101 Power Crystals: The Ultimate Guide to Magical Crystals, Gems, and Stones for Healing and Transformation - Judy Hall 2011

Introduction: The Power of Crystals

The wondrous lore that I prepare to show. For all the pests that out of the earth arise, the earth’s ownself the antidote supplies. She breeds the viper, but she to the sage the means presents to quell the viper’s rage. All kinds of gems spring from her bosom wide. And hapless mortals with sure help provide. For all what virtues potent herbs possession, gems in their kind have, nor in measure less. Great is the force . . . that in stones inherent are. For in the stone implanted mother earth external force, unfading, at its birth.

—The Lithica

Crystals have always been regarded as a source of power—and as a gift from the gods. Impressive no matter what their size, gems hold an aura of mystery and authority. From prehistory to the present, gemstones have symbolized wealth and been accorded wondrous properties. The ancient texts that tell us so much about the power of stones had their origins in the Stone Age, a time when technology quite literally came from stones. Since that time, we have continued to harness their magical power.

In 1714, M. B. Valentini’s Museum Museorum pictured an airship designed five years earlier by a Brazilian priest; the craft was to be powered by Agate and iron that, when heated in the sun, would become magnetic. Strange as this may seem, our present-day technology could not exist without crystals; they power computers and surgical tools, coat automobile engines and spaceships. Crystals provide the basic building blocks of science and art.

The ancients credited crystals with healing power. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus and Roman geographer Pliny passed these remedies on (even though Pliny denounced some as false claims). The Babylonians attributed humankind’s destiny to the influence of precious stones. Our ancestors believed the Earth was surrounded by crystal spheres where gods, stars, and planets dwelt. Originally a crystal’s color or constitution or its planetary affiliation indicated its efficacy for specific conditions. Unfortunately, translation difficulties often make it impossible to ascertain exactly which stone early texts referred to, but some references are crystal clear.

Templates of Light

Each crystal has its own unique energy signature. These “templates of light” are encoded with all you need to activate your own power. The key is to find a crystal that is attuned to your own personal energy or that raises your energetic resonance to ensure well-being and expand your consciousness.

THE POWER OF GEMS

Not only flashy gemstones hold power. Since antiquity, crystals of all sorts have served as protective amulets. Humble stones such as Flint were magical carriers for the soul, for metaphysical workings, or for shamans to use on their otherworldly journeys. Many stones produced incandescent sparks or could be super-heated into streams of gold, silver, copper, and other precious metals. Just as magical were the sky rocks that fell to Earth, bringing with them iron to forge tools and create weapons.

Egyptologist Wallis Budge explained, “each stone possessed a sort of living personality, which could experience sickness and disease, and could become old and powerless and even die.” However, in Egyptian medicine, stones could also heal. The Greek philosopher Plato believed stones were living beings, produced by a fermentation process induced by “a life-giving intelligence descending from the stars.” According to many myths, crystals solidified from ice, a view reinforced by the bubbles of water sometimes found within a crystal.

The fifth-century Roman poet Claudian tells us that:

When the Alpine ice, frost-harden’d into stone

First braved the sun, and as a jewel shone,

Not all its substance could the gem assume—

Some tell-tale drops still linger’d in its womb.

HOW CRYSTALS FORM

Crystals are, for the most part, created by the Earth’s awesome power. Boiled, compressed, and excoriated, some were born of volcanoes, glaciers, earthquakes, and immense pressure; others dripped into being through osmosis, gas bubbles, and nature’s gentler forces.

Some so-called crystals don’t actually have a crystalline structure. Amber, for instance, is fossilized tree resin, and volcanic Obsidian formed so fast it didn’t have time to crystallize. How a crystal forms affects how its power works. Those that grew slowly tend to emit their power gently; those that were on an accelerated path of growth blast their power out to the world. Paradoxically, some of the youngest geological stones have the highest vibrations and the greatest power to transform our world.

