All photos by Tom Medvedich
Aruj Shah, the proprietor of a small store in Manhattan’s Union Square crammed with crystals, aromatherapy oils, and singing bowls for sound meditation, wrapped my small selection of crystals carefully in white tissue while she detailed the virtues of every stone. “You want to hold this one in your hand so that you feel nurtured. Like a hug,” she said, picking up a smooth, pinkish rock. With the certainty of a doctor prescribing antibiotics for a chest infection, she picked up a different shiny mass?agate?and recommended I carry it with me every day to “open up my communication.”
While everything Shah told me sounds just lovely, I’ve always believed myself to be way too practical to buy into this kind of stuff. To me, agate is a translucent variety of microcrystalline quartz. It’s a semi-precious stone formed in the cavities of igneous rocks, period. I’ve never really thought about stones?even those of the semi-precious variety?having life-enhancing properties. But you know who does" Kylie Jenner, Miranda Kerr, Jaden Smith, and a league of other celebrities and non-famous people across the world who are carrying shiny rocks in their bags, meditating with them each morning, and basically swearing by the virtues of crystal therapy. Proponents like Jenner and company believe crystal healing is a legitimate type of therapy centered around vibrations. Azalea Lee, an LA-based crystal he...