By Steven Bancarz| In the New Age movement, crystals are believed to be metaphysical healing tools that have the ability realign the energy systems in your body, raise your vibration, and cleanse your auric field. What they mean is that on a metaphysical level, crystals emit their own energetic signature.
The energy field of the crystal carries a unique resonance to it that matches the resonance of different thoughts and emotions. They would say that inspiration, for example, has a certain energetic signature or frequency to it. A kind of feel and tune to it, and so if we carry around a stone that emits a frequency that matches that of inspiration, our own energy field will be influenced by this stone and bring our energy into alignment with that of inspiration.
Some vibrate at an energetic frequency that matches that of strength, some of love, some of grace, some of self-esteem, some of abundance, some of emotional balance, and so on. And so the belief is that by doing healing work with crystals, their energetic properties can pass over into us and help realign things in our soul.
Some crystals can also be charged with the energy of our intentions. If we focus mental energy into the crystal, it will start to carry the energetic properties of the intention we are putting in it. You can, in one sense, charge your crystal up with the vibration you want it to have. We can also project energy through the crystal into a patient, where the crystal then acts as a sort of transmitter and wand that carries our energy and intentions into the person we are directing them to.
“healing crystals harness the life giving elements of the Earth and the universe. Harnessing the energy of the Sun, the Moon, and the oceans, semi-precious stones connect us to Earth as soon as we come into contact with them…each crystal has a unique vibrational energy that works to clear blockages and ward off negative energy.” – https://www.energymuse.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-healing-crystals/
““When we bring the crystal into our electromagnetic field, two things occur. The electromagnetic frequencies carried by the stone will vibrate with related frequencies in our own energy field through the physical law of resonance, creating a third larger vibration field. The nervous system is attuned to these shifts in energy and transmits this information to the brain. Here the frequencies stimulate biochemical shifts that affect the physical body and shift brain function.” – Book of Stones, (Simmons & Ahsian 2005, 28)
But is this true of crystals? Is there any evidence that support these claims? Are they supernatural healing wands able to be used as instruments of energetic healing?
Study finds crystals have no healing properties of their own
Psychologist Dr. Christopher French and colleagues from the University of London conducted a study to determine if crystal healing was legitimate. 80 participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire to indicate how open they were to the supernatural, and then they were asked to meditate with a crystal in their hand.
Some of these crystals were real, and some of them were fake. Before meditating, they were asked to observe any tingling or energy running through their hand when holding on to the crystal. After they were finished meditating, they answered another questionnaire where they recorded any effects they felt from the crystal in their hand.
Those who held real crystals experienced no greater effects than those who held the fake crystals. There was no difference between the real or fake crystal. Those who were more open to the supernatural experienced more sensation in their hand, as did those who were primed and encouraged more by the person conducting the study.
“We found that lots of people claimed that they could feel odd sensations while holding the crystals, such as tingling, heat and vibrations, if we’d told them in advance that this is what might happen,” says Dr. French, a professor of psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. “In other words, the effects reported were a result of the power of suggestion, not the power of the crystals.”
“There is no evidence that crystal healing works over and above a placebo effect,” – Dr. French, Live Science
The psychological attitude of the person is what created the sensation, but the sensation was equal in intensity whether the crystal was real or fake. This means that it ultimately doesn’t matter what the substance is in your hand because the whole experience is generated in the mind of the individual.
Contrary to the statements made in the New Age movement, there is no actual evidence indicating that crystals have any healing power. It’s not enough to say “The silicon conducts electricity and is used in technology, therefore it conducts and emits metaphysical energy”. We must be able to demonstrate that this works above a placebo if its to be considered a healing modality. Practically speaking, they don’t actually do anything.
Using crystals is idolatry
Biblically speaking, there are two different ways we can understand the usage of crystals. Whether they work in some scenarios or don’t work at all, to use crystals for any spiritual practice is to commit a form of idolatry.
“An idol is anything that replaces the one, true God.” – https://www.gotquestions.org/idolatry-definition.html
“idolatry is having or inventing something in which one trusts in place of or alongside of the only true God, who has revealed himself in the Word” (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 95)
Idolatry, in a narrow sense, is worshipping other objects and beings in the place of God. In a broad sense, anything that we use or revere in the place of God is idolatry. When we look to something God created to provide us with something supernatural that only God can provide, we commit a form of idolatry. Let’s look at some verses where God is identified as being spiritual healer:
“For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” – Acts 28:27
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” – 1 Peter 2:24
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
“O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” – Psalm 30:2
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” – John 7:38
“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” – Ezekiel 36:25-27
“To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” – Revelation 21:6
The healing that is talked about here is a deep healing taken place in the spirit-man of each person. Additionally, there are dozens of verses about God healing broken hearts and healing physical illnesses, but these specific verses indicate that God is our supernatural healer healing us from the spirit outward. This happens when the spirit-man is resurrected from death to life in Christ through regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and then being continuously strengthened by the word of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit after being regenerated.
We go from being spiritually dead in tresspasses and sins to sharing in the resurrection life of Jesus. Gemstones cannot do this. Christ promises you new spiritual life and absolute refreshment the minute you put your faith in him, and He is actually a person who engages with you on an individual level to bring about healing and restoration in your life.
