( As for now it's in English only - still working on Polish translation )
C: Why are Crystals
special?
DT: They are special
but no more than and no less than any other tool that can be used for
healing. The idea of vibrational healing is that whenever two things
come into contact with each other they interact and affect each
other. This is easy to see when two people or two animals even come
into contact with each other; they interact and affect each other.
This can also take place with many other phenomena.
When a healing tool,
whether that be a crystal, an essence, a rune, an ogham symbol, an
essential oil, a herb etc. comes into contact with us then we are
affected by it. The therapist capitalises on this by choosing the
crystal, herb or oil etc. that can promote health within an
individual. No one really knows how this works but it is thought that
all phenomena whether living things or inanimate objects are made up
of vibrating particles and everything vibrates at a certain speed.
People can become ill if their internal vibrations are out of synch
or imbalanced in some way. By applying something else that has a
vibration such as a crystal the crystals vibration interacts with the
humans vibration to bring it back into balance.
This process works in a
similar way when a potential therapist chooses which tools that they
work with. I work with crystals because there is what is called
resonance between crystals and myself. In the same way as we are
drawn to some people and not by others for no apparent reason, a
therapist will be drawn to some tools and be uninterested in others
for no apparent reason. The theory behind this is that healing tools
have a particular energy or aura if you like, so does the therapist.
When the therapist aura or energy field interacts well with that of a
healing tool then this thing called resonance occurs, the therapist
is drawn to the tool and will be able to understand its language.
When working with
crystals I feel something like a strong chi sensation coming from the
crystal but also coming from myself, sometimes I feel as if I am
physically vibrating. This interaction between myself and the stones
leads to a partnership working that can produce very effective
results if I am healing another person. Of course if the person being
healed also feels this resonance with crystals then the session can
be particularly powerful. do feel a connection
with other healing tools, such as colour for use in colour therapy,
oils for massage, the runic system and the power of sound and I will
often use these in conjunction with crystal therapy producing an
integrated system of healing using whatever tool is most suitable for
the client at that time. Often if I am doing a reflexology session
(and I adore giving a reflexology massage as much as I adore
receiving one) I will also apply a crystal or a colour if it’s
needed so crystals can work holistically within a number of different
therapeutic situations. However, it’s with the crystals that I can
feel the most powerful connection. This is entirely personal to me,
some therapists will connect to colours, herbs and many other tools
which are equally effective and equally special but resonate less for
me.
The theory of resonance like any other theory is all speculation, no
one really knows why a therapist is attracted to one healing tool and
not another or why crystals work as a therapeutic tool. Maybe it is
easier to say that I work with crystals and they are special to me
because I like them, it’s a matter of personal preference and other
people may have the same or different preferences.
C: As for example
different herbs are used for different purposes and to heal different
things - is it the same with crystals? If so, can you give us some
examples - maybe some of your favourite ones?
DT: It is the case that
certain crystals are especially good for certain things but it’s
also important to exercise some caution with being too prescriptive
with how one works with crystals. For example it is the case that an
amethyst crystal can be useful if you are having a therapy session
with a person who has some type of addiction. There is a legend
associated with the amethyst stone involving the god Bacchus the God
of wine. In one version of the tale Bacchus during a particularly bad
hangover made a vow that the next person who crossed his path and
disturbed his recovery he would turn into stone. Clearly this was
some hangover. This was unfortunate for a young woman called Amethyst
who happened to pass his way and in his hangover fuelled anger he
turned the innocent young woman into stone. Bacchus was later sorry
for this and poured wine onto the stone making it its characteristic
purple colour and thus giving the stone the ability to cure
addictions. In other versions of the legend it was the Goddess Diana
who turned the young women into stone to save Amethyst from Bacchus’s
lions. In any case the stone amethyst is renowned for its ability to
help anyone who has an addiction. However, it’s also important to
remember that each individual piece of amethyst is an individual
piece of amethyst and while it may carry the general principles of
being good for addictions one amethyst stone will work very
differently to another, particularly if it comes from a different
part of the world and has grown in different conditions. If you were
to look at crystals in a shamanic way then each individual piece of
stone has its own spirit associated with it making each piece
individual.
