WEBVTT - Do Healing Crystals Really Work? 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:19.200 You're listening to Part-Time Genius, a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. 0:00:23.950 --> 0:00:24.670 Guess what, Mary? 0:00:25.110 --> 0:00:25.930 What's that, Mango? 0:00:26.270 --> 0:00:29.750 In 17th century England, people believed crystals could protect you 0:00:30.070 --> 0:00:31.270 from lightning. 0:00:31.830 --> 0:00:33.750 I'm trying to think how that would work. Does it 0:00:33.810 --> 0:00:35.410 have something to do with conductivity? 0:00:36.270 --> 0:00:38.699 You might think so, but no, it has more to 0:00:38.729 --> 0:00:43.340 do with superstition. Ah, okay. So this is a quote 0:00:43.380 --> 0:00:46.540 from The Faithful Lapidary, a book written by Thomas Nichols 0:00:46.729 --> 0:00:50.650 in 1659. It says that gems and precious stones can 0:00:50.670 --> 0:00:55.070 make you rich, increase friendship, preserve men from thunder and lightning, 0:00:55.310 --> 0:00:56.560 and much, much more. 0:00:57.060 --> 0:00:59.320 Wow, I got to put that in my TBR pile. 0:01:00.420 --> 0:01:03.380 You absolutely should because it is a fascinating read. And 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.100 for anyone who's on the fence about this book, wait 0:01:06.140 --> 0:01:08.680 till you hear the subtitle because it's a long one. 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:13.119 Here goes. Experimentally describing the richest treasures of nature in 0:01:13.220 --> 0:01:17.750 a historical narration of several natures, virtues, and qualities of 0:01:18.110 --> 0:01:22.250 all precious stones with an accurate discovery of such as 0:01:22.370 --> 0:01:25.619 are adulterate and counterfeit. Wow. 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:28.260 They do not subtitle books the way they used to. 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:32.850 No, and people don't really write lapidaries anymore either. That 0:01:32.930 --> 0:01:35.370 term refers to a genre of books that began in 0:01:35.510 --> 0:01:38.390 antiquity and it rose to popularity in the Middle Ages. 0:01:39.030 --> 0:01:42.770 They were a mashup of science, metaphysics, and superstition, and 0:01:42.910 --> 0:01:47.240 they described everything from real and observable characteristics of gemstones, 0:01:47.380 --> 0:01:51.400 but also their magical or medicinal powers, which sounds strange, 0:01:51.540 --> 0:01:54.460 but there was a certain logic to it. After all, 0:01:54.500 --> 0:01:57.680 plants and herbs had demonstrated healing properties, so it kind 0:01:57.700 --> 0:02:00.960 of made sense that people thought crystals and gemstones might too. 0:02:01.820 --> 0:02:04.680 And even today, there are folks who attach all kinds 0:02:04.700 --> 0:02:07.570 of beliefs to these things, like... Remember the first season 0:02:07.670 --> 0:02:10.930 of my other show, Skyline Drive, when the astrologer told 0:02:10.950 --> 0:02:13.230 me that, you know, I should wear an emerald to 0:02:13.290 --> 0:02:15.230 help me improve my communication skills. 0:02:15.450 --> 0:02:17.429 Oh, I do remember. But you never did it, did you? 0:02:17.510 --> 0:02:18.190 You never did. 0:02:19.590 --> 0:02:19.810 It. 0:02:19.830 --> 0:02:22.370 I looked into it and it turns out emeralds are 0:02:22.490 --> 0:02:26.389 really expensive. Yeah. I don't really wear accessories. 0:02:26.550 --> 0:02:27.250 Yeah, that's true. 0:02:27.710 --> 0:02:28.750 I mean, other than glasses. 0:02:29.900 --> 0:02:31.130 You need emerald glasses. 0:02:31.190 --> 0:02:31.640 That's it. 0:02:31.780 --> 0:02:32.140 Yeah. 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.780 I'm hoping that my communication skills are good enough for 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.920 our purposes. But anyway, we're taking an up-close and personal 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.940 look at crystals. They are shiny, they are pretty, they're 0:02:44.980 --> 0:02:48.239 said to have very special powers, and humans have been 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.820 fascinated by them for thousands of years. So let's dive in. 0:02:51.820 --> 0:02:59.919 🎵 Thank you. 0:03:13.220 --> 0:03:16.480 Hey there, podcast listeners. Welcome to Part-Time Genius. I'm Mungish Articular. 