If you are using crystals to bring about spiritual healing, you are bypassing God’s method of spiritual healing and relying on the creation rather than the Creator Himself. To use a created object in the place of God to bring about the supernatural benefits of God is a classic example of the sin of idolatry, even if they do not actually work.
This is not true of medicine, because medicine does not seek to bring supernatural healing to the patient. The use of crystals however attempts to bring about supernatural, metaphysical healing that only God can bring us, and when we appeal to created things for supernatural use in the place of God Himself, we false short of God’s standard to revere, adore, and value nothing else above Him.
Using crystals is to commit the sin of witchcraft
If they do work, then using them is the manipulation of metaphysical energy apart from God. which falls under the category of magic, witchcraft, and sorcery, all of which are prohibited in the Bible. If crystals store spiritual energy that we could somehow tap into for healing (which they don’t), or if they could be used for healing wands to bring spiritual energy through into another person, then we are violating God’s laws to refrain from magic arts.
Magic: “the use of means (such as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces.” – Merriam Webster
Magic: “the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature.” – Dictionary.com
Witchcraft: “religious practice involving magic and affinity with nature, usually within a pagan tradition.” – https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/witchcraft
Witchcraft: “the art or power of bringing magical or preternatural power to bear or the act or practice of attempting to do so” – American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. S.v. “witchcraft.” Retrieved February 9 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/witchcraft
Sorcery: “The use of magic” – https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sorcery
The use of crystals fit these definitions perfectly. If we are attempting to bend metaphysical energy apart from God, we are engaging in a pagan practice of witchcraft. Here is what the Bible has to say about the practice of witchcraft.
“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD.” – Deuteronomy 18:10-12
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will notinherit the kingdom of God.” – Galatians 5:19
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” – Revelation 21:8
In the NIV, sorcerers is actually translated as “those who practice magic arts”.
So even if they do work under certain circumstances, using them is condemned in the Bible and is something that is incompatible with salvation. No practicer of magic will enter into Heaven on judgement day. Only those saved by faith with the evidence of repentance from such forms of sorcery will see the Kingdom of God. So the use of crystals for any form of spiritual benefit falls under the categories of idolatry and witchcraft.
Are there any circumstances under which crystals might work?
Crystal rocks don’t contain intrinsic spiritual properties that make them healing stones. There is no evidence to suggest that crystals, in and of themselves, are useful in in healing or therapy. But I am agnostic as to whether or not they could be used in witchcraft to bring demonic power and energy over from the spirit to the natural. Crystals have no healing ability in and of themselves, but alongside demons, they might serve some purpose in sorcery. I take the position that crystals have no power in and of themselves to do anything, but might perhaps play a role in witchcraft when demons become involved in the practice. One reason I am agnostic about this is because channeled material often contains instructions to use crystals during meditation and contemplation for the purpose of spiritual growth.
The Bible often gives realist interpretations to pagan spiritual practices. We could speculate that the manipulation of the natural realm through the medium of occult tools is how the magicians in Egypt were able to replicate the miracles of Moses in Exodus 7 and 8.
Scientifically speaking, crystals offer no actually healing. Biblically speaking, using them is idolatry if they do/don’t work, and witchcraft if they do/don’t work. It seems as though at least some testimonies of people within the New Age movement, as well as Christians who left the New Age movement, confirm the reality of crystal power when used in sorcery/energywork. This shouldn’t surprise us, as other things that are part of nature (such as herbs) are used to cast spells and invoke occult powers. If they do serve some occult purpose alongside demonic aid, using them for such reasons is a sin worthy of God’s judgement and incompatible with salvation.
Can Christians have them as decoration and jewelry?
Technically yes. They are part of God’s creation that He called good. Just because they have been abused by man for occultic purposes doesn’t mean that crystals themselves are somehow evil. The herbs used in witchcraft or burning incense can be used in cooking, for example. However, if you have come out of the New Age movement, your mind and your flesh will be accustomed to associating crystals with a certain outcome and feeling, and keeping them in your house will keep you yoked up to feelings of nostalgia and may pull your psychology back into the time of your life when you used to use them. The could tempt you to fall back into spiritual systems opposed to the spiritual system God has for you.
If you are used to associating a certain song with an ex-partner of yours, it’s not healthy for you to listen to that song all day, even if you have moved on to a new partner. Likewise, it’s not healthy to put yourself into a position with objects you have used for metaphysical purposes in the past, as this can be a stumbling block to you and frustrate the sanctification God wants to do in you.
I have two videos on occult objects which address how they give demons legal ground, and how holding on to them prevents your mind from being able to renew and refresh itself from association with occult objects if you hold on to them. Furthermore, we should not surround ourselves with things that might ensnare us to follow after occult spirituality. We may be tempted and allured to use them again, or to at least flirt with the idea of using them, and if we feel they will be a temptation to us or have a history of using them, it’s best to avoid them and heir on the side of righteousness.
So to recap, crystals are useless for healing. Since God alone is to be our source of spiritual healing, crystal healing and therapy is idolatrous by nature. If it does in fact work, then it is also witchcraft. It might be the case that crystals do serve actually serve some kind of occult purpose involving demonic power.
Crystals are not evil in and of themselves, but wisdom and caution should be used if you are planning on using them for decor or jewelry, especially if you have a history in the New Age movement.
