A Skeptic’s Guide to Using Crystals

I love crystals. 

I love the way they look, I love the way they feel, I love all their different sizes, colours and textures… basically, I’m a little bit crystal obsessed.

What’s interesting though is that even though I have this ever-expanding crystal collection, and they often feature prominently in my spiritual practice and witchcraft, I don’t necessarily always use crystals in the same ways that most people within alternative spiritual communities do.

Though most people who use crystals in their spiritual practice do so because of the metaphysical or healing properties associated with them (such as their ability to cure illness, alleviate pain, or encourage a shift in mental states), I don’t typically tend to believe that crystals actually have the inherent ability to bring about such things, and therefore don’t generally use them as such.

So while I love crystals for a variety of reasons, I have a hard time accepting that holding a chunk of amethyst to my temple will relieve my migraine, or that keeping blue lace agate in my pocket will help boost my confidence and speaking abilities at a conference.

This opinion regarding crystals is undoubtedly an unpopular one among most Pagans and witches, and most people I know within the community would likely counter my skeptical position with numerous examples of times that crystals really have worked for them in one way or another, whether in terms of healing, or evoking a particular feeling or sensation. And while I don’t doubt anyone’s personal experiences with crystals, and certainly would never presume to say that they’re wrong in their beliefs, I thought I would share some of the ways that I approach crystals as a skeptic. 

This post is for anyone who might be curious about how I come at crystal use, or who may be looking for different ways to use them themselves, whether or not you believe in their metaphysical and healing properties.

So, here you have a Skeptic’s Guide to Witchcraft: Crystal Edition!

How Crystals Supposedly Work

In The Crystal Bible, Judy Hall describes how crystal healing works:

“Crystals heal holistically. That is to say, they work on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels of being. The realign subtle energies and dissolve dis-ease, getting to the root cause. Crystals work through vibration, rebalancing the biomagnetic sheath that surrounds and interpenetrates the physical body and activating linkage points to the chakras that regulate the body’s vibrational stasis. By bringing chakras back into balance, many states of physical and psychological dis-ease can be ameliorated.”

Crystal healing is based on the premise that everything within the cosmos is composed of energy—that on a fundamental level, everything comes down to vibration. As such, tapping into the specific positive vibrations of crystals can affect us on an energetic level, and can in turn be healing for the body, mind, and soul. They can help with physical ailments, such as sore joints or sickness, they can aid with mental issues, such as anxiety or depression, and they can be used for spiritual purposes, such as opening the third eye or tapping into intuition in order to incite great personal transformation. 

Basically, crystals can do it all (and more).

Many advocates of crystal healing (like Judy Hall) make reference to a variety of scientific phenomena and concepts in order to explain how exactly crystals are able to do such amazing things. They allude to concepts like quantum physics and theories of energy transfer, entrainment and the synchronization of energy fields, as well as bioscalar waves, and the patterns of energy movement to back up their position—most of which is completely over my head. 

However, despite these technical explanations, most doctors and scientists see crystal healing as nothing more than pseudoscience. There have been no credible studies that demonstrate that crystals can be used to cure illness, and no studies to show that the specific geometric composition or colour of crystals can be used for particular purposes, such as helping with sleep issues or inspiring creativity. 

Although there may be many personal stories of people whose back pain was cured by using selenite, or who experienced a third eye awakening meditating with an amethyst point, it seems that genuine scientific evidence regarding the healing power of crystals remains nonexistent. 

Crystals and Fluid Beliefs

But, while personally my rational brain may not be convinced that crystals necessarily have these inherent healing powers, or the ability to alter my biomagnetic field in very specific ways, that doesn’t mean that I completely disregard these alleged metaphysical qualities altogether.

As I wrote in the first post of this Skeptic’s Guide to Witchcraft series, if we are to truly understand the magical and the occult, the metaphysical and the spiritual, then we must take these things within their own framework of knowledge, one that extends beyond the harsh boundaries of rationality and hard science. 