The Power of Color

The power of color was first noted by the ancients and became an integral part of the magical healing processes by which imbalances were rectified and harmony restored. In 1878, Edwin D. Babbitt suggested color had therapeutic properties that could be applied in healing. His rationale may help to explain the power behind sympathetic magic and why particular colors traditionally were used to treat specific dis-eases. In Babbitt’s “ray” system, red attracts iron, zinc, and Strontium; yellow sodium, phosphorous, and carbon; and so on. These minerals are required for correct functioning of the body. His chromatherapy was complex, and exposure to the colored rays needed to be carefully calibrated.

Crystal workers, though, simply utilize crystals of the appropriate color based on the ancient correspondences.

✵ Pink and peach stones heal emotional imbalances and gently energize your system.

✵ Red gems energize more forcefully and resonate with the reproductive system. Red also aids blood-related and inflammatory conditions.

✵ Orange is a mental and creative energizer, stimulating personal power and resonating with the Leydig gland above the testes, a seat of kundalini power.

✵ Yellow and gold stones are mental and nervous system stimulators; they resonate with neurotransmitters, the adrenal glands, and intestines, and balance your mind and emotions.

✵ Green is calming and associated with the heart, eyes, and thymus gland.

✵ Blue-green resonates with the subtle levels of being and opens metaphysical abilities.

✵ Blue resonates with the throat and thyroid gland, and has a tonic effect.

✵ Indigo has mystical qualities; it resonates with the pineal gland, but also effects mental healing.

✵ Violet and purple stones resonate with the pituitary, regulating metabolism and regenerating the body. They also open you to higher awareness.

✵ Black and brown stones detoxify and ground energy, protecting the body from harm.

✵ Combination stones synergize the effects of the colors and constituents.

The Power of Magic

For thrice seven days the mighty wizard fled the bath’s refreshment and his consort’s bed. For thrice seven days a solemn fast maintained. Then in the living fount the gem he laves.

And in soft garments like an infant swathes. As to a god, he sacrifices brings. And potent spells in mystic murmurs sings. Till moved by fervent prayer and mighty charms, a living soul the prescient substance warms. Then in his hands he bears the thing divine, where kindled lamps in his pure mansion shine. And as her infant son a mother holds, so in his arms the talisman he folds. And thou, if thou wouldst hear the mystic voice, thus do, and in the wondrous thing rejoice.—The Lithica

Crystals have always been credited with possessing magical power, as the above quotation from a third-century B.C.E. stone book shows. It also describes the awe and reverence with which they were handled. Magic isn’t mere superstition—it is the foundation for the experimental sciences that the modern world values so highly. Without magic we would not have medicine, astronomy, literature and drama, chemistry, mathematics, music, mythology, and perhaps even religion itself. Magical formulae constitute some of the oldest writings, and it could be argued that the alphabet—even the recording of knowledge itself—is a form of magic. Magic isn’t just a set of practices and beliefs; it is a way of looking at the world. The view that the natural world was animate, alive with magical forces interpenetrating the substance of the physical and the metaphysical realms, governed ancient life and death. Crystal workers today still interact with the animate forces, the living beings, within crystals.

The word magic comes from magi, the wise men and women of Persia and Babylon, but has its roots in the Sumerian word imga meaning “deep” or “profound.” Magic was a way of manipulating the everyday world and attracting the favor of the gods, but also, as anthropologist Robert Ranulph Marett tells us, “a higher plane of experience . . . in which spiritual enlargement is appreciated for its own sake.” In this book, we are concerned with this spiritual enlargement (the expansion process) as well as with the healing and transformative properties of crystals.

Using This Book

So many new crystals are entering the market today that it can be hard to keep up—or to know which ones will be really useful. In this book, you will find stones revered for more than ten thousand years, as well as some newly discovered ones.

Each is attributed a specific power that sums up its overall effect, but I offer a broader description of its healing and transformational properties as well. You’ll find crystals for love, health, protection, abundance, longevity, justice, and more. Not all crystals suit everyone, so my selection offers alternatives and new possibilities to resonate with your unique energy field. I also explain how to harness each crystal’s power. Once you become accustomed to working with crystals, you can apply these techniques to your other crystals.

