Healing crystals - do they work?
79The idea that crystals can affect our health has been with us for a long time. The use of tokens to protect ourselves from demons, curses and illnesses, has its origin in a time when mystical beliefs about the causes of such afflictions were widespread. Protecting yourself, whether with a shark's tooth or a precious stone, seemed quite sensible.
Of course, many people would dismiss the ancient beliefs, but are less willing to dismiss the idea that perhaps the crystals may exert some positive benefit on us. Perhaps, they really are able to improve our health as is often claimed. Following the growth of new age beliefs in the 1980s, crystals started to appear in the shops, accompanied by claims that they could enhance your health.
The idea that crystals could have a healing effect drew on the stories and anecdotes of old, and they were often mixed with notions of healing energy, Qi, which appeared in other alternative medicine theories. If Qi existed, then why might it not be possible to channel such energy through crystals? If you accept the existence of Qi, then crystal healing might also seem plausible.
Looking across the internet, we can find a very wide range of claims for the properties of crystals ranging from being able to clear a room of harmful spirits, to enabling people to enter deep meditation, through to direct healing claims by laying crystals on the part of the body with an ailment. Sometimes, it is claimed that the properties of the crystal can be enhaced by shining light on them, providing additional energy.
Often the theory behind crystal healing and healing stones involves something called chakra, which has various different interpretations. Often it refers to an area of the body responsible for channelling energy, but in some interpretations it does not physically exist at all. It is often associated with spiritual healing ideas and the notion of energy healing or healing touch.
Sometimes specific gemstones are suggested, such as amethyst or citrine, which claim specific healing properties, and claims that the process is one of holistic medicine.
How can we evaluate crystal healing?
It is remarkably easy to make healing claims, and also easy to provide some plausible explanation. If we accept the idea of Qi, then channelling it seems to make sense. But should we accept the idea of Qi itself? If Qi doesn't in fact exist, then there is nothing to channel, so we should really question Qi first.
No-one has yet been able to demonstrate the existence of Qi, nor of the chakras which appear to be so important in a number of alternative medicine theories. If we cannot demonstrate the existence of Qi, we clearly cannot claim to be able to control it, nor can we claim to use it in therapies. So if we are looking for evidence about crystal healing, we cannot base it on the assumption of the existence of Qi.
But perhaps, there is a more physical explanation rooted in the properties of the crystals themselves. It is well known that certain crystals have electromagnetic properties. For example, some quartz crystals can be affected by a magnetic pulse which causes them to emit an electrical signal. We know that our nerves carry electrical impulses, and that they are important for our general health. So it seems at least plausible, that the crystals may have electrical or magnetic effects which can affect our health.
We can investigate these properties directly by conducting a clinical trial. By using a control group, we can compare those who are treated with crystals with those who aren't. We can use sensitive laboratory equipment to detect any electrical or magnetic changes associated with the crystals and any corresponding changes in the human body. These things are well within our capabilities and can be measured to a very high accuracy.
We can also examine the crystals themselves to analyse their structures and specific properties and we are already very well informed about this. Metallurgy and crystallography have enabled us to document the properties of very many minerals. So testing them is easy.
We know that only certain crystals can be made to emit electrical signals and that these require distortion by a magnetic field. We also know that those minerals sold for crystal healing have stable structures which are inert. They don't emit electrical signals even when irradiated with light. To get them to emit anything requires very extreme physical conditions. The electrical theory of crystal healing is not feasible.
Direct evidence
Clinical trials of crystal healing have never produced any evidence at all that it works. There is no empirical evidence that anyone has ever been healed or treated effectively by the use of crystals. There is no case evidence, nor clinical trial evidence, nor any measured physiological changes correlated with the use of crystals.
The physical properties of the crystals themselves prevent them from working according to the theories that have been advanced.
What is the appeal?
