As one who has never ‘believed’ or ‘disbelieved’ many things, I have
to agree that bashing and ridicule has no place on this forum, or
anywhere else. Let’s allow for different opinions. Crystal therapy?
No, I don’t believe in it or not believe in it. I simply don’t know
much about it. Same for ghosts. Haven’t bothered to learn enough to
form a grand opinion. Sometimes, though, just believing in something
like crystal therapy is enough for it to do you some good. There are
lots of things in life like that, lots of unexplainable stuff.
Horoscopes, for instance… Even the forwarded junk you get in
your email everyday, seemingly in spite of filters. I usually delete
that stuff without even opening it. Recently I received one that for
some reason I opened and read (yes, I am careful about virus
attachments, this was just a normal email from an aquaintance, no
hidden attachments). This was one of those usual poems or
questionairres or something that I read through. It promised me at
the end that I could make a wish and it would come true within a
certain number of days depending on how many folks I forwarded it to.
Whatever compelled me to go ahead on this one, I don’t know. My
simple wish was that a dear friend with whom I had a falling out 6
months ago would make contact again. 4 or 5 days later, my phone
rang and it was her on the line. Coincidence, I’m sure, but it
certainly made my day. Go ahead and believe in crystals. I
certainly can’t say it isn’t true, and like many other subjects, if
anyone cares to educate me, I might just become a believer. Jim
I must preface my response by saying, beleive whatever you like. If
it doesn’t negatively affect others, any beleifs are ok by me. Now if
I don’t beleive in crystals, likely I don’t feel anything in there
presance. Is it then wrong to advertise what some beleive to be the
benefit of a certain crystal? Since most jewelry has stones in it,
why is it wrong to try and entice crystal interested individuals into
buying them for holistic benefits? I don’t smoke cigarettes but I
would sell them to anyone that wants them (of legal age of course). I
enjoy making jewelry, but if I can’t sell it, I can’t eat (over
simplified economic statement about my income stream but bear with
me).
As Ron Mills correctly pointed out, there are also those who take advantage of these beliefs in order to make a fast buck.
Who exactly would I be taking advantage of in advertising crystals
and what some beleive they can do for people who beleive. I hand make
all my jewelry, so what advertising I do, makes nothing a “fast buck”
and I don’t realy appreciate being made to seem unethical becasue I
would advertise crystal effects for crystal containing jewelry. Is it
wrong to seperate a fool from his money? No it’s not but the jewelry
is of good quality and the price has nothing to do with the crystals
supposed effects. I simply state what some beleive the crystals to do
and perhaps entice more buyers.
Ok I don’t make any crystal jewelry, I don’t sell or advertise any,
but that is hardly the point. Most businesses advertise to make
sales. Money is needed to live and raise our children. Consider
religious artifacts for a moment. Is it wrong for an athiest to sell
crosses to christians? We each get to run our own businesses the way
that makes us each feel comfortable. Let your conscience be your
guide. I think it’s all hogwash ( crystals and religion, not god or
some higher power, but the institutions), but as long as you aren’t
killing in the name of crystals, enjoy them as often as you like.
Brian
Is it only ok to sells crystals if you beleive in them ? 
Terri, I am responding to you because I try to keep an open mind
about these subjects, BUT, I think this thread has the potential to
become a flame war, and I don’t want to see that on Orchid.
Science has not yet identified physical cellular receptors for the energy people feel off of crystals. It does not mean that they don't exist.
I absolutely agree…they MAY exist.
(assuming that you are meaning detectable by some man-made machinery; not in the way something is "verified" by numerous credible experiencial witnesses -- like in a court of law...).
Sorry, but I disagree. Numerous credible witnesses may testify to
the existence of something and it STILL may be TOTAL falsehood.
Magicians (prestidigitators) make their living doing this. I used to
‘levitate’ a live person in front of 2,000 people six nights a week.
because I love science, and the ability to recreate results in controlled experiments is a tenet of scientific method. I just have to point to the past, and remind you that nothing is scientifically known until it is proven and scrutenized;
I also love science, and really dislike FALSE science, while still
looking at all possibilities.
"I can feel the energy off that crystal." "I don't feel anything.") This doesn't prove or disprove the validity of personal claims, it just indicates that variances exist even in accepted perceptions. It would definitely be fun to do a clinical double-blind test on the ability to "feel" the energy associated with any particular crystal or crystals, but that is hardly what you suggest.
MANY such carefully designed double-blind tests HAVE been done. See
‘Skeptic’ magazine (which I read, and I assume that you do not.) See
also C.S.I.C.O.P. Committee for the Investigation of Claims of the
Paranormal.
The person and experiment you cite as an example for the "test" you would like to conduct was a nine year old girl creating an "experiment" for her fourth grade science fair, whose parents both have a vested interest in her "proving" the fallacy of Theraputic Touch. (Both parents are quite active in Anti-Theraputic Touch organizations.
