Crystal power
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Crystal power is a belief that crystals have healing, mystical and paranormal powers. It is popular in the New Age movement, but regarded as baseless by skeptics and the general scientific community.
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[edit] Crystal healing
Crystal healers claim that every living organism has a "vibrational energy system," which includes chakras, electromagnetic fields around your body known as an aura, subtle bodies and meridians. By using the appropriate crystals one can allegedly "tune" an energy system or rebalance energies, thus improving well-being due to the vibrations produced by the crystals, according to color, chemical composition, atomic structure and overall physical form. Using the vibrations of the crystals a trained practitioner can allegedly move, absorb, focus, direct and diffuse energy within the body, using the perfect structure of the crystal for the body to emulate. Crystal healing also allegedly gives the body a chance to relax, which may aid in the body’s natural abilities of the immune system.
The earliest records of crystal healing come from ancient Egypt. The Ebers papyrus states the medicinal uses of many different gems. Healing with crystals is also recorded in India's Ayurvedic records and in traditional Chinese medicine from around five thousand years ago. Several shamanistic cultures practice crystal healing, inlcuding the Inuit of Canada, which was developed more by New Age healers.
Some authors of fiction have claimed that crystals can be used as a focal point for magical spells; an idea probably founded on scrying-gems such as John Dee's shew stone. This, and similar, was used by magicians, fortune-tellers, etc for one of two purposes; to co-ordinate the visionary power or to misdirect the attention of the customer.
[edit] Criticism
Scientists, health professionals, and skeptics consider crystal healing to be pseudoscientific, since there is no scientific evidence that healing can be achieved by 'crystal power' or that such "energies" even exist. The placebo effect is a possible explanation for any healing that occurs in the presence of a healing crystal. Even some crystal healing practitioners have cautioned against completely replacing conventional medicine with crystal healing, rather to supplement.
Crystal healing shares the safety concerns and other criticism of alternative medicines.
Crystal healing is categorized as a pseudo-science, where little credibility is placed on it by medical professionals, who reference the placebo effect to the benefits of this practice. (Helwig)
It can also be classified as a pseudo-science under a number of Stephen Carey's criteria. Carey explains that the "respectability" of science and scientific concepts comes from the experiments and the manner in which they are performed (Carey 119). He goes on to assert that the difference between pseudo-science and science includes the "self-correction" of science. Where incorrect conjectures have been reversed by further investigation, and the publication and reversal of reviewed journals. Thus far there are very few to no reviewed journals or published experiments regarding the use of crystal healing, further strengthening the argument for it as a pseudo-science. Moreover, scientific findings are "open to revision" where seldom do the declarations of pseudo-sciences change, as illustrated with the old theory of the planets and sun revolving around the earth, whereas the claims of crystal healing are based on historical beliefs (Carey 122). Also, pseudo-sciences tend to see criticism as an attack, whereas if science attempts to apply or explain the unknown in a scientific category, this is seen more as a lack of willingness to be open to new ideas and beliefs.
[edit] External links
- Skeptic's Dictionary on Crystal Power
- The Hutton Commentaries: Website article exploring Edgar Cayce-readings descriptions of Crystal Power
- Video of a heated debate between Professor of Geology and skeptic Ian Plimer and a practitioner of crystal healing
[edit] References
- Campbell, Dan, Edgar Cayce, on the Power of Color, Stones, and Crystals, Warner Books Edition, New York, NY, 1989.
- Carey, Stephen, A Beginner's Guide to Scientific Method, California, Wadsworth, 2004
- Helwig, David, Crystal Healing in Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, 2006 [1]
