about crystals

[Thementalloadisreal]

Am I being unreasonable (or perhaps just mean / unsupportive / a bad friend) or is my friend being unreasonable here?

My friend has recently got into crystals. She has a fairly large collection of different ones and recently showed me them all and told me what they do. She carries them around with her, sleeps with them etc. She thinks that they have different energies and can affect her mood, mindset, confidence, etc.

I said I’m glad they make you feel that way but to me they feel like a silly distraction for women / girls (and some men to be fair) to spend their money on shiny shit that doesn’t actually do anything.

I feel bad that I upset her and its made me think that I was unreasonable - I’ve done some reading and it does seem to be that certain rocks / crystals have different qualities - maybe I was too quick to judge?

YABU - crystals are a real thing and affect human energy (and you were rude to your friend!)

YANBU - its a load of old codswallop and your friend should stop buying pretty stones and save her money

I have some very large natural citrines which I find mesmerising. When I put my hand on them, I do feel a kind of electricity and sometimes a sensation like a jolt of energy.

In India, the belief that different crystals align with the various chakras is thousands of years old. Have a look into it OP? Citrine works with the solar plexus (just below ribs) to bring the golden energy of the sun in. I find it very uplifting snd I'm just drawn to it. Pink amethyst is very calming and beautiful - works with the heart chakra. Purple amethyst is for the third eye - spirituality. Clear quartz for the crown chakra - enlightenment. Aquamarine is the throat chakra and can help with unblocking your 'voice', communication and expression. In many people, one or more chakras can become blocked - meaning emotional or physical illness in the long run.

Billions of people worldwide meditate in all kinds of ways and crystals can aid focus. Nothing wrong with that. Keep an open mind and never knock what you haven't tried!

Tell her to do some research into just how those lovely shiny crystals are mined. About the slave labour, about the children working in difficult dangerous conditions, about the drug and terrorist links and the environmental damage the mining causes.

Then tell her about the lung damage from the carving and polishing, tasks often carried out by women and children and see if she still feels the same about the pretty stones.

PS- "ethical" is a pretty fiction that retailers attach to the stones. Unless you collect them yourself (as I do) or buy in person from the mine, you have no idea where they come from and the wholesalers will tell you what you want to hear.

I don't think they have any inherent magic or power but they can be fascinating to look at. I think that why some are drawn to them, some of us find benefit in talismans, symbols & rituals.
I have a small collection of crystal balls, I like to gaze into them and let my eyes go out of focus (no visions yet!)

As a qualified crystal healer, I suggest people look into the actual healing properties of crystals, before declaring them bullshit!

As a qualified crystallographer, I suggest people look into how crystals are actually playing a part in the advancement of medicine, it's way cooler. (Grow crystals of proteins of interest, shine x-rays through them - the diffraction pattern allows you ... well, computers doing a lot of hard maths ... to deduce their precise 3-d structures, then do a lot more calculations and modelling to understand how they work and design drugs).

So for the OPs question
My question is, is it a belief system, eg. I feel happier because I have this crystal in my bra. Like a placebo effect?
Or is it a science - this crystal has X properties for these reasons and that can affect X Y Z , for instance?

What your friend is doing with mineral crystals is the former. Aesthetically pleasing objects which may well have a strong placebo effect.

What I described is the latter.

Yes it was rude. Likely not the first time either.

Do you go to church with a friend and then tell them it's all a bunch of rubbish?

I’ve studied crystallography , the scientific study of crystals . It’s a fascinating subject learning all their physical and optical properties, their chemical composition, crystal systems and habits and so on . Crystal healing is a load of vooo dooo with absolutely no science behind it . But it does have the placebo effect . So what ever floats their boats so be it . I guess the multi million dollars made off it keeps it going . But you were rude to your friend .

I sell fine jewellery (and sometimes crystal figurines) and if they had any healing properties I’d be a millionaire. It is all rubbish but I agree you were a bit rude I’m afraid. But when you apologise, be understanding but not encouraging about the crystals or she’ll talk about them all the time and it’ll be really frustrating for you as a non-believer (I had this with an ex).

