Crystals are beautiful gifts from the depths of Mother Nature herself. As their popularity has grown, we see them everywhere - on boutique shelves, restaurants, hotel rooms and homes. Besides their mystical appearances, the most alluring details are in the science of what each stone does.

One of my best friends, Caryssa Ramirez is a certified crystal healer who specializes in energy healing and spiritual counseling. Her services can be found on her website, Gold in love and her gemstones in trendy places like The Butcher's Daughter and Elizabeth & James.

What are some of the most popular crystals and their properties?

Quartz based crystals, such as Smokey/Clear/Rose Quartz, Amethyst, and Citrine, are extremely popular because they are the most well known stones to the general public. Quartz in general is a very cleansing crystal on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It serves to bring a clarity to your overall state of being and help you to let go of anything that no longer strengthens you. As for the individual stones I’ve mentioned above, here are their individual properties:

Smokey Quartz: Grey - Black
Chakra: focus at Root
Properties- Smokey Quartz helps connect and cleanse our root, our foundation in life, creating maximum stability.

Clear Quartz: Clear
Chakras- All
Properties- Clear Quartz is extremely cleansing on all levels which allows for balance to take place and new energy to be called in
Pyrite: GoldChakra- Solar Plexus (3rd)Properties- Works with abundance and prosperity helping your to clear any related blocks that you may have and attracting more abundance and prosperity in all forms to your life.

Rose Quartz : Clear Pink - Light Pink
Chakra- Heart
Properties- Gently cleanses the heart space and your relation to yourself. Strengthens Unconditional Love, Trust, & Understanding for yourself and others. Brings Nurturing love to yourself and others. Strengthens Relationships.

Amethyst: violet-dark purple (clusters + pyramid)
Chakra- Crown (7th)
Properties- Strengthens cosmic connection & integration of your higher self, absorbs negative/non-useful energy, helps you to feel relaxed and blissful in knowing that everything is of a divine design.

Citrine: Light Gold - Dark Amber
Chakra- Solar Plexus
Properties- Helps with single pointed focus, raising + balancing self esteem, and becoming fully aware of your response-ability in your life. Helps you open to a flow of infinite power.

Metaphysically speaking, why do they actually work?

Crystals, Humans, and everything in existence have an electromagnetic field surrounding them (just like the one surrounding the Earth). Our energy fields (also known as the aura) are extremely mutable and always changing according to our mood, physical health, people we interact with, etc. Because Crystals have a physically perfect atomic structure (think of a closeup photo of a snowflake), the energy field they create pulses at a very stable/balanced rate. When our energetic field comes into contact with their's, we sync with their stability and become balanced.

How do crystals interact with chakras?

The alignment between chakras and crystals can usually be discerned by matching their colors (the chakras are represented by the colors of the rainbow from root to crown).

A ‘Chakra’ is simply a name for a center of concentrated energy within the body. On a physical level, these energy centers align with our glandular system and the organs local to each gland. The Heart Chakra, for example, corresponds with the Heart and Thymus Gland.

Everything also exists as a wavelength (think back to the wavelength scale from your science textbooks), sound waves are long and slow, while microwaves are short and quick. On this scale, which exists infinitely in both directions, the visible light (color spectrum) that creates our entire visual reality, is but a tiny window of wavelength. That being said, each Chakra and Crystal’s color is representative of a certain wavelength, these matching wavelengths attract, resonate, and sync into a balanced state. Essentially, Crystals help to bring us back to our most efficient and optimal state of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being.

Where do some of the most powerful crystals come from?

All over the world. I’ve been particularly enjoying crystals from Brazil at the moment. They seem to have an especially strong energetic quality for me and have a large amount of knowledge within them just waiting to be shared.

Why do you think people are fascinated with them?

Since Crystals work on a level of subtle energy, they have an uncanny way of interacting with us even before we physically touch them. Think of the way a gem stone manipulates and reflects photons of light. Those color waves and light reflections enter into our consciousness as an energetic communication that links us to these living beings. It’s a connection with out speaking, and emotion with deep feeling that entangles us with Crystals.

What are some of your favorites?

At the moment, I’m in love with Selenite, the Crystal of Cleansing Bliss. I recommend this crystal to many beginners, because it’s so powerful, and often easier to feel the energy of when you’re just starting out. Selenite is also self cleansing, and can cleanse + charge any other crystal.

I’m also loving a Citrine / Smokey Quartz combo that I have which grounds me in my infinite self power, and Amethyst, which always keeps me cleansed in my connection to all.