The chakra diagram with information (page 14) can further assist you in working with stones. A glossary starting on page 216 explains terms with which you may be unfamiliar. Instructions for choosing appropriate crystals, as well as purifying, activating, and maintaining their powers, are given on pages 10—13.

High-Vibration Crystals

Some crystals, such as Selenite and Danburite, already possessed a light, high vibration that activates the higher chakras. But new finds of Danburite and other well-known crystals that have a higher-vibration of the basic power have become available. For example, natural Golden Danburite (Agni Gold™) and the alchemicalized Aqua Aura Danburite have the underlying properties of the basic Danbu-rite crystal, but raise these to another dimension.

These enormous Selenite crystals grow in a Mexican cavern so hot that human beings in fire-protection gear can only stay for a few minutes.

Some completely new high-vibration stones, along with extremely high-vibration varieties of Quartz now on the market, also assist in raising consciousness. These resonate with the high-vibration chakras that connect us to greater realities (see page 14). High-vibration crystals and their associated chakras facilitate the expansion process, an evolution and extension of your awareness to encompass the multidimensions of spiritual life.

How to Find the Right Crystal for You

Seek not to measure the material, but consider rather the power which reason has and mere substance not.—Manilius (Roman astrologer)

Finding the right stone for you is the key to attuning yourself to crystal power. You’ll probably start by searching for a crystal that holds the power you want to manifest. Or, one of the stunning pictures in this book might catch your eye. But where do you go from here? What if you have no idea which crystal is right for you?

Use your own magical power of attraction! Put out the focused thought: “I find exactly the right crystal for me, now.” Go into a store and run your hands through a basket of crystals. One will “stick” to your fingers, or you’ll relish the feel as you pick one up. This is the crystal for you. You may already have the right stone in your collection. Wherever you find your crystal, make sure you purify and empower it before use. When choosing a crystal, remember the biggest and flashiest is not necessarily the best for your purpose. The Roman poet Claudian offered an adage wise crystal workers still use today:

Pass not the shapeless lump of crystal by

Nor view the icy mass with careless eye . . .

This rough and unform’d stone, without a grace,

Midst rarest treasures holds the chiefest place.

It is not the outward beauty of a crystal that indicates its power, but rather what it does for you. A rough lump of raw rock may be more powerful than a faceted gemstone, no matter how seductive the latter may be.

Crystal Attunement

Take a few moments to attune to a crystal. Hold a purified crystal in your hands and feel its vibrations radiating into your being. If they are in accord with your own, you will feel calm, peaceful, and quite possibly expanded. If you feel uncomfortable, choose another stone—the one you are holding might not be right for you at this time, or may indicate you have inner work to do.

The Power of Shape

Crystals naturally possess internal and external geometric shapes, which mold how energy flows through them. But many crystals are artificially shaped externally to enhance their power flow. Knowing how the external shape enhances the power helps you select the right crystal for your purpose.

Take Amethyst, for example. You’ll find Amethyst in cavelike geodes, single points, clusters, beds, balls, and palm stones. All carry Amethyst’s underlying peace of mind, but how that power radiates varies according to the stone’s shape.

GEODE

The cavelike interior of a geode collects, amplifies, and stores crystal power, and then gently radiates it out to the environment. It provides protection, creates abundance, and encourages spiritual growth. In Natural History, Pliny says that geodes treat eyes, breasts, and testicles, an example of a shared shape or “sympathy” between the crystal and the area being healed.

POINT

Points, including wands, focus crystal power into a single concentrated beam. When you place the point toward your body, it channels power into your body. Aim the point out and it draws off negative energy.

PHANTOM

Phantom crystals are laid down in layers, often pyramidal in shape, within another type of crystal. Holding the memory of the soul’s journey, they break up ancient patterns of behavior or can be ascended like a ladder to higher consciousness.