Why can’t a nine year old do valid science?
as if voluntary participation in Theraputic Touch were somehow harmful to the participants and that they needed to be protected from it?)
THERE is my reason for disliking pseudo-science ! Someone who relies
on ‘psychic surgery’ or quack medicine can DIE of their REAL disease.
Someone who RELIES on ‘Theraputic Touch’ INSTEAD of treating their
real disease could get sicker or DIE. If they use Theraputic Touch in
addition to allopathic medicine, I am SURE that it cannot hurt, and
it MAY do some good.
I would love to read your clinical trials. Can you please post a link, or tell me how to obtain your notes? I only ask because you have posted a link to what you consider a "real" experiment, only to find that it was done by a fourth-grader. --Terri
As I said, that doesn’t negate it. I refer you again to SCICOP and
“Skeptic.”
David Barzilay
Lord of the Rings
607 S Hill St Ste 850
Los Angeles, CA 90014-1718
213-488-9157
Yes, Only in America. In other countries where the beliefs include
Talisman’s Icon’s, Cow’s, The Sun, Jade, Crystals, etc. putting down
those who practice those beliefs are not subject to public ridicule,
by one who believes he has the power to sit in judgment.
Live and let live, please.
Teresa
Lee, I am so sorry to hear of your siblings problems. I agree
charlatans do prey on those who are seeking hope.
I knew Red Skelton who took his Leukemia suffering child all around
the world looking for a cure. Sadly the child succumbed to the
disease which now has a higher rate of survival.
I know both MS and Cancer research will leap forward in the not too
far future. I believe there is legitimate action against those
perpetrating those scams.
I know there is a lot of jealousy against dealers who sell minerals
or crystals that others feel have some value, as they make more
sales. One must understand the negative power of jealousy.
I wear Jade, I can neither prove nor disprove its legend. I love my
bangle, have had a total of three over the last 40 years, the prior
two broke, did they save me from anything, who knows. I do know a
Jade bangle ring I wore kept my hand from being crushed. It did
effectively prevent an extremely spring loaded door from smashing my
hand into the wall behind it, the ring shattered but saved my hand.
Remove jealousy and religious beliefs from the equation, and let us
see how vehement the arguments are. I do not believe ridiculing
anyone publicly, for a belief other than ones own is fair or called
for. This is when I question the motives of the poster.
Teresa
So well put and on the subject I will say this and only this: the
best defense against ignorance is knowledge. Human Physiology should
be taught in all grade/high schools as part of the core curriculum.
No ifs ands or buts. And basic pharmacology. It’s easy to understand,
anybody can learn it even those who break out in hives at the mention
of the word “calculus”. It is the weapon one needs in a world full of
greedy charlatans and hoaxters, evil people preying on the
vulnerability of people who through no fault of their own, simply
don’t have the to help sort the crap from the
crappola.
those of you who are sceptics in the reality that a rock can be a
powerful tool for many things including many avenues in healing; did
you not find yourself surprised to know the processor in your
computer chip has quartz crystal in it making it run? how about lcd
screens- liquid crystal (quartz) display . I think you sometimes
forget that something so "simple " as a “rock” can have such amazing
attributes. do we not pride our selves as a community as being open
minded? I have not seen a lot of that here in regards to the topic
on crystals. and, I assume it might be safe to assume many of you
consider yourselves religious, Christian, etc. apply the same to
your ‘god’. can you see him? can you prove he exists? so you “feel”
your faith and love validated? your worship? can you prove is
exists? no, you can’t. but heaven forbid someone question your right
and your belief in something so "powerful’ as Christianity. put you
closed mindeness into perspective. just because you don’t believe
don’t make it not real. yes there are likely many people who might
take advantage touting such advertising- as many things with many
industries and products. and many that are based in believe because
there has been verifiable repeated results for many people. can we
not bash each other and our own personal beliefs? is it possible to
expand to the place that we might consider we as an individual
person might not know everything there is to be known? I would hope
so.
ande
fusion studio
http://www3.telus.net/andescruzminer
Of course some people don't feel anything from crystals. Some people can't even smell when a cat lives in a house. Some people are capable of discerning the differences between rare vintage red wines, and others can't tell if it's lite beer or regular. I am wondering what varying levels of the physical senses of smell and taste have to do with detecting a non-physical and unverifiable energy. You are making an interesting comparison.
I'll concede that modern science knows more about the receptors for smell and taste, as well as vision, hearing, and many forms of touch, than it does about other less understood forms of human perception. Science has not yet identified physical cellular receptors for the energy people feel off of crystals. It does not mean that they don't exist.
It wouldn’t be necessary to identify the receptors in order to prove
such an effect to be real. All that would be needed would be a
double-blinded and repeatable experiment like the one originally
proposed, where a sensitive individual would reliably distinguish the
presence of the supposedly energetic crystals without being able to
physically perceive them. If you think this is possible, round up
some of these people and do the experiment - if it showed a
statistically significant effect, I’m sure the scientific community
would be interested.]
