7 Obscure Healing Crystals to Add to Your Kit – Healthline
These lesser-known crystals pack just as much power.
Share on PinterestCrystals have grown increasingly popular in recent years. Many people use them for everything from healing and protection to manifesting their desires.
There are a few common crystals — like amethyst, quartz, jasper — you might expect to find on jewelry, on display, or in an energy worker’s collection. But what about lesser-known gems?
If you’re ready to deepen your knowledge about the world of crystals or add a new stone to your collection, read on to learn what experts say about the more obscure stones in the crystal kingdom.
First things first, why do people use crystals?
Some people believe that crystals are powerful energy amplifiers. Formed over thousands of years, they’re believed to harness energies that can aid with:
- physical and emotional healing
- protection against negative energy
- attraction of love, success, abundance, and more
While working with crystals is a popular practice, it’s important to note that there’s currently no scientific evidence to support its benefits. In fact, a 2009 review suggests that the perceived benefits of crystal healing may result from a placebo effect.
Still, many people swear by the benefits of crystals. There’s certainly no harm in giving them a try as a complementary treatment.
Crystal healer Carol Boote says there are countless varieties of sacred stones many people aren’t familiar with.
“Many ‘new’ stones are now available on the market and bring some unique healing properties,” says Boote. “Some of these are unique combinations of established crystals that would have previously been destroyed at the mining stage. These can have powerful healing properties.”
Any purported benefits of the following crystals are purely anecdotal and are not currently backed by scientific research.
However, crystal use is an important part of many cultures and traditions. Many people around the world find the practice of wearing crystals and placing them in their surroundings to benefit their well-being.
Chiastolite
Appearance and properties
Chiastolite is formed from aluminum nesosilicate mineral. It’s a brown stone with a distinctive black cross that runs through it. Because of this, it is also known as Cross Stone.
It’s a favorite crystal of crystal healer Jeannie Lymath.
According to Lymath, Indigenous Americans believe “heavily in the protection aspects this mineral provides and often have it with them during rituals and ceremonies.” However, Lymath isn’t an Indigenous American herself.
Chiastolite is also believed to help with blood conditions, circulation, stress, and more.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- provide protection against negative energies
- aid communication with the spiritual world
- help support the immune system
- help support hormone regulation
- provide a calming effect
- boost emotional strength
- promote mental clarity
- promote inner peace
Lymath notes that chiastolite is strongly associated with the root chakra and can be of help when you’re at a crossroads in life. Chakras are thought to be energy centers in the body that affect your well-being.
“It helps cultivate positive energy, healing your aura,” she says.
Seraphinite
Appearance and properties
Seraphinite is deep green in color and has patterns of silver that reflect light. This crystal is said to be the stone of the Seraphim, often portrayed as the highest order of angels who attend the throne of God.
It’s an extremely rare gem variety of clinochlore, a magnesium iron aluminum silicate that’s found only in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia.
Seraphinite is believed to have an extremely high energy and is said to accelerate a person’s physical, emotional, and spiritual growth.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- support cellular regeneration
- support healing of the lungs and heart
- aid the release of limiting emotional patterns
- promote joy, harmony, and balance
- promote reconciliation and conflict resolution
“This stone encourages the appreciation of all that is growing and encourages tenderness and care to support that growth,” says Lymath. “It’s most commonly associated with the heart chakra and also energetically supports the lungs.”
Tanzanite
Appearance and properties
Tanzanite is a blue zoisite, a calcium aluminum silicate. It’s found in various shades of blue, from transparent to slightly opaque.
“Tanzanite is relatively rare and costly, occurring in only one place in the world, the Merelani Hills in Tanzania, East Africa,” says Lymath.
Today it’s often used in jewelry and is believed to improve psychic abilities and deepen spiritual practices like meditation.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- support detoxification
- boost vitality
- relieve stress and nervous tension
- inspire compassion and rebuild trust
- promote deep meditative states
Lymath says tanzanite is a stone of transmutation (transformation) that brings together all aspects of communication and psychic power.
“Tanzanite stimulates the throat, third eye, and crown chakras,” she adds. “This unites the higher mind with our intuition and aids communication. It allows you to more easily speak your truth.”
