Crystal Associations

[Bastemhet]

I'm wondering if anyone has a source as to why some Crystals are associated with some things. I have a book called "The Crystal Bible" and while it has a lot of associations connected with different crystals I'm left wondering...well, why? Why does amber cleanse? Why is smoky quartz good for drawing out negative energy? Why does malachite protect against radiation? Where do all these ideas come from? Is this based on a certain tradition? Empirically studied? According to the author's opinion? Wisdom handed down from ancient times?  

[TeaDidikai]

What does the bibliography say the author's sources are?  

[Bastemhet]

Gienger, Michael Crystal Power, Crystal Healing
Hall, Judy The Illustrated Guide to Crystals, Crystal User's Handbook, The Art of Psychic Protection
Melody Love is in the Earth
Raphaell, Katrina Crystal Healing Vols I, II, III
Raven, Hazel Crystal Healing the Complete Practitioner's Guide

Edit: She also says her knowledge has been acquired over 30 years, much of it intuitively. That's what the book is, combined with these sources.

Does that mean she should be trusted? Is that to say that it's UPG or what? sad Has anyone had experience with any of the books cited?  

[TeaDidikai]

Sophist

Gienger, Michael Crystal Power, Crystal Healing
Hall, Judy The Illustrated Guide to Crystals, Crystal User's Handbook, The Art of Psychic Protection
Melody Love is in the Earth
Raphaell, Katrina Crystal Healing Vols I, II, III
Raven, Hazel Crystal Healing the Complete Practitioner's Guide

Then check out these sources to see where they draw from.

Quote:

Edit: She also says her knowledge has been acquired over 30 years, much of it intuitively. That's what the book is, combined with these sources.

Does that mean she should be trusted? Is that to say that it's UPG or what?

She's saying it is UPG- or perhaps CG based on other works. As for trusted- don't know. Do you trust her?

Quote:

sad Has anyone had experience with any of the books cited?

Flipped through some of them. Some draw from observation, some from historical sources, some from colons.  

[Bastemhet]

Hopefully the library will have 'em 'cause I'm broke. crying  

[TeaDidikai]

Sophist

Hopefully the library will have 'em 'cause I'm broke. crying

Amazon is your friend.

However- if you are looking for the origin of these positions from other texts- it could be a lengthly search.  

[Bastemhet]

TeaDidikai

Sophist

Hopefully the library will have 'em 'cause I'm broke. crying

Amazon is your friend.

However- if you are looking for the origin of these positions from other texts- it could be a lengthly search.

More and more it seems like it. Actually half.com is even better. I've gotten some pretty good deals from there.  

[TeaDidikai]

Sophist

TeaDidikai

Sophist

Hopefully the library will have 'em 'cause I'm broke. crying

Amazon is your friend.

However- if you are looking for the origin of these positions from other texts- it could be a lengthly search.

More and more it seems like it. Actually half.com is even better. I've gotten some pretty good deals from there.

Never had a good experience with them.

What you will end up with is something that looks like a huge Christmas Tree.

You'll have your initial text, then it's cited works, then their cited works- all of which will multiply.

Fascinating study. But I am not sure it's worth it for your intention.  

[Starlock]

Correspondences have always bugged me because the vast majority of the time they aren't properly explained. You never know where the author is drawing from and from the source list, it doesn't look like she's drawing from folklore. Always best to go to the prime sources wherever possible to learn where the associations first came from. Often easier said than done where folklore is concerned; some of the stuff can be darned hard to dig up. Using personal experience to come up with correspondences is fine, but the author really should note that.

When I get around to looking at Gem/Mineral magics in more detail, I'll probably do a combination of folkloric/historic digging, research into the science of geology, and asking the stones themselves. I won't at all be surprised if at least half of what I uncover in the research bit doesn't match common cannon. Such has happened before when I've investigated such things, but it does depend somewhat on which folkloric traditions you're looking at (varies widely after all, by culture).  

[TeaDidikai]

Two sources I see drawn from on a regular basis include the Ancient Greeks and the Medieval Alchemists.

The Greek commentary on Amber was always interesting to me.  

[Starlock]

Both great sources. I just started looking into alchemy because it relates to my study into the Elements and their history and I was just blown away by it. I'm surprised it gets as little mention as it does when so much of the lore can be related to modern Pagan practices.  

[TeaDidikai]

Might have something to do with the poor quality of Alchemical texts available.  

[quantum_leaper]

The Crystal Bible by Judy hall?

Picked it up myself recently along with another random crystal book.

I had heard from a friend that the Hall one was a good reference guide and i picked up the other for 2 reasons.
1) Im a book addict.. sometimes i cant help myself!
2) As well as list of suggested magical uses(Bonus point for not using a K) it also listed some pratical ideas with it and as well as that the chemical symbols for them.

Anyway as for sources. To be honest Crystals are still in my pile that i affectionatly term "Hippy crap". Stuff that on the surface of it just seems to be false or over rated or just plan scamming. However i realise this is close minded of me so i found myself picking up some books and one or two crystals. SO at least i can say i looked at them....

I find myself reaching for the crystals and seeing what i think feel etc and then going to read up about them. I guess im a big fan of seeing what i can get out of them before i look them up. I think a lot of it can be psycosomatic(sp?). I dont see a problem with cross referencing books and sources but that should be combined with a little personal work.

By all means check the sources, and the sources of sources but eventually you probably(if you are lucky) will come down to peoples experimentation with them.  

[TeaDidikai]

quantum_leaper

By all means check the sources, and the sources of sources but eventually you probably(if you are lucky) will come down to peoples experimentation with them.

This doesn't seem as common as I would hope.

I can deal with books of pure UPG as long as they are listed as such. But it has become far more popular to take bits and pieces of earlier works and a fair amount of lore has degenerated.

It makes the Baby Oysters cry.