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:20.510 Will Pearson is off on a silent crystal energy balancing retreat, 0:03:20.750 --> 0:03:23.169 and we don't want to disturb him. So today, I 0:03:23.770 --> 0:03:28.220 am joined by our wonderful super producer, Mary Phillips Sandy. 0:03:28.570 --> 0:03:31.600 And over there in the booth, wearing some adorable fuzzy 0:03:31.620 --> 0:03:35.580 brown ears, it's our pal and other producer, Dylan Fagan. 0:03:36.050 --> 0:03:38.230 Oh my gosh, don't tell me Dylan believes crystals can 0:03:38.270 --> 0:03:39.670 turn people into animals? 0:03:40.110 --> 0:03:42.370 I don't think that's it. You know, at first I 0:03:42.390 --> 0:03:44.850 assumed this was like a reference to a recent study 0:03:45.110 --> 0:03:48.250 in which researchers gave chimps a variety of crystals. And 0:03:48.310 --> 0:03:50.570 the chimps went so bananas for them that the researchers 0:03:50.610 --> 0:03:53.670 had to trade a lot of, well, bananas to get 0:03:53.690 --> 0:03:57.130 the crystals back. And it turns out chimps, like humans, 0:03:57.190 --> 0:03:59.310 can get really attached to shiny objects. 0:03:59.750 --> 0:03:59.940 But. 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:03.240 Then I noticed that Dylan also has a tail and 0:04:03.300 --> 0:04:05.300 he's smart enough to know that chimps don't have tails. 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.200 So I believe this is a reference to the monkey actor, Crystal, 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.030 who has been working in film since the 90s and 0:04:12.110 --> 0:04:13.630 is known for her work in the Night of the 0:04:13.670 --> 0:04:18.669 Museum and Hangover franchises, as well as Steven Spielberg's The Fablemans. 0:04:19.050 --> 0:04:19.430 Wow. 0:04:19.670 --> 0:04:23.659 Action, comedy, prestige. Crystal can do it all. I see 0:04:23.700 --> 0:04:25.640 a lifetime achievement Oscar in her future. 0:04:26.700 --> 0:04:28.860 And Dylan's. Oh, yeah. I feel like there should be 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.450 an Oscar for best costuming in a podcast. 0:04:31.529 --> 0:04:33.690 There really should be. And it should be Dylan's. 0:04:35.630 --> 0:04:38.450 Okay, Mary, since this episode was your idea, why don't 0:04:38.490 --> 0:04:40.510 you tell us why you wanted to look into Crystal 0:04:40.529 --> 0:04:41.010 so badly? 0:04:41.570 --> 0:04:44.779 So I never got into collecting baseball cards or beanie 0:04:44.820 --> 0:04:48.219 babies as a kid. I actually don't love collecting things 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.150 in general. Because I don't like clutter, it stresses me out. 0:04:51.370 --> 0:04:55.099 But one summer, my huge extended family and I went 0:04:55.150 --> 0:04:58.220 on a day trip somewhere and we wandered into this 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.320 souvenir store that had a giant bin of polished crystals. 0:05:02.339 --> 0:05:04.969 You know, you've seen these, right? Like the different colors 0:05:05.010 --> 0:05:08.390 of quartz and there's tourmaline, pyrite, little tiny geodes cut 0:05:08.450 --> 0:05:11.140 in half, stuff like that. And for some reason, my 0:05:11.180 --> 0:05:14.310 cousins and I got really excited about it. So we 0:05:14.370 --> 0:05:16.190 each bought a bag of crystals. And then for the 0:05:16.230 --> 0:05:18.830 next year or two, anytime we could, we'd buy a 0:05:18.870 --> 0:05:21.529 few more and we'd trade them back and forth. At 0:05:21.630 --> 0:05:23.250 one point, I think someone, I think it was my 0:05:23.270 --> 0:05:25.980 cousin Matt, even got a rock tumbler. But then we 0:05:26.010 --> 0:05:29.420 got bored and we moved on, you know, as kids do. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.760 But last year, at one point when I was back 0:05:31.820 --> 0:05:34.099 in Maine, I found a few of my crystals in 0:05:34.140 --> 0:05:36.920 a drawer. Uh-huh. First of all, they were just really 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.240 pretty to look at, right? But I don't know. I 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:42.140 remembered how entranced we'd get holding them up to the light, 0:05:42.820 --> 0:05:45.580 just turning them over in our hands and looking at 0:05:45.610 --> 0:05:48.310 the different colors and the shapes. And I just started 0:05:48.350 --> 0:05:51.090 thinking about what it was that made us like them 0:05:51.170 --> 0:05:53.529 so much. I don't know. How about you? Did you 0:05:53.570 --> 0:05:56.190 ever have a crystal collecting or rock tumbler phase? 