The worlds of magic and science are two distinct, yet overlapping and intertwining versions of reality that do not need to be antithetical to one another. Rather, they can exist in harmony, as it is possible to hold two seemingly contested beliefs about reality at once. For some, this is a means of using belief as a tool, altering modes of thought and suspending disbelief within particular contexts in order to benefit from it in some way. It can be spiritually and personally transformative to release scientific notions of “objective truth” and black-and-white pictures of reality for a time to embrace a magical worldview.

So, when it comes to how I use crystals, I am both a skeptic and a believer. 

On the one hand, I don’t believe that crystals actually have these incredible metaphysical properties that can cure illness and enhance performance. On the other hand, I sometimes do use crystals in many of the same ways that actual believers do—I cleanse them, charge them, keep amethyst by my bed to promote relaxation, meditate with tourmaline to promote grounding, have citrine on my desk to inspire creativity, and of course, house a number of assorted crystals on my altar and within my sacred space. 

I do all of this because yes, sometimes I actually do believe that crystals do have specific energies that genuinely can affect mental, physical, and spiritual states. 

From a magical perspective, it doesn’t really matter whether explanations for the power of crystals are scientifically accurate or mere pseudoscience. What matters is experience—and these objective/evidence-based criteria simply aren’t all that important within a magical framework. 

The Life and Agency of Crystals

I think it is important to note here however that just because from a scientific point of view, crystals may not have these metaphysical qualities, or specific inherent healing properties, that does not in fact mean that they don’t have any effect on us at all. On the contrary, crystals, like other material objects, have the potential to influence our thoughts, feelings, and experiences in profound ways, regardless of whether we believe in the influence of their energetic fields or not. 

Why? Because as physical beings ourselves, we are affected by our material environments in more ways than we would often care to admit.

In his book Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, David Abram (author, philosopher, and cultural ecologist extraordinaire) writes about the inherent affinity that exists between humans and the material landscape, and how from mountains and trees to peoples and worn books, we are similar to all things because of our physicality, our being-in-the-world.

He notes that when we let go of hierarchies that we have created to structure the world in terms of spirit vs. matter, and accept that within our animal bodies we are but physical things among other things, “we find ourselves not above, but in the very midst of this living field, our own sentience part and parcel of the sensuous landscape.” From this perspective, we can see that the inert matter around us is not passive at all, but necessarily active in its own way—objects are alive in terms of their interactions with the surrounding environment, including us within it. 

To illustrate this point, Abram writes: 

“Each thing organizes the space around it, rebuffing or sliding up against other things; each thing calls, gestures, beckons to other beings or battles them for our attentions; things expose themselves to the sun or retreat among the shadows, shouting with their loud colours or whispering with their seeds; rocks snag lichen spores from the air and shelter spiders under their flanks; clouds converse with the fathomless blue and metamorphose into one another… Things ‘catch our eye’ and sometimes refuse to let go; they ‘grab our focus’ and ‘capture our attention,’ and finally release us from their grasp only to dissolve back into the overabundant world. Whether ecstatic or morose, exuberant or exhausted, everything swerves and trembles; anguish, equanimity, and pleasure are not first internal moods but passions granted to us by the capricious terrain.”

Essentially, the Universe is alive, and its pulse comes through in all material things, whether natural or man-made. 

The affinity between our physical bodies and material objects as they exist together in “that mute layer of bare existence” gives rise to a deeply felt connection between self and world, demonstrating how materiality itself can have a significant impact on human experience and cognition. For when we conceive of reality as materials in flux, dynamic energetic patters, and the very life pulse of being, the distinction between active subjects and passive objects disappears, and underneath we can see that it is all one and the same. 

Objects then, have their own agency brought about by their physical presence, their being, and the relationships that they create and mediate. Crystals are no exception, and are in their own way an expression of the universal pulse, with their own vibrancy and life that is oh so attractive to many of us. 

With their sparkling, colourful beauty crystals have a special ability to grab our attention, to captivate us, to evoke emotion and inspire imagination. They reach out to us, speak to us, and have an undeniable power over us.

