Sentient Times Feb/Mar 2007

The Energetic Properties of Crystals

By Robert Simmons

Many readers of this magazine will already be familiar, through experience, with the energetic and spiritual properties of crystals and minerals. Others are likely to be new to all of this. A goodly number from both camps may wonder, as I did, about the how and why of it all. How can something inorganic like a stone affect a living organism, such as me, with an experience I would describe as “energy”? What is crystal energy anyway? How does the experience of stone energies relate to anything spiritual? Why can some people “feel” crystals while others can’t? Where does the information on the energetic properties of stones come from, and why should anyone pay attention to it? During my twenty years of working with stones, I’ve come to accept the fact of crystal energies and the human capacity to consciously experience them, and I’ve developed ideas that provisionally answer some of those persistent questions.

One of the most surprising aspects of the crystal world is its pervasiveness. All solid matter is made up of atomic particles arranged in some definite organized crystalline structure, called a “lattice.” The crystal lattice structure, especially as it is found in minerals such as Quartz, Beryl, Diamond, etc., provides great stability of structure and regularity of flow of any electromagnetic energies that move through it. This is why silicon chips are used to provide memory in computers. It is also the reason Quartz crystals can be incorporated into watches and clocks to provide highly accurate measurements of time.

A property of Quartz and some other minerals which makes them useful in many areas of everyday life is the “piezoelectric” effect. The word piezo is Greek for “push” or “press.” The effect known as piezoelectricity was discovered by brothers Pierre and Jacques Curie in 1880. Crystals which acquire a charge when compressed, twisted or distorted are said to be piezoelectric. Through the piezoelectric effect, mechanical energy can be tran-sduced into electromagnetic energy, and vice versa. The first practical use of piezoelectric crystals goes back to the early 1920s, when the stability of early broadcasting stations was much improved with a crystal oscillator. The Quartz crystal is still used in radios due to its stability as channels are split and narrowed to allow greater use of the radio spectrum. A Quartz crystal microphone reacts to the mechanical pressure (force) from sound waves hitting a crystal, changing the sound energy into electrical impulses which can then be electronically amplified or broadcast.

Other types of crystals, notably Galena and Pyrite, are used in constructing crystal radio receivers. These crystals are able to transduce the electromagnetic energy of the radio signal back into sound waves which are audible to the listener. Crystal radios do not need a battery or other power source, because they are able to draw energy from the radio waves being transmitted through the atmosphere. The crystal radio is simply a tuned circuit designed to resonate at the frequencies of the AM radio band.

These examples demonstrate that certain crystals can act as resonators and transducers of electromagnetic energies. With this principle in mind, it is not too great a leap to imagine that they may be capable of transforming and/or amplifying other forms of energy which have not yet been detected by scientific instruments. It may also be true that the human body and/or human consciousness is capable of detecting, or “feeling,” these energies, especially when one is in touch with the appropriate crystal.

One of the other surprises I encountered in my search for an explanation of stone energies is the crystallinity of living organisms. The DNA molecule present in each cell of all living organisms is itself a hexagonal crystal structure, approximately ten atoms wide by six feet long. Of course, the DNA molecule is intricately folded, in order to fit into the tiny cell nucleus, but if the DNA molecules in a single human body were stretched out to full length and strung together, the distance covered would be 125 billion miles, or about seventy round trips between Saturn and the Sun. Yet the crystal lattice structure of these infinitesimally thin threads, too narrow to reflect light, is so strong that the codes of life which give each organism its form and character have been carried by it through billions of years of evolution.

Biophysicists are now suggesting that the physical bodies of human beings and other organisms are liquid crystals. A liquid crystal is defined as a liquid whose component particles, atoms or molecules, tend to arrange themselves with a degree of order far exceeding that found in ordinary liquids and approaching that of solid crystals. Biophysicist Mae-Wan Ho writes:

“Organisms are so dynamically coherent at the mole-cular level that they appear to be crystalline . . . There is a dynamic, liquid crystalline continuum of connective tissues and extracellular matrix linking directly into the equally liquid crystalline cytoplasm in the interior of every single cell in the body. Liquid crystallinity gives organisms their characteristic flexibility, exquisite sensitivity and responsiveness, thus optimizing the rapid, noiseless intercommunication that enables the organism to function as a coherent, coordinated whole. The organism is coherent beyond our wildest dreams. Every part is in communication with every other part through a dynamic, tunable, responsive liquid crystalline medium that pervades the whole body, from organs and tissues to the interior of every cell.”

