Move over, traditional medicine. There’s a hot new trend in health and wellness: crystal healing.
Whether you’re into alternative medicine or not, you’ve probably at least heard of crystal healing. It's an alternative healing technique that involves using crystals and stones to heal all manner of medical maladies. According to to practitioners, crystals and gemstones can do everything from boost your immune system, cure anxiety, and even improve your libido. Alternative healing gurus say that crystals encourage the flow of positive energy into your body while pushing out negative energy and its harmful effects.
Advocates teach that each crystal has specific properties it can imbue on its user and act as conduits for healing. Rose quartz, for example can supposedly help improve your romantic relationships.
Despite the fact that alternative medicines like crystal healing have seen a surge in popularity over the past decade, scientists and medical doctors remain skeptical, to put it mildly. However, that hasn’t stopped alternative medicine from becoming a billion-dollar industry, utilized by celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Adele.
Is there anything to this school of thought, or is it all a mirage?
Scientific Consensus
In the scientific community, nearly everyone agrees: crystal healing is a pseudoscience. Doctors and researchers say that there is zero evidence that suggests crystals can be used to cure disease. Disease is not the result of "energy flows" into or out of the body. Moreover, there is no geological evidence that suggests crystals differ in chemical composition, or that any one stone can treat a particular ailment.
But even if the physical healing properties are nonexistant, a few studies have shown that crystals can create a placebo effect that causes people to feel better. And perhaps the power lies in the eyes of the beholder: a 2001 study found that people already open to paranormal beliefs were far more receptive to crystal healing than those skeptical of the practice.
Though you’ll be hard-pressed to find a doctor who will recommend crystal healing for any ailment, most researchers and MDs can agree that there is a very real power in placebos. According to a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, the therapeutic benefits of placebos can be both genuine and overwhelming, and they should be promoted, not dismissed.
Celeb Approved
Many celebrities have embraced crystal healing, despite its 'pseudoscience' label. Kim Kardashian said that her friends turned her onto crystals after she experienced a traumatic armed robbery in 2016:
“[I] got really into them. I’m around them more now, and it’s been really cool. I don’t have tons of them in my house, but they seem to give off an overall calm energy.”
Adele also utilizes crystals, clutching one in her hand during performances to help calm her stage fright. And Kate Hudson has even incorporated crystals into her moisturizer line “to add a little extra energy.”
But no celebrity is more intertwined with crystal healing than Gwyneth Paltrow, who started a new-age company called "Goop" that markets a highly controversial Jade Egg product for women. Rather than put the crystal in the palm of your hand for healing, you put it where the sun doesn’t shine.
The directions are simple, according to Goop: “yoni eggs harness the power of energy work, crystal healing, and a Kegel-like physical practice. Insert the egg into your vagina and feel the connection with your body by squeezing and releasing the egg.”
This particular product has been a continued source of controversy for Goop, and the crystal industry in general. Goop even settled a lawsuit after being sued for false advertising for claiming the jade egg could balance hormones, prevent uterine prolapse, and boost orgasms.
Not So Crystal Clear
Crystals and other New Age healing techniques have exploded in popularity in the last decade, and are taking becoming a bigger part of the health and wellness industry each year. With that wild growth and dozens of celebrities singing their praises, the crystal healing craze shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Yet neither are critics going away. Many view crystal healing as a harmful practice because it encourages untrained people to try to self-diagnose their own health issues and cure them at home, rather than seeking out proper medical care.
What's your take on alternative medicine and spiritual healing? Do crystals really carry spiritual energy that can be harnessed, or is it all sham?
44 comments
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Mary E Benoit
I can feel the energy in certain stones like rose quartz. Over the last 100 years, with quantum mechanics, science has confirmed some practices previously thought of as only fofoo magic. If it works for you, it works.
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Lionheart
Yes, I can feel the energy in when I touch the positive and negative pins on my power outlets. Weird isn’t it? I don’t remember reading anything about quantum mechanics and it’s effects on healing though during my academic course on electronics. I have heard of people dying though through being electrocuted which obviously wasn’t very good for their health. 😜
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
They just didn't do it in the right way. It must be administered only by those with proper training, and who are licensed. Ive heard of how electric shock treatments can be very beneficial. I've even heard of it making some people quit thinking they were Jesus Christ! Too bad they couldn't have given shock treatments to the first man who thought he was Jesus Christ, eh? If he really existed.