0:05:56.910 --> 0:05:57.349 I had a. 0:05:57.370 --> 0:06:00.750 Cousin who was very into gems and crystals and things 0:06:00.790 --> 0:06:04.120 like that when we were like, or 11. I don't 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.820 remember going through a crystal phase. I remember other people 0:06:07.870 --> 0:06:08.729 being really interested in them. 0:06:09.230 --> 0:06:11.060 But We had a. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.870 Creek and woods in our backyard, and we would always 0:06:13.990 --> 0:06:17.550 be out there thinking we'd find, like, buried treasure or 0:06:17.620 --> 0:06:20.990 looking for fool's gold or whatever. And I feel like 0:06:21.110 --> 0:06:24.190 in that phase, anything shiny was interesting to us. 0:06:24.770 --> 0:06:26.490 That's exactly the age we were, too. It was about 0:06:26.490 --> 0:06:28.710 10 or 11. There's something about that age. And what's 0:06:28.730 --> 0:06:31.110 funny is I brought the crystals that I found back home, 0:06:31.529 --> 0:06:33.950 gave them to my kid, who is 11, and he 0:06:33.970 --> 0:06:36.710 was like, oh, my gosh, can I have these? Like, really? 0:06:36.810 --> 0:06:38.350 I can keep them? And I was like, yeah, I 0:06:38.390 --> 0:06:43.380 don't care. Something about it. It's really special. 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.599 No, I mean, you are absolutely right. There's just something 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:50.080 about crystals that are so captivating, and the fascination with 0:06:50.100 --> 0:06:53.180 them goes back to a time before we even existed. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:57.930 There's evidence that crystals were among the first non-utilitarian objects 0:06:58.089 --> 0:07:01.870 collected by ancient proto-humans. Quartz crystals have been discovered in 0:07:01.990 --> 0:07:05.929 archaeological sites alongside the remains of Homo erectus, an archaic 0:07:05.970 --> 0:07:10.180 human that predates Neanderthals. Other digs have found crystals gathered 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.880 by early humans 100,000 years ago, transported from rocky outcroppings 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.300 to the caves they used to shelter. And what's striking 0:07:18.340 --> 0:07:20.540 about all of this is that there's no evidence that 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:25.330 crystals were used as tools, weapons, or jewelry. In many cases, 0:07:25.430 --> 0:07:28.230 they don't show signs of having been carved or modified 0:07:28.270 --> 0:07:30.050 in a way that would have made them wearable, but 0:07:30.630 --> 0:07:33.670 they mattered enough that our most ancient ancestors felt the 0:07:33.730 --> 0:07:36.290 need to keep them. even if they didn't have any 0:07:36.410 --> 0:07:40.230 practical purpose, which, you know, is incredible. It's just like 0:07:40.250 --> 0:07:43.600 there's something hardwired into our brains that responds to these things. 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.120 Yeah, that's true. And here in New York City, we 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.520 have an incredible resource for fans of crystals. That's the 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.880 American Museum of Natural History. Their Mignon Halls of Gems 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.690 and Minerals opened in 2021. So I reached out and 0:07:57.730 --> 0:08:01.050 got connected with Kate Keseva, who is the museum's associate 0:08:01.090 --> 0:08:05.210 curator of mineralogy. Not to brag, but Kate invited me 0:08:05.250 --> 0:08:06.750 to stop by early one morning. 0:08:07.070 --> 0:08:08.240 Of course she did. 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.440 For a private tour of the halls before they opened 0:08:11.460 --> 0:08:14.180 to the public. And when I arrived, I started by 0:08:14.300 --> 0:08:18.080 asking a really basic question. What is the difference between 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.610 a crystal, a mineral, and a gemstone? 