Truly, historically, only recently are we able to say that these senses (of smell and taste) even come close to being both physical (assuming that you are meaning that there is physical causation -- actual physical bombardment of particles, not remote detection; AND not that the sense is "felt" physically -- since those who are able to "feel" crystal energy definitely "feel" it physically) and verifiable (assuming that you are meaning detectable by some man-made machinery; not in the way something is "verified" by numerous credible experiencial witnesses -- like in a court of law...).
In fact, if you understood a little more about science, you might want to watch how you throw around the terms "non-physical" and "unverifiable energy", as if they negated possibility of existance.
A basic principle of science is that claims of certain effects are
not considered to be scientifically valid if their proponent is
unable to verify them experimentally, in a way that can be repeated.
It is not considered necessary to negate the posibility of their
existence.]
Take "non-physical" for example -- that would mean that the thing in question would not exhibit (as per definition) "having substance or material existence; perceptible to the senses". That would negate huge amounts of the electromagnetic spectrum in wave form that can only be detected and de-scrambled by man-made devices, a small example being wave forms detected and de-scrambled by radio and television. Do you "feel" these wave forms in the air? They are all around you.
While these wave-forms exist, they were not accepted by science
until a practical and repeatable demonstration was possible. Are you
proposing a different standard? Are we to believe in everything
anybody says until it can be conclusively proved not to exist? A
negative is notoriously difficult to prove; usually the burden of
proof is on the person proposing a solution to a problem, whether
positing an invisible wave or a theory of how something works.]
And what about "unverifiable energy"? This one is a little more tricky, because I love science, and the ability to recreate results in controlled experiments is a tenet of scientific method. I just have to point to the past, and remind you that nothing is scientifically known until it is proven and scrutenized; and historically all energies were unverifiable until someone created a device to detect them. Otherwise and until then, those energies were unverifiable except by antectdotal evidence.
I don’t think many scientists would agree that it’s possible to
verify something by anecdotal evidence. In the past, many theories
have been discarded because they proved unverifiable, and this, as
well as the discovery of substances, natural laws, and forces that
can be substantiated, moves our understanding forward. Few people
believe in phlogiston any more, because we’ve come up with better
explanations for why things burn, and we tend to let scientists
explain things like this to us. On the other hand, many people
continue to believe in astrology, although it is only vouched for by
anecdotal evidence and has not been confirmed to be predictive by
experimentation. This is because the sphere it inhabits is more
personal, akin to religious belief, a realm many people refuse to
allow science to control in their lives.]
"Life energy" would have to be one of the current "unverifiable energies" that science struggles to comprehend. Science can only verify the symptoms (like in the definition: "1 The force of will which strives to coalesce a dynamic organism from inanimate matter. 2 A force which demonstrates a purposeful intentionality to feed, process matter into energy, grow, and reproduce."). What is this force that can "coalesce a dynamic organism from inanimate matter"? Science doesn't know yet -- do you? And can you verify it by anything other than antectdotal evidence?
If you’re talking about being able to tell if someone or something
is alive or dead, then yes, I believe there are instruments that can
distinguish the two states. While doubtless we have more to learn
about the energy fields of living organisms, I don’t think you can
call their presence “unverifiable” in a scientific sense.]
I compared the abilities to smell and taste to the ability to perceive energy off of a crystal or crystals because all require some kind of human perception, and all also present a continuum of responses. Most people can sort of understand the ability to smell or to taste, and most people have experienced the continuum of responses to different smells or tastes in different people ("That stinks!" "I don't smell anything." -- "That food is too spicey." "I can hardly taste it." -- "I can feel the energy off that crystal." "I don't feel anything.") This doesn't prove or disprove the validity of personal claims, it just indicates that variances exist even in accepted perceptions.
While individual differences certainly exist in perceptive
abilities, it is eminently possible to prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that a smell or taste exists. Unanimity of perception isn’t
necessary for an effect to be accepted as real, even by those who
don’t perceive it directly. Just find a number of people who do have
the ability to, for example, smell a skunk, bring them into a
skunk-sprayed room and a room that hasn’t been affected that way,
and show they can reliably and repeatedly tell the difference. Even
the anosmic among us would agree the effect is real.]
I personally believe that what I feel off of a crystal is either its torsion field (I'm pretty sure you need to learn more about physics before I want to even try to explain this one to you), or that I feel a reflection and amplification of my own energy field (which I would assume that you don't believe exists).
It would definitely be fun to do a clinical double-blind test on the ability to "feel" the energy associated with any particular crystal or crystals, but that is hardly what you suggest.
I think that was exactly what was suggested by the original poster
in this thread. Are you confident of your ability to detect these
“torsion fields” (or whatever they are) reliably and repeatedly? If
so, it would be wonderful if you could demonstrate this for the
scientific community.]
