Healing Stones

By Roelof Ham (translated by Ursula Moestapa)

Introduction
In the field of alternative healing, fashion and trends play as an important role as in many other areas. In the alternative area new trends and hypes constantly interchange, in order to tempt people to step (further) into the world of New Age, eastern spirituality and even occultism. At a certain point something gains momentum and catches on; magazines pay attention to it, celebrities are flaunting with it and influencer on social media post about it. At the moment, in autumn 2021, there is a revival surrounding so-called healing stones. Watch e.g. the broadcast that ‘de Keuringsdienst van Waarden (the inspection department of Values)’ has dedicated to it on 29th October1, regarding the stones that the Moon Sisters Van Lexmond are selling. These two sisters have lately been in the spotlight, due to their mystical pretenses.2 The belief in the powers of stones is not new in itself, but today’s popularity is new. Some people call it a hype. This article sheds light on this trend. We shall discover that there’s nothing new under the sun. As so often with this kind of new trends, these are in the end the same thoughts we saw many times before through the ages, all be it wrapped in a new coat. It is a modern variant of the widely known and in ‘standard’ alternative thinking.
 
Supporting and (healing) powerful stones
Some examples of the ‘powers’ of stones, as described by alternative healers and shops where you can buy this kind of stones.
 
Jade: Jade is a cleansing and protective stone (particularly against physical injury). It provides harmony and balance and it attracts prosperity, happiness and wealth. The stone improves self-actualization and self-reliance and helps to release negative emotions and irritabilities. It influences the heart chakra and therefore improves love, nursing and tolerance. Jade stimulates the invention of all kinds of ideas and also the drive to put them into practice. It is the right stone to take along during a journey or vacation for some extra protection. Physically, Jade has a strong cleansing effect, it brings all kinds of physical systems into balance and discharges toxins from the body. It has a positive effect on the kidneys and adrenal glands, the bladder, the nerve system, fertility and on giving birth.
 
Amethyst: Amethyst has a protective and purifying effect. The stone improves self-awareness and helps to be honest towards yourself concerning behavior that can be harmful and not in service of your highest self. It helps for example to acknowledge and deal with addiction. In addition, this stone also provides insight in emotional processes, which may help to process certain (painful) experiences, and also avoidance behavior can be changed. Amethyst is due to its cleansing effect also very suitable to purify a room. Together with rock crystal and rose quartz, it creates a harmonious atmosphere. Because it stimulates the upper chakras, it can improve the intuition, spiritual growth and insights, certainly for people who are at the beginning of their spiritual path. Amethyst also has a cleansing effect on the body and a positive influence on the nervous system, headache and migraine, nightmares and other sleep problems.
 
And there are many more. The quantity of the kinds of stones and their powers is enormous. Theses power are, however, reserved for gemstones, not ordinary, regular stones. The difference between gemstones and other stones? Gemstones are rare minerals that can be processed because they are hard. They are formed by all kinds of geological processes inside the earth. These processes give the mineral its powerful features.
 
Underlying Ideas
The underlying idea behind these stones lies in the idea of vibrations and frequencies. The mineral gemstones we’re talking about, supposedly have these powers because everything in reality that surrounds us, has a certain frequency at which it vibrates. These gemstones do too and because all vibrate at different frequencies, so they all have a different effect on us humans.
By the way, there is no scientific proof for this. There is no measurement or device that has ever registered any proof of it working the way it is claimed! Stones simply do not vibrate, neither do gemstones. The whole concept of vibrating stones is only ‘spiritual’ and can ultimately be traced back to Hinduism. It has religious roots and a religious meaning. This thinking is also found in Yoga and in all kinds of more modern variants of New Age, that draws from the same sources. It is closely related to the belief in chakras which can be opened with the help of the right vibrations. Chakras themselves are said to transmit vibrations. Chakras are the gateway for vibes and vibrations on different frequencies in the body. They are an important component of Hinduism, eastern mysticism and New Age. Chakras are the energy points in the body where one could gain depth in his consciousness or where a person could tap into new energy within him- or herself. Through meditation and exercises these energy points can be opened and tapped into.
The gemstones now are claimed to exert influence on our chakras with their vibrations. They have their own aura that works when you’re close to it, when you carry the stone (even it in a body cavity).
Even if you only have a little knowledge of New Age and eastern thinking, you will immediately recognize what’s going on here. There is indeed nothing new under the sun. All this is a trendy way of expressing the same ancient basic mystical and occult thoughts we have already discussed. In the alternative circuit these ideas are just recycled without end. It has to do with energy fields, chakras, auras and vibration and there are no solid scientific facts undergirding it. You can only feel and experience it. You have to be open to it. That’s what many of the alternative therapists say that use these stones themselves.
 
Trust in God alone
By now will be clear to us Christians that gemstones and their alleged powers are entirely in contradiction to what we Christians believe. Believing in the powers of gemstones is a modern variant of the Hinduist thinking that puts divinity in everything around us and in ourselves and which promotes self-exaltation.
While God shows us that we can come to Him in times of troubles of any kind, when we have hardships or when we struggle with issues where these gemstones supposedly could help. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5: 6,7 as follows: ‘Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.’ We may submit to God and believe that He takes care of us.
Are we facing negative emotions and irritability, do we lack insight, do we want to overcome an addiction? We can come to Him. He will make it so that the fruits of patience and meekness can grow in us. He gives wisdom and insight to those who ask Him for it and He delivers us from every tie and bondage. That’s how God is.
It therefore doesn’t fit to do something outside of Him and poke around in other religions and alternative spiritual backgrounds or healing therapies. Not everything is as innocent as it may seem. This fact shouldn’t be ignored. They are just stones, you might be thinking, but the underlying thinking is no different from eastern philosophies and exercises, interspersed with occultism. If you go along with this type of thinking you potentially open yourself to spiritual powers from the kingdom of darkness. By entering into this world, the door of your life is set open. And that’s dangerous. It really doesn't matter whether it's stones, tarot reading cards, fortune telling, astrology or whatever. These are all ways that distract us from God and His mercy and that lead us into the kingdom of occult powers and spirits. They set us on a path of unbiblical spirituality and they will undermine our faith. Therefore we should stay far away from them.
 
Summarized
The trend of ascribing mystical powers to gemstones is the well-known, ancient, pagan spirituality in a trendy, modern packaging. The same Hinduist roots are found in it which you can also see in New Age and in so many other modern forms and expressions of ‘spiritual humanity’. All this leads us away from God and undermines our faith. In can even be an opening to evil powers and influence of evil spirits on our lives. The gemstones, by the way, don’t do anything, because they can’t. It are lifeless stones. Therefore if they do something, it’s not because they can. In that case it is the power of suggestion or there are other powers of darkness behind them at play. It is better to trust in God and His promises. He can do more than we can pray or imagine. This also applies to us.