In shamanism there are
3 worlds in which a person can travel, the Underworld, the Middle
World and the Upper World, it is in the realm of the Middle World
where you can meet and talk with the spirits of the stones. If you
did this with many different pieces of amethyst and asked the spirit
what healings the stone could help with you would have as many
different answers as there were stones as each stone works
individually with its own unique properties as well as carrying the
general qualities that all amethyst stones will have. This is how
people work, most people have the same general principles we have two
eyes, two arms etc. but no two persons will be the same. That is how
it works with the healing properties of individual crystals.
(Please note if you do
decide to travel to the Middle World to meet the spirits of a stone
you do need to do some research on shamanism first and make sure that
you have met your animal ally in the Under World prior to doing any
other journeying).
It’s also the case
that while you may know what a person’s illness is, an illness can
be a complex thing. For example if someone is having a problem in one
part of their body, such as neck pains it could be because there is
an issue with the hips. So in this case you’d heal the hips not the
neck and choose stones for that, but sometimes we do not know the
underlying cause of an illness and to treat its root cause with
crystals then we need to link with our spirit guides. What happens
when I do healing is that my spirit guides talk to the client’s
spirit guides and then my spirit guides tell me what to so. I choose
crystals not because I know that they are good for this or that, but
because I’m receiving messages from spirit guides that this stone
is needed. I don’t always know why I need to use a stone but having
worked this method for a number of years it’s never let me down so
I trust it. Another way of choosing stones is a method I call
scanning. This means that you put your hand over a number of crystals
and ask your guides to take you to the right one. In a matter of
seconds I can feel my hand being physically pulled towards a certain
crystal and that will always be the right one. Sometimes the crystal
may be a strange one, such as one time I was pulled towards using
rose quartz as a stone for grounding when traditionally grounding
stones are black or red, but I went with it as the pulling sensation
was very clear. Some therapist don’t feel this pulling sensation
when scanning, some feel a heat over the right crystal, others feel
cold but I feel as if my guides are pulling me over the correct
crystal.
Another way of choosing
stones is my using a pendulum and dowsing for the appropriate crystal
which is a method than may crystal therapist’s favour.
So choosing crystals is
something that is done more on a shamanic level when I do healing as
opposed to a prescriptive method of knowing what crystal is good for
what condition and using those stones. I feel that my method gets to
the root cause of the condition so that I’m treating the cause not
the condition. This method also leads to me knowing my individual
stones very well and developing a relationship with them and their
spirits.
There are many good
books that outline what crystals are good for which condition. “The
Crystal Bible” by Judy Hall is one of the most well-known. I also
have a fondness for “Crystal Power, Crystal healing” By Michael
Gienger who looks at how different crystals have different healing
properties according to their crystalline structure. Any book on
crystals written by Sue and Simon Lilly will have excellent
information.
I
do have favourite crystals but these crystals are my favourites
because I have worked with them individually. What I mean by this is
that I cannot say that clear quartz is my favourite crystal but I can
say that my clear quartz crystal wand is one of my favourites.
I have worked with that crystal for many years and it has become my
friend but I may not feel that way about another clear quartz. My
particular piece of clear quartz is good at giving energy; if a
person is low in energy then this crystal will give them a lift. It
also helps to sort confused thoughts and bring clarity. I also have a
rose quartz that is a favourite because that rose quartz has helped
me through some tough times, I do not feel that way about rose quartz
in general, only that piece of rose quartz, as that was the piece of
rose quartz that helped me centre myself having experienced a
difficult time. I have a large piece of selenite that’s a firm
favourite which I have also worked with for many years and it is a
friend to me. All three of these stones communicate with me, more in
feeling/ emotions than thoughts but there is a clear relationship
between myself and those stones.
The general properties
of clear quartz is that it is an amplifier, it can make the energy of
other stones used with it more powerful and it is a good crystal to
use for clearing all forms of negativity. Rose quartz has the general
healing properties of calming difficult emotional situations and
assists with post-traumatic stress or anxiety disorders and selenite
brings mental clarity and is one of the best crystals for space
clearing and can clear blocked or stagnant energy.
But saying that I also
have to admit that I like all labradorite crystals, but not for their
healing properties…..but because they are pretty!
C: When I imagine a
crystal healing session I see crystal being placed on different parts
of the body. What else does the session involves?
DT: A crystal healing
session usually involves placing crystals on and off the body. When
placed on the body common techniques are placing the crystals on
chakra points, on meridian points, or on any part of the body where
the healer picks up an imbalance; for example, placing crystals along
the spine to correct energy imbalances in the back. As I am also an
Ayurvedic practitioner I can use crystals on Marma points in the
body, Marma points are similar to the meridian points but seen in a
slightly different way. Acupressure points can also be used.
