Crystal healing - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Crystal healing is a pseudoscientific

Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...

alternative medicine

Alternative medicine

Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....

technique that employs stones and crystals as healing tools.

The practitioner places crystals on different parts of the body, often corresponding to chakra

Chakra

Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...

s, or places crystals around the body in an attempt to construct an "energy grid", which is purported to surround the client with healing energy.

When the stones are placed in the area of the chakras

Chakra

, the colour of the stones may correspond to the colour which is associated with the corresponding chakra. Going from the tail bone to the top of the head, the colours are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Stones may also be used at the feet in an attempt at grounding

Grounding

Grounding or grounded may refer to:* Ground * Grounding , about the collapse of the airline Swissair* Grounding , restrictions placed on movement or privileges...

the individual, or held in the hands. Practitioners may also use tools such as crystal wands, which are placed near the receiver's body, or near a certain 'blocked' chakra, or use to perform psychic surgery

Psychic surgery

Psychic surgery is a procedure typically involving the supposed creation of an incision using only the bare hands, the supposed removal of pathological matter, and the seemingly spontaneous healing of the incision....

, normally conducted with laser quartz wands.

Cultural uses

Crystal healing has been used in many different cultures throughout history, including the Hopi Native Americans of Arizona and the Hawaiian islanders, some of whom still use them to this day. In Egypt, jade amulets were found in the tombs and burial chambers because of their supposed power to guide souls in the afterworld. The Chinese still attribute extensive healing powers to jade, and some other eastern cultures believe that emerald will strengthen the memory and increase intelligence.

Criticism

There is no peer reviewed scientific evidence that crystal healing has any effect. It has been called a pseudoscience

Pseudoscience

. It is also a historical belief similar to that of charmstones, rather than one based on modern scientific practices and advances. Pleasant feelings or seeming successes of crystal healing can be attributed to the placebo effect

Placebo effect

Placebo effect may refer to:* Placebo effect, the tendency of any medication or treatment, even an inert or ineffective one, to exhibit results simply because the recipient believes that it will work...

, or the believers wanting it to be true and seeing only things that back that up; cognitive bias

Cognitive bias

A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment that occurs in particular situations. Implicit in the concept of a "pattern of deviation" is a standard of comparison; this may be the judgment of people outside those particular situations, or may be a set of independently verifiable...

.

Crystal healing techniques are also practiced on animals, although some veterinary organizations, such as the British Veterinary Association

British Veterinary Association

The British Veterinary Association is the national body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom and is a not-for-profit organisation. Its purpose is that of knowledge dissemination, and not professional validation or academic competence...

, have warned that these methods are not scientifically proven and thus could cause greater harm if not used in conjunction with traditional medical care.

In a 90-page booklet titled A Christian reflection on the New Age
A Christian reflection on the New Age
A Christian reflection on the New Age refers to a six year study by the Roman Catholic Church on the New Age movement. The study, published in 2003, is highly critical of the New Age movement and follows the 1989 document Aspects of Christian meditation in which the Vatican warned Catholics against...

published in 2003, the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

criticized crystal healing along with other New Age

New Age

The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...

practices and stated that crystals have no intrinsic power.

Cultural uses

Criticism

See also