Taoism: Crystals

[rickymooston]

I went to a Crystal shop today. The reason was because they also sell religious pendants and I wanted a yin yang symbol.

I was surprised, I found looking at two of the crystals oddly soothing. In particuar, I really liked the purple one. I hadn't had anybody suggest this effect when I was in the store and I was a bit surprised at it.

Now, I'm not going to claim that I believe in "crystal energies" or anything but I can see that for some people, certain visual stimuli might have an effect on them.

Now, a whole theory does exist both on what the effects are of various crystals and on the "cause" (crystall energies). I certainly think the "effects" could have some positive effects and have no clue if many people would be effected in the same way. I'd not call them "medicine" or expect them to "cure cancer" or anything.

The two crystals I liked were: (description from the store I went to)

The purple one is Amerthyst. Its apparently, according to the theory, fantastic, unless you are bi-polar/manic depressive. "Spiritual awareness and awakening. Clears out blocks. Peace. Stength and stability. Helps eliminate imsombia. Good for alleviating headaches. Mental focus. ..."






The orange one is Citrine which is clearly named for the orange color. (The orange color of mine isn't easy to see because its in the natural state.)

I don't have a piece of paper for citrine so this is what google found.
http://www.alleghenycandles.com/citrine_properties.html

"Citrine is an amazing crystal because it doesn't hold negative energy. Rather, it transmutes it to positive. Thus, it never needs cleaned or cleared. It can also be used in spells, healing or meditation to change negative energy into positive. Citrine is called The Merchant Stone because it is a powerful stone to attract prosperity and success. Place citrine in your safe, cash register or money bag to increase business. It not only attracts wealth, it helps one maintain it. Citrine stimulates the mental focus and commitment to the task at hand. Citrine is believed to enhance the intuition and the connection with the higher self. It raises one's mood and encourages happiness and laughter. Citrine can be used to clear the aura. It can stabilize the emotions and calm anger and frustration. It is a good stone to use for manifesting your desires.  Citrine may help remove fears, overcome nightmares and encourage a good night's sleep."

<-- The shop. Its hard to see how beautiful the window display is. Tons of religious symbols there related to wicca, buddhism, hinduism and others.

The relationship of this thread to Taoism?. The experience was real enough. Most of the theories about them are probably totally bogus.  The website I got the descriptions for was quite humorous. It warns not to neglect going to a doctor when you are sick.

I wonder why our brains are so entranced by crystals?. They are shiny? We like shiny things? Or some people do? Odd?

In this thread, feel free to discuss anything related to:
-- beliefs people attach to crystals
-- positive or negative experiences with crystals
-- whether you enjoy looking at any types.
-- other images that you find "soothing".

[curiousgirl]

Ricky, I find the pic of the crystals by the moose soothing because of the beautiful colors of the crystals. Maybe the crystals are simply soothing because they are aesthetically pleasing. Shiny things do attract attention.

[rickymooston]

Ricky, I find the pic of the crystals by the moose soothing because of the beautiful colors of the crystals.
 Maybe the crystals are simply soothing because they are aesthetically pleasing. Shiny things do attract attention.

  I think you are right.

I wonder why people love to build religions around them though? Is attracting attention enough to make them "reasonate" with our imaginations?

Maybe its related to them finding soothing and thus people using them to meditate with. Some people also find candles "magical".

[curiousgirl]

  I think you are right.

I wonder why people love to build religions around them though? Is attracting attention enough to make them "reasonate" with our imaginations?

Maybe its related to them finding soothing and thus people using them to meditate with. Some people also find candles "magical".

Some people tend to falsely believe that crystals can heal, so they probably falsely attribute power to them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_healing

Pleasant feelings or seeming successes of crystal healing can be attributed to the placebo effect, or the believers wanting it to be true and seeing only things that back that up; cognitive bias.[6]

[rickymooston]

Sort of interesting! I think the fact that light is associated with energy and that crystals are transparent is part of the "energy" association. Even though they don't provide light, they look like they do.

An interesting idea is that of the Chakras which are apparently "special" places on the body identified in ancient Indian Hindu (and therefore Budhist) medicine. Apparently in this crystal healing, we put the crystals on those points ...



There are not totally unrelated to the acupuncture pressure points in Chinese traditional medicine. 

[albeto]

Ricky, I find the pic of the crystals by the moose soothing because of the beautiful colors of the crystals. Maybe the crystals are simply soothing because they are aesthetically pleasing. Shiny things do attract attention.

Huh.  My eyes were drawn to the moose.  It's so cute, looking all innocent with only one antler.  It looks like it needs a muffin.  But don't give a moose a muffin...

[jaimehlers]

It's not that much different than how someone can be affected by certain types of music or sound.

In all honesty, I would say that the crystals themselves don't actually do anything; it's how the person reacts to them that matters.  If a person believes something might have a given effect, then it might have somewhat of that effect on them.

[Azdgari]

I wonder what degree of oxidation of the iron in the quartz is necessary to get the "amethyst" benefits, rather than the standard, clear "quartz" benefits...

[rickymooston]

Huh.  My eyes were drawn to the moose.  It's so cute, looking all innocent with only one antler.  It looks like it needs a muffin.  But don't give a moose a muffin...

He's had muffin's in the past. Tim Horton's is very popular here in Canada.



On saturday, he went somewhere a bit nicer.

I wonder what degree of oxidation of the iron in the quartz is necessary to get the "amethyst" benefits, rather than the standard, clear "quartz" benefits...

Rather awesome question. I wonder how that works.

[rickymooston]

In all honesty, I would say that the crystals themselves don't actually do anything; it's how the person reacts to them that matters.  If a person believes something might have a given effect, then it might have somewhat of that effect on them.

Well, that's almost my working assumption. I do think its possible, that common reactions to visual stimuli may occur.

For example, I heard a claim that the colour pink makes people feel more docile and that it would drive some violent offenders nuts if exposed.

Some studies have been done on the effects of Mozart's music on people with ADHD.

[HalusN8er]

My wife, who used to be into wicca, has small crystals (white), sitting on the top of almost all of the doorways(on the door framing that sticks out about an inch from the wall) in our house.  You wouldn't notice them unless you were looking right at it.  She says it is supposed to be for protection.....from something, I'm unsure what.....bad luck, I guess?  She owned the house before we even started dating, so I've never asked her this, (because frankly, who cares) but I've always wondered how she chose which doors needed to have the crystals and for which ones it wouldn't matter.  It seems to have been done pretty arbitrarily.  For example, there is one over the doorway to the office, but not to the bathroom.  Why the office and not the bathroom?

Funny enough though, awhile back I thought I would mess with her, so I removed the crystal over the front door with out her knowing.  I thought I would tell her it had been gone for months, later on, thus proving my point that they are worthless.  I'm not sure how long, but around 2 or 3 weeks later she got in a car accident on her way to work(no injuries, but totally wrecked the car).  Now, I don't for a second think that the two things are related, but she sure as shit would....so I quietly put the crystal back before she knew it was gone.