the age of social distancing and homebound healing.
Getting into crystal healing is admittedly a heady concept for someone not used to it. Skeptics may find comfort in focusing on the specific qualities that individual stones represent and reflect on those, using the crystals as a guide to examine different thoughts and feelings akin to a talk therapy session.
Crystals starter kit
For those looking to start an at-home crystal healing practice, San Diego’s healers have suggestions. Cristin Smith, owner of Mission Hills’ holistic healing center Saffron & Sage, has a handy list of stones that could be useful for people seeking relief during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Black tourmaline is a stone we have in all of the corners at Saffron & Sage - it helps dispel negative energy,” she offers, additionally suggesting the stones be placed next to electronics since people will undoubtedly be increasingly using phones and computers.
Smith also recommends having the aforementioned clear quartz on hand, especially for beginners. “It amplifies the effects of other stones and not just the potency, but also the energy or the intention. So people can really put it anywhere in their space. it’s great to hold use when meditating or directing focus,” she says.
Like apps, it seems there’s a crystal for everything. Smith explains that selenite is good for recycling energy and cycling out negativity. Amethyst is a tranquilizer that is good for mood swings, anger and anxiety. Jade is used for anti-inflammation. Spirit quartz enhances dreams and encourages deep sleep.
Smith recommends using the crystals in a grid or other type of geometric configuration, moving them around as a type of energy shift and intention setting exercise. She also suggests using crystals as a focal point during meditation by observing its color, texture and energetic qualities.
How to find crystals
For those who need help getting started, Saffron & Sage is delivering crystal packs via its website and is offering all its therapeutic programming, which includes crystal healing, via Zoom. Zayas and the Brujitxs del Barrio are offering safe crystal pick-up from their Logan Avenue and Englund is offering crystal meditations via Instagram as well as a full suite of remote programming through The Kamali Temple.
Crystals 101
Rose quartz (the love stone): good for finding, keeping and growing all kinds of love
Labradorite (the magic stone): good for psychic abilities, shaman work
Amazonite (the stone of courage): good for the balance between intellect and intuition
Citrine (the money stone): good for abundance, wealth and stability
Amethyst: a purification stone good for calming and balancing
Agate: good for cultivating inner stability, easing anxiety
Garnet: good for the metabolism, creativity and exploration of self
Kyanite: can be used to cleanse other stones, good for emotional and physical soothing
Lapis Lazuli: good for the immune system
Onyx: good for building vitality after prolonged illness or depletion
Moonstone: considered the feminine stone, good for enhancing intuition and wisdom
Sodalite: stimulates the mind, good for perception and self-awareness
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