the world.
A common question about the use of crystals for healing or manifestation is simply this: How do they work? Of course, we can easily see their beauty and intrigue for ourselves, and we don’t need any historical references or ancient artifacts to marvel at them. At the very least, a well-placed crystal can add an element of nature’s gorgeousness to our coffee tables. But how might stones serve a purpose beyond just their aesthetic impact? When and why might we turn to crystals to energize or relax ourselves or to invoke our own sense of wellness? How can a gemstone bring peace, love, abundance, or vitality to ourselves or those we might be trying to help? How can we most effectively use them?
To answer these questions, we can look to energetic principles that ancient spiritual leaders expressed. The flow of energy in the body described by various cultures as prana, chi, qi, aether, or even the “breath of life” demonstrates the movement of energy in the complex web of social interaction and human experience. Underlying that web is a network modern-day scientists call quantum physics or the “laws of conservation of matter and energy,”1 which is connected to how energy moves in and between actions and people. We can also look at present-day medical or healing ideas about wellness and mindfulness; countless studies show that calming the mind can be a very effective treatment for a variety of health conditions. And, of course, we can look at history and philosophy as well as the lore of stones and the conceptual connections we’ve carved out of our experiences with them. Perhaps it is best to start with a simple principle that we believe may govern both the cellular structure of crystals and the cellular structure of our own bodies: the Principle of Vibration.
From a historical and literary viewpoint, this idea was perhaps first identified in the hermetic philosophy of a book called The Kybalion, which first appeared in print in 1908 under the pseudonymous authorship of a mysterious group called the Three Initiates. The book credits the source of its seven principles, including the Principle of Vibration and the Law of Attraction, to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus (thrice-wise), who is thought to have had many incarnations, including Tehuti of Ancient Kemet and Thoth of Egypt. These writings were said to appear on a stone called the Emerald Tablet, creating an immediate connection between these principles and gemstones. Hermeticism itself appeared during the alchemical boom between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries when scientists and philosophers alike took up the mantle of transforming rock into gold. Alchemical texts are steeped in mystical ciphers and symbols that many modern-day philosophers understand as referring not to a chemical process of transmuting one metal into another, but to a spiritual or psychological process of transforming your own energy into a higher state of being. In other words, alchemy is not about discovering the so-called philosopher’s stone but concerns the heroic journey it takes to try to raise the frequency of your own energy and the incredible impact such a journey has on your unique vibration as a person.
The concept of vibrational energy within all matter—even crystals and people—resonates both with religious texts and modern science. The Rig Veda, written around 1100 BCE, is one of the ancient texts of India that continues to influence modern-day Hinduism. It may have been the first known text to introduce the concept of spiritual energy and its vibration in the energy centers known as chakras, connecting this energy to physical bodies and thereby uniting mind, body, and spirit. Various scientists and philosophers from Aristotle to Newton to Einstein have suggested the controversial theory that at a molecular level, all things are in motion. With the appropriate magnification tools, we can now see atomic particles dance within all forms of matter. No matter how dense or solid something may seem, when you run your hand over the nubbly, grainy surface of a hunk of rose quartz, remember that its molecular foundations include the same materials as your own body. And, while science may support the idea that all matter, including all solids, liquids, and gasses, among them those that compose biological beings like people and bees, is composed of twirling, shaking, spinning particles, it is really the basic interaction with that energetic world that unites the human experience. When we resonate with something, our spiritual vibrations are in harmony and we are attuned. This attunement is in keeping with these religious and hermetic principles of vibration and attraction.
Simply put, the Principle of Vibration is the belief that everything—including all things, from the cells inside our bodies to the stars that dapple the night sky—is in motion. Everything moves. Everything vibrates. You may already know about the Law of Attraction, which is essentially the idea that you reap what you sow. If you invest your energy into being kind, you will experience kindness because “like attracts like,” but this is only the start of manifesting wellness.
In a simplified version of the Law of Attraction, our vibration is most effective when it is intentionally set to attract the experiences we desire. Luckily for us, we are each equipped with the ability to read our own vibration and assess where we stand in relation to our goals. We are emotional beings. These feelings tell us where we stand: When we feel “good,” things seem to just go “right,” and when we are feeling “bad,” things just keep getting worse. As you grow and process your own alchemical transformation of self, you can learn to use your emotions to empower yourself and more easily navigate the world. Even the most attuned of us, though, will have those days where we wake up late, rush through our morning routines, hit snarled traffic, spill our coffee on our shirts, and shake our fists in the air in a general state of stress or frustration.
Do you remember the childhood game “hot and cold,” where you closed your eyes and moved around, playing a sort of hide-and-seek with a friend who guided you by yelling “cold” when you moved farther away or “hot” when you were nearer the prize? Emotions are similar in that they tell us how far away we are from what we would wish to manifest through aligning ourselves. In order to move in the direction our emotions may be guiding us toward, we must attune to our own vibration and exercise the principles of the Law of Attraction. Learning to master your vibe is a discipline and practice. The more awareness we bring to the process and the more tools we consciously bring to the experience, such as crystals and gemstones, the easier it is to gain comfort and ease through frequent practice.
One often overlooked aspect of the Law of Attraction is that of perspective. If the emotional compass helps us to know if we are hotter or colder in relation to our goals, then perspective helps us to direct our gaze in the right direction. If we think about the abundance of love, we act from love, and therefore we attract love. If our minds are filled with the “lack of love” because we have a desire for love but no relationship or emotion of love, then we move and act from a place of inadequate resources and we remain in that vibration of “not having.” If we flip this law away from the idea of vibration and view it from a different lens, we approach the concept of each individual’s “gaze.”
Consider that where you look determines what you see. If you are facing a room full of people and you are standing at the same level as all of them, then you only see the tall ones. The short ones are out of view, blocked by the shoulders of the tall ones, and your perspective is limited to what you see. Another way to think about this is the gaze of “focus.” Let’s say you are a babysitter or parent at the park, with your attention hyper-attuned to the children in your care. You watch them jump and play on the playground equipment before moving into a rousing game of tag. Your gaze and your focus are both on the children who are with you, and so you aren’t looking at the children on the other side of the park who have just walked off into the dark forest with no adult supervision. Later, when you realize what happened, you would feel mortified. You’d say, “But I was right there.
I should have seen it. I should have done something.”
This is a great example of how perspective dictates experience. In this scenario, of course you should be looking at the children in your care. The point, though, is that the direction of your gaze determined what you saw. It also determined what you did not see, which was everything else in the park, including the dark forest. The Law of Attraction also includes the idea that we get what we expect to get, and that we base our expectations on what we see. This is important, because our perspective determines things like the love we experience in our lives. We may miss other
