Marianna Sheldrake - The Crystal Healer: A Guide to Understanding Crystals and their Healing Gifts

At last a book that explains the mysteries of Crystal Healing in a language that anyone can understand. Marianna Sheldrake has been healing with crystals for over twenty years. Now she shares her understanding and knowledge without the trappings of obscure terminology.

Her fresh approach to this subject offers advice and instruction to the novice and practitioner alike. She takes the reader on a journey of exploration, from choosing a crystal to understanding its relationship with the universal energies.

Along with its rich, full-colour illustrations, The Crystal Healer includes an indexed list of ailments with their most appropriate crystal treatment and an invaluable reference guide to the most widely used crystals, tools and configuration.

I have lost count of the number of people who have asked me the leading question, How do I become a healer? The answer is deceptively simple you must first believe in your own abilities. I truly believe that anyone has the potential to heal another, but the most difficult obstacle in their path is themselves. With some, it is scepticism; with others, it is a lack of self-assurance and with most, it is the misconception that healing requires the aid of some frightening level of magic or mysticism. Let me be clear on this point. I believe that healing is one of the most natural processes that we humans can share with each other.

After half a lifetime spent in the healing arts, I felt that the greatest contribution I could make, in return for the marvellous experiences I had been privileged to enjoy, would be to attempt to lift the veil a little and help people to see the nature of their own relationship with the universe and the powers that flow from it. This book is my effort to help newcomers to the crystal experience by rolling back some of the mystery and superstition that have shrouded the subject for so long. It is also intended to provide experienced practitioners with a useful, practical reference work on the most commonly used crystals and some of the techniques I have found helpful.

One of the great good fortunes of my life has been the time spent amongst other healers both in my work with healing circles and through the shop I have in Glastonbury with my husband, Brian. We have travelled together across the world, speaking to groups and meeting dedicated healers. We meet healers, both experienced and novice, when they come through our shop. No matter which sphere of life they might move in, I am always struck by the simplicity of belief that we all share. I have met healers who have no real religious beliefs at all, other than a simple acceptance of a supreme intelligence, and I have met deeply devoted Christian healers. They all share a concept of unconditional love that unites them and motivates their selfless devotion. I have long since reached the conclusion that belief systems are simply mechanisms that allow us to contact or gain access to the terrific energies that abound throughout the cosmos and it is these energies that heal not us.

On a recent tour through New Mexico and Arizona we were introduced to a revered elder of the Lakota people called Hollis Littlecreek. We met at a talk he was giving and he asked us to visit with him the next day. We spent a day with him, sharing insights and ideas, and he honoured us with a detailed description of some ancient beliefs shared by a number of native American nations including his close friends, the mysterious Hopi. He has spent a number of years working with them towards a wider understanding of the ancient tribal prophecies especially the Hopi prophecy that talks of a Rainbow of Understanding whereby the Red Man and the White Man share their ancient knowledge and bring about a new movement of respect and healing for Mother Earth. Those who work towards this goal are known as Rainbow Warriors. Hollis believes that crystals are an integral part of the lifecycle and that understanding this relationship is an essential first step towards crystal healing. I offer his thoughts for your consideration:

The plant takes nourishment from the minerals of Mother Earth. We eat the plant and survive. Some of the plants have to go through another transformation, so that their properties will not hurt our body. Animals eat these plants and then we eat those animals and survive. Ultimately, however, the plants, the animals and ourselves die and the bodies return to Mother Earth. In a few million years (no time at all for a planet) the bodies have become minerals again. And so we see that even in the physical world we live forever. We are a wonderfully harmonious balance between the spiritual energy that comes from the Great Spirit and the physical body that comes from Mother Earth. This is the real Circle of Life.

Probably the most important prerequisite for someone approaching crystal healing for the first time is an open mind. Like you, I am always wary of anyone prefacing their information with that phrase. But, in this case, its perfectly true. There is a quaint comparison that I remind myself of whenever I take a look at something new. A closed mind is like a closed parachute absolutely useless and, at the wrong time, potentially fatal. Whatever beliefs have brought you this far through your life are not in question. I have found that the concepts surrounding the energies of crystals are perfectly compatible with just about any beliefs. This is because crystal energy is a manifestation of science the emerging field of subtle energies and I hold the view that science and spirituality are not incompatible at all.