What lithotherapy is
The name comes from the Greek lithos, “stone”. Contemporary lithotherapy, also called crystal work, includes wearing stones, holding them in meditation, laying them on the body, placing them in the home and workplace, and rituals of cleansing and “charging”. Stones are chosen by the meanings attributed to them in this tradition, by colour, chakra, element or zodiac sign. The Wellcome Collection describes contemporary use in just these terms: crystals are worn as jewellery, used in meditation, placed on specific parts of the body or infused in water. [156] [35] [42] [121]
Lithotherapy has no single canonical book. Contemporary authors — in Avonoria we most often draw on the accounts of The Crystal Council and Crystal Vaults, which in turn quotes Judy Hall, Melody, Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian, Cassandra Eason and Margaret Lembo, among others — build their own sets of meanings. That is why every card states who claims what and shows the differences instead of a single “correct” attribution. [42] [121] [138]
See in Avonoria: Thematic guides: from question to source · Crystal atlas
How practitioners describe what stones do
The language of lithotherapy is above all one of energy and vibration. In practitioners’ accounts a stone may absorb and transmute energy (smoky quartz, obsidian, black tourmaline), amplify what has been “recorded” in it (rock crystal), ground (hematite, smoky quartz), soften and open the heart (rose quartz) or bring order to thoughts (fluorite, sodalite). Some stones are regarded as self-cleansing: selenite is said to “charge” other crystals, and citrine, according to Crystal Vaults, needs no cleansing at all because it does not hold heavy energy but transmutes it. [49] [133] [44] [47] [58] [43] [55] [138] [125] [131]
Colour matters too. Crystal Vaults links colours with seasons and moods — blue with trust and patience, turquoise with balance after a storm, gold with success and enthusiasm, black with protection and refuge — and The Crystal Council assigns separate meanings to different colours of the same mineral, as with fluorite. So the same stone in another shade is sometimes described differently. [138] [144] [131] [123] [55]
See in Avonoria: Smoky quartz · Rock crystal · Selenite · Citrine · Fluorite
Main forms of practice
Wearing and carrying is the simplest form: a stone in a pocket, as a pendant or bracelet. Practitioners also suggest placing stones in a space — by a desk or bed, in the “relationship corner” or “wealth corner” of the home according to feng shui — and holding them in moments of tension, like labradorite rubbed between the fingers during sudden anxiety according to The Crystal Council. [122] [131] [51]
In meditation a stone is held or laid on the body — on the forehead at the “third eye” (sodalite, lapis lazuli, moonstone), on the heart (rose quartz) or at the feet for grounding (obsidian, smoky quartz). Body layouts and grids are more elaborate: Crystal Vaults describes smoky quartz at the instep of each foot and at the knees, and The Crystal Council a grid of pyrite, quartz, selenite and chrysocolla. Gazing into a polished surface — a crystal sphere, an obsidian slab — in search of images and insight is a practice of its own. [138] [137] [52] [43] [133] [132] [46]
Many accounts link a stone with a spoken intention: The Crystal Council advises holding amazonite and naming one’s wish aloud, speaking directly to garnet about what the heart wants, and holding citrine each day, “letting the universe hear” one’s goals. Crystal Vaults adds for amazonite that because it works through the throat chakra, intentions must be spoken aloud. [61] [60] [48] [144]
See in Avonoria: Meditation and intention practice · Amazonite · Obsidian · Pyrite
Systems of correspondence: chakras, elements, astrology
The most common system is the chakras — seven centres from the base of the spine to the crown of the head; The Crystal Council adds an etheric chakra and an Earthstar chakra, and Crystal Vaults an Earth chakra below the feet. Stones are assigned to chakras largely by colour: red and black to the base, green and pink to the heart, blue to the throat, indigo and violet to the third eye and crown. [47] [132] [123] [138] [122]
The elements are a good example of authors using different systems. The Crystal Council uses earth, water, fire, “wind” and even “storm” (for rock crystal), while Crystal Vaults uses the five feng shui energies — wood, fire, earth, metal and water — linked with directions and areas of the home. Hence apparent contradictions: sodalite is “wind” for The Crystal Council and “water” for Crystal Vaults. [47] [54] [138] [132]
