Cleopatra is said to have worn a magnet ring on her head to preserve her legendary charms. Traditional healers believe that our bodies are complex electromagnetic systems that can be influenced by the waves generated by electricity. Some scientists now believe that electric waves might be affecting us in many more ways than we understand. Mysterious forces are pressed to work when energy fields radiated by our bodies interact with the energy fields generated by household appliances. Some even believe that electric wires and mobile phone masts create an invisible electromagnetic smog which is linked to depression, miscarriage and cancer!

Long derided as pseudoscience, magnet therapy got a boost when a group of University of Virginia researchers, investigating the effect of magnetic therapy on micro-circulation, found that magnets can reduce swelling when applied immediately after an inflammatory injury. Tests on rats revealed that magnets dilated constricted blood vessels, and constricted vessels that were dilated, suggesting that magnetic fields could relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

Quite a few research studies have shown that claims made about magnetic cure may be right.

• The Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a study found magnet therapy effective at blocking pain caused by post-polio syndrome. (This syndrome, marked by leg pain, affects up to 20% of polio sufferers later in life.)
• Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston found that magnet therapy helped relieve muscle pain caused by Fibromyalgia
• The New Your Medical College of Valhalla study report found relief from numbness, tingling and pain associated with this diabetes-related problem with magnet therapy.

Crystals as aids to healing have generated a lot of interest in folk cultures as well as the medical world.

The concept of using crystals to heal is ancient -- archaeologists have found various charms and amulets in the graves found in Egypt, Russia, Middle east and Africa. The fact that these gems were placed in graves is a pointer to the immense value they placed on the stones as providers of protection and good health. Crystal skulls were also in vogue in the prehistoric times and were rumoured to have enormous spiritual powers. In ancient Egypt, crystals were widely used and this is substantiated by a study of hieroglyphic papyrus from the year 2000 B.C. Stones such as Lapis, malachite, turquoise, tiger’s eye were not only used to treat various illnesses, they were also believed to have powers that drew out spiritual impurities and blessed the wearer with superior intellect. Crystal therapy was also very prevalent in the South East Asian countries as Tibet (which used a lot of turquoise to treat illnesses), China (which extensively used Jade) and Japan.

In India crystal therapy was indeed very prevalent and astrological documents dated as early as 400 B.C, as well as verse from the Vedas record the use of crystals, along with flowers, fragrances, animal parts etc, as a means of treatment as well as for attaining higher spiritual powers. Even today, use of crystals to ward off the negative influences caused by certain planetary positions is indeed a flourishing trade. In addition, the indigenous population of America and Australia were also known to have used crystals is their healing processes.

In legends, the people of the mythical land of Atlantis used crystals not just for the purpose of healing but also as a means for attaining spiritual growth. They used natural resources to produce remedies and were known to have harnessed the energy of naturally produced crystals to develop a line of treatment. They believed in the metaphysical notions of universal energy and presence of a field of energy around the individual which is electro magnetic in nature. This second self was called ‘auric body’ and it was as crucial as was the physical body. The curative methods were built keeping these crucial theories in mind. With the aid of crystals and other natural sources, they usually tried to heal the ‘auric body’ first with the belief that the physical body would follow suit.

How Crystals Heal

Crystal therapy is based on the theory that the human body is a complex electromagnetic system and crystals are natural electromagnetic conductors. Hence whenever the energy flow is obstructed, the person experiences discomfort. With the aid of crystals which are placed at strategic locations on and around the body so as to coincide and resonate with the energy centres present in the body, a certain kind of energy map is created. This helps to cleanse obstructed pathways, nourish those centres that are low on energy, redefine the pathways and finally refine the flow of energy.