A charmstone is a mineral specimen which certain prehistoric, historic or contemporary peoples invest with healing, mystical or paranormal powers. This belief has been part of several indigenous cultures for centuries. The mineral specimen may either be naturally occurring or honed from a natural stone; in some cases, the specimen may be entirely manufactured as in the case of certain Mayan pottery finds. For example, the Miwok and Pomo tribes of Northern California have left thousands of charmstones in the bed of Tolay Lake in Sonoma County.^[1] Charmstones were used in prehistoric Native American cermonies for broader spiritual purposes including securing of productive harvests.^[2] Today it is becoming popular among certain countercultures within Western society such as the new age movement, but is regarded as baseless by skeptics and the general scientific community. Prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is the period of human history prior to the advent of writing (which marks the beginning of recorded history). ... Healing is the process whereby the cells in the body regenerate and repair to reduce the size of a damaged or necrotic area. ... Mysticism from the Greek μυστικός (mystikos) an initiate (of the Eleusinian Mysteries, μυστήρια (mysteria) meaning initiation[1]) is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious awareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that such experience is an... Paranormal is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of reported anomalous phenomena. ... The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. ... // Maya may refer to: The Maya, Native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America Maya peoples, the contemporary indigenous peoples Maya civilization, their historical pre-Columbian civilization Mayan languages, the family of languages spoken by the Maya Yucatec Maya language, specific and most widespread Mayan language, frequently referred... Miwok—also spelled Miwuk or Me-Wuk—refers to native Californians who lived in what is now Northern California. ... The term Pomo may refer to: The Pomo nickname for city of Pomona, California PoMo - a popular nickname for Postmodernism, an artistic movement emerging from and reacting to modernism. ... Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. ... Sonoma County is a county located on Californias Pacific coast north of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Phrenology is regarded today as a classic example of pseudoscience. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...

Quartz crystal

Commons:Image:Quartz Crystal. ... Commons:Image:Quartz Crystal. ...

Healing

Some crystal healers claim that each living organism has a "vibrational energy system," which includes chakras, electromagnetic fields around the body known as auras, subtle bodies and meridians. By using the appropriate crystals one can allegedly "tune" an energy system or rebalance energies, thus improving well-being due to the vibrations produced by the crystals, according to color, chemical composition, atomic structure and overall physical form. Using the vibrations of the crystals a trained practitioner can allegedly move, absorb, focus, direct and diffuse energy within the body, using the structure of the crystal for the body to emulate. Crystal healing also allegedly gives the body a chance to relax, which may aid in the body’s natural abilities of the immune system. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers, and should be edited to rectify this. ... In parapsychology, spirituality and New Age belief, an aura is a subtle field of luminous multicolored radiation surrounding a person or object as a cocoon or halo. ... The Subtle body is a non-physical energy or psycho-spiritual body or bodies that all beings have, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings. ... The concept of meridians (Chinese: jing-luo 经络) arises from the techniques and doctrines of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), including acupuncture, acupressure, and qigong. ... A chemical substance is any material substance used in or obtained by a process in chemistry: A chemical compound is a substance consisting of two or more chemical elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions. ... The general meaning of atomic is irreducible. That is, reduced to the smallest possible part. ... A scanning electron microscope image of a single lymphocyte, a component of the human immune system A poop system is a collection of mechanisms within an organism that protect against infection by identifying and killing pathogens. ...

The earliest records of crystal healing come from ancient Egypt. The Ebers papyrus states the medicinal uses of many different gems. Healing with crystals is also recorded in India's Ayurvedic records and in traditional Chinese medicine from around five thousand years ago. Several shamanistic cultures practice crystal healing, inlcuding the Inuit of Canada, which was developed more by New Age healers. Ayurveda (आयुर्वेद Sanskrit: ayu—life; veda—knowledge of) or ayurvedic medicine is a more than 2,000 year old comprehensive system of medicine based on a holistic approach rooted in Vedic culture. ... Traditional Chinese medicine shop in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. ... For other uses, see Inuit (disambiguation). ...

Some authors of fiction have claimed that crystals can be used as a focal point for magical spells; an idea probably founded on scrying-gems such as John Dee's shew stone. This, and similar, was used by magicians, fortune-tellers, etc. for one of two purposes; to co-ordinate the visionary power or to misdirect the attention of the customer. For the American college basketball coach, see John Dee (basketball coach). ...

Criticism

Scientists, medical professionals, and skeptics consider crystal healing to be pseudoscientific, since there is little scientific evidence that healing can be achieved by 'crystal power'. The placebo effect is a possible explanation for any healing that occurs in the presence of a healing crystal.(Helwig) Even some crystal healing practitioners have cautioned against completely replacing conventional medicine with crystal healing, rather to supplement. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Phrenology is regarded today as a classic example of pseudoscience. ... Evidence has several meanings as indicated below. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Placebo. ...

Crystal healing shares the safety concerns and other criticism of alternative medicines. It has been suggested that Complementary and Alternative Medicine be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that Complementary and Alternative Medicine be merged into this article or section. ...

It can also be classified as a pseudo-science under a number of Stephen Carey's criteria. Carey explains that the "respectability" of science and scientific concepts comes from the experiments and the manner in which they are performed (Carey 119). He goes on to assert that the difference between pseudo-science and science includes the "self-correction" of science, where incorrect conjectures have been reversed by further investigation, and the publication and reversal of reviewed journals. Thus far there are very few to no reviewed journals or published experiments regarding the use of crystal healing, further strengthening the argument for it as a pseudo-science. Moreover, scientific findings are "open to revision" where seldom do the declarations of pseudo-sciences change, as illustrated with the old theory of the planets and sun revolving around the earth, whereas the claims of crystal healing are based on historical beliefs (Carey 122).

Line note references

External links

• Skeptic's Dictionary on Crystal Power
• The Hutton Commentaries: Website article exploring Edgar Cayce-readings descriptions of Crystal Power
• Video of a heated debate between Professor of Geology and skeptic Ian Plimer and a practitioner of crystal healing

References

• Campbell, Dan, Edgar Cayce, on the Power of Color, Stones, and Crystals, Warner Books Edition, New York, NY, 1989.
• Carey, Stephen, A Beginner's Guide to Scientific Method, California, Wadsworth, 2004
• Helwig, David, Crystal Healing in Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, 2006 [1]