Quartz Crystals Explained

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        WHAT DO QUARTZ CRYSTALS DO?

How do crystals actually "work?"  What do quartz crystals do?  To begin with, let's look at the geology of quartz crystal.  Hundreds of millions of years ago when the earth was still forming the geothermal activity produced crystals of all kinds, based on elements in the environment.  In the case of quartz, the building blocks are Silicon and two Oxygen atoms.  The chemical formula which is the basis of quartz is SiO2.  No, crystals are not rocks.  Rocks are amorphous and have no distinctive qualities, whereas crystals are very specific.  The definition of a crystal is "a solid substance having a natural geometrically regular form with symmetrically arranged plane faces."  That definition is rather precise.  Different crystals will have different 'symmetrically arranged plane faces' and this is how you can always tell each species from another.  Quartz crystals will always have six sides and six faces whereas garnets will have twelve or twenty four sides and tourmaline will have three sides and seven faces at the termination.  These regular crystal forms (or 'habits') are an easy way of identifying crystals in a family.  

As we explore quartz crystals, we see that as long as there is silicon and oxygen in the environment, they will continue to grow.  Perhaps at some time in their life, these elements are no longer available: when that happens the crystal stops growing until the reintroduction of the elements.  So the more silicon and oxygen consistently in the environment will give us larger crystals.  If there is a small amount then we get a smaller crystal.

That's all well and good, but how do they actually work?  Well folks, we remember from science class that nothing is really solid; it's just a bunch of atoms tightly packed vibrating really fast which gives the illusion of something being solid.  This vibration is called a frequency.  Different crystal families have different vibrational frequencies.  Usually we can't see the energy dispersed by these crystal frequencies but Seymon Kirlian discovered a way to photograph energy emanating from all organic matter.  

He photographed what we now call the "aura" of organic items.  The aura is the energy emitted.  This energy emission was crucial in Marcel Vogel's radio experiments using quartz crystals to provide energy as well as his investigation into early computer energy and storage issues.  Without these scientific breakthroughs, your quartz movement watch wouldn't exist, our computers wouldn't work and our radios would never stay on one channel.  

During his experiments Vogel became convinced that quartz crystals were a different kind of life form, emitting different frequencies capable of doing different things.  Though you can't see this energy, you can feel it.  I guarantee it.  Take a quartz crystal and point it at one of your palms.  If nothing happens, try the other palm.  What is happening is that the energy emitted by the crystal through the termination is activating your palm chakra.  You may feel heat, cold or a pulse.  The palm in which you feel the most is called your receiving hand.  This is the chakra that receives energy from your environment.  

Putting all this together; the frequency, vibration and energy of different stones and crystals together for therapeutic purposes is the province of the crystal healer which takes years of study. 

Clear quartz is made of Silicon and two atoms of Oxygen.  It is pure SiO2.  

However, what happens when another element appears in the environment while the crystal is growing?  If trivalent iron is in the growing environment, these atoms will intersperse with those of the growing crystal and turn the clear quartz into a beautiful shade of purple. This is how we get amethyst.  It's chemical formula is SiO2 + Fe3.  

Now that the additional element of iron is added and the color is naturally changed to purple, it's vibrational frequency changes.  Now it resonates to the crown chakra energy center of the human being.  

If regular iron is in the environment, the crystal turns a shade of yellow and we have citrine.  It's formula is SiO2 + Fe.  Likewise, the yellow color now changes the frequency to resonate with the solar plexus energy and the secondary crown chakra color of gold.

When magnesium or titanium enter the environment, our crystal turns a lovely shade of pink and rose quartz is born.  This pink color emits a frequency corresponding to that of the heart chakra.

When a crystal is growing in an environment where there is natural radiation (perhaps radon gas or uranium crystals are nearby) our crystal turns a shade of brown.  Depending on the amount of natural radiation the crystal is exposed to, the shade of brown will be lighter or darker and we have smokey quartz.  This life exposure to radioactivity (not harmful to humans) is an indication of what smokey quartz does, which we've discussed at length.

So now you know how crystals are born, what causes the different colors of the quartz crystal family and you can experiment with feeling the energy emitted by the different members of the quartz family.   Different colors emit different vibrations which resonate with different energy centers of the human being.  Remember the colors of the chakras and that 'like goes with like.'  A pink or green crystal or stone will resonate to the heart center and a blue crystal or stone will resonate with the throat center, etc.  Each crystal and stone has a job to do and is literally programmed into it at its birth.

Remember dear readers, if you have any topics you'd like me to cover, just let me know via email (to the right) and I will make a special blog post about your topic. 

Crystal Blessings,

Crystal Guyde