The person and experiment you cite as an example for the "test" you would like to conduct was a nine year old girl creating an "experiment" for her fourth grade science fair, whose parents both have a vested interest in her "proving" the fallacy of Theraputic Touch. (Both parents are quite active in Anti-Theraputic Touch organizations. I didn't even know that there *were* Anti-Theraputic Touch organizations -- as if voluntary participation in Theraputic Touch were somehow harmful to the participants and that they needed to be protected from it?)
I must have missed that part, but pseudo-therapies can be harmful,
if only because they are often substituted for treatements that
actually work. If you were asked “Will wearing this stone cure my
cancer?” would you really answer in the affirmative?]
I do not ask that you believe that others can "feel" crystals, you are entitled to believe what you wish. I just ask that you please learn what real science is, and distinguish it from what it is not.
Ah, we’re on the same page here…]
My experience in these experiments has shown that the 'crystal energy sensitive' are much better at formulating excuses, for what may be interfering with their ability to detect the energy accurately, than they are at actually detecting any energy or the presence of any crystal (healing stone) in the area.
I would love to read your clinical trials. Can you please post a
link, or tell me how to obtain your notes? I only ask because you
have posted a link to what you consider a “real” experiment, only to
find that it was done by a fourth-grader.
–Terri
[Here’s another one, since you bring it up:
http://www.phact.org/e/tt/test1.htm . But I don’t think that just
because an experimenter is young, it invalidates the results of her
experiment. If it is well-conducted, novel and repeatable, and the
results hold up, then it’s good science in my book.]
Andrew Werby
Lee, Your Blorg Energy stones would be a welcome addition to my
inventory!. I have been looking for something that would more
effectively personalize the birthstone rings that I sell. If,
indeed, you can assure me that said stones will not only cure my
clients ailments, but also provide them with a horoscope, I would be
a very happy huckster. Thanks for your breakthrough insights !
Ron Mills at Mills Gem Co. Los Osos, Ca.
Ok, this has been quite a thread but I have to agree with David B.
that this has the potential of growing into a small flame war. So I
decided to put my two cents in and hopefully avoid such a disaster. I
like to think of myself as a Christian, but don’t worry I am not here
to preach. I have been following this thread but until now I was not
going to get involved. I just couldn’t hold back any longer. I am not
going to go into all the scientific mumbo-jumbo just simple straight
to the point facts about us. It is like a story about casting the
first stone. There sure seems to be a lot of people out there that
aren’t sure what to believe in which is kind of sad. Yet how many of
us create and sell beautiful crosses, Buddhas, or Star of David
pieces? How about Celtic crosses or small bibles? Lets go even
further, how about pentagrams, four leaf clovers or Thor’s hammer?
These are all based on different beliefs and some can be more harmful
than Holistic beliefs. None of these beliefs have been scientifically
proven to be valid, yet we create pieces representing these beliefs.
Does this make us unethical too? I think not because it is not the
belief we are selling but the symbols as decoration, we just call
them what they are i.e. crosses, Star of David or pentagrams. Those
who sell crystals labeled for their holistic value are doing no
different. Maybe we could make jewelry in the shape of the human
brain since this is the real origin of belief. I don’t know where
that came from but I thought I’d throw it in anyway. It would seem
that there is a rise in discussions on the subjects of politics and
religion, two sure fire ways of starting heated talks. I guess that
is a good way of venting just so long as it doesn’t turn friends
against each other or create sides in this forum. Thus far I have
seen short lived disagreements but for the most part everyone seems
eager to help everyone else. That’s what makes this forum a grand
place to be. Well I’ve said enough.
Tom Timms
Gold Canyon AZ
Where the Superstitions Kiss the sky.
@Thomas_Timms
All;
Orchid is flame free environment and the following is a flame free collection
of posts we received on the topic of Crystal Therapy for those interested.
Other posts which I had to exclude from the digest have been manually delivered
to the recipient whom I thought the message was originally meant to.
Please understand that my decision is by no means designed to censor any
of you, but rather to protect the healthy voice of our community.
For a better Orchid
HanumanFrom: “Robert Powell” texeclectic@earthlink.net
I do not mix my Physics and Metaphysics .
The Physical Sciences are demonstrateable, The Belief in Metaphysics
is demonstrateable.
The operative word is BELIEF . Metaphysics and Physics, for me, do
not conflict because I do not intermix them.
I have spent time, effort and money gaining professional
credentials. For me , it would be unprofessional and a risk to my
credibility to prey upon someone’s hopes and fears . It is also
shameful .
I once had a discussion about a guarantee of authenticity of certain
items. When asked about the proof, the shop owner said she had
channeled their identity as was taught by her " teacher ". This was
acceptable for her standards, It was not acceptable for mine. I
didn’t argue, I just left.
I have had metaphysical experiences which have greatly shaped my
life. I have designs and materials for executing jewelry of a
metaphysical nature. I have books dealing with the metaphysical
nature of metal and stone. These books are 2 or 3 % of my
professional library.
