There's been a lot going on this week. What with the blog, self assessment deadline looming, and my VAT is due. Plus everyday practice of picking, packing, posting and listing. It's all starting to come on top a bit. It's at times like this when I reach for my Quartz Crystal. It's the granddaddy of all semi precious stones and is excellent for providing clarity of thought. 

Clear quartz crystal is the pure form of the mineral silicon dioxide. It is free of any impurity in the crystal lattice that might create colour, and forms long hexagonal crystals that's meet at a single point. Sources of quartz crystal can be found in most parts of the world. Ancient Greeks believed it to be ice that was so frozen it could never be thawed, crysallos being the Greek word for ice. Quartz crystal possess both piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity. Both of which have been covered in my blog Electric Gems (see link). Some quartz crystals are so sensitive that the heat and energy generated by certain individuals can cause the gem to vibrate and/or glow. 

Experimentation with Kirlian Photography illustrate how energy flows through crystals. (click on the link for more information). 

Clear quartz is an excellent gem stone to use for meditating and aids spiritual development. It's the number one stone for crystal healing and divination, we've all heard of crystal balls, after all. 

While in the Nepal many years ago, I was lucky enough to acquire some unpolished quartz crystal taken from caves in the Himalayan foothills. They make up some of my most prized possessions. I let my son take one to school yesterday, for a show and tell in science. It's not been returned yet. I'm starting to wonder whether it was a good idea.