Corrine Kenner - Crystals for Beginners

photo Katherine Kenner

Corrine Kenner specializes in bringing metaphysical subjects down to earth. Her work on the tarot is widely published, and her classes and workshops are perennial favorites among students in the Midwest.

In addition to Crystals for Beginners, Corrine is the author of Tall Dark Stranger , a handbook on using tarot cards for romance; Tarot Journaling , a guide to the art of keeping a tarot diary; and The Epicurean Tarot . She also compiled an anthology of first-person stories called Strange But True . She is a certified tarot master, and she holds a bachelors degree in philosophy from California State University, Long Beach.

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Crystals for Beginners: A Guide to Collecting & Using Stones & Crystals 2006 by Corrine Kenner.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2011

E-book ISBN: 9780738716961

Book design and layout by Joanna Willis

Cover design by Adrienne Zimiga

Illustrations on pages 6470, 72, 7679, 159, 166 by Wendy Froshay

Illustrations on pages 118, 167 by Llewellyn art department

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

The Benefits of Working with Crystals

How to Use this Book

The Top Twenty Crystals for the Beginning User

Collecting Crystals

The Origins of Crystals, Rocks, and Stones

The Flowers of the Mineral Kingdom

How Crystals Work

Crystals and Color

Crystals in Their Natural Form

Carved and Polished Crystals

Getting to Know Your Crystals

The Care and Feeding of Crystals

Crystal Meditation

Psychic Development and Divination

Scrying, Channeling, and Crystalomancy

The Twilight World of Crystals After Hours

Crystals and Astral Travel

Crystal Affirmations and Spells

Crystal Lucky Charms

Crystals for Health and Healing

An Alphabetical Guide to
Crystals, Rocks, and Stones

Introduction

People have always been fascinated by crystals. Since prehistoric hunters and gatherers first discovered quartz shining in a riverbed or flint glistening on a hillside, men and women have sought to incorporate crystals into their livesboth as objects of beauty, and as tools for the body, mind, and spirit.

Our early ancestors found innovative ways to craft stones and crystals into tools like knives, arrowheads, and fish hooks. While we no longer carve axes or chisels out of stone, we still depend on crystals as much as they ever didand perhaps even more.

In fact, we rely on crystals more than any civilization in history. Like prehistoric people, we occasionally use crystals to start firesweve simply updated the process, with relatively low-tech butane lighters. We also rely on crystals in building and manufacturing, and we have made them a main component of our communications equipment. Without crystals, our technology and our society would grind to a halt.

So, unlike our primitive ancestors, we dont simply pick up stones and crystals where we find them. Instead, we continually devise new techniques to discover new crystals, and we dig farther than ever to reach them. When we cant mine the crystals we need, we grow flawless specimens in a lab.

And just as early civilizations used crystals for divination, crystals still connect many of us to the divine.

Crystals certainly offer evidence of an intelligent creatorthey are structured according to precise mathematical rules, and they adhere to clearly defined geometric patterns. For many, crystals offer tangible proof of Gods perfection and Gods plan.

Yet every crystal is unique, with properties and characteristics as varied as human beings. Crystals might even serve as a metaphor for human development. They are gestated deep within the earth, forced to grow under intense pressure, and made beautiful by extremes of time and temperature. And just like us, their interactions with the elements give them depth, and their flaws give them character.

In recent years, a number of spiritual practitioners have promoted the use of stones and crystals, particularly for healing. Crystals can be used for meditation, divination, and self-development.

This book will introduce you to the mystical world of crystals and give you the information you need to make crystals a part of your everyday life.

Lighter, Brighter,
and Better

The Benefits of Working
with Crystals

From agates to zoisite, the number of crystals on todays market can seem overwhelming. So can all of the powers attributed to all of those crystals.

Are you lonely? Grab yourself a rose quartz. Do your knees hurt? Try carrying some calcite along when you take a walk. Do you want to try your luck in Vegas? Dont forget your green aventurine.

No matter what ails you or what goal you have in sight, it seems that someone can recommend a crystal to cure all your ills or bring you good fortune. You could spend years reading and studying the encyclopedic books that have been written to describe the various metaphysical properties of crystals, stone by stone. And while its true that individual crystals do have their own strengths, a surprising number of benefits can be attributed to all crystals. You dont have to memorize long lists of properties and associations to work with crystalsand you dont have to choose crystals based on anything in a book.

In fact, you will find that a long list of features and benefits can be assigned to every crystalwhich makes choosing a stone for your own needs a lot less daunting.

The following properties apply to every crystal on earth:

All crystals can help you balance your body, mind, and spirit.

All crystals can receive and store energy. All crystals can also amplify that energy, focus it, and transmit it to others, at least to one degree or another.

All crystals can make you feel safe and shielded from negative energy, and they can even help you feel more energetic yourself. Theres nothing like plugging into a crystal for a few minutes to help you recharge your spiritual batteries.