I try to maintain a professional attitude and practice
the golden rule.
Gemology is a wonderful metaphysical experience looking at
Gemstones. Even better when you have them well lit and magnified -
Phenomenal !!!
Respectfully,
ROBB
From: Randolph Post repost@ji-net.com
Throughout the history of humankind, the laying on of stones has
literally touched every world culture. Dating from antiquity,
crystals and stones have been known to possess restorative powers.
There really is no need for scientific or religious discourse on
this matter. History precedes it.
Rather than argue the point, it might be more beneficial to
acknowledge the potentiality of the phenomenon, and for those who
are interested, to seek it out. This is quite natural for those who
deal with precious stones.
Baron von Reichenbach did exactly this over one hundred years ago.
Using ‘sensitives’ who were basically physically ill people, he
mapped out the radiations of crystals and magnets in a scientific
way to better understand the working principles behind them. What he
found was that crystals, like magnets, possess a field of radiation.
His sensitives were able to detect these fields and make drawings of
them. Comparisons of drawings and observations made by these
sensitives showed a commonality between them and gave a clear
indication that radiations do exist in crystals, and confirmed that
there are those who can perceive them.
No one has a problem believing in the fields of magnets, which are
caused by alignments in their molecular structure. Crystals also
have a well-ordered molecular alignment and act in much the same
way.
Here is a simple test that may (or may not) reveal to you the latent
fields that exist in crystalline structures. Find yourself a nice
quartz crystal, preferably a single one with a good termination.
Then find a nice quiet spot where you won’t be disturbed. Have
someone you like take the crystal in their hand and slowly scan the
terminated end back and forth over your open and upturned palm from
fingertip to wrist, about an inch away. Close your eyes to block out
visual input, allowing you to focus on any sensations you may feel.
I have done this to literally hundreds of people. Even the most
jaded skeptics report a sensation. It seems that the human hand is a
gifted receptor of these emanations, and is immune from prejudice or
preconceived notion. Thus your hand can tell you the truth,
unconditionally and without rationalization.
Now all you have to do is conceive that this sensation may be
beneficial to you.
Randolph Post
From: Steelybone@aol.com
did you not find yourself surprised to know the processor in your computer chip has quartz crystal in it making it run? how about lcd screens- liquid crystal (quartz) display
-
Computer chips are on siliCON (Si metal), not siliCA (SiO2, the
formula for quartz). -
Liquid crystals are electrically-active organic materials
unrelated to silica.
Tas
From: “Pete Macko” pete@petemacko.org
those of you who are sceptics in the reality that a rock can be a powerful tool for many things including many avenues in healing; did you not find yourself surprised to know the processor in your computer chip has quartz crystal in it making it run? how about lcd screens- liquid crystal (quartz) display . I think you sometimes forget that something so "simple " as a "rock" can have such amazing attributes.
Don’t believe the hype - it’s magic smoke that makes your computer
work. When you have not sufficiently propitiated the smoke-tending
deities that live inside your computer, the smoke escapes and
computer stops working.
While the magic smoke theory is a proven scientific fact, there has
been an ongoing holy war for the past 8 years as to whether it is
better to provide your smoke gods with sacrifices originating from
the state of Washington, or products of Scandinavian origin.
Note that there is a small but vehement sect that eschews the common
gods and only have dealings with machines containing fruit-loving
spirits. This cult is the subject of constant derision by the
unwashed masses, but they are content with the knowledge that they
walk the path of righteousness due to the much larger cash sacrifice
necessary to join the way of the fruit.
From: “Linda Holmes-Rubin” lindahr@mindspring.com
Thank you for the dose of logic to an over-emotional exchange and a
clear discussion of scientific method. The debate is important,
especially the examples of how unscientific belief can cause real
damage, not only to the believer, but to others. For example, some
parents refuse to immunize their children on the unfounded belief
that thimerasol in the shot causes autism. It has been studied
repeatedly and no link was ever found. But this unfounded belief
puts the children at risk of contracting potentially lethal diseases
and of spreading them to others–for example exposing a pregnant
women to measles and causing horrific deformities in the fetus. At
the same time, these parents don’t refuse to let their children ride
in a car, which is demonstrably one of the most dangerous things to
do in modern society. It makes no logical sense. While crystal
therapy seems pretty benign, I am increasingly distressed by people’s
ignorance of science and their tendency to seize on explanations for
things that have no basis in reality. This sort of credulity can
have serious consequences and not only for themselves. Tolerance of
other beliefs is a wonderful thing and to be encouraged, but not when
it puts others at risk.
Well, that’s my rant for the day.
