Where Do Crystal Properties Come From?

If you’re familiar with the metaphysical or healing properties that are associated with certain crystals, then chances are you’ve probably wondered at one time or another who assigned them those particular properties and why? The truth is, there is more than one answer. Crystal properties are not only rooted in some history, they also came about through expert intuition and color association as well.

When intelligently used, crystals can help us work with our own hopes, fears, shortcomings and dreams. So it’s no surprise that one of the questions we’re most frequently asked is, “What are the properties of this stone?”

There’s another question that comes hand-in-hand with the previous: Where do crystal properties come from? Who decides what a crystal is good for, and how do they know?

While intuition is part of the answer, it’s far more complicated than that. The history of crystal healing and crystal magic goes back to a time before recorded history, and stones have helped people in every part of the Earth. Our problem in answering customer questions is deciding how to sum up a crystals metaphysical properties, neither ignoring history nor burdening our customers with a book’s worth of information.

Three main sources of information come into play:

1. Historical uses of the stone. In considering crystal properties throughout history and throughout the world, we look for common threads. The Chinese, Persians, and Aztecs may each have a dozen different ideas, but it’s the one they have in common that gives us the most to work with.

2. Intuitive impressions from trusted crystal experts. Here things get a little subjective. Anyone can look at a stone, hold it in their hand, and bring forth intuitive ideas about how it might be used. But how much of that is useful for anyone else, and where do you draw the line between intuition and imagination? There is no easy answer. But over time, certain experts have earned our trust, because many people have found them reliable. And when we compare their advice, again, we look for commonalities.

3. Color associations/magic. Each color in the color wheel is thought to be connected to an area of human experience and health. Simply by looking at a stone, anyone can know certain basic properties if they’re familiar with these color associations.

When we advise people about how to work with a crystal, we’re drawing from all these sources. The hard part isn’t coming up with information, it’s knowing how to put all this knowledge into people’s hands without boggling their minds!

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