Crystal healing

Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific alternative medicine technique that employs stones and crystals as healing tools.

The practitioner places crystals on different parts of the body, often corresponding to chakras, or places crystals around the body in an attempt to construct an "energy grid", which is purported to surround the client with healing energy.[1]

When the stones are placed in the area of the chakras, the colour of the stones may correspond to the colour which is associated with the corresponding chakra. Going from the tail bone to the top of the head, the colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Stones may also be used at the feet in an attempt at grounding the individual, or held in the hands. Practitioners may also use tools such as crystal wands, which are placed near the receiver's body, or near a certain 'blocked' chakra, or use to perform psychic surgery, normally conducted with laser quartz wands.

Contents

Cultural uses

Crystal healing has been used in many different cultures throughout history, including the Hopi Native Americans of Arizona [2] and the Hawaiian islanders, some of whom still use them to this day.[3] In Egypt, jade amulets were found in the tombs and burial chambers because of their supposed power to guide souls in the afterworld. The Chinese still attribute extensive healing powers to jade, and some other eastern cultures believe that emerald will strengthen the memory and increase intelligence.[4]

Notable proponents

Criticism

There is no peer reviewed scientific evidence that crystal healing has any effect. It has been called a pseudoscience. It is also a historical belief similar to that of charmstones, rather than one based on modern scientific practices and advances.[5] Pleasant feelings or seeming successes of crystal healing can be attributed to the placebo effect, or the believers wanting it to be true and seeing only things that back that up; cognitive bias.[6]

Crystal healing techniques are also practiced on animals, although some veterinary organizations, such as the British Veterinary Association, have warned that these methods are not scientifically proven and thus could cause greater harm if not used in conjunction with traditional medical care.[7]

In a 90-page booklet titled A Christian reflection on the New Age published in 2003, the Roman Catholic Church criticized crystal healing along with other New Age practices and stated that crystals have no intrinsic power.[8][9][10][11][12]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gs7bJxNMlBUC&pg=PA129&dq=%22crystal+healing%22&lr= Healing with Crystals
  2. ^ Frank Waters, Book of the Hopi (New York: Viking Press, 1965),
  3. ^ John Kaimikaua, talk at Molokai, HI: 1997, as cited in Joy Gardner, "Vibrational Healing Through the Chakras with Light, Color, Sound, Crystals and Aromatherapy" (Berkeley, CA: The Crossing Press, 2006).
  4. ^ Joy Gardner, "Vibrational Healing Through the Chakras with Light, Color, Sound, Crystals and Aromatherapy" (Berkeley, CA: The Crossing Press, 2006).
  5. ^ Carey, Stephen, A Beginner's Guide to Scientific Method, California, Wadsworth, 2003 pp 119-123 ISBN 0534584500
  6. ^ Campion EW (January 1993). "Why unconventional medicine?". The New England Journal of Medicine 328 (4): 282–83. doi:10.1056/NEJM199301283280413. PMID 8418412. 
  7. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/7240231.stm Warning about animal 'therapies'
  8. ^ Handbook of vocational psychology by W. Bruce Walsh, Mark Savickas 2005 ISBN 0805845178 page 358
  9. ^ Vatican website A Christian reflection on the New Age
  10. ^ BBC Feb 4, 2003 Vatican sounds New Age alert
  11. ^ Vatican website
  12. ^ Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2003 New Age Beliefs Aren't Christian, Vatican Finds