Calcite

Calcite, or limestone, is one of the more plentiful stones, coming in a range of colors from black to white, with every shade in between. Approximately 4 percent of Earth’s surface is made up of calcite. Calcite gets its name from chalix, the Greek word for lime. Marble is limestone formed from heat and pressure, and calcite is the cement in many sandstones and shales. Calcite is the basis for many formations found in caves, such as cave veils, cave pearls, stalactites , and stalagmites. Environmentalists are heartened by this because this oceanic biological activity can act as a carbon-dioxide filter and help stem the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere.

The crystals in calcite can take on a thousand different shapes by combining the forms of rhombohedrons, scalahedrons, prisms, and pinacoids, to name but a few. More than 300 forms have been noted in calcite, and the symmetry is nearly unmatched, with many twins.

Calcite is all over the world, but certain conditions have made for very special specimens. In Cornwall, England; Pugh Quarry, Ohio; and Elmwood, Tennessee, are beautifully clear, amber-orange pyramid shapes called dogtooth spar. Mexican onyx, banded with orange, red, tan, brown, yellow, and white and having an appealing marble-like smoothness, is a very common type of calcite used in carvings sold in gift shops around the globe.

Calcite is helpful to bones and joints and is a memory booster. In addition to aiding in retaining information, calcite is a calming agent that can bring clarity to decision-making processes. Green calcite is a terrific support to people in transition, bringing about positive energy in place of the negative. The yellow and gold calcites are quite useful for meditation due to their association with the sun and with light, the sign of the spiritual path and higher knowledge. It is said that these sunny calcites can even help with astral projection. Calcite is a healing stone and is highly recommended for physicians, nurses, and healers to keep at their offices.

Chakra Crystals

The concept of chakras originated many thousands of years ago in Asia. The ancient philosophers and metaphysicians identified seven main energy centers around the body and saw each chakra emanating energy in the form of a rainbow color that affected the mental, physical, and spiritual balance in a human being. Chakra theory is the basis of many Eastern healing practices. One of the simplest ways to achieve well-being is to place crystals on the parts of the body where certain chakras are centered. Many people I know credit their clarity and well-being to chakra therapy. One sure way to relieve stress and fortify the emotional body is this laying on of crystals.

Crystal Healing and Crystal Consciousness

It is becoming widely known that crystals can be curative for the emotional body, the spiritual body, and the physical body. And, we have learned that crystals can interact electromagnetically with people. The prehistoric medicine man and shamans knew instinctively how to harness this stone power and use it to enhance or stimulate energy; they never doubted the power of the unseen. Modern shamans talk about the body in a different way; they are in tune with and are working with the etheric body, the subtle life force that sustains the physical body and serves as the matrix for the metabolic functions. They work with the system of chakras (points of energy in the astral body that are associated with various parts of the physical body) and endeavor to make sure everything is in proper alignment. Illness beginning with misalignment of either the etheric body or physical body can result in a domino effect of maladies. Imbalance in the etheric body can cause low energy; depression; stress-related diseases such as shingles, ulcers, and migraines; and any number of other serious physical issues.

It is important to recognize that crystals work in a subtle manner and are useful for dealing with causes. Crystal medicine isn’t going to cure ulcers or migraines, but it can get at the root of the problems and is marvelous when used in connection with Western medicine. I am thrilled that my hospital here in the San Francisco Bay Area—California Pacific Medical Center, on Webster Street in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights—has an Institute for Health & Healing. This integrative medicine center has a Healing Store that sells crystals, healing stones and herbs, finger labyrinths, and aromatherapy and meditation aids and offers classes in Easter approaches to healing, such as yoga and tai chi. We are living in wonderful times when you see medical doctors also practicing alternative and integrative healing methodologies.