![]() Crystals are archetypal pure frequencies, nature’s perfect geometric tuning forks. “Taking something by force, destructively, has an effect on any living thing. “If something is cheap and available in huge quantities,” he writes, “the odds are it’s the result of a huge commercial enterprise, often the by-product of mining entirely unrelated to crystals.”įor Wells, the importance of ethical crystal mining is not solely about the impact on the planet, but also on the crystal itself – he believes the mining of a stone affects its healing properties. He emails from India where he’s sourcing moonstone, tourmaline and kyanite despite their rarity and his infected root canal. ![]() Stephen Wells at Kacha Stones is one of a handful of sellers who prides himself on his ethical practices. ![]() There’s no governing body requiring they do so, no regulator for an industry mired in exploitation and secrecy. “As with most minerals,” adds Sampat, “it is impossible to know for sure if your crystal was obtained via an environmental and human rights horror show.”Ĭrystals are found on every continent, but it’s difficult to find a crystal seller who will specify the origins of individual stones and even harder to find one willing to talk honestly about the effects of mining. International NGO Global Witness found that the Taliban earns up to $20m a year from Afghanistan’s lapis mines, lapis lazuli being, as crystal websites explain, one of the best stones for activating psychic abilities. “‘Healing crystals’ are mined in places like Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo where mineral extraction is linked to severe human-rights violations and environmental harm.” In the DRC, seven-year-old children work in the cobalt and copper mines, where covetable “healing” stones such as citrine and smoky quartz abound. “Mining has an environmental impact, whether it’s for ‘healing crystals’, the copper in your phone, or the gold in your ring,” explains Payal Sampat of nonprofit organisation Earthworks. The silicon dioxide particles can trespass the filter masks causing silicosis disease. This kind of mining is known for its harmful dust. And there is an issue around accountability: the industry is unregulated, allowing exploitation to go unchecked.ĭark materials: searching for amethyst, miners dig tunnels through the mountains in southern Brazil. There are issues around labour: most jobs are low paid, unsafe, and sometimes performed by underage workers. There are issues around sustainability: crystals are a non-renewable resource. Much like diamonds, crystal mining is an industry buried in conflict. It’s that, as Emily Atkin at The New Republic reported last year, their origins are murky, and their environmental impact worrying. Here is the dirty truth of crystals, and it’s not simply that their efficacy as healing objects is unproven. Sold them,” she said, before adding, pointedly, “And then my fucking house flooded.” Today, even those who don’t identify as “crystal people” have been persuaded of their power.īut while it’s claimed crystals help people harness the energy of the earth, the more they are mined, the more that earth is suffering. She was advised not to treat them casually, to employ the official “crystal lady” that had installed them to remove them, too, but of course she scoffed, and got a builder to rip them out. “The house was crystalled out,” she told Vogue, but she didn’t want visitors to think she was a “crystal person”. When Jennifer Lawrence moved into her new home there were crystals embedded in the walls. ![]() Kate Hudson “adds a little energy” to her moisturiser by storing it beside crystals Adele blamed a bad performance at the Grammys on the fact she’d lost hers and Kim Kardashian used them to recover from the stress of a robbery. At a New York Fashion Week presentation, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen gifted guests “black tourmaline to keep negative energies at bay”, and “white clear quartz to promote harmony and balance”. Women have been persuaded to welcome their presence in beauty products and fashion accessories, not by spiritual healers, but celebrities. Their investment status is compared to fine art. In 2017 crystals became a multibillion-dollar slice of the $4.2trn global wellness industry, with shamans using them to advise entrepreneurs on investment opportunities, and Gwyneth Paltrow selling them to encourage serenity and to “purify” water. In three short years, crystals have risen from niche new age interest to valid hobby, firmly embedded in the mainstream consciousness.
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