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Lionheart
You are so right Carl. I have even heard of electric shock treatment curing people who hear voices in their head, and even those who speak to people who don’t exist. Unfortunately, if the person that doesn’t exist is called God, people get a free pass from going to hospital.
As long as they are not hurting anyone because we don’t hear or speak to those same voices I guess that’s OK. All we can do is love them as best we can.
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Aaron R. Cooper
I listened to a Sermon once, it was actually incredible, and he went through the crystals and how they are significant to Christ. Our "Birthstones" were all on the gates of heaven. I learned that as a child in bible school. I'm currently wearing a black tourmaline. This crystal LITERALLY repels negative energy and absorbs positive energy. Through god, and this crystal, I was able to over come anxiety which invaded my life for as long as I can remember. I lost it a few weeks back, there was a huge difference in how I felt. Summarily, they work. I use them in my Energy Healing Session, which also work.
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Lionheart
Perhaps someone could send some crystals to Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff et al to help them with their negative energies towards our current President. Just saying!
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
I'm currently wearing two stainless steel rings, one on each middle finger. One depicts Lord Baphomet, and the other a horned skull, which are both excellent at dispelling negative forces, probably even better than crystals,used like brass knucks, if ever needed in that capacity. I also wear a stainless steel skull bracelet, and a dangling Sterling silver pentagram pierced earring, both of which also seem to help me avoid negative people, or at least the kinds of people I wouldn't care to associate with. They do a really good job of keeping their distance.
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Daniel Gray
No, there is no physical or scientific proof that this works
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Sandra Eileen Shea
Those who have been helped by crystals evidently have not been interviewed. In ancient Egypt amythest was used for healing headaches. I believe it is the different energy the different crystals project that balances the chakra centers, thus helping the body to heal. After all energy is all there is.
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Cleveland Washington Christie
...or that there is a God or a spirit, so....
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CB
There are many views on this; some say it is because of the placebo effect, others say it is because of the vibrations the crystals and other items emit. Perhaps it is a bit of both, perhaps there is something going on that modern science cannot measure. However, in many areas this is not a "New Age" idea; it has been practiced for centuries in places like India.
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Anisahoni
And the Americas, including what is now the USA. It's just hidden from the general public.
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Tom
Respectfully...the medical and pharmaceutical industries oppose anything from which they can not bleed the public..."sickness" is caused by a combination of internal conflict and karma...crystal energies do help...Peace...Tom B
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Ilmenheru Terikson
As one who strives to use history and imagination to understand these kind of belief systems my theory on the origin of these beliefs goes back to what I suspect was another era not too far from our own modern one in the time between previous ice ages. That simple understanding of the complex conductive nature of materials like crystals devolves into the kind of primitive tribal view that concepts like the above derive from.
People remember hearing something like there is a bit of quartz crystal in their watch, They dont really know or understand the why. But its something easy to remember. Its those kind of common things that after generations will linger on in oral traditions while people struggle to just survive and the memories of a civilized era fade into legend.
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
There's a diploma on my wall that says I'm a natural health consultant. I completed that year long vocational correspondence course with a 99 overall grade average. So you won't hear a nay out of me. I'll bank on natural and holistic (whole health) remedies over Hygeian medical quackery any day. However, I would be just as quick to take the word of Esclepian practitioners such as Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, and Nicholas Perricone.
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Robin Marie Chernault
I am a Reiki Grandmaster, Crystal Reiki Master and holistic health professional. Everything is Energy including you and I. You can not deny the metaphysical aspects of crystals or minerals. We all give off biomagnetic energy. I personal know of someone using crystals and reiki who shrunk a breast tumor from m 7.5 cm to 4.5 cm. She required only a lumpectomy. Her Drs are still amazed I am a believer
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Lionheart
Are they having as much luck as Benny Hinn’s healing in his ministries, which appears to be negative? Just asking!
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Carl Bernard Elfstrom
Our current president might also benefit from crystals. After reaping the healthcare benefits, if any, they can throw them at eachother.