Choosing Crystals

We can see the agency of crystals specifically in the way that for many of us, it seems as though when we visit an occult shop or browse shelves of gemstones, it is very often the crystal that seems to choose us, rather than the other way around (much like how in Harry Potter “the wand chooses the wizard,” for us, the crystal chooses the witch!). 

Writing about choosing a crystal at the shop, Judy Hall posits that “the crystal that speaks to you will be right.” That interaction there is an expression of the crystal’s own agency—it’s ability to draw you in and speak out to you. 

Without needing to refer to pseudoscientific theories or biomagnetic fields, we can see here how crystals are powerful in their own right, meaningful in their mere existence, and in the interactions they manifest.

So, while I may not always believe in the literal healing power of crystals, or that they can influence vibrational frequencies in such nuanced ways, I do think that crystals, like other material objects, can have significant effects on our thoughts, feelings, behaviours, etc.—not because of the metaphysical properties they may or may not have, but because of their physical existence and life force. 

This life force is of course something that all material things have, but we have given crystals special significance in this regard, having associated them for millennia with the sacred and the spiritual. 

Using Crystals as a Skeptic

Keeping this notion of the life force or agency of crystals in mind, along with their associated spiritual significance, I would like to share a few of the ways that I use crystals within my spiritual practice and daily life as someone who doesn’t always believe in the energetic/healing frameworks typical of crystal use within witchy and spiritual communities. 

Basically, this is how I use crystals as a skeptic.

Within this skeptical context, there is nothing necessarily irrational or “woo woo” about collecting and using crystals for the purpose of spiritual experience and/or personal transformation. On the contrary, I think using crystals in certain ways can actually be quite practical, and does not have to be necessarily magical or metaphysical to be highly meaningful.

So, here we have the top six “non-magical” ways that I use crystals as a skeptic!

1. The Placebo Effect

In a study designed to test the effectiveness of crystals at altering mental and physical states, a group of research participants were given either a piece of quartz or a piece of glass made to look like quartz (the placebo) to hold, and report on how they felt after meditating with it for a little while.

Some participants in the study were told that they should expect to feel sensations like tingling, heat, vibrations, etc., while others weren’t told anything at all. Interestingly, results show that those who were told they would feel something were much more likely to report actually feeling these kinds of sensations than those who weren’t told anything—regardless of whether they were given the actual quartz or the piece of glass.

In particular, individuals who reported that they generally believe in things like alternative medicine and other metaphysical phenomena were also much more likely to feel vibrations or whatever emanating from the crystal—even if what they’d been holding wasn’t actually a crystal at all.

This goes to show that people experience what they expect to experience. In this study, it wasn’t the actual crystal that mattered, but rather, what they thought about the crystal.

Basically, if people believe that something like a crystal might make them feel a certain way, then it just might do so, regardless of any inherent healing powers it may or may not have.

We often talk about the placebo effect like it’s a bad thing—like a psychological reaction to something is far inferior to a genuine physical or direct response to it. But I’m of the opinion that the placebo effect can be just as significant, and just as meaningful as a more “real” response to something. It goes back to the idea that belief can be used as a tool, wherein allowing yourself to believe in something like the healing powers of a stone may actually improve your life in some way.

If keeping a chunk of fluorite on your desk really does help you focus, or meditating with amethyst really does help you de-stress after a long day, then who cares if it’s “all in your head,” or whether it’s actually the vibrations of the crystal causing some kind of shift in your own energetic field?

Results are results, and as a skeptic, I am personally quite happy to welcome the power of the placebo effect into my spiritual practice.

2. Meaning Placeholders

Regardless of whether you’re a true believer in the power of crystals or a straight-up skeptic, crystals nonetheless have the potential to be highly meaningful objects.

