Man has always been fascinated with crystals. Pieces of quartz have been found amongst Neanderthal remains from as early as 7000 BC. Gold and silver Jewellery containing carnelian lapis lazuli and agate were found in the tomb of the Egyptian queen Pu-abi at Ur dating back to 3000 BC and an amber necklace dating back to around 2000 BC was discovered in a burial mound near Stonehenge and crystals, semi-precious and precious stones have been used to ornament every civilisation since
In terms of using crystals for healing American Indians have been doing it for longer than they can remember and the practice was shared by Druidic priests, Tibetan holy men and the ancient Egyptians to name but a few. This is without muddying the waters with the controversial crystal skulls such as that found by Mitchell-hedges in Belize in 1927. The first written evidence of Crystal therapy sometimes also known as gemstone therapy is to be found in an Egyptian papyrus dated at around 1600 BC. This papyrus suggests that beads of lapis lazuli, malachite and red jasper be worn around the neck of the sick person to allow the disease to escape. Crystals were also used for scrying by the Greeks and Romans and the Ancient Japanese were particularly skilled in the manufacture of near perfect crystal balls.
Nowadays crystal therapy is used as much as a tool for self development than as a cure for illness. This can be as simple as wearing a crystal to which you feel drawn around your neck to visiting a full on crystal therapist. Here you might have various crystals and semi-precious stones places over the various chakras and other subtle energy points and be encouraged to engage in various visualisations and meditations. There is, it would seem, a crystal or gemstone for absolutely everything. Each chakra has at least 5 or 6 gemstones associated with it. There are stones for every sign of the zodiac, every day of the week and every state of mind you can imagine.
Crystal therapy comes strongly under the heading of vibrational medicine. The most common method of absorbing the energy of the crystal is to place it or wear it next to the skin. However there appears to be a runaway revival of the ancient practice of creating so called gem elixirs. These are normally created by simple leaving a particular crystal in a glass jar or bowl of mineral water somewhere where it can absorb the rays of the sun and the moon for at least 24 hours. This apparently allows the water to absorb the energy of the crystals.
Another central tenet of crystal therapy is that crystals can amplify or store energy. This being the case it is deemed necessary to cleanse a new crystal of any negative energy before using it. This can be done in a number of ways. Visualisation is popular as is placing them under running water, although there are some crystals such as Halite Selenite and lapis lazuli that are water soluble or porous and do not take kindly to this. On the subject of what not to do with crystals it is not a good idea to leave amethyst rose quartz or turquoise in direct sunlight as they could fade. Smudging is another favoured method for cleansing crystals of negative energy. This is a practice found amongst Native Americans, and others, of bathing an object in the smoke of various specific woods, dried herbs or tobacco to cleanse them.
A far more recent form of crystal therapy is Electro-crystal therapy, or E.C.T. This was invented in 1983 by physicist Harry Oldfield and is a method of diagnosing and healing using crystals which are stimulated by pulsed high frequency electro-magnetic waves. This, it is said, can affect the body's own energy system dissolving blockages promoting a more harmonious energy flow.