0:08:21.630 --> 0:08:24.410 Oh, that's a great question. And I have to admit, 0:08:24.930 --> 0:08:27.490 until I become a mineralogist, I wouldn't know the answer myself. 0:08:28.190 --> 0:08:31.690 So a mineral has to be natural. It has to 0:08:31.830 --> 0:08:35.429 have a definite chemical composition. It has to have atoms 0:08:35.740 --> 0:08:40.020 arranged in a repeating organized pattern, which is also known 0:08:40.059 --> 0:08:43.280 as a crystalline structure. And it has to be inorganic. 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:47.100 The last one is very important because, for instance, sugar crystals, 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:49.770 they're also crystals, but they are organic and they are 0:08:49.809 --> 0:08:54.650 not considered minerals. Likewise, if you create a lab-grown diamond, 0:08:54.890 --> 0:08:58.080 it's artificial, hence it's not a mineral. Not all crystals 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:02.880 are minerals. Gemstone is usually based on their value rather 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:06.900 than on any scientific property. For the gemstone, it's not 0:09:06.940 --> 0:09:09.580 necessarily a mineral and it's also not necessarily a crystal. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:14.439 But the large majority of gemstones are both crystals and minerals. So, 0:09:14.500 --> 0:09:17.329 for instance, if we look at diamond, diamond is a gemstone, 0:09:17.420 --> 0:09:20.970 is a crystal, and is a mineral. Then ruby, likewise. 0:09:21.190 --> 0:09:24.050 Then emerald, likewise. But if you look at something which 0:09:24.110 --> 0:09:27.230 is opal, for instance, It's amorphous, so it doesn't have 0:09:27.270 --> 0:09:30.910 crystalline structure. Hence, it's neither a mineral nor a crystal, 0:09:30.950 --> 0:09:33.810 but it is a gemstone. Gemstone is something that is 0:09:33.890 --> 0:09:39.589 valued for beauty, durability, rarity, but it's not truly scientific term. 0:09:40.500 --> 0:09:44.340 So from a strictly scientific perspective, crystal just refers to 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:48.219 a specific internal structure and minerals are a subset of that. 0:09:48.920 --> 0:09:53.120 Yeah, exactly. And gemstone is... really just a commercial designation. 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:56.540 So when we say today's episode is all about crystals, 0:09:56.710 --> 0:10:00.050 someone like Kate might reasonably ask, and did in fact ask, well, 0:10:00.090 --> 0:10:02.010 what do you mean by that? Is it an episode 0:10:02.050 --> 0:10:05.820 about ice? Is it about sugar or quartz or lab-grown diamonds? 0:10:06.059 --> 0:10:08.400 All of those things are crystals, which, to be honest, 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:11.060 is not something I thought about when I pitched this idea. 0:10:11.580 --> 0:10:14.320 Because when I say crystals, I mean it in the 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:17.980 colloquial sense, that subset of crystals that are also minerals 0:10:18.220 --> 0:10:21.270 or pretty shiny things, like the ones you find in 0:10:21.370 --> 0:10:23.210 New Age stores or souvenir shops. 0:10:23.850 --> 0:10:26.040 Yeah, I mean, I feel like I spend so much 0:10:26.059 --> 0:10:29.860 time in souvenir shops looking at crystals. Now that you 0:10:29.900 --> 0:10:32.620 say that, I'm guessing pretty shiny things, though, is not 0:10:32.660 --> 0:10:36.109 a term you'll find at the American Museum of Natural History. 0:10:36.530 --> 0:10:40.050 No, no, that popular usage is not as precise as 0:10:40.150 --> 0:10:44.540 the scientific terminology, but it is 100% correct. to say 0:10:44.580 --> 0:10:48.040 that in this episode, we are talking about pretty shiny things, 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.240 aka crystals. We'll just make the note right now that 0:10:51.260 --> 0:10:54.180 all of those pretty shiny things are also minerals. 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.280 Got it. And that is so cool that you got 0:10:57.330 --> 0:11:01.010 like a private tour of the Natural History Museum. It's amazing. 0:11:01.350 --> 0:11:03.850 Yeah, it was fantastic. And one of the first exhibits 0:11:03.870 --> 0:11:07.290 that caught my eye was a geode. Now, forget those 0:11:07.330 --> 0:11:10.530 little ping pong ball-sized geodes you've seen. This thing was 0:11:10.570 --> 0:11:14.880 more than twice my height. And weighed 9,000 pounds. 