I confess, I am a book lover! After a 17-year career with Barnes & Noble booksellers I have whittled down my collection to four 6-foot-tall bookcases. It all started with a Book of the Month Club membership when I was a toddler that was chock full of Dr. Seuss titles, and a library card as soon as I was old enough, which I think was six years old with my mom co-signatory. I still have Winnie the Pooh and The Wizard of Oz books that I received at my fifth birthday party.
I love the weight of a book in my lap and the feel of the paper between my fingers as I turn the pages. That being said I know that many opt for their kindle or e-books and I believe that many of these titles are available in those formats if that is your preference.
I became a massage therapist and certified as a crystal healer over the last 19 years and so my collection of books on healing and crystals as expanded. One of my bookcases is solely dedicated to crystals and crystal healing. I am going to share a handful of my favorite books on this topic and would love to hear what your favorite books are. I hope you enjoy the information and that it introduces you to some new books for you to add to your collection.
I have been interested in various healing modalities since my early teens and the very first crystal healing book that I purchased was Diane Stein’s, The Women's Book of Healing. It confirmed for me what I instinctively felt about working with crystals and other gifts from Mother Earth, that we are connected to the plant, crystal, and mineral kingdoms. We can gleam wisdom from them if we only listen and we have the power to heal ourselves with our own intuition and crystal allies.
My all time favorite book for working with and re-balancing each the seven main chakras is Margaret Ann Lembo's, Chakra Awakening. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the main 7 chakras with foundational information on the chakra, corresponding essential oils, crystals, and colors. There are also some wonderful exercises in each chapter as well as information on what imbalance and balance looks like in that chakra and how to restore balance with specific crystals, essential oils and affirmations.
The book opens with an introductory chapter on spiritual tools for cleansing and healing and a closing chapter dedicated to quartz. Love it!
A great book for the origins, history, and legends of crystals, is Athena Perrakis's, Crystal Lore, Legends, & Myths. She has several books dedicated to crystals. Though I thoroughly enjoy each of her books, I chose this book so that I could include a varied selection of authors and crystal topics in this blog post. The first 4 chapters focus on the history and lore of crystals in chronological order starting with Atlantis and Lemuria and ending with crystals from the bible. The following 3 chapters are dedicated to crystals of inter-dimensional awareness, crystals of quantum healing, and crystals of the zodiac. There is a concluding chapter on honoring and accessing Gaia's crystal wisdom.
What I appreciate and enjoy the most about the format of this book is how she correlates the locality and history of crystals.
A classic encyclopedic type of reference book that was written by Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian, is The Book of Stones. There are almost 400 crystals, minerals, and gemstones listed in alphabetic order with a beautiful photograph of each crystal. A list of keywords, elemental and chakra
correspondences are listed first and is then followed by two essay like paragraphs that cover the metaphysical and healing properties of each crystal, one written from Naisha's viewpoint and one by Robert's viewpoint.
A great book with a plethora of crisp, clean, colorful photographs of crystals and minerals is Philip Permutt's The Crystal Healer. The chapter The Crystal Finder is arranged by the color of each crystal which is fun and is helpful if looking for a crystal that you don't know the name of. Its format is concise and precise yet is chock full of information on working with your crystal allies. You can find various ways to meditate with your crystals, create elixirs, where and how to place them and use them in your home, how to choose your crystals and more.
A fun book that came out recently is Crystal Muse by Heather Askinosie and Timmi Jandro. As the subtitle indicates it is focused on "everyday rituals" for you to incorporate into your life. There is information on crystal shapes and how they work on pages 16 and 17. There is a chapter dedicated to "unwinding the mind" using meditation with tips on reducing anxiety and re-centering yourself which is particularity helpful in our fast paced, every changing world that we live in. One of my favorite chapters is The Temple Within, which is filled with rituals and exercises to be still, go within and to support your journey of transformation. Other chapters cover love rituals, moon cycles, attracting abundance, protection, a restful sleep, and more. I particularly like that they included two introductory chapters on the basics of working with your crystals and preparing yourself and your environment with space clearing techniques.
If you want to geek out on quartz and its various forms, this little-known classic by Isabel Silveira, Quartz Crystals is your go to book. The opening chapter is dedicated to the quartz family, clear, tangerine, amethyst, citrine, smokey and rose quartz. What I absolutely adore and frequently reference is the 41-page chapter, "The crystals and their forms" in which there are descriptions and clear photos of various forms of quartz like a bridge crystal, transmitter, Isis, laser, dow, seed, self-healed, trigonic etc.
I would be absolutely remiss if I did not include this classic book on crystal healing, Katrina Raphael's, Crystal Enlightenment. It was required reading for my advanced crystal healer training with Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy. Crystal Enlightenment is the first in a trilogy of books that she wrote and that laid the foundation for her fourth book, Crystalline Illumination. If you want to take a deep dive into working with crystals and their energetic properties, this is the book for you.
There is in depth information on various crystal healing layouts, sacred geometry, and specific crystals that she works with for healing. If you are new to using crystal healing layouts, chapter 3 has all the basics for preparing for and implementing crystal healing sessions.
The last chapter of the book has several tables that include astrological associations, chakra stones and their correlation with the body, crystals, and their energetic properties.
If you are a visual learner, this may not be the book for you as there are no photographs or illustrations whatsoever.
Last, but not least a good reference book on rocks and minerals is the Smithsonian Nature Guide, Rocks and Minerals. It was written by a geologist, so the focus is on the science of the crystals and minerals as well as how
they form. There are over 270 color photographs and is a great resource for identifying and classifying crystals, minerals, and rocks. It includes chapters on native elements, sulfides, oxides, borates and many more.
I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite resource books on crystals.
With Love,
Chrysalis Chris