A Lesson in Crystals
I work at Joanns, which is a craft store. Most of our customers come in to buy yarn, fabric, or seasonal decor. Apparently, we also sell crystals. I honestly was not aware of this until a customer came in asking where our crystals were. I searched for a second, then I remembered among the impulse buy candy and beauty products in the queue a collection of crystals were waiting for their magic to be unlocked.
She was looking for tourmaline. She wanted to put it in her window to protect her house from bad energy. This is when she began teaching me about how crystals work. She said that they take in the energy from the sun and moon to work their magic. Tourmaline absorbs bad energy and once it absorbs too much, it will stop working. When this happens, she said, just wash it with water to clear out the bad energy. I thought this experience was very interesting, especially because we had been talking about this in class. It's so interesting to see how people are still practicing "witchy" activities today. Its funny for me to think that something so simple and accessible could protect me from evil spirits, but she truly believed it. She came back another time to buy more, so I guess the tourmaline worked for her.
I wish I had asked her where she got this information. Maybe she's one of the billions of views on WitchTok. Maybe this knowledge was passed down to her by a friend or family member. Maybe she found this article by Architectural Digest India. (Interestingly, this article states that Tourmaline should be hidden from sight because it's expensive. Good thing it's on sale at Joanns for 4.79$.)
I know she didn't get her intel from our book which states that tourmaline "fosters compassion and peace" (page 106). One thing I find interesting about crystals is how different ones are supposed to have different effects. It seems like people can't agree on exactly what each gem does. For example, the amethyst gem rollers at my store are apparently for creativity, while the full gemstone is for intuition. What changes its powers, the packaging? Overall, I think that crystals really embody the idea that if you believe in it, its real. |
| Crystal rollers |
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| "pocket size genuine gems" |
Thanks, Lanie. I have spent much time in Joanns, but I never suspected a crafts store would sell crystals, and for as little as $4.79. What was even more interesting to me was your comments about tourmaline having different meanings and interpretations. This is something I had thought about but blithely assumed what our text offered as the primary meaning and uses of crystals and gems. But not so. Your final comment about the power of belief making things real was totally accurate, since people tend to believe different things about the same things.
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