0:11:15.059 --> 0:11:15.920 That's incredible. 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.180 Yeah, well, it gets better. According to its display plaque, 0:11:19.740 --> 0:11:23.160 that is the equivalent of three adult black rhinos. 0:11:25.420 --> 0:11:27.829 Is that a standard measure for a geode weight? 0:11:28.590 --> 0:11:30.849 I guess it is if you're in a natural history museum. 0:11:30.929 --> 0:11:31.250 I don't know. 0:11:32.150 --> 0:11:34.250 But so I'm standing there. I'm staring up at this 0:11:34.330 --> 0:11:36.990 massive geode. And Kate pulls me around to the other 0:11:37.050 --> 0:11:40.880 side where there's another massive geode. They're both cut in 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.680 half and they're standing back to back. So all the 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:48.080 colorful crystals face outwards. I've honestly never seen anything like it. 0:11:48.980 --> 0:11:52.440 This is, I mean, it's just gorgeous. It's purple. It 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.240 is sparkling. It is glittering in the light. Like you 0:11:55.260 --> 0:11:56.510 can hardly look away from it. 0:11:56.820 --> 0:12:00.890 Well, these are individual crystals of amethyst or purple colored quartz. 0:12:01.590 --> 0:12:04.930 There are two of these geodes. And my predecessor, George Harlow, 0:12:04.990 --> 0:12:07.210 he called them Stan and Ollie. 0:12:08.410 --> 0:12:11.329 Stan and Ollie is like Laurel and Hardy, like the 0:12:11.470 --> 0:12:12.690 old time comedy act. 0:12:12.970 --> 0:12:15.310 Yeah, that's right. Stan is the taller one. Ollie is 0:12:15.370 --> 0:12:19.320 shorter and chunkier, which is hilarious. And Kate told me 0:12:19.340 --> 0:12:22.260 that these geodes likely formed millions of years ago as 0:12:22.300 --> 0:12:25.420 the Atlantic Ocean was opening and Pangea was breaking apart. 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.300 And that process is an interesting illustration of how crystals 0:12:29.590 --> 0:12:32.750 can be formed. It all starts with a seed, something 0:12:32.809 --> 0:12:35.689 from which the crystal latticework can grow. In the case 0:12:35.730 --> 0:12:38.630 of these geodes, the opening of the Atlantic involved lots 0:12:38.670 --> 0:12:42.590 of underwater volcanic activity, and as magma came up to 0:12:42.630 --> 0:12:46.420 the surface, gas bubbles got trapped. Inside those bubbles were 0:12:46.500 --> 0:12:49.600 pockets of water with tiny bits of silicon, which began 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.740 to crystallize into quartz. That grew from the outside in 0:12:54.020 --> 0:12:56.760 to the deeper layers of what became a geode. In 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:00.870 geological time, this happened quickly, just hundreds, maybe thousands of years, 0:13:01.250 --> 0:13:04.130 but the crystals inside the geode weren't purple at first. 0:13:04.620 --> 0:13:07.700 They changed color really gradually as the quartz reacted to 0:13:07.780 --> 0:13:11.600 natural irradiation from the breakdown of other elements that were present, 0:13:11.660 --> 0:13:14.620 like potassium or uranium. And when I say gradually, I 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.880 mean it took millions of years. At the outer edge 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.250 of the geode, you can actually see a few layers 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.930 that are still white. They hadn't changed color. And here's 0:13:22.950 --> 0:13:26.030 the really wild thing. Kate said that if you're not careful, 0:13:26.510 --> 0:13:30.130 that millennia-long colorization process can be reversed. 0:13:31.570 --> 0:13:34.939 Never put your amethyst crystal under the sunlight. Because it 0:13:35.020 --> 0:13:38.490 can actually go back to being white or gray under 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:39.280 the UV light. 0:13:39.660 --> 0:13:42.850 So if you put this geode out on Central Park 0:13:42.890 --> 0:13:45.010 West and left it there, it would fade. 0:13:45.030 --> 0:13:45.590 For a couple of years. 