CLUSTER

Clusters are a group of points radiating out in different directions. They beam energy into the surrounding atmosphere, but can also be empowered to draw off negative energy.

BED

A bed has many small crystals spread over a matrix base. This provides a steady source of crystal power, like a battery does. Beds are particularly useful when you need continuous crystal power.

BALL

Balls are artificially shaped from a larger piece of crystal; they emit power in all directions in equal measure. Balls provide a focus for powers such as insight or intuition. Traditionally, crystal balls were used to see forward or backward in time, a practice known as scrying.

PALM STONE

Flat and rounded, palm stones are tactile reminders of crystal power. Holding one soothes the mind, so you focus intention to create what you desire.

MANIFESTATION

This crystal has a smaller crystal encased within the main one. As its name suggests, it carries the power of manifestation—especially of abundance—but can be harnessed to any crystal power.

Maintaining Crystal Power

Crystals must be purified and activated to bring their power to life—and they must be kept cleansed to maintain that power. It is no good buying a crystal, putting it in your pocket, and expecting it to work miracles—unless you’ve asked it to. As a first step, as Shakespeare, who knew of the esoteric power of stones, instructs in Henry V, “Go, clear thy crystals.” Once you’ve purified your crystal, its power can be dedicated to your highest good.

Treat your crystals with respect and work with them in partnership. They will repay you with years of devoted service. Treat them badly or misuse them, and their power may turn against you. They are, after all, magical, sentient beings.

RIGHT USE OF POWER

Crystals work by cooperating with you to focus and manifest your intention. Be clear about why you are working with the crystal and ensure that you are working for the highest good. Misuse of crystal power will inevitably rebound. Like humans, crystals can become exhausted, so re-empowering them regularly is a sensible precaution. As crystals rapidly draw off energy from their surroundings, they need purifying at frequent intervals.

PURIFYING YOUR CRYSTALS

Crystals pick up energy from anyone who handles them and from the environment, so they need cleansing before and after use. Purify a crystal by holding it under running water—so long as the crystal won’t dissolve or fragment. Then put it in the sun or moonlight to reenergize it. You can also smudge a crystal with incense smoke, place it in candlelight, or leave it overnight in uncooked brown rice.

ACTIVATING THE POWER OF YOUR CRYSTAL

To activate your crystal’s power, hold the purified crystal in your hands, focus your intention and attention on it, and say:

“I dedicate this crystal to the highest good of all

and ask that its power be activated now to work in harmony

with my own will and focused intention.”

If you have a specific purpose, add that to your dedication. To deactivate the crystal, cleanse it and then hold the crystal as you say:

“I thank this crystal for its power, which is no longer needed at this time.

I ask that its power be closed until reactivated.”

Put the crystal in the sun to recharge it, and then place it in a bag, box, or a drawer until it is required again.

If you are placing crystals in a grid, layout for cleaning, or to create safe space, join up the shape either by touching each stone with a crystal wand or by using the power of your mind to picture lines of light connecting the stones and making the shape.

Using Crystal Power

After you have empowered your crystal, you can wear it daily, preferably in contact with your skin. Or, place it on your body or in your environment to radiate out or draw on the power as appropriate. A piece of Black Tourmaline or Amber, for instance, placed in each corner of your home invokes the power of protection and energy screening, safeguarding you. Or, you can use your crystal for healing or to expand your consciousness.

One of the easiest ways to tap into a crystal’s healing power is to place the crystal over an appropriate chakra or organ for fifteen minutes to rebalance the energy center. The crystal descriptions in this book give physiological and chakra connections. Regular cleansing and reenergizing of your chakras (the body’s psychic immune system) maintains your energy at optimum levels and stimulates your personal power.

If a crystal produces a healing challenge (an intensification of “symptoms”), remove it and put Smoky Quartz in its place. You can also reharmonize the subtle nervous system with Natrolite or Scolecite (see pages 134).

