Quartz Crystal Peak Hand polished light sculpture

HISTORICAL INFORMATION AND USES

Pliny wrote nearly 2000 years ago that quartz crystals formed from ice by intense cold for long periods of time in dark clefts and caverns in the mountains. This general belief was popular in diverse cultures until the eighteenth century, when modern geology began to develope in Europe.

Quartz crystals have been used as gemstones and other ornamental and religous objects for thousands of years. Polished quartz crystal spheres or crystal balls were used as a means of divination or scrying in medieval times. For thousands of years before this, quartz crystal and objects made from it were used for divination, disease diagnosis and healing, and for awareness of current events in distant places in many ancient cultures.

Skeletal quartz is a mineralogical term refering to this quartz variety's peculiar dissolution features. It is popularly known today by the metaphysical term Elestial quartz. Much of the skeletal quartz available today is mined in Brazil, where the local miners refer to it as Jacare quartz which means alligator in their native dialect, referring to the similarity between the geometric patterns on the surface of these crystals to the natural designs on the skin of the reptile. The name quartz comes from the Saxon word querklufterz which meant cross vein ore.

METAPHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Elestial quartz is said to be especially usefull in healing emotional problems, providing balance between heart and mind. Elestial quartz is also said to impart wisdom and to enhance insight, and to be an excellent transformational tool helping one to understand and adjust to change. It is also said to be of significant assistance during meditation.