Linda Holmes-Rubin
From: “richard hart” jeweler@access4less.net
Teresa PBS has a show by Wayne Dyer on intention, which teaches in a
laymans language theories on quantum physics. Theoretically there is
an invisible energy behind all phyical matter. An atom of rock is the
same as an atom from you. Everything is created from source, all is
source in different form. All matter came from the same place. If all
of the electrical bonds in every atom is the same, the glue that
holds everything together, every phyical creation has the same
energy. You are apart of it, it is a part of you, any other belief is
duality, and that is how we seperate ourself from the creation we are
a part of. It is like a game of hide and seek. The rock has no more
energy, vibrational whoopdeedo, than you do. Thought has more power
than any rock, believing some external physical piece of matter has
something that you do not is duality and that is what separates us
from the power we inherit from what we naturally are apart of. I
absolutely believe that the faith a person puts is the power of a
rock is actually acknowledging something within themself that they
are transfering to the object. I have a generator crystal that is the
most powerful in the universe and it has the power to create wealth.
It is for sale for one million dollars. E-mail me off line if you are
interested.
Richard Hart
I am loving this topic on Crystal Therapy. My web site is named
Rocksmyth, not Rock-Smyth because my last name is Smith, but
Rocks-Myth as in the myths behind the rocks that I love so dearly.
The heart of most computers, many watches, is a piece of Quartz,
which is used to regulate the clock or timing. Silicon, which many
computer chips have been made of, is derived from quartz. The
following link will tell you how.
http://www.chemlink.com.au/silicon.htm
I am a physicist, and for me to believe something, I have to see
it. About 30 years ago, I was going to dig a water well in my back
yard, in a very residential area of Dallas. I had no idea where to
dig, so in a fleet of imagination, I thought I would have some fun
and have a dowser ‘Witch’ my well.
I called around to the shops that sold metal detectors, and asked
if they knew of a water witcher. I got the phone number of a man,
gave him a call, and we determined he would come over and ‘witch’ my
back yard, charging me $50 for the service, and giving me $25 back
if I didn’t find water. This seemed pretty safe, so I asked him
over. I’ve blown $50 on sillier things. I was expecting a farmer in
overalls and a T-Shirt to come over in his rusty pickup, carrying a
fork from a peach tree. That’s they way I had seen it in the
movies. Imagine my surprise when a new Lincoln Continental drove
up, a man in a three piece suit got out and introduced himself as
the Vice President of Holiday Inns. He came in the house, sat at my
kitchen table, drew a map of my home and the yard, garage, trees,
and driveway. He said he was going to find the water using “Map
Dowsing and Triangulation”. He then proceeded to take a plastic
tube, insert a wire shaped like an “L” in the tube and then wave it
over the map he had drawn. It seemed to stop at one place, and he
drew a line along the map where the line stopped. He then rotated
the map 90 degrees, did the same waving thing, it stopped, he drew
another line which intersected the first line, and said “Here is
where you need to dig for water.”. My thoughts were, “I just got
took for $50…”.
He then went outside, took a little plastic thing out of his
briefcase, which looked like two plastic tongue depressors,
connected to a plastic silver ball, that had a Radio Shack Antenna
screwed into the other end. He extended the radio antenna, held onto
the two tongue depressors and started walking towards the spot in
the backyard where he said the water was. He said, "At some point
this will dip towards the ground, and when it does, we measure the
distance to the spot where the water is , and that is how far down
you have to dig. " I now knew for sure that I had lost my $50….
As a last resort, I asked him if I could do it instead of him. I
knew there was no way he would say yes, and I could save my $50 by
shouting “Fraud!!!”.
He said “Sure, just hold the handles, and think of pure running
water.”
Well, this thing probably weighed 3 ounces at the most. I have been
pumping iron all my life, and even on a bad day can curl 150 lbs. I
started walking towards the imaginary spot on the ground where the
water was supposed to be, and at about 50 feet, this little plastic
thing pulled my arms to the ground, and I couldn’t pull them up. I
saw, I felt, I experienced, I became a believer. I became a believer
in a process that ordinary people have been using for hundreds of
years with great success. After this experience, it became very easy
for me to believe in the myths behind rocks, or crystal therapy.
You can’t measure the process of dowsing, there have been millions
spent by different governments trying to make a science out of it,
yet even though it can’t be ‘proven’, it is used with success daily
all around the world.
You cant measure some of the “Myths” behind Rocks, but who is to
say they don’t exist…
Love and God Bless
-randy
http://www.rocksmyth.com
Here are some links for those that want to find out more about
Crystal Energy, Kirilian Photography, Chi energy, the million dollar
blank check waiting for anyone that can prove their paranormal
abilities, magnets, etc.
Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit
http://www1.tpgi.com.au/users/tps-seti/baloney.html
Drawing the boundaries between science and pseudoscience
http://homepages.wmich.edu/~korista/baloney.html
Million Dollar Challenge JREF - Home
For those who want critical examinations of alternative medicine
Cal Tech/Michael Shermer/Skeptic Magazine http://www.skeptic.com
A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous
Delusions (and how to think critically about them)
http://skepdic.com/
Crystal Energy http://skepdic.com/crystals.html
Kirilian Kirlian photography - electrophotography - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com
Aura Detection http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-05/i-files.html
auras - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com
Accupuncture, Blocked Chi, Power of Anecdotes
http://www.skeptics.com.au/journal/acufacts.htm
http://skepdic.com/acupunc.html
China, Chi, and Chicanery http://www.csicop.org/si/9509/chi.html
Magnetic healing http://www.csicop.org/si/9807/magnet.html
and just for the fun of it http://www.pennandteller.com/
Penn & Teller (Official Series Site) Watch on Showtime
Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park and other books, has
written a very interesting book called “Travels”. He is an absorbing
writer, and this memoir is about a life during which he explored many
geographical and psychological regions, and also "alternative"
beliefs and phenomena. Reading it emboldened me to open my mind and
do a little exploring on my own. I have seen “chi” (it’s pale
green), and experienced other phenomena that I used to scoff at.
People who believe the scientific method requires repeatability are
not technically correct: astronomy eludes that approach. Those
familiar with the many unwritten rules of academia understand that a
major reason psychologists stay as far as possible from things like
crystal therapy is that they don’t want to doom their careers–a
virtually certain consequence of any attempts to elucidate "psychic"
phenomena in any major American or European university.
My own goal was similar to Chirchton’s: I was just curious. I was
also not at all interested in metaphysical explanations of anything.
By nature, I am not uncomfortable recognizing that I don’t know or
understand things I encounter, so I don’t need the “explanations” the
metaphysics supply. I have usually found metaphysical/religious
explanations unnecessary, distracting and–usually–very boring and
unsatisfactory.
I wanted to know what people who see ghosts or auras, or perform
remote viewing etc. experience, and whether I could experience the
same kinds of things. But I must admit that my own “travels” were
partly galvanized by a memorable encounter with a shaman-in-training.
There are experimental approaches that are suited to this goal and
the situations one wants to evaluate. They don’t provide publishable
results, and they are just one step up from anecdote, but they are
philosophically sound, and can be keep you from thinking you are
losing your mind. You determine whether the experience was
intersubjective. Intersubjective experiences (perceptions) are ones
that are shared by two or more observers, and reliably reported
independently. When you see something unusual and some others in
the group with you appear to be seeing the same thing, you just ask
them to describe what they are seeing, without tipping them off as
to what you are seeing. Like “Did you see that?”, “Wow, are you
seeing what I am seeing?” or similar words. If they describe what
you are experiencing, then you know it’s unlikely to be all in your
head. Of course, the reports I elicit by these means aren’t
technically independent. I don’t know how to arrange independent
reports in the kinds of informal and unstructured settings where
these phenomena are most likely to be encountered. But since I am
only satisfying my own curiosity, and don’t intend to try to
convince anyone else, that isn’t a problem.
I debated whether to post this. My purpose is to bridge the canyon
that was developing and perhaps heal a little. Jewelers have to be
skeptical, or they couldn’t stay in business, but few artists have
closed minds.
Dian Deevey
Dear Dian, I’m not intelligent enough to comment on all the assertions
of your post, but did you know that the French Tai Chi teacher,
Gabrielle Trefle-Etu, has also seen chi and emphatically described
it as sky blue? Kind regards,
Rex in Oz
Hi Dian,
I found you mail interesting, “I have had some ghostly visits”. The
presence went on for years, and only seemed to happen in difficult
times, the visits have stopped now and I have to admit I do miss
them. I believe there where more than one identity involved. They
where all very helpful spirits, one used to wake me up for work with
a gust of wind that used to hit my bedroom door in the mornings with
a “bang”, my sister also experience it when she stayed over every so
often. She got an awfull fright when she heard it, and went to
investigate for open windows and so on, but found none.
Then the gust changed to a knock on my door, I wasn’t scared by it
and didn’t need to use an alarm clock for a long time, and would
greet my friendly spirit by saying “yeah ok I’m awake” good morning
to you! Then my grandmother came to visit my sister in my spare
bedroom when she was having marital problems, and was worried about
how her small child would cope. Neither she nor I have ever met my
Grandmother, she passed on many years before we arrive on this earth.
Anyways she sat on my sisters bed, with her grey hair pinned ina
bun, and told her that her son would grow up a happy and well
adjusted individual, and that she would be watching over him. My
sister sat stiff in the bed, frightened out of her wits, all she
could manage to say was “your hair is lovely”…anyway she was right
Stephen has grown to be one of the happiest teenagers I have ever
come across, and all has gone according to her wise words of comfort.
My sisters description matched my Dads memory of how she really
looked in life.
I was given a present years ago from my sisters father in law,of a
China clockwork Clown, I never liked it and would leave it in the
spare room where my sister slept, when she would visit at weekends.
There was something her eerie about it that just gave me the
shivers!