For many of us witches and spiritual seekers, much of the power of crystals lies in the fact that they are often important correspondences—standing in for other things and ideas. Correspondences in witchcraft are basically groups of things (like colours, symbols, numbers, deities, celestial bodies, etc.) into sets that are associated with a particular energy, attribute, or intention. So crystals, like things such as coloured candles, types of incense, sigils, etc., are used in ritual and magick for their ability to stand in for these more abstract ideas.

As I explored in my post on tools and correspondences in witchcraft, correspondences add layers of meaning to our lives, and allow us to “offload” complex thoughts onto tangible things that exist within our environment.

For instance, if you associate aventurine with luck and prosperity as many people do, then incorporating the stone into your practice can evoke all that prosperity means to you—whether that’s making bank at work, or being surrounded by a big, loving family.

And the thing is, it can mean this to you regardless of whether you believe that there’s something about its vibrational energy that actually manifests some form of prosperity in your life, or if you basically just think it’s a pretty rock.

Why? Because we project our thoughts and feelings onto the world around us, and they in turn reflect them back.

Crystals, like other correspondences and objects, become mirrors for the mind, reflecting will, focusing intention, and narrowing down big ideas into small, easily digestible chunks.

So, even if you believe that aventurine doesn’t inherently have anything to do with luck or prosperity, if you nonetheless decide to associate it with that, then overtime it really will take on that meaning for you. As such, the crystal can become an important (and gorgeous) symbolic representation of a particular thought, emotion, intention, or attribute, and using it, whether in ritual or in daily life, can help you manifest whatever that may be.

3. Triggers for Magical Consciousness

Tools, correspondences, and other objects can be effective “triggers” for establishing a sense of the kind of magical consciousness that is so essential to ritual and witchcraft. (Again, this is something that I explored in a previous post that I recommend you read if you’re interested in the subject!)

Like many Pagans and witches, I’m of the opinion that if you really want to get the most out of a ritual, spell, or basically any other spiritual practice, it’s important to get into the right mindset first—letting the limiting boundaries of everyday consciousness fade away as you move into a more intuitive, imaginative, and magical mode of thinking and being.

Contrary to this consciousness shift taking place solely within the internal mind, I believe that it also occurs within the embodied and extended mind. Basically, our environment, and our physical engagement with it has an important impact on how we think, feel, and perceive, and can play a significant role in taking us out of everyday linear forms of thought, and instead inspiring non-ordinary, altered, or magical forms of consciousness.

Crystals, then, as components of our environment that many of us associate with the spiritual or the witchy, can help us trigger these altered or magical states of mind as we enter into ritual or prepare to cast a spell—and there’s nothing necessarily “woo woo” about it.

If we come to associate crystals (who in all their sparkling, colourful glory seem almost ethereal in their beauty) with magic, spirit, or the sacred, then it makes sense that by keeping them on the alter or incorporating them into ritual, they evoke a sense of magical consciousness, awakening intuitive and imaginative aspects of the psyche typically masked by everyday forms of thought.

When I gaze at the crystals on my altar, or hold them in my hands as I prepare to begin a ritual, I’m always amazed by their power to transport me out of the mundane world of my bedroom and into a dimension of magic and the holy. Their beauty seems to transcend the ordinary, placing me firmly within the realm of the extraordinary and the fantastical. They open me up to a world where anything is possible—not because of whatever energetic qualities they may have, but because of the magic that I have come to associate with them.

They are spiritually meaningful to me because of the range of emotions, memories, and notions of the numinous and the magical that I connect them with, and that they are able to trigger within me.

4. Exploring the Unconscious

If we approach the use of crystals in witchcraft from a psychological perspective, drawing on the psychological model of magick (a model that appeals to many witchy skeptics because of its understand that magic is a product of the unconscious mind used for personal transformation—nothing “woo woo” about it), then we can see that crystals can in fact be an excellent tool for exploring the depths of the psyche, and getting to know yourself better.

