Today, we’re answering a question we get a lot at Whimsy + Wellness: can I be a Christian and use crystals? How do Christianity and crystals mix?
These are deeply personal questions, and nobody can tell you what to believe! Since we get the question so much, however, we wanted to share some common perspectives about how Christianity and crystals can work together.
This post will cover:
- Do crystals have the power to heal?
- How (and why) ancients cultures used crystals.
- What modern science can tell us about crystals.
- What is energy healing?
- Crystals and their use in the Bible.
- Common objections to using crystals.
- 5 ways using crystals lines up with Christian values.
- Where do I go from here?
Click on any of the links above to jump ahead, or just keep reading!
Most people don’t grow up using or knowing much about crystals, so they’re understandably foreign.
In fact, for a lot of our customers, their crystals journey ends up looking a lot like their journey with essential oils: they go from knowing nothing and being a little weirded out to understanding and loving both essential oils and crystals, and seeing both as an important and fun part of their wellness–both physical and mental!
Do Crystals Have the Power to Heal?
The first thing most people realize is that crystals are as magic and mystical as any other part of our world–dirt, trees, grass, insects, and yourself included!
Crystals are simply rock formations (albeit, beautiful rock formations) forged under intense heat and pressure inside the earth. Different mineral compositions and combinations of heat and pressure make different colored stones in all different sizes.
There are a lot of things in nature that we don’t fully understand, but still benefit from and appreciate, and crystals fall into that category for many Christians.
Crystals and Ancient Cultures
Crystals aren’t just a modern obsession, and they certainly aren’t a fad–they’ve been around for eons, and have been revered, prized, and used for healing since ancient times.
You have to remember that mirrors and reflective surfaces are largely modern inventions. We have televisions and all kinds of screens, glass in every color and composition imaginable, mirrors of all kinds, and so much more–but the ancients didn’t.
Crystals were transparent and yet not–and there was nothing else like them in the natural world! Ancient cultures were mystified by how crystals looked, and their seemingly miraculous origins. And, like most of us, what they didn’t understand, they attributed to supernatural origins.
Crystals and Modern Science
Many people believe supernatural beings play a role in the use of crystals, but if you’re somebody who prefers to find a scientific explanation for how crystals work, there’s definitely one to be had. We actually know quite a bit about crystals and what’s known as energy healing.
Crystals contain certain amounts of energy because of their geometric structures. This energy is extremely steady, and we’ve harnessed its power for use in everything from watches to telescopes. There are a lot of details that we don’t know, but what we do know is that most things–your body, included–contains some form of energy, and these types of energy can interact.
What is Energy Healing?
When people talk about crystals having a healing energy, they’re referring to the exchange that happens between a crystal’s energy and a person’s energy. Our minds are incredibly powerful, and we have just barely begun to understand the way energy is impacted by our minds and the way it impacts our minds right back.
Believe it or not, this isn’t pseudoscience–the Princeton Engineering Department discovered that a machine could be designed that could be affected by people’s minds (this mind-boggling discovery led to the creation of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab).
A common type of energy healing that you’re probably somewhat familiar with is acupuncture. Acupuncture has been studied by modern science, and while scientists don’t understand how it works, they understand that it does work, and uses our bodies’ electrical fields in some way.
Many people recognize the impact crystals have on their mindsets, beliefs, emotions, and attitudes and attribute this to supernatural powers at work in or through crystals. But there are also lots of people, Christians included, who recognize crystals’ power, but choose to attribute it to science–albeit, a not fully understood science.
Crystals in the Bible
One thing many Christians are often shocked to learn is that crystals are mentioned in some pretty significant ways in the Bible! They show up early, in fact, in the book of Exodus.
The Isrealite priests wore breastplates that held twelve precious stones. You might even recognize some of these stones from the Whimsy + Wellness shop! They are: ruby, topaz, garnet, emerald, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, and jasper.
In addition to this stone-filled breastplate, God instructed the priests to keep two special stones in their pocket. These stones were called Urim (meaning “light”) and Thummim (meaning “protection”) and most historians believe they were probably crystals or jewels, like the stones on the breastplate. They were used by the priest in a kind of divination to determine God’s will for the people.
Crystals are also mentioned in the book of Revelation and in the book of Isaiah.
Why Do People Object to Using Crystals?
When most Christians have an objection to using crystals, they object because they believe crystals are “New Age.” Crystals are parts of some New Age practices, but as you can already tell, the use of crystals either predates or has been developed entirely apart from any modern New Age practices. You can choose whether or not you participate in New Age rituals or beliefs, or any other kind of spiritual ritual.
5 Ways Crystals Line Up With Christian Values
For many Christians, the more they learn about crystals, their history, and the science behind them, and the more they hear stories from people who have experienced the power of crystals in their personal lives, the more they’re willing to have an open mind and investigate crystals for themselves.
As they do so, they often realize crystals have way more in common with Christianty than they thought. Many people often come to believe that crystals can play a vibrant and joyful role in a Christian’s spiritual journey. Here are five ways crystals line up with Christian values:
1. Crystals Encourage the Stewardship of Natural Resources
In the book of Genesis, Christians are commanded to be stewards of the earth. This means nurturing it, caring for it, and benefiting from its resources in a way that benefits the natural world and people.
Crystals are beautiful, shining symbols of the earth’s rich natural resources and can serve as reminders and encouragements to value the earth, and not take from it greedily, without concern for future generations. As a culture, we’re beginning to understand that whole health includes our minds and our spirits, and crystals help us see our natural resources as places to glean and learn from.
2. Crystals Can Help You Cultivate Awe
Christians believe the natural world displays the glory of God, and crystals are an easy, inexpensive, happy way to bring to display that glory where it can be easily seen and observed! You might not have the resources or vacation time to make it to an awe-inspiring place like the Grand Canyon or the Himalayas, but you can cultivate a sense of awe and amazement via crystals.
3. Crystals Can Help You Show Up For Yourself for Good
Crystals are neutral–they’re not good or bad–but the people using crystals can certainly be evil or have evil intentions. In the hands of a Christian who desires to be a good person, however, crystals are agents for good, and can intensify good desires.
The truth is, even if you’d rather not believe in anything supernatural or outside of modern understanding, using crystals isn’t any different than putting on makeup in the morning, or turning on a great playlist to help you get motivated, or lighting a candle, or diffusing essential oils–it’s simply a way for you to show up for yourself and be your best self.
4. Crystals Can Be Agents of Joy
Christians are called to be joyful, and there’s a long tradition of Christians finding joy and happiness in the natural world–attributing the wonders of the world to God. If crystals, as natural resources, make you smile and bring you joy, they’re helping you–and that’s a beautiful thing!
You can consider a bouquet of flowers, which holds a similar role. They can make you smile, bring you joy, and be a reminder of God’s beautiful creation.
5. Crystals Can Be God’s Agent for Healing
If you’ve ever been truly sick, you understand that healing is healing–whether it comes from an essential oil, surgery, pharmaceutical drugs, therapy–or crystals! Christians who use and benefit from crystals’ healing powers believe that God placed healing powers and resources inside the natural world for people to use and benefit from.
Christianity and crystals don’t have to be at odds; in fact, crystals can become a precious part of a Christian’s spiritual journey.
Where Do I Go From Here?
Now that you’re learned a little more about crystals, you might want to begin exploring them for yourself! Here are a few places to start:
Go here to download your own crystal healing chart! We made a pdf download for you that walks you through some of our favorite crystals and how to “use” them (the short answer: if you’re smiling, you’re winning!).
You can also browse our beautiful collection of crystals to hold OR crystals for your oils! Happy smiling!