I find it similar to astrology in that it’s a nice idea but it’s just made up stuff aimed at people who are looking for something to believe in

Citrine works with the solar plexus to bring the golden energy of the sun in. Interesting! Ultra-violet, infra-red, x-ray, gamma, radio, or just the 'yellow' part (570–580 nm) of the visible spectrum?

Hmmmm , if you say so .

Wow you told her OP!

You were rude and patronising, and your silly 'b' response is condescending as hell.

I would say apologise unconditionally but hopefully she's blocked you.

You were very rude. If you value the friendship you should apologise.

Why don't doctors use them instead of actual medicine then?

You don't give any alternative for those of us with an open mind.

I really don't much more about crystals apart from how pretty they are and a friend of mine who told me he can't go near a crystal store as they affect very badly.

To be fair, doctors often say they wish they were allowed to prescribe placebos - because they work so well! A bit of self-hypnosis is cheaper than crystals, and so are herbal teas. But crystals are prettier 😉

Fab. Please tell me which crystals will cure my Epilepsy and Crohn's Disease. Oh I also have a serious issue with my gallbladder, which is under my ribcage, will rubbing citrine on it prevent me needing surgery?

To everyone who’s voted YABU so far, are crystals a “real” thing?? Should I be reading up on it?
Or do you mean I was rude and should have nodded along even tho it is BS.

I only learned this from a trip to the national history museum (there's a whole section on crystals) but there is some science behind it. Crystals have a perfectly even molecular structure, it's quite interesting when you look into it. This is why they grow in certain shapes too, because the structure repeats over and over. It is my understanding that the belief around crystals energy is to do with the fact that these molecules have a steady vibration and people believe that vibrational energy can transfer.

*'If crystals did anything it would have been studied, harnessed and commercialised by large businesses' @TinySaltLick
*
They have, quarts has been used in watches and radios for years, hence quarts watches:

'Quartz crystals are formed when silica dioxide molecules bond together in a specific pattern. That molecular formation makes quartz crystals incredibly stable, and this stability makes them ideal for use in watches. When electricity passes through a quartz crystal, it vibrates at a precise frequency.'

Ib addition to the above, people have believed in crystals for as long as believing in god. Look at the Egyptians putting crystals on top of pyramids. I think you should be kinder to your friend. There's a lot of bad opinions on crystals but at least there's SOME science around it unlike other beliefs.

You were not nice to your friend.

Personally I don't think sleeping near crystals will do anything but she is right that crystals do have properties.

Many (maybe all) crystals have piezoelectric properties. This means if you put them under pressure they will emit tiny amounts of electricity conversely they have invers piezoelectric properties so if you apply electricity to them they change shape slightly.

THis is why you find crystals in things like watches (quartz which vibrates at exactly 32768 times per second when you apply electricity to it) and ultrasound transducers.

If you have worn a quartz watch or had an ultrasound (most if not all of us have) you have used crystals.

How is this complex? Personally I think it’s a load of bollocks but that doesn’t give you the right to denigrate something a friend is into. They are not hurting you, so just smile politely and say something like ‘well, it certainly agrees with you’. How hard is this?

Yes, you need to apologise but you don’t need some qualifier, just say sorry you were rude. Ffs.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

"Some crystals are very good and beneficial to our bodies in the right amounts. Sucrose and sodium chloride for example.

Touching rocks for woo is weapons grade bollocks however."

You are my new hero

There are no ethical cyrstals as they are a non renewable resource - any more than you can dig up ethical lithium or oil!

This is an excellent article, thanks for sharing. I knew was aware of the issue to an extent, but not the detail.

OP I agree with you personally - that it's a load of woo nonsense and far from harmless from the mining aspect, but I wouldn't have ridiculed a friend. I would be more likely to share this article and discuss. I do think the comparison to religion is valid. I accept that people have beliefs that are not my own and respect them even though I don't agree.

Just say sorry for being rude.
Then stop talking about crystals.

Regardless of the crystals you were extremely rude. I don't knock anything, and they probably do have certain properties, just look at other things like Eastern Medicine, hypnotherapy etc

Copper and other metals can have an effect on the body, so I suppose crystals may not be that more far-fetched?

You were just unkind for no reason really, she's found something she enjoys and you were just nasty about it.

Doesn't matter what you believe, you don't sound like a nice friend to me.