0:13:45.610 --> 0:13:47.130 For a couple of years, it would fade and that 0:13:47.170 --> 0:13:48.829 beautiful purple color would just be gone? 0:13:49.250 --> 0:13:52.670 That's exactly correct. George Harlow told me the story that 0:13:52.710 --> 0:13:55.930 at some point in Macy's they were selling amethyst. And 0:13:55.970 --> 0:13:58.839 they actually put them beautifully on the windowsill. And a 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.180 couple of years later, they were all gray or white. 0:14:02.620 --> 0:14:05.349 And then somebody, I remember, asked also a question, so 0:14:05.490 --> 0:14:07.770 can we actually get it back to being purple after 0:14:07.809 --> 0:14:09.930 it's white? So yeah, maybe a few million years. 0:14:10.870 --> 0:14:13.329 That is incredible. I'm kind of tempted to get a 0:14:13.370 --> 0:14:15.660 chunk of amethyst and put it out in my yard 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:17.500 just to watch it fade. 0:14:17.970 --> 0:14:19.710 Well, that would be a fun little science project and 0:14:19.730 --> 0:14:23.350 a lot better than destroying expensive jewelry in a department store, right? 0:14:23.950 --> 0:14:24.730 Yeah, definitely. 0:14:25.550 --> 0:14:27.340 Well, we have to take a quick break. But when 0:14:27.380 --> 0:14:29.960 we come back, I'll tell you about an enormous crystal 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.220 that is also a piece of New York history. Plus, 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.900 we'll find out where the idea of crystal healing came from. 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:36.940 So stay tuned. 0:14:52.430 --> 0:14:54.730 Welcome back to Part-Time Genius, where we're talking about crystals, 0:14:54.910 --> 0:14:59.030 aka minerals, that are also pretty shiny things. Okay, Mary, 0:14:59.070 --> 0:15:02.280 so what was the next stop on your adventure at 0:15:02.300 --> 0:15:03.480 the Museum of Natural History? 0:15:04.180 --> 0:15:07.640 So earlier I mentioned that crystals form from an initial seed, 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.200 which could be anything from a pocket of air or 0:15:10.220 --> 0:15:13.750 a gas bubble to a tiny speck of a solid substance. 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.400 Associate Curator of Mineralogy Kate Kasiva explained that the crystal 0:15:18.460 --> 0:15:21.610 grows as more atoms are added to its internal structure, 0:15:22.190 --> 0:15:24.710 and the speed at which this happens can determine the 0:15:24.770 --> 0:15:25.610 crystal's size. 0:15:26.690 --> 0:15:30.010 If the crystal forms really fast, it's usually very small. 0:15:30.510 --> 0:15:34.420 So think about the cooling of the basaltic lovers which 0:15:34.540 --> 0:15:38.880 erupted in Hawaii. They cool like this, and then immediately 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.520 either they form glass, which they don't even have time 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.700 to form crystals, Or crystals are incredibly small, and we 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.920 call that fine crystals or fine metrics. So on the 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.700 other hand, if, for instance, there is hydrothermal environments, so 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.520 there is fluid coming through the cracks of the rock slowly, 0:15:55.900 --> 0:15:59.830 and then crystals have time to grow, then what happens 0:15:59.990 --> 0:16:01.850 is that they can actually grow really large. 0:16:02.830 --> 0:16:04.830 So how large are we talking? 0:16:05.130 --> 0:16:07.230 Well, one of the most famous items in the Mignon 0:16:07.270 --> 0:16:09.910 Halls of Gems and Minerals is a garnet that weighs 0:16:10.030 --> 0:16:12.750 over nine pounds. It's about the size of a coconut. 0:16:13.130 --> 0:16:16.510 It's this really pretty medium reddish-brown color, and it is 0:16:16.820 --> 0:16:18.410 one single crystal. 0:16:19.740 --> 0:16:24.260 It was discovered in 1885 on the 35th Street between 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:28.120 7th Avenue and Broadway near Herald Square. Because it was 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:33.650 discovered during excavation for sewer pipes, Nobody wanted, of course, 0:16:33.690 --> 0:16:35.690 to call it a sewer garnet, so therefore we called 0:16:35.730 --> 0:16:36.650 it a subway garnet. 