Diane Stein - Gemstones A to Z: A Handy Reference to Healing Crystals

A Womans I Ching
All Women Are Healers
All Women Are Psychics
Casting the Circle
Diane Steins Guide to Goddess Craft
Essential Energy Balancing
Essential Energy Balancing II
Essential Energy Balancing III
Essential Psychic Healing
Essential Reiki
Essential Reiki Teaching Manuel
Healing with Gemstones and Crystals
Healing with Flower and Gemstone Essences
The Holistic Puppy
Lady Sun, Lady Moon
Natural Healing for Dogs and Cats
The Natural Remedy Book for Dogs and Cats
The Natural Remedy Book for Women
On Grief and Dying
Pendulums and the Light
Prophetic Visions of the Future
Reliance on the Light
We Are the Angels
The Womans Book of Healing

Diane Stein on DVD

Diane Steins Essential Reiki Workshop

Visit Diane Steins website at www.dianestein.net
for books, jewelry, workshops, and more.

Healing and medicine are two different fields, and the law requires this
disclaimer. The information in this book is metaphysical rather than
medical and does not constitute medical advice. In case of illness, consult
the professional of your choice.

Copyright 2008 by Diane Stein. All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form, except brief excerpts for review, without
the written permission of the publisher.

Crossing Press
A division of Ten Speed Press
PO Box 7123
Berkeley CA 94707
www.tenspeed.com

Distributed in Australia by Simon and Schuster Australia, in Canada by
Ten Speed Press Canada, in New Zealand by Southern Publishers Group,
in South Africa by Real Books, and in the United Kingdom and Europe
by Publishers Group UK.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stein, Diane, 1948
Gemstones A to Z: a handy reference to healing crystals / Diane Stein.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-307-81779-2
1. Precious stonesTherapeutic use. 2. GemsTherapeutic use.
3. CrystalsTherapeutic use. I. Title.
RZ560.S74 2007
615.856dc22
2007032401

v3.1

For Brede and Jeshua

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

When I first discovered gemstones and crystals for healing and metaphysics, there was very little to choose from. Working with gemstones primarily meant using clear quartz crystals, always from Arkansas and usually small, rough, unpolished quartz points of an inch or two in size. Colored gemstones included only a few basic choices such as amethyst and rose quartz. A few healers who had great interest in gemstones knew how to use smoky quartz, blue sodalite and lapis, green aventurine, and peach carnelianbut not much else. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there wasnt much else available.

Gemstones and crystals were hard to find at that time. Most of my first stones were tumbled pieces, about an inch long, and came from a museum gift shop; there were no metaphysical stores then. A few came from lapidary stores that only sold raw specimens in varying sizes, which were unappealing and usually dirt-covered chunks often at very high prices. Some gemstones came from old jewelry, usually beads and an occasional pendant. The rest came from the womens music festivals that were just beginning to happen, where raw stones, tumbled stones, gemstone jewelry, and sometimes even gemstone pendulums were available and much sought after.

Things are much changed today. Gemstones and crystals are available in a great many types and colors that were unknown twenty-five years ago, and they come from sources worldwide. They can be bought from metaphysical shops, nature stores, jewelry stores, gift shops of all kinds, pagan sources, department stores, lapidaries, gem and mineral shows, bead shows and stores, commercial and designer jewelers, on the Internet including eBay, and a variety of other outlets. Stones may be ordered online directly from crystal and gemstone mines worldwide, and sometimes by visiting the mines. Gemstones and crystals are found in every kind of jewelry and come as specimens, beads, raw pieces and points, polished and cut points and shapes, gemstone skulls, carvings, chips, wands and obelisks, eggs and spheres, cabochons, faceted jewelry shapes, sacred geometry sets, hearts, and animal and Goddess statuesto list just some of the possibilities.

Gemstones and crystals arrive in the United States from all over the world. Hong Kong is the central clearinghouse for gemstone beads, with India a close second. Brazil is a primary source for such stones as amethyst, rose quartz, smoky quartz, the tourmalines, aquamarine, and clear quartz crystal. Moonstone and many of the rarer specimens and precious stones (rubies, sapphires, and emeralds) come from India. China has become a major player in mining and selling fluorite, turquoise, jade, and gemstone carvings, as well as other stones for which Hong Kong is a clearing center. Poland and various former Soviet Union countries offer amber, moldavite, and zincite. Africa provides malachite and many varieties of jasper. Australia offers opals and prehnite. And these are just a few.

The high prices of gemstones twenty-five years ago limited most healers to using tumbled stones, crystal points smaller than three inches, raw chunks, and a few less expensive lapidary specimens but this is no longer the case. Tumbled stones are still inexpensiveseveral for a dollareven cheaper now than they used to be, and many more gemstone forms are available and affordable. Many women prefer jewelry and beads including gemstone chip necklaces that cost only a couple of dollars, striking gemstone jewelry and bead strands at a wide variety of prices. Gemstone spheres now start at less than twenty dollars, and less than ten dollars for small ones. Small carvings can cost even less. Crystal skulls remain high priced but are more available, and many people are drawn to working with them. Small quartz points can cost as little as a dollar apiece and affordable larger specimens of all sizes are common. Stones that once seemed totally unattainable are now affordable, even precious stones like natural opals, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds in raw pieces, cabochons, beads, or tumbled form. Shopping around to find the best price is always a good idea. The variety is endless and gemstones and crystals are more available and affordable today than ever before.