Once one accepts the notion that there is some healing energy, some Qi, any suggestion as to how it can be channelled and used is seen as sufficient explanation. If the energy is undetectable and has to be believed in, then it is immaterial as to how it is actually to be moved around and used.
Reiki claims to transfer the energy through the hands, even claiming distance healing, and crystal healing claims the energy is transferred via the crystal. Both accounts lack the crucial evidence for the energy in the first place.
Given that no evidence is available for Qi, all proposed therapies based on it have to be suspect. That includes crystal healing and Reiki. But the appeal is that, once you believe, all things seem to become possible and this enables us to avoid the difficult and slow progress towards effective treatment and cure that is typical of conventional medicine.
It is very appealing to think that there is some other, more effective world of healing that is easily accessible. No need for clinical studies, understanding biochemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and the other branches of medicine. A simple piece of crystalline ore will suffice, coupled with a belief in something undetectable.
The bottom line?
Crystal therapy and crystal healing cannot work because there is nothing either emitted by them nor channelled by them that can affect the human body. Although we can invent theories about how the world works, we cannot redesign the human body. It has its organs and systems which involve biological processes and no matter how much we'd like to believe something different, we are constrained by the real world. We have to work with the way things really are.
Qi, the basis for many alternative therapies, has never been shown to exist. So any treatment or therapy which uses the notion is providing no explanation for the claims, far less evidence of any efficacy. If it was possible to demonstrate the existence of Qi, the whole of medicine would be revolutionised.
Although it's an appealing, simple idea, it does not get off the ground. Crystals are not healing devices but jewellry.
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The placebo effect is well understood now but the problem with it as a healing therapy is that it is unpredictable. Only around 30% of us experience it, it can disappear at any time, and doesn't even appear consistently in those it affects.
But the biggest problem with using placebo as a therapy is ethical: it only works if the patient is lied to consistently and continues to believe it.
I've written about it here: http://www.leavingthelandofwoo.com/documents/24-ho
In case the link doesn't work, it's at leavingthelandofwoo dot com.
Yeah that part about lying to the patient makes it a little shady doesn't it? :)
On the other hand, here's a blogpost I wrote a while back:
The other interesting thing about placebo is that because it is based on the expectation and anticipation brain activity, almost anything can be used as the associative trigger. If the customer associates a particular expectation with the trigger, it can produce the effect. So it is commonly used, whether with awareness or not, in almost all forms of concentration and deliberate relaxation.
In the case of Qigong, the expectation of relaxation will itself stimulate the release of brain opioids, producing the expected response. People who practice meditation techniques do the same thing. Mystical people thing they're dealing with some energy or force but the mundane truth is that it is just brain chemistry. A useful technique nonetheless.
Wow - I just read the article on placebos at leaving the land of woo. Good stuff and I'll be linking to your blog on mine!
Thanks William, and thanks for linking.
There's a lot of misunderstanding, and misinformation about these subjects and entire industries based on the confusion.
That's why I wrote the book Leaving the Land of Woo.
Charmstones and/or "Healing Stones" may never be able to be proven by limited, science-related tests. The metaphysical nature of such things, as this topic of debate, is a mysterious power one would have to find from within, and individually so.
We constantly emit energy that is absorbed into the memory of our surroundings and we all have a different chemistry, so to some folks, a certain type of crystal may give feedback to them that you could never be able to fathom. I suppose it would depend on a higher level of awareness, but then again, it could also be from the core of all sources, which is from within......
Metaphysical:
It's a popular fiction that scientific tests are "limited" and it allows people with no evidence to continue to make outlandish claims. Ask yourself whether you would accept the same kind of explanation from a car mechanic, or a dentist, or a lawyer, or a builder. In every case, you would expect them to be able to demonstrate the truth of what they claim, and if they couldn't you simply wouldn't believe them.
If they said that you can't understand because you need a "higher level of awareness" you'd be justified in feeling insulted and suspect a scam. The unfortunate fact is that although some people claim that crystals provide "feedback", they simply have no evidence at all that that is the case. They've made it up, claimed it publicly, and rely on gullible people to accept it without evidence.