0:16:39.610 --> 0:16:42.590 That is a brilliant little marketing twist. A sewer garnet 0:16:42.670 --> 0:16:45.270 does sound like something you'd see in a Teenage Mutant 0:16:45.290 --> 0:16:46.170 Ninja Turtles movie. 0:16:46.530 --> 0:16:48.950 Yeah, not very dignified, but you get the point, right? 0:16:49.430 --> 0:16:52.070 That subway garnet crystal took a long time to grow, 0:16:52.110 --> 0:16:54.950 so it's huge. The amethyst crystals in the Stan and 0:16:54.970 --> 0:16:57.700 Ollie geodes formed relatively quickly, so they're small. 0:16:58.450 --> 0:17:01.790 Now, if formation time can determine size, what causes all 0:17:01.830 --> 0:17:03.150 the different colors in crystals? 0:17:03.550 --> 0:17:05.510 I'm glad you brought that up. After we toured the 0:17:05.570 --> 0:17:08.570 exhibition hall, we went upstairs to Kate's office, where I 0:17:08.650 --> 0:17:10.190 asked her that exact question. 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.560 Most minerals are naturally colorless, like pure quartz. And these 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:20.500 different colors sometimes come from impurities. For instance, chromium impurity 0:17:21.060 --> 0:17:24.480 causes ruby to be red and emerald. 0:17:24.260 --> 0:17:24.840 To be green. 0:17:25.580 --> 0:17:29.990 Another thing that causes color is the structural defects in 0:17:30.050 --> 0:17:36.020 certain minerals. Another one is tiny admixtures or tiny inclusions 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.379 of other minerals. We do not see them only on 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.480 microscopic scale. But if we look at, for instance, a 0:17:41.540 --> 0:17:45.420 rose quartz, the beautiful pink color is not through the 0:17:45.810 --> 0:17:49.750 impurities and defects exactly in the structure of quartz. It's 0:17:49.790 --> 0:17:53.570 an additional mineral that sits on a micro scale and 0:17:53.609 --> 0:17:54.750 that causes this color. 0:17:54.990 --> 0:17:58.250 But that's so interesting that, you know, something that I 0:17:58.290 --> 0:18:01.190 think of as desirable, right, the beautiful color is technically 0:18:01.450 --> 0:18:03.580 an imperfection that we're seeing, right? 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:04.260 Is that what you're saying? 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.859 Yeah, that's correct. It's technical imperfection. It's the same as 0:18:07.900 --> 0:18:10.820 a human being. You look at people's face and you think, oh, 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.240 that person is not quite symmetric. But that sometimes gives 0:18:14.260 --> 0:18:17.380 us the beauty of having some tiny imperfections in our look, 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:18.399 and the same with crystals. 0:18:19.570 --> 0:18:22.290 Oh, I love that so much. That is really beautiful. And, 0:18:22.790 --> 0:18:24.810 you know, while I was doing research for this episode, 0:18:24.990 --> 0:18:27.740 I learned that the word crystal actually comes from that 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:32.060 colorless nature. The ancient Greeks saw clear quartz and thought 0:18:32.100 --> 0:18:35.160 it was some kind of super hard ice. So crystals 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.810 comes from their word kristallos, meaning coldness drawn together. 0:18:40.250 --> 0:18:42.370 Wow, we are getting surprisingly poetic. 0:18:43.630 --> 0:18:46.230 Well, let's keep going and talk about why people believe 0:18:46.270 --> 0:18:50.160 that crystals have spiritual, healing, or even magical properties. And 0:18:50.460 --> 0:18:53.520 this is not a modern idea. There's evidence that the Sumerians, 0:18:53.619 --> 0:18:56.939 founders of one of the earliest known civilizations, believed that 0:18:57.010 --> 0:19:00.469 precious stones could protect them from ailments like jaundice and 0:19:00.490 --> 0:19:04.479 eye inflammation. Ancient Egyptians had medical texts that claimed placing 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.260 crystals on the body could treat a whole host of illnesses. 0:19:07.820 --> 0:19:10.920 And crystals were an important part of Egyptian death rituals. 