Clear quartz: meaning, properties and lore

The mineral

Pure quartz, also known as Rock Crystal, is colorless. Most quartz crystals are clear and colorless, and slight chemical impurities create its color varieties. Rock crystal quartz, the most common gem variety of quartz crystal, is the form that gem buyers usually meet first.¹²³⁴⁵

Quartz has the chemical composition SiO2, silicon dioxide. It consists primarily of silica, and is formed from silicon and oxygen, the two most abundant elements in the earth's crust. Quartz is the most abundant and widely distributed mineral found at Earth's surface and forms at all temperatures.^5136794

Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, described as very hard, and it resists fracture because it lacks easy cleavage. Crystals are vitreous and show a conchoidal fracture.⁵⁷²¹¹⁰

Crystals of quartz are most commonly hexagonal prisms whose pyramid-like ends often line the faces of open voids. Quartz crystals lack a center or planes of symmetry and have one crystallographic axis perpendicular to three polar axes. Its high thermo-conductivity makes rock crystal feel cool to the touch.⁵⁴⁷⁹

Quartz may look colorless, light pink, milky white, purple, yellow, or brown depending on the trace impurities it contains. Iron replacing some silicon atoms gives purple amethyst, while iron in citrine gives its golden-yellow to orange colour.⁵⁴²

Quartz is piezoelectric, developing positive and negative charges on alternate prism edges when subjected to pressure or tension. Some pure quartz crystals produce an electric voltage under pressure. Because of this property, a quartz plate can be used as a pressure gauge, and properly cut plates are used for frequency control in radios, televisions and clocks.⁷⁵

China, Japan, and Russia are the world's primary producers of quartz, and Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Germany, South Africa, and the United Kingdom also mine significant quantities. Arkansas is the major producer of gemstone and decorative rock crystal, with crystals produced from quartz veins in the central Ouachita Mountains. The best California rock crystals come from ancient stream channels in Calaveras County, and Herkimer diamonds are found near Herkimer, New York.⁷⁶⁸²⁹

Quartz is enriched in river, lake, and beach sediments and found in veins precipitated from cooling igneous rocks or deep fractures. It is one of the most abundant minerals in the Earth's crust and is found on all continents. Quartz forms at all temperatures.⁷⁶⁴¹

History and lore

The early Greeks called clear quartz krystallos, their word for ice, a reflection of the clarity of the crystals. This Greek word is the origin of the word crystal as applied to this variety, or rock crystal. Early Greeks assumed quartz crystals were ice frozen so hard it would never melt.⁴⁷⁵

The name quartz is an old German word of uncertain origin, first used by Georgius Agricola in 1530.⁷⁵

For centuries early civilizations believed that rock crystals were permanently frozen ice. Historical records show rock crystal used for decoration and jewelry for at least 4,000 years. In the form of rock crystal, silicon was familiar to the predynastic Egyptians, who used it for beads and small vases, and to the early Chinese.⁹⁷

Ancient Roman, Egyptian, and Greek civilizations used quartz crystals as potent talismans. Egyptians believed the stone could prevent aging. In the Middle Ages, medical practitioners used quartz in their healing potions. People in the earliest recorded times believed in the magical powers of quartz.¹¹

Baron Von Reichenbach's work Researches on Magnetism, Electricity, Heat, Light, and Chemical Attraction is said to have shown that rock crystal acts on the nervous system similarly to a magnet. Reichenbach is reported to have found that rock crystal has no attraction for iron or steel, unlike the magnet, and that it is not influenced by a magnet or affected by the magnetic meridian. The author of Psychology of botany describes the crystal's influence as a force that is not magnetism.¹²

Quartz was the mineral upon which the Stone Ages were based, with most early stone tools fashioned of quartz. When chert is struck against iron it produces a relatively long-lived spark, which was one of the most reliable means of starting a fire until matches.⁵

Birthstone, zodiac and chakra links

Modern crystal practitioners link clear quartz to the Virgo zodiac sign, with April as its birthstone and the Archangel Metatron as its associated angel. These links are modern practitioner associations, not ancient ones.¹³

Practitioners point out that the official modern birthstone roster from Jewelers of America leaves out clear quartz, yet it is occasionally proposed as a casual substitute for diamond in that month.¹⁴

Modern crystal practitioners, a tradition that emerged in the New Age movement, associate clear quartz primarily with the Crown Chakra (Sahasrara), which yogic tradition links to expanded awareness and clarity. Modern crystal practitioners say clear quartz primarily aligns with the Crown Chakra to facilitate higher consciousness, and they describe it as a universal stone that can help balance all seven chakras.¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶

What crystal practitioners say

Crystal practitioners describe clear quartz as the Master Healer. Crystal healers believe it balances the body and harmonizes all the chakras.¹³¹⁴

Practitioners describe Clear Quartz as a blank slate crystal that takes on whatever focus a person gives it. Crystal healers believe Clear Quartz dispels mental fog and supports concentration and clears emotional clutter.¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶

Crystal healers believe clear quartz helps to intensify the energies of other crystals, so it is great for crystal grids. Practitioners believe clear quartz can cleanse and recharge other crystals without depleting itself. Many practitioners consider clear quartz the most versatile stone available, pairing well with nearly everything else.¹³¹⁴¹⁵

Crystal healers say clear quartz is a psychic amplifier suited to anyone beginning or practising divination. Practitioners believe clear quartz helps organize messy or chaotic energy because of its hexagonal structure. Advanced practitioners use clear quartz to reach higher states that they cannot always reach on their own.¹³¹⁶

Practitioners suggest cleansing clear quartz by rinsing under cool running water, leaving it overnight under the full moon, or placing it on Selenite. Some practitioners cleanse their clear quartz under moonlight, with smoke, or with sound as part of an energetic practice.^14151613

Crystal practitioners say that wearing clear quartz on the left hand is said to help receive energy, while the right hand projects intentions outward.¹⁶

The author of Psychology of botany says rock crystal is of service to those guided by spontaneous instincts of the soul and receptive to inspirations from unseen sources.¹²

The author of Psychology of botany says mere possession of the crystal as an ornament cannot benefit a person whose aims are worldly wealth or everyday matters. The same author says rock crystal is not beneficial to people engaged in purely mechanical hard sciences whose aim is worldly purpose. Metaphysical uses accounted for 40% or more of the rock crystal consumed in the United States at the height of the metaphysical trend, and today the market has stabilized at about 15% to 20%.¹²⁹

What testing has found

Edzard Ernst, who analysed 150 complementary and alternative treatments, concluded that rigorous trials of crystal healing's therapeutic value are lacking. Ernst wrote that no scientific proof shows any positive effect beyond placebo.¹⁷

A 2001 study by Christopher French challenged 80 volunteers to tell real from fake crystals after holding them and meditating. The participants were divided into two groups, one given genuine quartz crystals and the other fake glass or plastic ones. Six people felt nothing at all, while the rest reported warmth, tingling or improved wellbeing, and people holding fake and real crystals reported similar impressions. The French team concluded that crystals did not help people, and that the power of suggestion was responsible.¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹

Some researchers say crystals likely do not directly act on physical and psychological woes, but may have indirect benefits explained by the placebo effect. Ted Kaptchuk, a Harvard Medical School professor, argues that placebo outcomes from unconventional medicine should not be discarded from knowledge of health care. Rigorous scientific research into crystal therapy is lacking, and the scientific community remains skeptical.¹⁸¹⁷