Ever been in a yoga class when someone rose quartz fell out of their bra? Yeah. We were confused too. Crystals and healing stones may have quite the rep for being as woo-woo as it gets, but there’s a reason they’ve been used since ancient times for rituals as diverse as stress reduction, massage, and cleansing.
“The first few gemstones I bought,” writes Spiritual PA and author Emma Mildon in her best-selling book The Soul-Searcher’s Handbook: The Modern Girl’s Guide to the New Age World, “were clear quartz, rose quartz, and angelite. To be honest, I didn’t even know what they were for. I just thought they were pretty. Imagine my surprise when I began to research the three stones I’d spontaneously picked up and discovered their powers to aid with the healing of hearts, clearing negativity, and communicating with your angels.”
Want to explore a crystal practice of your own? Here are three stones to get started.
Moonstone: For Evolution, Intuition, and Healing
Moonstone is a milky white stone with blue and silver tints, which are visible when the stone refracts light. Like new and full moons, this stone is strongly connected to energy, intuition, and spirituality: all things love, power, and healing. If you are drawn to this stone, you are likely spiritually evolving, and connecting to your psychic or intuitive abilities.
Healing Properties: As humans, we are inextricably tied to the moon. Our rhythms move in tandem with the pull of the moon’s power. As such, this is a great stone to use when you are experiencing change, growth, or a new beginning—moonstone is the stone of new life cycles. It also has calming properties that help you feel protected in sensitive or difficult situations. Particularly a good stone for women, moonstone is said to support hormonal balance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it can come in handy during one’s moon cycle (aka: menstrual cycle). Moonstone may also help men get more in touch with their emotions.
Wearing or Using the Stone: Moonstone is associated with passion, fortune-telling, balance, and luck, and can reunite lovers when they quarrel. Said to be most powerful on a full moon, it can be worn as jewelry, placed on or near you in gemstone form, or rest near you while you sleep. It is best placed on the third eye for healing purposes. This is also known as the traveler’s stone, thought to give safe passage to sailors traveling across dark waters. Place it in your glove compartment while driving at night for protection, and to soothe the possibility of road rage.
Fun Facts: Ironically, a stone named for the moon makes up 60 percent of the Earth’s crust—its shimmer is created from multiple layers of feldspar; minerals in the feldspar family comprise more than half of the Earth’s crust. Though moonstone can be found many places, it is especially prevalent in Sri Lanka and Brazil. Moonstone’s most popular shapes are ovals and spheres. These spheres are often sculpted with faces or figures, sometimes denoting the “man in the moon”. Ancient mystics and magicians used the power that moonstone harnesses from a full moon to cast spells. Other cultures planted the stone in their crops, fields, gardens, and farms believing that the stone would yield more fertile soil when it absorbed the light of a full moon.
Intuitive Mysticism
Chakra: Third eye (Ajna), Crown (Sahasrara)
Planet: Moon (Especially a full moon)
Zodiac: Cancer (June 20 – July 22)
Essential Oils: Jasmine, Lemon, Myrrh
Suggested Mantra: There is only infinite love. There is only infinite light.
Turquoise: For Cleansing, Protection, and Good Fortune
Known as the stone of cleansing, turquoise is a natural guard against anything that isn’t serving you, your body, or your mind. This bright blue crystal is one of the oldest stones known to humankind, and was used as a talisman by kings, religious leaders, and soldiers. (It got its name when Turkish soldiers, using the stone as an amulet, carried it to Europe.) Perhaps because it was known so early in human history, its use spans many cultures, on all continents. It’s commonly used in modern jewelry, and is thought to bring luck, protection, and power.
Healing Properties: As the stone of cleansing, turquoise is particularly good for releasing bad habits and negative energy. Turquoise is also a calming stone that can induce internal serenity and lift depleted spirits. Not only will turquoise help to flush negative emotions from the mind, it is also said to support detoxification of the body. Because it aids tranquility and protection, turquoise is a great stone to accompany meditation.
Wearing or Using the Stone: This is a particularly good stone to wear or use if you are experiencing trouble with difficult people or stresses in your life. Ideally it would be worn on your body throughout the day to help protect and heal you. Tibetans believe that a turquoise mala will relay your prayer directly to the deity being invoked.
Fun Facts: Turquoise is one of the oldest stones, known to man since at least 6,000 BCE. Though it is often considered a masculine stone, it is also thought to be the unification of masculine and feminine energies; the uniting of the sky and sea. It was particularly popular among Native Americans, who believed that if your turquoise jewelry (or amulet) suddenly had a crack in it, the stone had absorbed a great blow that would have otherwise befallen you.
Intuitive Mysticism
Chakra: Throat (Vishuddha)
Planet: Neptune and Venus
Zodiac: Sagittarius (November 21 – December 20)
Essential Oils: Cedar, Sage, and Sandalwood
Suggested Mantra: I Am Strong. I Am Protected.
Aventurine: For Opportunity, Balance, and Evolution
Aventurine is the stone of opportunity and luck. Some believers go as far as to say that you should never buy a lotto ticket without an aventurine in your pocket. It isn’t only a talisman, however; aventurine helps to align opportunities so that you can create your own luck. It also helps to develop a positive outlook and connects you to your emotional and higher self. Green aventurine is most common, but there are also blue, yellow, and red varieties.
Healing Properties: This is a great stone to harmonize emotions, helping with hormonal imbalance and oversensitivity. It can be especially beneficial for teenagers. Aventurine breaks stagnant patterns so that new growth can occur. Once you have ceased routines that do not serve you, aventurine can help develop a new zeal for life. It can also help to heal creative blocks, and inspires insight and innovation. You will find that you are more mentally disciplined—and have a more positive outlook—when you are close to aventurine. It is a great stone to use if you are in a position of leadership.
Wearing or Using the Stone: It is recommended to wear a green aventurine close to your heart, or on pulse points. A blue aventurine should be placed on the third-eye chakra to aid healing, or under your pillow while you sleep. More practically, aventurine is said to absorb electromagnetic waves, guarding against environmental pollution. Attached to your cell phone, aventurine can help protect from harmful cellular rays.
Fun Facts: The name aventurine comes from Italian, translating roughly to “by chance.” According to legend, the name was first used when glassmakers accidentally mixed copper fillings into the glass mixture. The result was a product that seemed to sparkle from the inside-out, and this style of glassmaking persisted for many years. The name was then applied to similar naturally-occurring phenomena, which is why the natural stone shares its name with a manmade product. Throughout history, aventurine was used in the construction of everyday items, such as serving bowls, jewelry, vases, tools, and other ornamental items.
Intuitive Mysticism
Chakra (green): Heart (Anahata)
Chakra (blue): Third-eye (Anja)
Chakra (red): Root (Muladhara)
Planet: Mercury
Zodiac: Aries (March 20 – April 19), Gemini (May 21 – June 21), and Leo (July 22 – August 22)
Essential Oils: Parsley and Patchouli
Suggested Mantra: Opportunity is the manifestation of creativity. Creativity is the manifestation of opportunity.
Please note that crystals and other forms of New Age holistic healing are to be used alongside, not in replacement of, Western medicine.
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Emma Mildon is an author, columnist, and spiritualist that specializes in spiritual research that she shares to her readers through her interactive website, app, and books. Giving her readers easy access to everything from spiritual scriptures across all religions, to different types of yoga to explore, crystals, feng-shui right down to how to work out your astrology and numerology. Be sure to check out her book The Soul Searchers Handbook or visit her website, emmamildon.com. You can also find Emma on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google+.