This kind of self-discovery can start, for instance, when you’re at your local occult shop picking out some stones for your collection. Ask yourself: which ones are you drawn to? How do they make you feel? Are there any particular emotions, memories, or sensations that they evoke? You could also try meditating with a crystal and asking yourself these questions—not necessarily to get to know the crystal, but rather, to get to know yourself.

Again, we project ourselves onto our surrounding environments in interesting and mysterious ways—and if we look closely enough, we may be able to see ourselves looking back, reflected by the world around us. By studying these reflections, we stand to learn a great deal about ourselves.

Crystals can therefore be mirrors for the soul, showing us things we may have difficulty seeing otherwise, helping us chart unknown depths of the psyche or acting as reminders of parts of ourselves we may have forgotten.

Similarly, certain crystals can also be used for scrying, which is generally a form of divination where you look into a reflective surface, often a dark mirror, in order to see visions of what’s to come. A crystal ball works great for this, as does a crystal with a flat, smooth surface. Gaze into it, allowing your focus to become distorted and your vision blurred, and try to clear your mind, ridding it of any mental blocks. Open yourself up to any messages that may come through.

However, instead of looking for images, visions, or signs that might help you predict the future, look for signs of the here and now—signs that rise up from the unconscious in attempt to reveal you to yourself.

As a spiritual skeptic, scrying isn’t about divining the future, but rather much more of a psychological exercise, a way of exposing previously hidden thoughts and feeling, bringing them to the forefront of the mind. Used within this context, crystals can be a great way of tapping into deeper layers of the self, uncovering messages through the symbolic language of the imagination.

5. Bringers of Beauty and Joy

Probably the most obvious skeptical or “non-magical” use of crystals is to keep them as decorations, as they don’t even really need to have any additional meaning beyond their aesthetic appeal.

Crystals, gemstones, and even many plain rocks are simply gorgeous, and when we fill our spaces with these things, they can elevate mood and contribute to overall happiness.

As I’ve already mentioned, our environment can have a pretty significant impact on how we think and feel, and surrounding ourselves with things that make us happy can only be a good thing.

As anyone who has played The Sims would know, in order to have their needs fulfilled, they require an aesthetically pleasing environment, filled with art, plants, plush rugs, and for some Sims, crystals! (Well, if that was a thing in the game, I’m sure some Sims would be all over them).

It doesn’t matter what metaphysical properties or healing powers a crystal may or may not have. Crystals make me happy, simple as that.

So yes, even though I am skeptical about their energetic frequencies and whatnot, I will continue to collect them, and continue to stuff them into every corner of my house.

6. Coping with Anxiety

This one might be slightly more personal, and definitely won’t apply to everyone, but I find that crystals can actually be quite helpful for me in dealing with my anxiety.

Now, I know some crystals like tiger’s eye, blue lace agate, sodalite, and rose quartz for instance are specifically associated with stimulating calm and relaxation, and are supposedly helpful in alleviating anxiety. But for me, it’s not really about the type of crystal, or the supposed vibrations or metaphysical qualities of specific stones, but rather about their physicality.

There is something so calming, so grounding about crystals, possibly because they are literally mined from the ground beneath us, and therefore have that earthly, rooted quality about them.

Not only looking at crystals, but holding them, playing with them in my hands, and experiencing their many wonderful tactile qualities is also just so relaxing, and helps me cope with moments of elevated stress and anxiety.

Turning a crystal over in my hands, taking in all of its varied colours and unique markings, and feeling its textures against my skin—the bumps, the cracks, the sharp edges—it’s a way of practicing mindfulness, and really situating myself within the present moment, a technique that I have found to be especially helpful for anxiety relief.

This is partially why I tend to go for raw, unpolished crystals the most—while the smooth ones are still nice to hold, the raw ones just have so much more character to them, both visual and tactile, and are able to captivate me in such a way that I become distracted from my uncontrolled anxious thoughts. 

And so, there you have some of the main ways that I use crystals, as someone who doesn’t necessarily believe in their healing properties. As always thanks for reading, and if you have any unique ways you use crystals or different approaches to them, please feel free to leave a comment below! 🙂