Another common treatment with crystals is actually, believe it or not, irradiation.
So stones are naturally irradiated in the earth all the time. That's how clear quartz
turns to smoky quartz.
And this is a natural process, and by the time the crystals are excavated from the
earth,
there's no trace of harmful radiation left so the stones are perfectly safe
to bring into your energy field or use on your physical body. However,
there are some
instances where crystals are irradiated by man
to get a similar effect.
One of these, for example, is clear quartz.
So clear quartz is
irradiated within the earth and turned to smoky quartz.
But sometimes you'll find, especially with quartz from Arkansas, and sometimes
with different minerals from China,
particularly different types of quartz crystals,
they will be irradiated by man.
And
one way to tell these apart from regular quartz or smoky quartz crystals is if
you actually hold
the irradiated smoky quartz up to the light,
you will not be able to see through it. It will appear opaque, and they're very
very dark in color - almost black.
Now with natural smoky quartz crystals, there's really quite a bit of range in
the natural color,
but you should always be able to see through them when you hold them up to
the light. And this is a very good testing method to use.
Now the reason this is important is because
sometimes when these crystals are irradiated by man,
they will still be radioactive. Now all these things are supposed to be
thoroughly checked before they're sold to the general public,
but it's very very hard to keep the regulation on that
going. So
you need to be cautious and know what you're buying,
buy from a reputable dealer.
But a good way to tell, again, is to hold that crystal up to the light.
If you can't see through it, I would not recommend using that stone for healing.
In my opinion, I feel like the
artificially irradiated stones are just sort of energetically dead because
what they're doing is exposing those crystals to a large amount of radiation
all at once.
Whereas the crystals that are naturally irradiated in the earth
are exposed to only very small doses of radiation.
And that's why they're generally safer to use.
Now you do you want to be especially cautious if you're
using stones that come in from China. Again, particularly quartz-based minerals
because not all of those stones are checked
in customs. Adn you want to make sure that you're using
things that are going to be safe for you.
Similarly, in addition to the quartz being irradiated to become smoky
quartz,
Hiddenite, which is a green variety of Spudomene, is
being
imported from Pakistan and it is often irradiated
to enhance the green color.
So Hiddenite is actually the green cousin to Kunzite, and you want to make
sure that if you're bringing this
Hiddenite into your energy field,
that you know that it's free from artificial radiation.
Because a lot of times these minerals
are still
radioactive when we bring them into this
country. So, you know, unfortunately not every
single mineral can be checked,
so you just want to use extra caution.
I think if you have
experience with your pendulum
and you feel comfortable using it in this way,
then you could check to see if your crystal has been irradiated.
But generally just knowing a little bit about
which stones are commonly irradiated will save you a lot of trouble. So again, that's
smoky quartz,
Hiddenite is a big one right now.
There's also a green quartz from China,
and it's often mistaken for Seraphose quartz
which comes off of
an island off of the coast of Greece. And Seraphose is amazing, but there's a
green Quartz from China
that is irradiated to take on the
appearance
of the Seraphose quartz.
And I've had many instances of hearing horror stories about how this stone is
still radioactive when enters the country, so
just be careful. If you'd like to try and use your pendulum if you really not sure,
I think that you have to be well-versed in using a pendulum. If you're not
experienced, you may not get a clear answer.
So again, that's just sort of on your own comfort level.
Again though, especially if it's a smoky quartz,
holding it up to the light and doing the test that way works really well. Or if it
is a Hiddenite and it looks just
too green to be true, you
make sure to ask your dealer or vendor
if it has been irradiated and a reputable dealer should be able to tell
you.
Now the only thing is you do have to be cautious because
some people are just trying to sell you crystals and they'll tell you anything you
want to hear about a specific stone.
So just make sure that you are, you know,
you're using your best judgment when it comes to that.