To expand your consciousness with high-vibration crystals, either place a crystal on your third eye, soma, or higher crown chakra, or sit holding the stone. Breathe gently and focus your awareness on the crystal. Do not try to see or experience anything, simply let the process unfold. Notice any changes, without giving them undue attention.

After ten to twenty minutes (no longer), remove the crystal. Picture yourself totally surrounded by a bubble of crystal light. Feel the contact your feet make with the Earth, and then get up and go about your everyday business. If you feel “floaty” or unfocused, hold a Smoky Quartz or Hematite as you visualize roots growing from the balls of your feet, joining at the earth star chakra, and then going down into the center of the Earth where they attach to the ball of iron at its center to create a shamanic anchor.

Men-an-Tol alignment, Cornwall. Since ancient times, the sick have been passed through this granite holed stone as a traditional form of healing.

Chakra Power

Each chakra powers a sphere of life. Imbalances can cause physical dis-ease as well as specific personality traits and issues that can be healed with crystals:

Chakra diagram. Clockwise from top: Stellar Gateway Chakra. Soul Star Chakra. Soma Chakra. Past Life Chakra. Spleen Chakra. Higher Heart Chakra. Solar Plexus Chakra. Base/Root Chakra. Earth Star Chakra. Sacral Chakra. Heart Seed Chakra. Heart Chakra. Throat Chakra. Third Eye Chakra. Crown Chakra.

EARTH STAR CHAKRA

Key issues: Everyday reality and groundedness. Picks up adverse environmental factors, such as geopathic stress and toxic pollutants. Imbalances or blockages lead to physical discomfort, feeling of helplessness, and inability to function practically.

Negative power: powerlessness

Positive power: empowerment

Dis-eases are lethargic: myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), arthritis, cancer, muscular disorders, depression, psychiatric disturbances, autoimmune diseases

BASE/ROOT CHAKRA

Key issues: Basic survival instincts and security. Triggers the fight-or-flight response. Imbalances lead to sexual disturbances and feelings of being stuck, anger, impotence, frustration, and inability to let go.

Negative power: insecurity and alienation

Positive power: inner security and connectedness

Dis-eases are constant and low-level, or flare up suddenly: stiffness in joints; chronic lower back pain; renal, reproductive, or rectal disorders; fluid retention; constipation (diarrhea if stuck open); varicose veins or hernias; bipolar disorder; glandular disturbances; personality and anxiety disorders; autoimmune diseases

SACRAL CHAKRA

Key issues: Creativity, fertility, acceptance of yourself as a powerful and sexual being. “Hooks” from other people make themselves felt, particularly from previous sexual encounters. Imbalances lead to infertility and blocked creativity.

Negative power: selfishness with low self-esteem

Positive power: self-worth, confidence

Dis-eases are toxic and psychosomatic: PMS, muscle cramps, reproductive blockages or diseases, impotence, infertility, allergies, addictions, eating disorders, diabetes, liver or intestinal dysfunction, irritable bowel, chronic back pain, urinary infections

SOLAR PLEXUS CHAKRA

Key issues: Emotional processing and communication. Energy assimilation and utilization, concentration. Emotional “hooks” from other people are found here. “Illness as theater” plays out the emotional story through life circumstances. Blockages lead to being overwhelmed by emotions or taking on other people’s feelings and problems.

Negative power: inferiority, clinginess

Positive power: emotional stability

Dis-eases are emotional and demanding: stomach ulcers, ME, adrenaline imbalances, insomnia, chronic anxiety, digestive problems, gallstones, pancreatic failure, eczema and other skin conditions, eating disorders, phobias

HEART SEED CHAKRA

Key issues: Soul remembrance and universal love. If blocked, spiritual purpose is lost.

Negative power: rootlessness and disconnection

Positive power: awareness of purpose of incarnation and connection to divine plan

Dis-eases are psycho-spiritual, not physical.

HEART CHAKRA

Key issues: Love and nurturance. If blocked, love cannot flourish. Feelings such as jealousy are common with enormous resistance to change.

