The Science
Probably one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is, “How do crystals actually work?”
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I have read a lot of books, websites, scientific journals (I'm a bit of a quantum physics nut) and so forth, and mostly dislike the answers I see to this question.
Here is my take. It’s my opinion. I’m not saying it’s the right one or the only one.
It’s just mine.
The answers to this question tend to fall into one of two camps:
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The “piezoelectricity” camp, and
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The “placebo effect” camp.
The Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress. The word Piezoelectric is derived from the Greek piezein, which means to squeeze or press, and piezo, which is Greek for “push”.
I want to address two particular items with regards to the piezoelectric effect.
First, I don’t believe that the fact that some crystals can produce an electrical charge
under pressure is at the heart of how crystals “work” in the metaphysical sense. (It is, however, one of the primary ways they work in technology). If electricity could accomplish things like attracting abundance, increasing my body’s healing ability or helping me release old, worn-out beliefs, I would find a way to hook myself up to a battery or generator. Or I would stand in the middle of my house and tap into the electric field
being generated through the walls and program it to increase my psychic ability.
I think this particular belief comes from assuming that “energy” and “electricity” mean
the same thing. There's a fascinating article on this very topic here. When we're
talking about crystals, we're generally referring to subtle energy, which is much less understood by mainstream science (however, not by quantum physicists), mostly because of the lack of adequate machinery to measure subtle energy.
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Second, only some crystals seem to be piezoelectric. Quartz, Tourmaline and Topaz are the primary ones. But wait, I’ve worked with many different types of crystals that don’t fall into the same crystal families as those three, and they have “worked” just fine. Hmm.
Let’s turn our attention to the placebo effect.
The placebo effect is defined as a beneficial effect produced by a placebo (inert) drug or treatment, which cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that treatment.
Now realize that medical science has come to accept the ability of the human mind to effect pretty significant changes within the body. What used to mean “fake” now seems
to mean, “If you believe it works, it could actually work for you.” This is how I think people use the term when applied to the question of how crystals work.
But here’s the rub. It still means that crystals themselves have no innate energy or influence. It’s just all in the perceivers mind.
While I am a huge proponent of the power of the mind, I do not believe this is what has been going on for millennia with the millions of people who have worked with crystals in that time. In my experience, and in many other people’s experiences the world over, both in modern times and in ancient times, crystals most certainly do have energy.
Which leads to the next part of the conversation; “Everything is energy”.
Some of you may be tired of hearing that. Sounds pretty woo woo. But it is the truth.
Quantum physics has, in actuality, proven that solid matter does not exist in the universe. The solar-system picture of atoms; of electrons as tiny, solid, planet-like structures
whizzing around a larger interior of neutrons and protons is not correct. The fact is that electrons, muons, tauons, quarks, and gluons, all of which make up an atom, have no internal structure and no physical size, meaning that they are entirely illusory or put another way, made up of pure energy.
In simple terms, this means that the atoms that form objects and substances that we call solid are actually made up of mostly energy and space.
And, as everything is made of atoms, we can honestly and scientifically say that everything is energy. The energy that makes up you is the same energy that makes up trees, rocks,
the chair you are sitting on and the computer or tablet you are using to read this web page. It’s all made of the same stuff – energy.
So let’s review. All things in the universe are energy. Everything in the universe is constantly in motion, vibrating. Even objects that appear to be stationary are in fact vibrating, oscillating, and resonating at various frequencies.
Everything in the universe vibrates at its own specific frequency.
Now let’s take that a bit further. An interesting phenomenon occurs when different vibrating things come into proximity: they will often start, after a little time, to vibrate together at the same frequency. This effect is called entrainment. There is a tendency, for the continually fluctuating energy to match frequency with the more stable energy.
This is how crystals (highly stable energy), placed on the human body (continually fluctuating energy), and specifically when placed on the body’s energy centers or chakras, can bring the body’s energy field into alignment with its own vibration; initiating calming, healing, or a myriad of other beneficial states. (Realize that disease happens because the body is not vibrating at its optimum frequency. Crystals can bring that frequency back into balance; thus allowing the body to heal itself).
Another interesting characteristic of crystals is that they can store, transmit, regulate/modify and amplify energy. Marcel Vogel (1917 – 1991) worked with IBM for
27 years, creating the magnetic coating for disc drives and creating LCD (Liquid Crystal Displays) technologies. After retirement from IBM in 1984, Vogel started Psychic
Research Inc. (PRI) where he conducted original research into advanced crystal technologies, and the structuring of water as an information medium.
Vogel’s experiments proved that crystals are powerful information storage, transmission
and amplification systems which could be imprinted and programmed by the human mind. If you think about it, the bones, tissues and cells of the human body are themselves crystalline matrices, with the majority of the body being water. Water is a liquid crystal,
with tremendous information and energy storage potential.
Just think (or read) about the research of Dr. Masaru Emoto, the Japanese scientist who revolutionized the idea that our thoughts and intentions impact the physical realm.
For over 20 years until he passed away in 2014, he studied the scientific evidence of how the molecular structure in water transforms when it is exposed to human words, thoughts, sounds and intentions.
And one more piece of science and I’ll wrap up. Consciousness researchers are now starting to realize (and quantum physicists have known for some time) that everything in
the universe has consciousness. Now, not everything has the same type or level of consciousness. Biological organisms seem to have the “highest” (human term) or most developed form of consciousness, but even rocks, trees, stars and moons have a level
of consciousness. Duh. Shamans and others have known this for millennia.
I guess we’re finally catching up.
I could go on (and on), but I think you get the point. The question now becomes,
can we really continue to doubt that crystals have amazing properties that can
potentially assist humans in becoming happier, healthier and more spiritually enlightened? I think the answer is no.