Crystal healing
Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific[1] alternative medicine technique that employs stones and crystals as healing tools.
The practitioner places crystals on different parts of the body, often corresponding to chakras, or places crystals around the body in an attempt to construct an "energy grid", which is purported to surround the client with healing energy.[2]
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Practices[edit]
According to practitioners, when the stones are placed in the area of the chakras, the colour of the stones may be chosen so as to correspond to the colour which is said to be associated with the corresponding chakra.[citation needed] Stones are used at the feet to try to "ground" the individual, or held in the hands.[citation needed] Practitioners sometimes use crystal wands, which are placed near the receiver's body, or near a certain 'blocked' chakra.
Cultural uses[edit]
Different cultures have used crystal healing over time, including the Hopi Native Americans of Arizona[3] and Hawaiian islanders, some of whom continued to use it as of 1997[update].[4] The Chinese have traditionally attributed healing powers to microcrystalline jade,[5] and some other eastern cultures[which?] believe that emerald will strengthen the memory and increase intelligence.[citation needed]
Criticism[edit]
There is no peer reviewed scientific evidence that crystal healing has any effect. It has been called a pseudoscience. 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]
Crystal healing techniques are also practiced on animals, although some veterinary organizations, such as the British Veterinary Association, have warned that these methods are not scientifically proven and thus could cause greater harm if not used in conjunction with conventional, effective medical care.[7]
Notable proponents[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Crystal Power". The Skeptic's Dictionary. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gs7bJxNMlBUC&pg=PA129&dq=%22crystal+healing%22&lr= Healing with Crystals
- ^ Malotki, Ekkehart (2006). University of Nebraska Press. Hopi Stories of Witchcraft, Shamanism and Magic. p. xxvii. ISBN 978-0803283183.
- ^ John Kaimikaua, talk at Molokai, HI: 1997, as cited in Joy Gardner, "Vibrational Healing Through the Chakras with Light, Color, Sound, Crystals and Aromatherapy" (Berkeley, CA: The Crossing Press, 2006).
- ^ MacKenzie, Donald A. (2005) [1924]. Myths Of China And Japan. Kessinger Publishing's rare reprints. Kessinger Publishing. p. 249. ISBN 9781417964291. Retrieved 2012-11-20. "Rhinoceros horn had, like jade, healing properties."
- ^ Campion EW (January 1993). "Why unconventional medicine?". The New England Journal of Medicine 328 (4): 282–83. doi:10.1056/NEJM199301283280413. PMID 8418412.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/7240231.stm Warning about animal 'therapies'