When crystals are
placed off the body they can be placed on what is known as the
transpersonal chakras, these are chakras located off the body in ones
auric field. Another method of using crystals off the body is using a
pendulum to clear imbalances in the aura. This is done by placing a
pendulum over parts of the aura and asking the pendulum to clear any
imbalances. When the pendulum picks up an imbalance it starts to
swing and stops swinging when the aura has been cleared. As the aura
has 7 layers, each layer relating to a different aspect of an
individual, the distance you hold the pendulum away from the person
is important. The further you are away from the body the more subtle
the layer of the aura. The more subtle layers are linked to issues of
spirituality and the layers closest to the body are more linked to
current emotional, mental and physical issues. Most therapists would
work about 4-5 inches away from the person’s body to clear the
emotional and mental layers of the aura first before moving onto the
more subtle layers of the aura.
Using different types
of pendulums with different healing stones will lend a different
emphasis to the aura clearing. If for example, you wanted the person
being healed to have a detox a Herkimer diamond would be used in the
pendulum. For a more general clearing clear quartz pendulum can be
used, or if there is a lot of negativity in an aura a stone such as
black tourmaline may be used. Another way of clearing the aura is to
use a crystal wand. The rounded end of the wand can be used to pull
out negative energy and the pointed end to replace that negative
energy with positive energy.
If you know something
about reflexology a crystal wand can be used over the reflex points
in the feet to energise different parts of the body.
Sue and Simon Lilly in
their Book “Crystal Doorways” (and I know I quote them a lot but
I do that because they excel at what they do), discusses different
crystal net layouts that can be used on and off the body. This is an
aspect of crystal therapy I find endlessly fascinating. It involves
putting crystals – some on and off the body so that the crystals
form a grid of energy around the person. The client then stays in
this grid for a length of time before the stones are removed.
Usually I would ask my guides or dowse to be certain of the length of
time a person needs to be in the net. There are many types of crystal
grids that can be used to connect to many different types of energy
but the easiest of these is the Star of David layout. This involves
placing 6 crystal points of the same stone, so you could use 6 clear
quartz crystals, around the client points facing outwards, in a 6
pointed star configuration. I would then dowse or ask my guides for
how long the person needs to be in the net. When the person has been
in the net long enough I will then turn the crystals so the points
are facing inwards and again dowse for the length of time. The
crystals pointing outwards draws out energy imbalances and when they
face in wards they bring in healing energies.
Usually
this is done with 6 stones of the same type, such as 6 quartz or 6
amethysts, however, one time my guides insisted that I use 3 clear
quartz and 3 rose quartz in this layout, so there are few hard and
fast rules in crystal therapy, occasionally the unexpected can
happen. A crystal therapist needs to be able to deal with the
unexpected as a person wanting healing can range from the curious
person who wants to try it out to people with very serious problems.
For these reasons a therapist needs to know what they can and cannot
do, where the limits of their expertise are, and what is available in
their area to refer someone on to if the issues go beyond what they
feel able to deal with.
Occasionally a crystal
therapist may use additional techniques, such as mediation or may use
a combined therapy. As I also do reiki, colour therapy, ayurveda and
reflexology, there are occasions where it may be appropriate to use a
number of techniques from a number of therapies to do an effective
healing. This needs to be discussed with the client first as a person
may not be pleased if they pay for crystal therapy and are given
something else, so it is better to explain to people that you want to
do a combination therapy, why you want to do it and ensure that the
person is happy with this.
I always end a crystal
therapy session by smoothing down a person’s aura which involves
placing a crystal over a client’s head and then moving down to
about 5 inches below their feet and then this is repeated several
times. This ensures that the aura is sealed properly and that no
holes or gaps for negativity to seep through.
Recommended reading
Gienger, Michael,
(2004) “Crystal Power Crystal Healing “ - Cassell Illustrated.
Hall, Judy, (2003) “The
Crystal bible” Godfield Press
Judith, Anodea (2004)
“Eastern Body, Western Mind” -Celestial Arts
Lilly, Simon, (2002)”
Illustrated Elements of Crystal Healing” Harper Collins
Lilly, Sue and Simon
(1997), “Crystal Doorways” –Capall Bann Publishing
Raven, Hazel (2000),
“Crystal Healing The Complete Practitioners Guide” –Raven &
Co Publishing
