Crystal Healing Origins
In Plato's account of Atlantis, crystal healing is also mentioned. According to Plato the Atlanteans used crystals to read minds and transmit thoughts. The first historical documentation of crystals originated from the Ancient Sumerians (c. 4500 to c. 2000 BC). The Sumerians used crystals in their magical formulas.
Writings dating back as far as 400 BC make observations about the powers different crystals were believed to emit.Often if a negative incident occurred a specific stone would be used in an attempt to counteract the negative effect. This was done by wearing amulets or other talismans around the neck with specific stones.
The origins of crystal healing is tied to Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, India, Ancient Greece, or Ancient Rome.
Ancient Egyptians mined for crystals and used them to make jewelry. Crystals or gemstones were also used in practice, for their metaphysical properties. Specifically, they used crystals as aids for health and protection. They often would bury a lapis lazuli scarab with their deceased, with the belief that it would protect them in the afterlife.Additionally, in Ancient Egypt amulets were used to ensure the well-being of the individual.[11] The amulet’s shape, decoration, inscription, color, material, or ritual performed with the amulet dictated its power.[ Amulets were worn or placed on the body, in the form of stones, piercings, rings, necklaces, or other jewelry.The Egyptians used amulets to benefit their afterlife, often representing an Egyptian deity and their specific powers. Amulets were also placed on mummys or in between the mummy’s bandages, with funerary pieces usually being larger than those worn by the living. In funeral practices they also used headrest amulets, these were full-size headrests placed in tombs to protect the dead, they also symbolized the deceased rising and being revived, and the sun rising between two hills, which symbolized resurrection and rebirth.
The Ancient Greeks assigned a multitude of properties to crystals. The word 'crystal' is derived from the Greek word “krýstallos” which translates to “ice”.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4J10J2y1Q0 The Ancient Greeks believed that clear quartz crystals were a water that had frozen to the point where it would remain in its solid form.[13] The word “amethyst” in Ancient Greek language means “not intoxicate.” Amethyst was worn as an amulet that they believed would aid hangovers or prevent intoxication.
Precious stones have been thought of as objects that can aid in healing—in a practice known as lapidary medicine—by a variety of cultures.[15] The Hopi Native Americans of Arizona use quartz crystals to assist in diagnosing illnesses.[16] Both Pliny the Elder and Galen claimed that certain crystals had medicinal properties. In Europe, the belief in the healing powers of crystals (and in particular crystal amulets) persisted into the Middle Ages.[17][18] The alleged medicinal properties of precious stones, as well as other powers they were believed to hold, were collected in texts known as lapidaries, which remained popular in Medieval and Early Modern Europe until the 17th century.
Across cultures, different stones can symbolize or provide aide for different things. An example of this is rose quartz. In Egypt, it was believed rose quartz could prevent aging, but the Romans used rose quartz as a seal to signify ownership, while in the Middle Ages it was used in healing potions, today rose quartz is known as the “love stone” and is used to balance emotions, and heal anger and disappointment.