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Lori Mongillo
Everything we accept or reject, think, do or say, is in the eyes, or beliefs, of the beholder. There is no power in anything, unless we choose there to be. We can live in a bottle of alcohol, believing it makes us feel better, if we choose. We can believe in the wonder of a drug high, so we don't have to deal with the BS of life, and we can believe that we will become nothing more than dust at the end of our time. It's our choice to see everything from a negative or positive perspective, because perspective is all we have. If you have gratitude and love in your heart, all things are possible, including power within a crystal. There are voices from family, friends, all kinds of teachers and preachers, living inside all our heads. They have conditioned our minds and manipulated our beliefs to the point where we have difficulty embracing the wonders of life and the possiblities within it. We slip into a clouded view of our own superiority and bash the rest of the world for reaching out to something more than ourselves, seeking to connect on a larger scale. Some of us reject any notion of the existence of a spiritual world, and that's fine if you are secure in that and are able to maintain and project gratitude and love in your life, as well as to others. The benefits of belief can often out weigh the lack of it. I believe (without a doubt) that there is some spiritual intelligence beyond myself, and it sustains me. I've experienced the unexplainable and choose to continue bringing magic into my life, rather than burden the people I connect to with my personal walls of rejection. I am the beholder of what ever I choose.
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Bruce Edward Strong Jr
I have a saying "Magick is not catching up to Science but Science is now catching up to Magick." The reason why i say this is example 1. Sage which has been used by the Native Americans to purify and cleanse the air for many years this has been put in the category of magick but now Science is saying that white Sage does have a cleansing property to it, but it is put in a more scientific way. Example 2. Grounding has been part of the Magickal community for centuries from witches all the way back to the Egyptians, now Science is saying that grounding or communing with the Earth does have many medical benefits and the New age movement now calls it Earthing instead of grounding like witches calls it. Example# Tree Hugging once thought to be a hippie thing just like grounding placing your feet or skin to the Earth itself many Witches believed being surrounded by plants and trees gives you energy from the Earth now researchers in Japan are saying that they have proven it is true and now Forest Bathing has become a growing trend in Japan and here in the U.S.
So although at this time Science can not prove Crystals ability to heal does not make it pseudoscience it means we just as humans do not have the knowledge to prove it yet.
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Tabz
Whether there is energy stored in the crystal, or it's simply a conduit (just as we are), there is no doubt that it works. Some of the greatest minds of our modern age believed in the power of energy and vibration, from Tesla and Einstein, to transcendentalists such as Thoreau who believed in the restorative powers of ALL of nature. It would be supremely arrogant and foolish to believe that humanity has learned all that there is to know. Those who would seek to limit what constitutes working knowledge only do so because of their need to control. Spirituality and healing are as individual as each person. If carrying a rose quartz in your pocket makes you feel better about your life, then do it!
~Peace to all
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joe
I know a guy that sells them. He makes no promises. Still working for him!
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Lionheart
I have lots, possibly tons, of stones in my garden. Most are igneous, and sedimentary, with a few metamorphic stones. Some might be way too heavy to wear around the neck, and could end up giving people a bad back due to the weight, but if anyone would like to buy them I would be absolutely delighted. Consider it my contribution to helping anyone heal.
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Lionheart
They are just as effective as talking to someone that isn’t there. That’s why prayer and crystals are now used in all hospitals by all physicians, and have replaced allopathic medicines and surgery. Hospitals are now closing down because we no longer need the science of medicine as everyone on earth are now being healed by meditation, crystals, Benny Hinn, Reiki, and god appearing to them to heal them. Life is at last wonderful!
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Brien
Count me in!! Where is the sign up sheet?
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Rod Gesner
as a Barbarian Wyzard and maker of Magical Tools an Symbols I have made Crystal tipped Wands Staffs and Canes; Athames and dealt with many different cultures and their Beliefs.. I Do Not Prescribe; Nor do I Claim To Imbue my Work with Special POWERS;; The Power comes From within; then may be focused and drawn thru crystals and other tools; magnetic energy is REAL; Light energy is Too crystals can Divide Light into various wavelenths/colours with Different Provable Powers;ie.. some light grows things some flowers some sterilizes and so on; Quantum energy is only now begining to be understood; But CHI/Qi Energies have long been recognised and used by Wiser Souls Than I; Tai Chi Qui Gon Akido; to mention a few; energies and Tools to Focus them have greater powers than any MD or traditional Scientist can Comprehend..heck I've even made a Cross for a Nice older couple; didn't tell them it would save their Souls tho that is their belief system not for me to judge. To Me Art is the Act of Adding Heart and Soul to ones creative Process whether that is painting, sculpting, Cooking, Music,Healing;add infinitum.. it is the Basis of my Ministry and new but growing Facebook group"Temple of Art and the Beauty of All Creation"that Sharing Beauty is one of our ultimate Spiritual Tasks
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Lionheart
Oh how wonderful. I look forward to seeing your name and others involved with quantum energies and CHI/Qi energies on the next Nobel prize for peace for your healings of humanity. With a bit of luck your magical tools and symbols might even become better known than Jesus and his miracles. In the meantime perhaps you could start with visiting children’s hospitals this year and start with those dying of cancer. I look forward to hearing about you soon on all the news networks throughout the world. I’m just wondering if the World Health Organization knows about your Temple of Art etc. Can your magical tools do anything for hair loss? I’m thinking that might be a no brainer with your powers. Just asking!
