Crystals, and those who believe in their effects, are often dismissed as foolish and nonsensical. Yet over the course of the past few years, there has been increased interest as people search for support and healing in the midst of such stressful times.

“Pew Research Center found that in 2018, 42% of all U.S. adults believe ‘spiritual energy can be located in physical things.’ Whether for healing, spiritual, or personal practices — crystals have become part of a billion dollar industry,” wrote Hannah Musick for Vox Magazine.

Contrary to popular belief, crystals are not magic rocks. Instead, each crystal, and crystal type, are said to have certain vibrations that impact people in different ways. But the effect they have is really up to the individual, and so essentially they are what people want them to be.

This is why they can be very helpful, comforting, and important to those who have them. Hannah Gotelaere, Div. 256, said she has become very interested in spirituality over the course of the pandemic.

“It kind of gives students a way to cope and give themselves a less stressful environment,” said Gotelaere.

Students in general often feel the need for calmness, grounding, peace, and more sleep. For this, the crystals selenite, celestite, and lepidolite are recommended, according to Diana Celestine, a mindset and manifestation coach. 

Further, she says, for healing burnout, blue lace agate and the master healer are very helpful. For bringing peace and love into one’s life, rose quartz and cobalto calcite are suggested.

“I love my rose quartz. And it’s basically the love that you put out into the world is the love you get back,” Gotelaere said. 

Crystals also align with and interact with the different chakras, according to Jessica Tracy, the writer of a spiritual blog, 7 Chakra Store. 

According to Healthline, at the base is the root chakra which is associated with grounding and stability, and then there is the sacral chakra, which dictates sexuality, pleasure, and creativity. After that comes the solar plexus, involved in self esteem, then the heart chakra, associated with love and compassion. Next is the throat chakra, which rules communication and the third eye chakra of intuition and imagination. Finally, there is the crown chakra determining intelligence and awareness.

According to Tracy, certain crystals can aid in unblocking certain chakras or counteracting others that are overactive. And if someone is looking for a place near Lane Tech to find these crystals, or even incense and other spirituality related items, Gotelaere recommends Amadara. 

“It’s one of my favorites, and the owners are super nice and very helpful. There’s a wide variety of crystals that you can pick and choose from,” Gotelaere said.  

The inside of the store is packed from wall to wall with various crystals in the form of rocks, jewelry, trees and more from all over the world. According to one of the owners, Sunil Adhikari, the crystals’ origins trace back to places such as India, Turkey, China and Nepal, with the most colorful ones being from Morocco.

In a general overview of what sorts of crystals to look at for different needs and wants, green is for luck, red and pink for love, and black stones for blocking or absorbing negative energy, which you need to make sure to cleanse regularly, according to Adhikari.

For black stones, and other stones that absorb the negative energy, it needs to be cleansed for continued productive usage, Adhikari said. Cleansing can be done in water, buried in plants, with incense or sage, and during different stages of the moon depending on the crystal, according to both Gotelaere and Adhikari.

And whether crystal owners cleanse or not, it can be a fun or meaningful experience for the person. In the face of life in general, people truly find it a way to ground themselves in turbulent times, bring positivity into their lives, or simply indulge in something a little bit mystical, according to Vox Magazine.

“You know I think there’s a lot of skeptics out there, but I think that it really allows just for people to express themselves and become more in tune with themselves” Gotelaere said. “And I think I’ve just become happier — I just feel like I’ve been a happier person after I’ve become more spiritual and [started to] use crystals.”