One night when she and her young son where in bed doing a little
reading before slumber, I heard a loud crash!! I ran up the stairs to
see my sister sitting white in the face in her bed. She said the
clown just flew off the dresser smashing into the wall. That was the
only scary situation and nothing else happened with it, even after my
Mother glued it back together.
I sleep on a ground floor bedroom now, just off the kitchen, and
during the night for years I would hear footsteps walking through the
kitchen, not just one set but many, and all in hard shoes, some
sounding like stilettos. And sometimes the chairs would move around
too. But I got accustomed to it, and it didn’t bother me.
Four years ago my best friend Michael died suddenly, he was my
heart,soul, the funniest and most caring friend. We used to share a
work shop together, and after closing it up, I stored a lot of his
things in my bedroom in boxes, waiting for the day when he would come
to collect them. But he died before that ever happened. Anyways every
night for the longest time I would wake up to the sound of him
rummaging through each of his boxes, I could feel his presence, “and
felt great comfort” A little while after his death my sister had a
serious operation, she stayed in my house to recuperate, and slept in
my room it being on the ground floor. And sure enough she was kept
awake by Michaels rummaging, and not only that…she felt the
weight of him sitting on the bed on more than one occasion. He has
since left this earthly place and moved on to more heavenly
pastures, and all paranormal activity has seased, but he has helped
me with so much, and laid many opportunities at my feet, things that
I would never have dreamed of have happened. So he is still rooting
for me, although in heaven. I have never seen a ghost, but have had a
lot of very friendly and helpful experiences with them. Hey nearly
forgot! one used to turn my stereo on all the time, but he too has
left me too. Well that’s been my experience, all good…and
I’m so thankful for it! Best wishes to you Dian, Warmest Regards Tina
ashmore Dublin,Ireland
So there you go, thats my experience
Sent under the heading ‘crystal therapy,’ Dian Deevey=92s brilliant
post on the Orchid forum throws open the doors to our perception of
life fields in living humans, providing a hint of the mechanism in
the ancient art of healing by the laying on of crystals.
While being necessarily vague about her observations (after all,
she does have to deal with skeptics lurking about) Dian confesses
that she has seen ‘Chi’ first hand. Dian further confides her own
previous skepticism about this mysterious emanation, acknowledging
that something changed her viewpoint.
Kudos to her shaman-in-training.
There are those of us on the Orchid forum who long to hear more of
Dian=92s experiences in this regard, whether or not it is ‘provable’
or =91acceptable=92 via the scientific method.
‘Chi,’ or =91auric field’ as those who study this field of energy know
it, is an integral part of the human structure; the life field
itself as it were. Long ago, well-known writers such as Madame
Blavatsky, Annie Bassant, C.W.Leadbetter, Alice Bailey, or others
like Colin Wilson, Douglas Baker and Manly P. Hall wrote extensively
on this subject. They cared less if their observations stood the
test of the repeatability or the so-called scientific method. They
were simply reporting on reality.
Those who can perceive the auric field are in the wonderful position
of being able to =91see=92 the effects of crystals as they are brought
into proximity with the human field. Perhaps it is this observation
that Dian alludes to, yet withholds from us. If Dian can observe the
auric field in humans, perhaps she may even be able to see the
fields inherent in well-ordered crystalline structures as well. The
interaction of these two fields must be wondrous to behold.
Dian’s observation that the color of Chi is pale green, and Rex
Steele Merten=92s follow up comment that it is sky blue, points out
that Chi can have many colors, depending on our emotions, state of
health, and even our karmic status. Anyone wishing to know more
about this one person=92s insightmay visit:
www.sophiaswisdom.com/auric_colors.shtml
Given the interest shown on this forum about crystal healing, one
might postulate that the design and construction of crystalline
healing devices is the true domain of jewelers, and has been so
since the advent of humankind. Think about this: if tomorrow a news
item on CNN and FOX confirmed that crystals were an effective cure
for many human ailments, and that the preparation of precious metals
around these crystals in artistic fashion, such as in wands,
amulets, necklaces and rings embued them with even an more powerful
influence, how many on this forum would rush to their design tables,
filled with creative, not to mention economic inspiration’
Dian, please overcome your hesitation and tell us more of what you
have found.
Randolph Post
I found the posts about crystal therapy quite interesting. What
really catches my attention is the way Dian perceives chi as pale
green and Rex Steel sees sky blue. I personally feel its pale
lavender. I tell you this because I have “Synesthesia”. This is a
condition where the senses are blended. Every one has it at birth, it
helps a baby to learn and discover the world around him. As we grow,
changes occur in the brain,and we lose this ability because we don’t
need it. However some people don’t lose it, which makes for a very
interesting perception.
A person can smell color, or hear color, or taste shapes and many
other blends in a superimposed way. The artist Vasilly Kandensky has
it , Billy Joel has it and from what I have read , one in 2000 people
have it. To find out more do a search on your favorite engine. I
think you’ll find it interesting. When I say I can get lost in an
emerald I really mean it. Debra Stravinsky