My first crystal exhibition
I’m not sure how it happened, but about 25 years ago, I found out about an exhibition that focused on crystals. I remember there being rows and rows of tables with different crystals displayed on them. I walked up and down the room, looking at the range on display, and I recall feeling a huge pull towards some of them. I assumed the attraction was visual and didn’t think about it much beyond that.
That was the first time I remember being exposed to crystals. I don’t recall anyone talking about the qualities they were known for, which means that the purchases I made were based on how they looked and the fact that I was attracted to them.
I really enjoyed looking at them, so I put them in my living room. They were displayed on a low wooden plinth, which came with a rotating TV stand.
A change
I’m not entirely sure if I moved home, or wanted a change or something else, but I packed the crystals away and then decided to gift them to the school I worked in. It would be an amazing resource when they studied Rocks and Minerals in Science.
Forgotten
I feel like I had completely forgotten about crystals until I had a stall at the OneForty market in Harrow. I was talking to some customers who were purchasing my recipe book, Just Desserts, and I was surprised to find that they had travelled over 2 hours to come to this market. After a bit of discussion, I learned that what had brought them to this neck of the woods was a shop called Mandara Crystals.
Mandara Crystals was known for its exclusive shopping experience. They offered a curated selection of crystals and related items, but they only opened to the public on rare occasions. These opportunities were called Crystal Open Days.
The customers were telling me that they had travelled for hours to come to Mandara Crystals so that they could buy gifts for themselves and others. They were going to buy gifts in advance for occasions that may have been months away, because they felt that their stock was amazing and the prices were really good too. They encouraged me to make sure I found a way to go into the shop.
Unfortunately, the shop has closed down now, but I’m trying to find out if they’ve relocated.
Getting reaquanited with crystals
I was lucky enough to be able to pop into Mandara Crystals after the market closed. I walked around the store and kept noticing that I was drawn towards certain stones. I started picking them up and then noticed that I had the same thing in different shapes or sizes, so I put them back, walked around and then spoke to the person behind the counter.
I told her how I found out about the shop, that I had no understanding of crystals, and I asked her how one would know what to buy. She said that I will be drawn to what I need, and I should listen to that. I then told her about me picking up multiple things that were the same stone in a different form, and she explained that it was because I needed it in some way.
I went around the shop again, picked up a few stones that I was drawn to and then asked her to tell me how much they cost and what they represented.
She was wonderful! She went through each stone, telling me their healing qualities, whilst looking up any that she wasn’t sure of.
The magic of crystals
I put the crystals around the flat and went about the day. I didn’t think about them much. I wasn’t excited about being healed by them. Maybe I didn’t truly believe that they would work. I’m not sure. No matter what did or didn’t happen, I liked the look of them, and that was enough.
That night, I slept better than I’d slept in months. Apart from the purchase and placement of the crystals, nothing else had changed!
I can’t tell you how exciting and dubious I was! I wanted to believe that my sleep would improve, but I didn’t want to be let down either. I’d been feeling fatigued for so long since having Long COVID (LC), I was scared to be hopeful.
A few years later
Every now and then, I had thought about buying a large floor crystal, but I kept parking it. A few years later, I was walking around St. Anne’s shopping centre in Harrow, and I came across a stall that sold crystals. They didn’t have many large pieces at the time. However, the person who was managing the stall was really helpful and willing to get in touch if anything came up. So I gave her my contact details and she messaged me when she got large pieces in.
Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work, and I wasn’t able to pop in after she’d been in touch.
Another year passed
Time continued to pass, and then, I went to The Navnat Vanik Association’s Janmashtami Mela. This is when I met Jigisha. She had a stall through which she was displaying many items that were made from healing crystals. She was so knowledgeable and patient, while my friend and I asked her about the healing qualities of various items.
We were both drawn towards different trees, which we bought. My friend told me that nothing had changed in her life, apart from the tree, and she feels that it’s made her more clearheaded, which has helped her become more decisive.
A few months later, I attended a spiritual trip in Dubai, and that pull towards crystals was activated again! I went to someone’s home, and she had crystals all around her living room. They were stunning!
During this trip, a member of the spiritual community had offered to let me stay in her home. I noticed that she had a few crystals around her home, and knowing that she was a Reiki healer, I felt that gifting her some crystals would be a wonderful way to express my gratitude.
I tried to find somewhere in Dubai and nearly had the order confirmed, but the person I was dealing with ended up making the experience really unpleasant. He was tired and wanted the night off as he’d just finished a big auction, but instead of taking that time, he was messaging me about my order. In summary, he replied to some things and not others, his replies were sporadic and hard to follow, and then he seemed to become resentful about the order not being finalised. It was frustrating to say the least!
Silver linings
I’m so glad that it didn’t work out with the guy in Dubai, because that led me to research crystals here. I checked out a few websites, but I felt uneasy about the fact that I wasn’t able to see the crystals beyond the websites because they either didn’t have stores or they did, but they were far away. I told them that I was new to this and asked them how I would know about the quality of the crystals etc, and they explained the process they undertake, the certification and so on.
I felt comfortable with what I learned, so I started looking at their stock and making lists of the ones I wanted to buy and who I wanted to buy them for. As I read about their qualities, I began thinking about other people whom I wanted to gift crystals to.
I purchased crystals from the following places:
My Lost Gems™: Cheryl was awesome! She was transparent and open about their products, how they’re priced, the time that goes into creating the images and so on.
Buy Handpicked Ethically Sourced Crystals | Spiral Crystals UK: Lauren’s emails were warm, generous, and so full of information and so easy to read and grasp because of the way she formatted them.
The Psychic Tree | Healing Crystals, Incense, Essential Oils & More: Holly was so generous, informative and caring. I really enjoyed the communication between us. Her attitude towards potential customers was great, and she was focused on making sure they got what they needed.
All of these sellers replied quickly; they knew their stock, and they could easily suggest which crystals should be considered for the specific situations or people that I described.
A shield of protection
This is what I wrote after the crystals that I ordered arrived.
I’ve purchased some crystals and I set them up around the flat yesterday.
It’s weird.
When I went to bed, I felt like there was a shield of protection all around me.
Again, I didn’t really expect anything. My only conscious thought was that they were beautiful, and I liked seeing them around my home. I didn’t feel like I wasn’t protected. I didn’t feel like I was vulnerable or in anger in any way. Yet, when I went to bed, I felt like there was a shield of protection around me. I’ve never felt anything like that before and can’t really explain it with words or logic.
Surprising bits of information
Here are a few nuggets that I’ve learned from different sellers
- Some people don’t feel anything when they’re near crystals
- They shouldn’t be kept in direct sunlight
- Some don’t like being next to ‘certain other ‘any’ other crystal, and they’ll find a way to express this
- You can cleanse them and charge them by placing them under the moonlight
- You can wave an incense stick around them to cleanse them
- Talking to them will help
- It’s good practice to cleanse and set an intention around the crystals for specific work or have a general intention
Related content
How To Cleanse + Charge Crystals