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Shanna McNeill
I dont see your "God" curing cancer either. So maybe stop being a typical Christian and stop being so judgey.
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Lionheart
I’m not too sure what God you are referring to. My God, if I have one, is logic and reason intermixed with science. I am actually hoping that my God will eventually cure cancer which is more than likely more than any other man-made God‘s will do.
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Justin Erik Nichols
So. My two bits here as a Lokean. Scientific evidence? In any medical field nope, not a damn thing. Magical/Spiritual? Maybe. Energy is still something that we do not FULLY understand in a logical sense and certain minerals can/do alter, reflect, or even produce energy even though health wise it may not be the best option. I certainly don't want to sit around with a chunk of Uranium on my third eye. Energy manipulation is very real and a proven thing whether it wants to be admitted to or not. Now... let's think about the Psychological aspect. The mortal mind is far more powerful than anyone can guess at and the capacity for it to cause changes in the body. Call it what you want, Placebo effect, spiritual healing, magic; all that truly matters is that for some people it works. And from a Minister's stand point isn't that the most important aspect?
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Darryl Mizer
How can this work? Holding a few glass (crystals) over someone. . . . . . .? In my opinion it takes from the resources of the desperate and gives them false hope..
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Fay E Rector
Crystals have a natural energy that flow through them. We tap into that flow when crystals that are placed on or around an individual. Crystals need to be cleared( cleansed) if used on multiple people or are touched by many. To clear your crystals, place in the sun or in soil to have them recharged. I don't care if some think this is a placebo. We have many things in life we do that makes us feel better. I am one who believes in the energetic value of life. The energy flows through all things. I am a ULM, Reiki Master, Massage Therapist, Hypnotherapist and a Breath worker. I practice what I have seen works for so many. Blessings!
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Anisahoni
Also cleanse in salt water.
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Cassandra Danielle Salas
To each their own. Belief systems work for the individual. If believing that hopping up and down keeps you from being ill, who are we to judge. It’s their belief system. Let folks be themselves with no judgment. Energy is in everything, read that again EVERY THING. My beliefs tell me we were already given the gift to not only heal ourselves but others. The energy that surrounds a prayer group or a meditation group can benefit physically the intended individual or audience. No, it’s not mass hypnosis or something in your drink. The intention creates the energy creates the movement creates the result. It happens all the time. Just because you don’t see it to believe doesn’t make it voodoo. I’m an EFT, Reiki, Pranic Healer, ULC minister who teaches coping skills, meditation and journaling to our incarcerated veterans, veterans and their family members.
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Tami Lynn Holbury-Ferraro
I am a Minister, Prayer Chaplain, and Healer (reiki, hands on, energetic and crystal healer) and Medium. I use crystals to store, generate, emit and intensify energetic information and flow. When you were a child did you collect rocks when you went to the beach or saw one that caught your eye in the soil? Did it make you feel good enough to make you want to keep it? Do you know crystals have been used in tvs radios and computers to store mega loads of information? They are known to be made up of different minerals, trace elements and structures that can be useful to the body. Epsom salts, himalayan salt, talc, maybe ones youre familiar with. Copper is a powerful energy conduit that works rapidly to heal joint pain and arthritic swelling, lithium based crystals lift depression and those with iron provides strength and great for the blood. There is a science behind it and been used since before Christ. These are provided by our loving Mother Earth and unless studied should never be thought less than any other practices to reach our highest good. I personally use them for meditation, healings, grounding, protection and fun.❤
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Thunder
The medical establishment will deride crystal healing and so on, but you still find a chapel in every hospital. So to pretend that medicine and faith in the curative powers of one's imagination are incompatible, is contradicted by the facts. That said, crystals and aliens from outer space are the new God. The level of self-delusion involved hasn't changed one iota in the switch from one to the other, though arguably it's far less likely people will be deliberately murdered for failing to believe in crystal healing.