Blue Siberian quartz
Appearance and properties
Blue Siberian quartz is, as the name suggests, bright blue in color and is developed from cobalt.
It’s a laboratory-grown quartz made in Russia. Natural quartz is broken, regrown, and mixed with cobalt to form this stone.
Proponents say wearing this stone can improve your inner vision and aid psychic abilities like telepathy and clairvoyance.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- stimulate psychic vision and cosmic consciousness
- support healing of throat and neck issues
- promote peaceful feelings
- increase intuition and positivity
- promote clear communication
“People report feelings of deep peace when working with this stone,” says Boote. “It retains the properties of quartz and therefore can be ‘programmed’ and amplifies the healing properties of other crystals.”
Astrophyllite
Appearance and properties
This rare crystal is brown to golden-yellow in color and often has a pointy spear shape. It’s formed from potassium, iron, titanium, manganese, sodium, and silicate minerals. It’s also known as Star Leaf.
Some say it can provide feelings of motivation, attract true happiness and joy, and guide you when you’re at a crossroads in life.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- support you in letting go of what no longer serves you
- support hormone regulation
- help you see yourself without ego
- protect the psychic self
- alleviate feelings of regret and guilt
- increase sensitivity to touch
“Astrophyllite makes you more sensitive to touch and has been noted to be of benefit for those working in the fields of massage or reflexology,” says Boote.
Dumortierite
Appearance and properties
Dumortierite is a dense crystal that’s usually violet or navy blue. It’s formed from a rare aluminum borate silicate material.
Some people believe that dumortierite is a very high vibrational stone that can help you connect with your intuition, unlock psychic abilities, and retain memories.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- support healing from past life traumas
- support stress management, phobias, and shyness
- boost mental clarity
- soothe headaches, nausea, and vomiting
- boost feelings of self-worth and self-love
“It’s very calming and helps you focus on what your priorities are,” says Boote. “It’s of benefit to those who work in areas where they deal with crisis and trauma on a regular basis. It’s recommended to keep a piece in your workspace, as it helps with study and recall.”
Lepidocrocite
Appearance and properties
The raw form of lepidocrocite is a crusty opaque crystal with red flecks consisting of iron oxide hydroxide.
It’s believed to be closely linked to the heart chakra, though Boote believes it aligns with and stimulates all of the chakras.
It’s also said to bring you closer to divine energies and provide emotional healing.
Potential benefits
This crystal may:
- support cellular regeneration
- support liver function
- support attention hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD), hyperactivity, and depression
- support the functioning of the heart and lungs
- support healing after abuse and trauma
- deepen spiritual connection
“This stone recognizes your strengths and dissipates mental confusion and ‘brain fog.’ It teaches you to be kinder and less judgmental, and helps clear away the ego that prevents us from truly empowering others,” Boote says.
She also believes that it serves as a bridge between the physical and spiritual, replacing materialistic tendencies with unconditional love for yourself and the environment.
When adding any crystal to your collection, it’s important to ensure that it’s ethically sourced. This will avoid fakes as well as counteract over-mining.
Many crystals come from the earth and sometimes take thousands of years to form. This means they’re a finite resource.
If in doubt, ask the seller how the crystal is sourced and to provide a certificate of authenticity for very rare crystals. Many sellers are committed to sourcing their crystals sustainably and are happy to tell you how they do so.
The best options for buying crystals
- small independent shops where you can see, feel, and ask questions about the product
- retailers who provide a certificate of authenticity for rare crystals
- retailers who provide information on how their crystals are sourced, like Mystic Wolf
- retailers with realistic price points, since cheaper isn’t always better
There are hundreds — if not thousands — of new crystals to choose from when you’re considering adding one to your collection, including many varieties you may not have heard of.
Just like their better-known counterparts, these less common crystals are also believed to carry potent energies that may aid physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
Whichever crystals you choose to add to your collection, it’s important you source them ethically.
Remember that crystal healing isn’t supported by scientific evidence, but it’s generally considered a safe complementary practice to support your well-being.
Victoria Stokes is a writer from the United Kingdom. When she’s not writing about her favorite topics, personal development, and well-being, she usually has her nose stuck in a good book. Victoria lists coffee, cocktails, and the color pink among some of her favorite things. Find her on Instagram.