They also rely on popular confusions about science. There is for example a common idea that all people are chemically unique and that therefore this requires some unique formula for any therapy to treat them. But the fact is that biochemical systems are the same in all of us. We all break down glucose in the same way, we all synthesise proteins in the same way, our genetics work in the same way, our hormones work in the same way. The truth is that we don't have different biologies.
The "metaphysical nature of such things" is nothing more than a mystical cover for some blatantly incorrect claims about how the world works. And science is ideally suited to test those claims. For example the claim: "we constantly emit energy that is absorbed into the memory of our surroundings". It's testable, has been tested, and has been found to be untrue. Things don't have energy memories. Sorry but the claim is simply incorrect.
The higher level of awareness that is needed is a better basic understanding of science, of how things work in the real world. With that, we would avoid many of the mystical misunderstandings that populate the land of woo.
First of all, I don't promote rock worship, and if you read what I wrote, I clearly stated how many things come "from within." If you deny that, you have some explaining to do.
Science is limited, of course. I suppose it would take an alien craft to land here, to persuade your mundane thoughts about this matter.
So, you don't get a "feedback" from nature? Interesting, considering the only way this (anti-feedback belief of yours) would be possible is if you wasn't part of it...
We are all atomically attached to the universe, chemically attached to each other, and yes, we are biologically attached to this planet. But, by simply saying we have similar biology does not remotely give validity to your claims of universal sameness or was that lameness?
I've studied "Earth Science" and it is beneficial and promotes progress unlike silly religions, but to me, Earth Science is just too dang slow and I have this unfortunate trait called "impatience."
Oh, by the way, I enjoyed your article and also, your feedback... ;)
I typed part of that wrong; I was in a hurry and screwed that paragraph up. I meant to say:
We are all atomically attached to the universe, chemically attached to this planet, and yes, we are all biologically attached to each other. Sorry for the blunder...
Metaphysical:
Perhaps I should explain what I meant about science not being too limited to test crystal theory. Because science works by constructing theories to both explain observed facts and to make testable predictions, we are able to formulate any theories we like. In that sense, it is not limited. Of course though, we have to take into account the known observed facts and explain them. In that sense, for theory to be relevant, it has to be constrained to deal with the matters in hand.
In the case of crystals, that means taking the claims of the crystal therapists seriously, and testing them. If it is argued that we can get "feedback" from crystals, we make every effort to detect it. If we can't, we conclude either that our detection process is inadequate, or there is nothing there to detect. Since we can detect electromagnetic and other forms of energy on a very very tiny scale, even below the level needed to have any effect on biological tissue, we can be sure that if crystals were providing some feedback capable of producing a biological effect, we would detect it. We don't.
These ideas are not at all mundane. If we could discover a new form of bioenergy, it would revolutionise science and medicine. It would be the most exciting thing ever to have happened. But no-one has discovered it.
Of course, we are all made of atoms and molecules, we all have chemical structures that follow the known laws of the universe and at that mundane level, we are all the same. But the sameness is also apparent at higher levels of organisation. Biochemically our bodies really do work the same way. That is why all blood cells contain haemoglobin, that all human stomachs contain enzymes that work in an acid environment to break down proteins, and so on. So universally, in those respects, the human biochemistry really is the same. It's not lame to point this out since many alternative therapies claim uniqueness as the reason for such disaparate recommended treatments. They don't understand our common natures.
One further point about things that come "from within". We all have feelings and emotions, ideas that we think about, and the ability of introspection. We can also all become aware of these things in varying degrees. But that is just the way our human brains work and isn't anything more profound than that. When people go "looking for themselves", they are using a process of introspection to think deeply about the things that matter to them. That leads to greater clarity in their feelings, the expression of their emotions, and sometimes their personal confidence as well. But is anything "coming from within" or are they simply working with what is there?
