The History of Crystal Healing Part One- "The Western World"

For thousands of years crystals and stones have been used not only for healing, but also for their decorative and protective properties. Archaeologist have found amber beads in grave site over 8,000 years old and even a calcite mirror that was made over 30,000 years ago. One of the earliest documents of crystal use actually comes from the Christian Bible.

4,000 year old beads found in England found by the University of Manchester in 2008

The book of Exodus describes the breastplate of the High Priest, however, the Hebrew word for breastplate actually translate to "pouch". With this translation we find that Aaron was really wearing a linen bag around his neck and chest, with 12 crystals that represented the 12 Tribes of Israel, and the two special holy objects, the Urim and Thummin.

The breastplate of Aaron may have looked something like this.

The ancients had different names for crystals than we have today which can make translation difficult to know exactly which crystals were used, but they included sardius, probably Sardonyx, a stone of authority, strength, and protection; Topaz, one of the most ancient stones of abundance; Turquoise, another protective stone that enhances spiritual attunement; and Amythest, which is still used today by the bishops in the church to show their spiritual authority. These stones were, according to God's instructions, to be set in gold and inscribed with the names of the tribes to show they were under divine protection. In other words, they were creating amulets, which was something already very popular in Egypt. Many scholars believe that the Urim and Thummin were actually meteorites and were designed by God to be used as an "oracle" to ascertain his will and divine the course the future would take.

The use of crystals in Egypt goes back to at least 4500 BCE, which may have also influenced the Israelites who had recently fled Egypt to wander in the desert. The funeral mask of Tutankhamun has a Lapis Lazuli band around his Snow Quartz and Obsidian eyes.  Lapis was considered the most scared and spiritual of stones. Its use was to open spiritual insight, a useful attribute on the journey to the Otherworld, which Obsidian would facilitate. In the headdress are set Turquoise and Carnelian, both used as a protective amulet. The true purpose of this mask was to guide and guard the young Pharaoh on his way home to the stars and to ensure a good rebirth.

The funeral mask of Tutankhamun

Crystal use also spread to the Roman Empire, where Pliny the Elder wrote on precious stones in his treatise "Natural History" (written 77 AD), based on the earlier Greek writer, Theophrastus.

Theophrastus (lived c.371 BC-287 BC).

That briefly describes the history of the use of crystals for history, at least for the "western" world. Stayed tuned for part two, "The Eastern World".




Christopher Howard
            &
Holistic Heathers


www.HolisticHeathers.com




Resource: "The Encyclopedia of Crystals" by Judy Hall