Reading this, I began to understand that we are not so different, so separate from the inorganic world of minerals as I had thought. If we ourselves are crystals, composed of coherent structures approaching that of solid crystals, yet retaining the greater flexibility of liquid crystallinity, it is easier to imagine how an energy flow from a stone could be received and perceived by my own mind/body, analogous to the means by which a crystal radio receives the signals from the broadcast tower. And reversing the flow, I could see how focusing one’s intention on a Quartz or other crystal could potentially magnify the force of that intention. Further, the crystal might be capable of holding the pattern of that intention, being “programmed” just like a computer chip. If crystallinity was indeed a property of both stones and humans, our interaction was more plausible than I had realized.

I found two intriguing pieces of scientific information regarding the possible interaction of minerals and living organisms in anthropologist Jeremy Narby’s book, The Cosmic Serpent, which was also the source of the information on DNA’s crystal structure. In discussing DNA, Narby mentions that these living molecules emit photons of light at regular intervals, in a coherence strong enough for them to be compared to an “ultra weak laser.” That in itself reminded me of the crystal radios and their energy-transducing effect, as well as the fact that actual lasers use mineral crystals such as Ruby to focus the beam of light. I wondered, is it possible we have tiny “lasers” in our very cells, and would excitation of the light-producing qualities of DNA account for the phenomenon of the human aura and Light body? And could exposure to certain crystals provide the necessary energy for influencing, altering and/or enhancing the human field? Many people in the metaphysical world of crystals have reported just such experiences.

Narby also recounted the 1923 experiments of Alexander Gurvich, who noticed that cells separated by a Quartz screen mutually influenced each other’s multiplication processes, which was not the case with a metal screen. He deduced that cells emit electromagnetic waves with which they communicate. It took more than half a century to develop a “photomultiplier” capable of measuring this ultra-weak radiation; the container of this device is also made of Quartz. Perhaps the Quartz screen even amplified the energy flow between the cells, or brought the signals into greater coherence. For me, the very fact that living cells emanate electromagnetic energy was another tie to the crystal world. And Narby mentions that all the instruments for measuring biophoton emission—the light given off by DNA-—utilize Quartz.

Narby entered the world of both DNA and crystals through his study of shamanism, particularly that of the Amazon ayahuasqueros, and through that work he developed the hypothesis that DNA itself has a consciousness one might describe as “the mind of the biosphere,” and that this consciousness is somehow also related to crystals. He notes that crystals and other translucent stones have played highly significant roles in the shamanic beliefs of many cultures and were also prominent in Old World alchemy, magic and witchcraft. He also mentions that the Cosmic Serpent itself, which he likens to the minded consciousness of DNA, is viewed by Australian aborigines as the Rainbow Snake, a “cosmic personage . . . whose powers were symbolized by Quartz crystals. It so happens that the Desana of the Colombian Amazon also associate the cosmic anaconda, creator of life, with a Quartz crystal.” In fact, the cosmic anaconda is said to have been guided by “the divine rock.” These linkages of DNA, the mineral kingdom and the divine spirit of creation, reaching around the world and far back in time, opened my eyes to the potentially enormous significance of the stones that I and my customers were so fond of. The spiritual potentials that many believe can be unlocked within us through the use of stones seemed more possible if, through them, as the shamans reported, we might be able to connect with the source of life energy itself.

The idea of conscious linkage through the use of crystals with the source of life—the Divine—is by no means new. Indigenous cultures in both North America and Burma have believed clear Quartzes to be living entities and presented them with food as ritual offerings. Crystal balls brought back by the Crusaders were said to possess magical powers. In Scotland and Ireland, spheres of rock crystal were long used to cure diseases in cattle. In past cultures of Central and South America, Quartz crystals carved into the shapes of human skulls were venerated as powerful religious objects—the dwellings of deceased ancestors or gods.

The ancient Japanese, who revered dragons in their creation myths, believed Quartz was formed from the breath of a white dragon. To them, Quartz represented perfection, which, though unattainable, was worthy of pursuit. Quartz played instrumental roles in the rain rituals of Native Americans and Australian aborigines. The Egyptian goddess Isis was said to protect the dead with a Carnelian amulet named Thet. Greek mythology extols Amethyst as a stone capable of granting spiritual protection from intoxication and also speaks of Garnet as a stone that can, through divine influence, heal emotional rifts between lovers.

There are numerous other tales of the benevolent supernatural properties of stones in world mythology. The examples above are presented to demonstrate that throughout history humanity has held an awareness that certain stones offer access to spiritual beings and Divine energies. Today’s widespread interest in the metaphysical properties of stones has picked up many of these old threads and is beginning to weave them into a tapestry of deeper understanding.

Robert Simmons is co-author of the new best selling, award winning, The Book of Stones: Who They Are & What They Teach.