Negative power: possessiveness

Positive power: compassion and peaceful harmony

Dis-eases are psychosomatic and reactive: heart attacks, angina, chest infections, asthma, frozen shoulder, ulcers

SPLEEN CHAKRA

Key issues: Assertion and empowerment. Psychic vampires link in here to get their energy fix. Imbalances cause anger issues or constant irritation; the body attacks itself. If too open, other people draw on your energy, causing depletion at immune level.

Negative power: aggression

Positive power: self-assertiveness and empowerment

Dis-eases arise from depletion: lethargy, anemia, low blood sugar

HIGHER HEART CHAKRA (THYMUS)

Key issues: Compassion. Blockages cause emotional neediness and inability to express feelings openly; unconditional love and service cannot be offered.

Negative power: neediness

Positive power: unconditional love

Dis-eases of the heart and immune deficiencies: arteriosclerosis, viral infections, tinnitus, epilepsy

THROAT CHAKRA

Key issues: Communication. If blocked, thoughts and feelings cannot be verbalized nor truth expressed. Other people’s opinions can cause difficulties.

Negative power: mendacity

Positive power: truthful self-expression

Dis-eases relate to root beliefs, are active, and block communication: sore throat/ quinsy, inflammation of trachea, sinus, constant colds, viral infections, tinnitus and ear infections, jaw pain, gum disease, tooth problems, thyroid imbalances, high blood pressure, ADHD, autism, speech impediment, and psychosomatic dis-eases such as irritable bowel

THIRD EYE CHAKRA

Key issues: Intuition and mental connection. Imbalances allow bombardment by other people’s thoughts, or wild and irrational intuitions. Other people’s control, beliefs, or coercing mental “hooks” affect thoughts.

Negative power: delusion

Positive power: intuitive insight

Dis-eases are intuitive and metaphysical: migraines, mental overwhelm, schizophrenia, cataracts, iritis and eye problems, epilepsy, autism, spinal and neurological disorders, sinus and ear infections, high blood pressure, irritations of all kinds

PAST LIFE CHAKRA

Key issues: Memory and hereditary issues. Imbalances keep you stuck in the past; you cannot move forward, repeating personal past-life patterns or ancestral patterns passed through the family. People from the past attach to and control you.

Negative power: dependence

Positive power: self-direction

Dis-eases are chronic and reflect previous wounds: immune or endocrine deficiencies, and genetic, neurotransmitter or physical malfunctions.

SOMA CHAKRA

Key issues: Spiritual identity, expansion, soul journeying. Imbalances create disembodied “airheads” with little connection to the physical world or their physical bodies; or overly strong embodiedness traps the soul and prevents spiritual connection.

Negative power: disconnection from material or spiritual world

Positive power: awareness of being both physically in incarnation and spiritually expanded

Dis-eases are autistic and disconnected or dyspraxic and may include Down syndrome.

CROWN CHAKRA

Key issues: Spiritual communication and awareness. If blocked, you may attempt to control others; if stuck open, obsession and openness to spiritual interference or possession can occur. When imbalanced, excessive environmental sensitivity and delusions or dementia result.

Negative power: arrogance

Positive power: spirituality

Dis-eases arise from disconnection: metabolic syndrome, illness with no known cause, nervous system disturbances, electromagnetic and environmental sensitivity, depression, dementia, ME, insomnia or excessive sleepiness, biological clock disturbances

SOUL STAR CHAKRA

Key issues: Soul connection and spiritual illumination. If blocked or stuck open, soul fragmentation occurs; messiah complex or openness to invasion from “alien” entities may occur.

Negative power: disconnected and spiritual arrogance

Positive power: enlightenment

Dis-eases are spiritual, not physical.

STELLAR GATEWAY CHAKRA

Key issues: Cosmic portal. If blocked or stuck open, contacts with low-level entities and dissemination of spiritual misinformation can occur.

Negative power: delusions

Positive power: cosmic consciousness

Dis-eases are spiritual, not physical.