It is tempting to mystify these things and to claim something profound is happening, and that's a successful marketing strategy in the land of woo, where alternative therapies are sold. It sounds very mundane to say meditation is just deep thinking combined with relaxation, or that relaxing reduces stress and helps you unwind. But that's the truth. It's not the emergence of some fantastic energy, reconnecting with some deeper self, or some profound transformation. The real world is sometimes a little mundane, but it's no less real for that.
Healing crystals don't work. The theory behind it doesn't work because it contradicts what we know to be true. It's just a nice, but wrong, idea.
I find your judgments about crystals to be presumptuous and ill-informed. Just because science hasn't yet figured out how crystals work, doesn't mean that they don't. They are tools, and in the hands of the right person, they can have life-changing effects. As for the "truth", science certainly doesn't have a monopoly on it. Looking beyond scientific reason and into our own knowing of things might be a good alternative, which could allow some of us to be freed of the dogma that plagues scientific thought.
Saranaturo:
You say "Just because science hasn't yet figured out how crystals work, doesn't mean that they don't."
Unfortunately, unless anyone can demonstrate some tangible real demonstrable effect that they are working, you can't make any reasonable claim that they do work. The ill-informed don't bother to check the evidence, and don't question the claims, they just accept them uncritically and hand over the money.
This isn't about belief, about whether you believe crystals work or not. It's about demonstrable evidence to support the claim that they do in fact work. I could claim for example that waving my hands over someone will cure them of some illness. It would only be an empty claim unless or until I could demonstrate that my actions had effected a cure.
It's the same with claims made about any phenomenon. I could claim that applying an electric current to an electric kettle will bring the water inside to boiling point within a few minutes. That's just a claim until I provide the evidence by demonstrating it. Now I can confidently say that applying the electricity to the element causes the temperature of the water to rise because I have the evidence.
So whether crystals work or not doesn't have anything to do with whether someone understands how it might work, or even whether or not they believe it to be the case. The question is whether it works at all and we first have to establish that there is IN FACT some effect. No effect from crystals can be demonstrated by anyone. No-one has ever come forward with evidence other than verbal claims.
There has been an open invitation for years for anyone who can demonstrate any tangible effect at all, and even substantial prizes on offer. No one has been able to offer any evidence whatsoever. So that means the phenomenon cannot be shown to work. So it remains an empty claim. It's not about science because there's nothing for science to investigate.
As for being in the right hands, it doesn't seem to make any difference because they still can't demonstrate anything. Maybe you can? If so, you'll be on the way to a Nobel Prize.
I'm not sure what you means by a "monopoly on truth" - it's an oft-quoted expression. But how do you decide if something is true or not? If you rely just on a gut feeling or instinct, you are really only describing whether or not you are prepared to accept it as true, not whether it IN FACT is true.
For example, I can say that my cat is dreaming. That means that I THINK that the cat is dreaming. Unless I scan the brain and check what is happening, I don't KNOW that the cat is dreaming, and even then it depends very much on what I interpret from the scan.
Truth in science is established through acceptance of evidenced theories which sometimes turn out to be wrong. Scientific truth evolves as we get a better and better understanding of how things work.
If you think there's a better method for determining these things by "looking beyond science", go ahead and discover something tangible and demonstrable that science couldn't find. It's a fanciful idea and more than a little arrogant for those who claim some special intangible access to these things. Most often, it's just marketing hype exploiting the gullible.
William R. Wilson 2 years ago
Good stuff. I got some crystals and a new age book about them as a teenager, but I kind of abandoned the whole idea over time.
I agree with you for the most part. One thing you might be overlooking is the placebo effect, which apparently works better for some people than for others. If one really believed in crystal healing, it might do them some good to have crystals around. Of course, it wouldn't be the crystals giving the benefit, but the benefit would still be there.
Glad I stopped by!