Clear Quartz

Clear quartz is the most common form of the quartz mineral group. Quartz is the second-most abundant mineral in the world and makes up 12% of the earth’s crust. This clear form of quartz is also known as “rock crystal” or simply “quartz”. It is either found as colourless, well-defined crystals or in its microcrystalline form too small to see without a light microscope. Its chemical composition is purely silicon dioxide. With its vitreous lustre and an ideal hardness of 7 on the Moh’s scale, clear quartz is often used in jewellry and other carved objects. It is transparent, colourless and, unlike glass, birefringent. In the past, clear quartz was used for the study of optics.

Clear quartz is formed in passages in the earth’s crust or hydrothermally in druses or clefts where pure, silicic acid solutions are present. Phantom quartzes, in which the ‘ghost-like’ form of the crystal point is embedded within the stone, are formed when there are long periods of dormancy in the crystal’s growth, usually millions of years.

History

The word “crystal” was first applied to clear quartz and is derived from the Greek word for frozen water (krystallos), believing that clear quartz crystals were eternally frozen ice. In the past it was also shaped and used as a crystal ball to predict the future. Although quartz is commonly found throughout the world, large and completely clear and flawless specimens are not, and today’s crystal balls are usually made of glass.

Healing Properties

Clear quartz is known as a multi-purpose healing stone that can enhance the effectiveness of other stones.

It is believed clear quartz can help to restore feeling into parts of the body that are cold, numb, or paralyzed, as well as fortifying the nerves and stimulate glandular activity. Lowering fever, pain, swelling, nausea and diarrhea are also attributed to the healing properties of this stone. Clear quartz is also believed to balance the two halves of the brain – the logical and analytical side with the more intuitive, holistic, and subjective side.

Mentally, rock crystals help to deliver intuition and self-knowledge to its bearer. Phantom quartzes may even help one overcome percieved mental limits.

On an emotional level, the stone helps stimulate memory and awareness, as well as solving problems in clear, systematic and simple ways. It reunites one with their own capabilities thought to have been lost.

Spiritually, clear quartz crystals encourage clarity, neutrality, perception, and understanding by strengthening the belief in our own convictions (Gienger, 236).

Scientific info

References

Michael Gienger, Crystal Power, Crystal Healing (London: Cassell & Co., 2000), 236.
Mindat.org. “Quartz.” Accessed September 16, 2010 <http://www.mindat.org/min-3337.html>
Peter Darling, Crystal Identifier (New York: Shooting Star Press, Inc., 1996), 112.