Crystals are said to contain metaphysical properties that can align your chakras and heal your body in ways you could never imagine. Curious? Consider this an introduction to quartz’s many rumored properties.
Quartz History
Stone quartz is considered one of the most powerful healing crystals and is also one of the most commonly known. Quartz contains all the colors of the spectrum when held to the light.
The Greeks first documented the existence of quartz during ancient times, in 300-325 BCE. They named it “kristallos”, meaning “ice cold”. The Romans believed that quartz was ice that never melted, and they would use the stone to keep themselves cool during warm weather, wearing rings made of the stone. The Egyptians buried their dead with quartz, as they believed the stone helped guide the deceased safely into the afterlife. Pharaohs carried cylinders filled with quartz to balance their Ba and Ka (spiritual) energies. In 1505, German physician Ulrich Rülein referred to the crystal as “querz” in a publication, and so began its proliferation in other records.
Quartz Forms
Quartz comes in two different forms: macrocrystalline quartz and cryptocrystalline quartz (or microcrystalline quartz). Macrocrystalline quart is made of visible crystals or grains, such as in smoky quartz, rose quartz, and quartz grains in sandstone. Cryptocrystalline quartz is comprised of a dense and compact accumulation of microscopic quartz crystals and crystallites, such as in flint, agate, and radiolarite chert.
The Gist of Healing Crystals
The healing benefits of crystals, including quartz, come down to the stones’ unique composition. Because of the way they are structured, crystals like quartz respond to the input of all kinds of energies surrounding them, causing the crystals to oscillate and emit specific vibratory frequencies. The crystal matrix is balanced and orderly, so the energy it gives off stays consistent – when dissonant energy is put into the crystal, that energy becomes balanced and harmonic.
Crystal enthusiasts say that this balancing of energies is why crystals are healing to the body and its chakra: crystals take what is “off” and bring it back into harmony. Of course, none of the healing benefits of quartz and other crystals are scientifically proven. That’s the clincher. Even so, it hasn’t put the crystal industry out of business, if the recent shenanigans of Spencer Pratt are anything to judge by.
And, indeed, there’s something to be said of ancient traditional practices. If healing crystals have withstood centuries, there must be something there.
Quartz Benefits
If you ask an experienced crystal collector and/or crystology practitioner, you’ll likely be suggested to purchase clear quartz as your first stone. The silicon and oxygen-containing crystal is considered a “master healer” that can be used to treat just about any condition. It’s the go-to crystal.
Clear quartz is said to balance and revitalize the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes as well as to cleanse the organs and soul, enhance psychic abilities, aid in concentration, boost memory, and stimulate the immune system.
How to Use Quartz
There are many ways to employ quartz into your everyday life. Here are four basic ways to start:
1. Keep a quartz crystal with you
Wear quartz in a pouch around your neck or as part of your jewelry. You could also keep the crystal in your pocket.
2. Sleep with quartz at night
Hold a quartz crystal in your hand while you sleep or tuck it under your pillow.
3. Target a chakra
Clear quartz connects you to the spiritual aspects of life, so placing the crystal on your head (standing up) or forehead (lying down), near your pineal gland, best activates and opens your crown chakra.
How to Care for Quartz
To benefit from quartz, it is important to keep the stone clean. In fact, many take the cleansing of crystals as seriously as they do their application.
Here’s how to clean your quartz crystals:
1. Wash them thoroughly under faucet water.
2. Lay them out just after sunset, somewhere where they will get direct moonlight.
3. Let the crystals stay out just through sunrise. It is important they receive sun, but not too much.
4. Charge crystals with your intentions. As you transfer your crystals to their usual resting place, imagine your intentions or even say them out loud. Charge them with whatever emotion you hope to cultivate in your life, such as love, forgiveness, awareness, health, and so on.
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