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Wayward73
Magic/magick is real its an energy field. Anyone can learn to channel it and gain strength and insight from. Some people think they need trinkets like crystals to access the energy. Its actually their own mind drawing in the energy.
And keep in mind there is no difference between a spell and a prayer.
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Amber Fry
I'd say maybe not yet. Historically magic was the science people didn't quite understand. Currently there are a lot of experiments on various types of energy and how it works and moves. I think it will be only a matter of time before enough of an understanding will form that it will end up accepted as a complicated art form more than anything else.
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Chaz Aliosha Harriott
So if your willing to believe, , then all things are possible? or is that just words from a book acting as a placebo effect.
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Rev. Jonathan Peebles
There is no physical or scientific proof that God or Jesus exist but most seem to want to claim Christianity when that is just as mythological and supernatural as anything else? So what is the difference? Even evolution which still just a theory with many flaws in it still is taught in schools as fact so I don't really care what these scientists think I am only into the spiritual who only rely's on what I myself experience. I have experienced enough to believe in such things...
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Richard Lee Cornell
My have faith in snake oil that it could once have cure anything that ail you. People are looking for anything to cure them and when a God does not deliver, then science can not cure them then the inner secrets of crystals wil cure them ifthqat does not work there is alwaysthe last resort. A large whisky and a bottle of sleeping pills.
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Kenneth E. Salvage Sr
These pretty rocks are very much like a powdered milk and sugar placebo pill today! Believing in Earth, Wind and Fire in the sky has been with us for a million years. They may have some limited physiological effect, but it will not solve the under laying physical health issue! So rational science, and not emotional ideas will always come out on top!
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Rev. Jonathan Peebles
I will never discredit anyone's personal beliefs so possibly as I also believe mother earths elements and such have power in them. I however believe some people have psychic gifts use the elements to help others however often it requires faith like almost anything else; that is why it doesn't always work. Close minded people are one of the worst type of people...
Science, science, science blah blah blah. Scientists too often get on my nerves...
Homeopathy is labeled by some as a "pseudoscience", despite studies that show greater effectiveness than some conventional medications. Modern scientific analysis equipment has found that homeopathy operates via nanoparticles. Interestingly, cutting edge development on vaccines is making them operate by...wait for it....nanoparticles! Except homeopathy has apparently been doing this for over a century already with little to no side effects.
I believe that crystals/minerals operate the same way. There is no barrier when handling a crystal that would prevent minute exposure at a nanoparticulate level from being in play that may have an effect on the body (by the way NEVER handle some crystals such as sulphur or cinnabar - those, and some others, are TOXIC).
There are also some folks who are sensitive to an object's energy fields who say they can sense the energy field of various crystals/minerals. So this might also be another subtle way that a crystal/mineral may have an effect on the body.
Just because some folks don't likewise sense that energy field does not mean it doesn't exist. There are those who are sensitive to 5G/cell-tower EMF radiation and become sick from it (some firestations insist no cell towers are installed within range of their building), while others say they don't notice it.
As for making 'healing elixers' - even reputable purveyors of crystals who suggest such elixirs will caution people to make the elixir by placing the stone in contact with the glass the water is in, and NOT IN THE WATER itself.
Also, some crystals/minerals are mined/refined in processes that may involve toxic chemicals, radiation, filling of cracks with resins or glues, and some stones have have microfissures that would allow for the growth of bacteria - which is why it is NOT a good idea to stick one in your body cavities.
Some crystals have piezoelectric properties and this may also be a possible reason why some folks have found crystals to be useful in healing. Hulda Clark's 'zapper' has been used to good effect by some folks to deal with parasites or yeast infections.
And there is orgonite, crystals suspended in a resin base that contracts as it cures putting constant pressure on the quartz within it so the piezoelectric properties are constantly working. Some folks consider it to be akin to the effect a Himalayan salt lamp has. (Salt is also a crystal, btw.)
So the topic is a bit more complex than would be suggested by snap-judgement labeling to make a click-bait headline.