Astrology has several layers in lithotherapy: zodiac signs and planets (often several per stone in The Crystal Council), Crystal Vaults’ “natural birthstones” set by the colour of the season, and traditional month stones, whose history — as Kunz wrote — goes back to Josephus and St Jerome linking the twelve stones of the high priest’s breastplate with the twelve months. Crystal Vaults also assigns deities, angels and its own typology of crystals (“seeker”, “enhancer”, “filter”). [42] [138] [120] [143]
See in Avonoria: Thematic guides: from question to source · Find your crystal
Cleansing and “charging”
In this tradition stones are said to accumulate the energy of their surroundings and of the people who use them, which is why they are “cleansed” and “charged”. Methods are attributed to specific stones: running water with an affirmation (amethyst), moonlight, incense smoke or a bath (rock crystal), sage, rice or burying in earth (lapis lazuli), a singing bowl (rose quartz), salt and sunlight or moonlight (labradorite). Malachite is said to need cleansing after every use, citrine not at all. The details, and what is physically safe for each stone, are in the guide to cleansing and care. [121] [47] [137] [122] [134] [140] [131]
See in Avonoria: Cleaning and care
Why authors disagree
The differences are not new. As early as 1913 Kunz explained that the old lapidaries grew out of many overlapping sources — Greek, Syriac, Arabic and Latin — which is why they assign contradictory virtues to stones and often transfer the qualities of one stone to another. He also noted that seventeenth- and eighteenth-century writers copied whatever came to hand without criticism. [120]
Today different schools and systems add to this: Avonoria’s cards show that authors usually agree on the main idea of a stone — amethyst as a stone of calm and spirituality, rose quartz as a stone of the heart — but differ in the details: element, signs, planets, even whether a stone should be cleansed. We show both versions with the author’s name, so that readers can decide for themselves which approach they work with. [42] [121] [43] [122]
See in Avonoria: Amethyst · Rose quartz · Sodalite
Old lapidaries and modern lithotherapy
Belief in the power of stones has a long history: the amulets of ancient Egypt, Theophrastus’s treatise “On Stones”, Pliny’s “Natural History”, medieval lapidaries and stones in old pharmacies. The Wellcome Collection notes, however, that today’s crystal work, linking stones with chakras, acupuncture or yoga, is above all a revival of the late twentieth century; Polish Wikipedia ties it to the 1970s and the New Age movement. Modern systems are therefore not a simple continuation of ancient ones — they draw on old motifs but create new associations. [35] [145] [156]
See in Avonoria: A history of stones: objects and beliefs
How to read Avonoria’s descriptions
Every paragraph has a label: “Lithotherapy tradition” describes practitioners’ beliefs, “History and beliefs” older sources, “Material facts” mineralogy, “Safety” real physical risk, “Research evidence” a short note on studies, and “Editorial suggestion” our own suggested practice, which we do not present as tradition. Practitioner sources that sell stones are cited bibliographically without a link, and you will find the full descriptions on Avonoria’s pages.
See in Avonoria: Sources and methodology · Lithotherapy and science
Read next
Meditation and intention practiceCleaning and careA history of stones: objects and beliefsHow to choose a crystalLithotherapy and scienceCrystal atlas →Guide sources
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Mineralogical, gemological, institutional or scientific source. Its scope is recorded in the source index.
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Mineralogical, gemological, institutional or scientific source. Its scope is recorded in the source index.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Historical compilation of beliefs and lapidaries: documents what was recorded and believed, not efficacy.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Commercial practitioner source: documents beliefs, not medical evidence. The site sells crystals, so we give a bibliographic description without an active link; the full address is kept in Avonoria’s source documentation.
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Historical compilation of beliefs and lapidaries: documents what was recorded and believed, not efficacy.