Awakening Your Crystals: Activate the Higher Potential of Healing Stones

Crystals have become popular again with new approaches to holistic crystal healing practices. One thing that caught my eye from the beginning was that the author begins with telling readers not to disregard medical intervention. Rather she suggests using the power of crystals in addition to the readers current medical treatments. There are many books on crystals available and it is refreshing to see the author mention that crystal healing should not replace a medical doctor but be used as a non-invasive additional assistant to the readers needs. The other thing that set this book apart for me was the gorgeous full color images. Being able to quickly identify a crystal based on the appearance is not something many people have the ability to do. Having this well photographed guide is a great reference with identification while taking away the guesswork on what your crystal is or appears to be.

The author starts the book by explaining a bit about some common questions about crystals. The explanations are well written for anyone who may be starting out and wanting to learn the basics. There are also lots of great suggestions for the seasoned practitioner as well to brush up and consider when using crystals.

One thing the author touches on is the three states of being, dormant, active and ignited. Many people out there don’t realize this when starting out with crystals and can be discouraged when they “don’t work”. Just like any other tool, you have to turn it on to begin using. Examples are given using the journey of a rose quartz and a pyrite that I found to help expand my understanding of how the crystal is made, what is goes thru until it is finally in your hands. I have a deeper respect of the journey than just picking up a “new” crystal at the local metaphysical store. The crystal may have started its journey millions of years ago! That type of energy alone is mind boggling and gives a deeper respect of these amazing elements.

I also really liked the fact that the author provides a crystal home toolkit suggestion of eight basic crystal types you should keep on hand. It can be overwhelming with the amount of crystals available and what is best to have on hand. The author helps the reader start on the right track in a simple and easy to understand explanation.
 
In the following sections, the book goes into detail on each of the eight crystals, Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Pyrite, Celestite, Smokey Quartz, Citrine, Fluorite, and Unakite. The reader will learn the healing qualities of each, how to program the crystal, professional and personal use, examples of healing focus and more.  The book does offer a condensed explanation of additional important crystals as well. It explains the energetic key qualities, personal use, therapy use, and healing focus. Each crystal also has a gorgeous full color image to help identify what each typically looks like.

Awakening Your Crystals is a great reference guide to have handy for anyone working with crystal healing whether for personal use or to help others.
 
~review by Amber Barnes

Author: Sharon L. McAllister
Earthdancer Books, 2019
pp. 176, $19.99