Crystals: How to Use Crystals and Their Energy to Enhance Your Life (Hay House Basics) - Judy Hall 2015

’A casket of jewels fair’
Crystal Foundations

Understanding how crystals were formed, the secret ingredients that went into their alchemical creation and the universal geometry that underlies their construction throws light on the way energy flows through them. Each crystal belongs to an overall chemical ’family’, such as sulphides or carbonates, which ’speaks’ in a different way. Once you comprehend a crystal’s language, you know how its energy functions.

Where do crystals come from?

Rocks, and the crystals within them, are created out of minerals by a variety of processes, mostly from the molten rock, magma, at the core of the planet. Most are crystallized minerals. Some solidified from gases and interstellar dust during the primary formation of Earth or were pressured and baked into existence. Others exploded out of volcanoes or dripped into being. Some were compressed and metamorphosed as the planet itself transformed. Others were ground up and redeposited in layers. A few formed so fast they lack internal crystalline structure. One or two arrived from outer space.

Crystal formation

Primary: The most ancient rocks on the planet, primary crystals formed deep under the Earth’s crust from the seed material of the universe. Liquefied or gaseous minerals cooled and crystallized, or exploded up the vents of an active volcano. If the magma cooled slowly, it created large crystals. If it cooled quickly, it formed small crystals. Material that cooled rapidly created non-crystalline Obsidian glass.

Holding raw primal power, primary crystals stimulate growth processes. They impel change, restore stability and ground energies, helping to heal the past.

Secondary: Sedimentary crystals are ones reformed from primary material. Erosion wears rock down to tiny particles which are then deposited and cemented together again, often underwater. Dead marine creatures too create depositional rocks.

Sedimentary rocks allow energy to move freely. They resonate with the cycles of death, decay and rebirth.

Tertiary: Deep underground, hot rock is subjected to enormous pressure and/or chemical change, which modifies its structure. Tertiary crystals are created as mountain ranges collide, or primary rocks are superheated and metamorphosis occurs.

These metamorphic crystals facilitate change and transmutation.

Tektites: Meteorites from outer space collide with our planet. Many are metallic-looking, polished and worn to a fraction of their size by friction as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. Occasionally a bigger meteorite makes it through, only to fragment on impact and fuse with the Earth, creating Moldavite or Libyan Glass.

Tektites help us to gain an overview, uniting cosmic wisdom and earthly sensibilities.

What are crystals made from?

The base material of crystals is either a single mineral alone, which is rare, or several minerals in combination. These are organized into internationally recognized crystallochemical classifications:

✵ Carbonates. Examples: Azurite, Calcite

✵ Halides. Examples: Fluorite, Halite

✵ Native elements (unadulterated and uncombined). Examples: Diamond, Gold

✵ Oxides. Examples: Chrysoberyl, Sapphire

✵ Phosphates and Arsenates. Examples: Apatite, Turquoise

✵ Silicates (subdivided into further groups). Examples: Danburite, Quartz

✵ Sulphates. Examples: Celestine, Desert Rose

✵ Sulphides and sulphosalts. Examples: Bornite, Cinnabar

These mineral families each provide a unique chemical base, then tiny alterations and adulterations produce a unique crystal. Take silicate dioxide, for instance. Quartz is basically a silicate dioxide. It has large or small crystals depending on how quickly it cooled. Chalcedony, another form of silicate dioxide, cooled rapidly inside small pockets. It has tiny crystals, although Carnelian, a form of Chalcedony, can be a much larger mass. Flint, laid down from the bodies of sea creatures, is non-crystalline pure silica. Amethyst, Citrine, Rose and Smoky Quartzes are all subtle variations of silicate dioxide combined with other minerals to produce their individual colour (see below).

Saved from the crusher

A question that perplexes many people is whether or not crystals should be removed from the Earth. Mining is big business these days and few small ethical mining operations are left. I try to buy my crystals from ethical sources, but it’s not always possible. So I asked my crystal mentors (see Exercise: Meeting a crystal mentor) about this. The answer was that they appreciated the work that crystal healers were doing, as this counteracted the wholesale ravishing of the Earth. They told me that certain crystals willingly offered themselves up to assist with Earth healing and other tasks. They looked on it as fulfilling their purpose — literally what they were made for. Lemurian Seed Crystals have said that they were carefully placed and covered up by crystal workers aeons ago so that they could perform their function now. Other crystals were greatly relieved when they were saved from the crusher. Although one mentor did point out that even when a crystal had been crushed to become an ingredient in paint, medicine or technology, it could still radiate its energy.

SUMMARY

✵ Crystals, and the rocks that contain them, are formed out of minerals by primary, secondary and tertiary processes.

✵ How crystals are formed, the secret ingredients that go into their alchemical creation and the universal geometry that underlies their construction throw light on the way energy flows through them.

✵ Each crystal belongs to an overall chemical ’family’ which ’speaks’ in a different way.

✵ Once you comprehend a crystal’s language, you know how its energy functions.