0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:15.920 They decorated bodies, tombs, and sarcophagi with precious stones. This 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.280 was supposed to help the deceased transition to the afterlife 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:23.420 without being intercepted by evil spirits. Jade amulets were considered 0:19:23.500 --> 0:19:26.830 especially effective for this. And actually to this day, some 0:19:26.890 --> 0:19:29.570 Chinese cultures have a tradition of using jade for protection. 0:19:30.100 --> 0:19:32.960 Bracelets are passed down through generations, and you're supposed to 0:19:32.980 --> 0:19:36.540 wear them all the time until they break. In North America, 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:40.520 there are multiple indigenous communities who've historically used crystal healing, 0:19:40.920 --> 0:19:45.670 including the Navajo, Apache, and Cherokee nations. And there's also 0:19:45.750 --> 0:19:48.870 evidence of crystal beliefs and pagan traditions from Northern Europe. 0:19:49.430 --> 0:19:53.730 So these are really... global ideas that span many different civilizations. 0:19:54.700 --> 0:19:55.119 They are. 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.080 And it goes back to that fascination we have with crystals. 0:19:58.140 --> 0:20:01.169 But a lot of popular Western beliefs about crystals can 0:20:01.190 --> 0:20:04.680 be traced back to India. And the idea that crystals 0:20:04.740 --> 0:20:07.700 have these unique powers is actually in the Vedas, the 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.680 foundational scriptures of Hinduism that were written around 1500 BCE. 0:20:10.740 --> 0:20:15.520 Hinduism also gave us the often borrowed idea of chakras, 0:20:15.780 --> 0:20:17.960 which are seven points along the spine that are supposed 0:20:17.980 --> 0:20:22.240 to connect three domains, the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual. 0:20:22.859 --> 0:20:25.550 And people place crystals on chakra points because they believe 0:20:25.609 --> 0:20:30.040 that keeps the chakras balanced and promotes health. In the West, 0:20:30.170 --> 0:20:32.700 we saw a big uptick in crystal interest with the 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.660 counterculture and New Age movements of the 60s and 70s, 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:40.040 and that borrowed heavily from traditional Indian practices like meditation 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:44.510 and yoga and tantra and, of course, crystal healing. The 0:20:44.550 --> 0:20:47.970 Western hippie era waned, but unlike bell-bottoms, crystals made a 0:20:48.190 --> 0:20:51.530 big comeback in the 1980s, and that was thanks in 0:20:51.590 --> 0:20:54.510 large part to one person, an Academy Award-winning actor. Do 0:20:54.910 --> 0:20:55.639 you want to guess who it is? 0:20:56.460 --> 0:20:58.859 It has to be Robert De Niro, right? Wait, you're 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.200 talking to me about crystals? That was him, right? 0:21:03.560 --> 0:21:07.260 I think that's an excellent impression, but it's Shirley MacLaine. 0:21:07.580 --> 0:21:08.180 Oh, okay. 0:21:08.220 --> 0:21:11.359 Starting with 1983's Out on a Limb, she wrote several books, 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:15.530 16 total, that described her new age beliefs like reincarnation, 0:21:15.609 --> 0:21:19.090 alternative medicine, and the healing power of crystals. Out on 0:21:19.130 --> 0:21:21.890 a Limb sold over 3 million copies and Shirley built 0:21:21.950 --> 0:21:24.290 up a massive audience of people who were intrigued by 0:21:24.350 --> 0:21:27.820 her belief system. And this inspired other people who got 0:21:27.859 --> 0:21:30.139 in the game and began writing similar books, praising the 0:21:30.180 --> 0:21:32.869 power of crystals and past life therapy. And this created 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:36.790 a bit of a boom. According to one 1986 newspaper article, 0:21:37.330 --> 0:21:40.770 increased demand for crystals had made prices triple in just 0:21:40.910 --> 0:21:42.490 five years. Wow. 0:21:42.670 --> 0:21:46.550 So Shirley MacLaine was like the OG crystal influencer. 0:21:46.650 --> 0:21:50.190 Exactly right. And the tradition continues today. We have celebrity 0:21:50.210 --> 0:21:54.730 believers like Victoria Beckham, Bella Hadid, Adele. who actually holds 0:21:54.830 --> 0:21:58.500