CRYSTAL HEALING for fun and profit

THE CASE

Crystal Therapy

Crystal Therapy uses crystals selected for specific characteristics or wavelength to treat a wide range of mental and physical conditions. It is based on a belief that the body has an energy field that can be influenced by the placement of specific crystals on specific body points. This energy field is often considered to be the same as the "aura" of the body and it's image is what is supposed to be captured by Kirlian photography. Exactly what Kirlian photograpy captures is problematic, but it has been extensively researched and can easily be explained without using the concepts of "life force" and "aura".

"Like us, the Earth is enlivened by life force. As the Earth was forming, life energy was infused into the planet’s crystalline matrices. Thus, the Earth’s gemstones came to embody and express the life force within the planet."

There is a whole industry built around the unproven concept that different crystals have different healing properties. There is not a shred of evidence that:

Amber
Lifts heaviness. Amber is great at lifting the heaviness of burdens -- allowing happiness to come through.

or

Green Fluorite
Balances Hormones. This stone has been helpful with hormonal changes such as PMT and menopause.

or

Tourmaline
Promote male balance and physical healing. It is not recommended for females, use emerald or aventurine instead.

Who writes this stuff? What happened to the poor old Enlightenment?

Electrocrystal Therapy

Electrocrystal Therapy (EleCT) is a late 20th century extension of Crystal Therapy. It was developed by British biologist Harry Oldfield in the 1980s. Working outside his original field of expertise, he extended Kirlian photography into a computer imaging technique he calls Polycontrast Interference Photography (PIP). This creates images of the body's "energetic field".

Following PIP and Electrocrystal Scanning:

"A rebalancing session consists in placing various tubes of crystals on the subject's body, while he/she is comfortably seated and relaxed, for about one hour. After the first appointment, sessions are usually given once a week, and the scanning is repeated once a month or more frequently if necessary.

There is no standard length of time required to complete the rebalancing program; each person is unique and responds differently, depending on his/her history. However, immediate benefits are almost always felt. The degree of balance achieved largely depends on one's commitment towards a long-term energy realignment and maintenance."

Apparently the treatment involves an electromagnetic generator attached to conducting tubes filled with specific types of crystals. These tubes are applied to the body, and some sort of energy is transmitted through them. As with Crystal Therapy it is purported that various types of crystals have different effects on the body. Exactly who decided which crystals do what and how is a mystery. But Electrocrystal Therapy aims to achieve better health by rebalancing the energy fields.

There is absolutely no evidence that:
1. We have an aura or energy fields apart from the four fundamental and measurable forces of physics
2. If we do have energy fields that they can get out of balance
3. Crystals can rebalance these theoretical energy fields

As usual with this type of pseudo-science, the proponents unquestioningly accept the traditional physics, chemistry and medicine that suits them, and reject the bits that don't.

Both Crystal Therapy and Electrocrystal Therapy owe a lot to traditional Tantric texts. Apparently there are supposed to be a number of "chakra points" in the body from which our psychic forces flow. "Chakra" comes from the Sanskrit "cakram" meaning wheel. In Crystal Therapy, crystals of appropriate color and energy may be placed at specific chakra points on the body to energize and to cleanse. Here is one set of chakras and the "useful" stones.
You will note that the order of the colours represents the rainbow, red orange yellow green blue indigo and violet.

Root Chakra – jasper, garnet, onyx, rubies
Second Chakra (womb) – hematite, moonstone
Third Chakra (solar plexus) – citrine, amber, topaz
Fourth Chakra (heart) – rose quartz, Chinese fluorite
Fifth Chakra (throat) – aquamarine, turquoise
Sixth Chakra (third eye) – sapphire, turquoise, amethyst
Seventh Chakra (crown) – clear quartz or amethyst

Again who writes this stuff? Where is the evidence?

MY VERDICT

There is no evidence base for these techniques, neither the safety nor the efficacy have been independently or thoroughly scientifically tested.

It is hard to think of any way that Crystal Therapy could be unsafe, excepting that ill persons may delay seeking medical help.

As Electrocrystal Therapy uses electromagnetic, electronic and electrical equipment the risks are not as clear and safety needs to be more thoroughly studied. Certainly ill persons should not rely on this therapy and delay seeking medical help.