Crystals and gemstones are widely believed to possess powerful healing energies that can aid the mind, body and spirit in their healing journeys. Furthermore, their beautiful appearance can serve as home decorations or meditation aid.

However, the world of crystals can be an opaque one with vendors often lacking transparency or ethical sourcing guidelines. Luckily, there are steps crystal enthusiasts can take to ensure they purchase stones responsibly sourced.

Malachite & Chrysocolla

Chrysocolla is an exquisite stone with profound spiritual significance that goes far beyond its eye-catching colors. Many consider Chrysocolla an “communication stone”, encouraging individuals to express themselves more freely and clearly while giving you courage to say what’s on their mind. It can serve as an ally who gently prods you forward when speaking up.

Quartz is commonly recognized as a stone of heart healing. It’s said to help balance the heart chakra and promote love, compassion and connection while aiding you in moving past guilt and forgiving yourself.

This crystal is associated with the Throat Chakra and promotes self-awareness and introspection. It often appears in combination with malachite, azurite, and other secondary copper minerals.

Citrine

Citrine’s positive energy promotes abundance, good fortune and personal growth while encouraging optimism, creativity and motivation. Citrine activates the solar plexus chakra for greater self-assurance and positive thinking.

Citrine is often known as “the merchant’s stone,” and many keep a piece in their cash register or financial area of their business to increase sales and promote prosperity and wealth – particularly when used with smoky quartz.

This beautiful yellow crystal is widely known for dissipating anger and negative energy while encouraging happiness, relaxation and calm. It may also align energies with zodiac signs to strengthen strengths within each sign, making it an excellent crystal to use during meditation – it pairs beautifully with carnelian for maximum effect!

Amethyst

Amethyst, February’s birthstone, is an exceptionally serene and spiritual stone known to open the crown chakra, soothe headaches and insomnia, ease pain relief and balance emotions.

Amethyst has a Mohs hardness of seven, placing it between hard (like all quartz) and soft ( like grape). The purple hue comes from trace amounts of iron inclusions; these provide its distinct hue.

Amethyst gemstones often display phantoms and strong color zoning characteristics. Phantoms, typically smokey areas that seem suspended within the crystal, and strong color zoning results from twinned planes in its structure causing strong color gradients; it also displays unique interference patterns indicative of good quality material.

Rose Quartz

Since alternative medicine and healing techniques have become more widely popular, some individuals believe that crystals contain special frequencies which provide benefits to mind, body and soul. Crystals may be used as tools for emotional healing or decorative objects to bring calming energy into a room.

Metaphysically speaking, rose quartz emanates a gentle yet potency energy of emotional healing and sensuality. It has been reported to ease fear, anxiety and tension while helping the wearer find forgiveness and unconditional love.

Rose quartz’s delicate pink hue makes it a popular gem material for jewelry designs such as beads, cabochons and puffed heart pendants. Furthermore, rose quartz can also serve as an appealing Feng Shui crystal that helps both children and adults get restful night’s rest.

Moonstone

Moonstone, commonly referred to as the ‘Stone of New Beginnings’, promotes intuition and connects us with feminine divine. Additionally, this captivating gemstone helps sync up lunar energy with hormonal cycles for fertilisation, creativity and intuition. While typically associated with water zodiac signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces), all star signs can benefit from Moonstone’s balancing and healing properties.

Moonstone’s signature characteristic is its ability to soothe emotions and hormonal mood swings. Lucid dreaming can also be encouraged as well as sudden impulses, serendipity and imagination being revealed more freely. There are various varieties of this beautiful stone; rainbow moonstone promotes clarity and intuition while peach moonstones stimulate fertility and creativity whereas blue moonstone provides protection and intuition.