What we know about Clear Quartz is this - it is the most common mineral found at Earth’s surface, can be found all over the planet, has incredible resistance to both chemical and mechanical weathering, has a Mohs hardness rating of 7 and has several applications in the electronics industry. It is the ‘mother’ of all crystals, the most commonly available and all-encompassing. The world would be a very different place without it.
It is very difficult to figure out when exactly it was that Clear Quartz was first used by humans. Due to it being very widespread and common, there are many myths, stories and legends surrounding the origins and uses of this crystal. The Japanese word for clear quartz can be translated as ‘The perfect gem’, because they viewed it as a symbol of patience and purity. In South America there are myths that involve a God-like figure that drew it’s inspiration and was lead by a clear quartz crystal, it was viewed as a sort of bridge between humans and the spirit world. Australian Aboriginal Shamans and elders drew their magical powers from this stone. In Scotland and British Isles, it was commonly carved into spheres and used for healing, this is often thought to be the origin of what we know today as ‘the crystal ball’ used by fortune tellers.
Of course, all these people from all these different cultures had their own name for what we know today as Clear Quartz. The modern day name originates from the Saxon word Querkluftertz which means ‘the cross-vein ore’.
On top of all of the history that surrounds this amazing crystal, what makes it particularly interesting is the ‘real-world’ appliances that are used in modern day technology. Quartz has the ability to transform mechanical heat or energy into electromagnetic energy. This ability to amplify and transform energy is widely used in things such as watches, mobile phones, tablets, memory chips, radios and many, many other things.
For example in watches quartz crystals are used to maintain a precise frequency, which helps regulate movement of a watch or clock, thus making the timepieces very accurate.
But while clocks have not always been around, quartz has, and historical references reaffirm that.
One which we all have heard of is the story of the crystal ball used by fortune tellers, mentioned above. The history of this particular story can be dated back to the 1st century BC when a Roman philosopher by the name of Gaius Plinius Secundus wrote about soothsayers (fortune tellers) that travelled through the Roman Empire and used crystal balls for fortune telling. These soothsayers often came from modern day United Kingdom and Ireland and the balls that they were using were made of clear quartz. By 5th century CE, fortune telling with crystal balls had become so widespread in the Roman Empire, that the early Christian Church was forced to ban it and declare it as heretical.
This, of course, did not stop the practice and history makes many more references to the use of crystal balls, even Queen Elizabeth I was known to have taken advice from her consultant Dr. John Dee, who had devoted much of his life to alchemy and fortune telling with a crystal ball. Who knows how many historical events are a direct result of this practice? Crystal ball reading did not lose its popularity after Queen Elizabeth I, and it actually reached it’s peak during Victorian Era in the late 19th/early 20th century. Clear quartz has played a huge part in the history of our world in more ways than one.
As we have now established, it has been used for centuries, for different purposes and by very different people. However the most common uses in spiritual practice today would be your day to day practice of using it for crystal healing, mediation, chakra work etc. The properties that we all know and love Clear Quartz for are (and this is were we make a full circle) harmonising, balancing emotions, storing, channelling, amplifying and balancing universal energy. All of this makes Clear Quartz in all shapes and sizes an excellent all around crystal and a centre piece of any collection, big or small.
Many crystal lovers often talk in terms of frequencies and vibrations. And as much as sceptics like to dismiss all crystal properties under the same umbrella of ‘can’t be proven’, no one can ignore the proof that we see in the everyday life around us, including the phone or computer on which you are reading this very article. If that is not proof enough for how amazing crystals are, then… maybe also have a look at some of the other blog posts we have here and see if those change your mind :)