NOT SURE WHAT YOU BELIEVE
You don't have to believe in it
A skeptic's guide to crystals, from a shop run by someone who used to think they were fluff.
Curious about crystals but don't believe in them? Good. That's a perfectly fine place to stand, and it's where the guy who runs this shop started.
This page won't try to convert you. It will tell you what we can stand behind, and what we can't.
A science guy and a smoky quartz
Arthur grew up in his family's crystal business and has a biophysics degree from Guelph. To him, crystals were shiny rocks and the energy talk was fluff.
During the pandemic, his dad stepped back and moved to Brazil. The plan was to sell everything and shut it down. Then customers' stories made him pause.
One stressful day he picked up a smoky quartz. It felt silly. It also gave him a moment to pause and breathe. In his words, "It wasn't magic." He started seeing crystals as tools for mindfulness and intention, and the shop stayed open.
Being curious about crystals with your eyes open
Here are the claims you'll hear most, with the most honest answer we've got.
Honest claims: tap to check
"Crystals send out an energy that changes your body."
Nobody has shown this. If someone tells you a stone does something to your body, ask how they know.
"Real crystals work and fake ones don't."
Psychologist Chris French tested this in the UK, reporting in 2001. People held real crystals or fakes, and described the same sensations with both.
"Stone meanings are ancient knowledge."
Some go back a long way. Plenty are recent, and different lists disagree. Read them as tradition, not as a spec sheet.
"Colour is just for looks."
Colour is a good story on its own. Smoky quartz gets its brown from natural radiation acting on traces of aluminum in the crystal.
"So there's no point holding one."
That's for you to judge. It's cool, heavy and real, and picking it up takes a second. That's a small, honest thing to work with.
Are crystals just placebo?
Plainly: nobody has shown crystals do anything beyond what the person brings to it. Whatever you feel holding one, the best explanation is that it comes from you. We'd rather tell you that than sell you a story.
Is there still a reason to use one? A lot of folks think so. A stone on your desk is a reminder you can touch. You stop, you breathe once, and you go back to the email. A pause is still a pause.
And some of us just like rocks. That needs no defence at all.
Why quartz is in your watch
Quartz is piezoelectric. Press on it and it produces a tiny voltage. Run a voltage through it and it flexes. Pierre and Jacques Curie described the effect in 1880.
A quartz watch uses a tiny tuning fork cut from quartz. A battery keeps it vibrating about 32,768 times a second. A circuit counts those vibrations to mark each second. Most quartz in electronics is grown in a lab.
Is that connected to why people like crystals? Not really. A watch needs a precisely cut crystal, a battery and a circuit. It's a real property that has nothing to do with spiritual claims. Please don't let anyone use it as proof. It's still one of the coolest things a rock can do.
How to try this without switching your brain off
- Run a small test. Keep a stone on your desk for two weeks. Pick it up before one hard email a day, and write down what you notice. Nothing is a valid result.
- Use tarot as a writing prompt. Pull a card, then ask what it makes you think about. Skeptics are welcome at a private reading with J'aime, and you need no experience.
- Keep your standards. Ask what a stone is and where it's from. Our guide to treated, dyed and man-made stones is a good start.
- Start cheap. A single worry stone is all the equipment you need.
When your partner thinks it's dumb
You don't need to win this one, and you don't need them to agree.
- Skip the cosmic language. "It's my two minutes" lands better than anything about energy.
- Don't defend the claims. "I don't know if it does anything. I like it" is a complete answer.
- Ask for one thing. "You don't have to get it. Just don't make fun of it."
- Keep it out of shared decisions. The lease shouldn't depend on a card. That's usually what they're worried about.
- Invite once, then drop it. Getting your cards read on a date night can be fun for a nonbeliever. If they pass, that's fine.
Questions people ask
Are crystals just placebo? Is there still a reason to use one?
Nobody has shown crystals do anything beyond what the person brings to it. People still use them as reminders, as something to hold, or just because they're beautiful. A pause is still a pause, whatever started it.
I'm a science person but I'm curious about tarot and crystals. How do I try this without switching my brain off?
Run it like a small experiment. Keep a stone on your desk for two weeks, or use a tarot card as a writing prompt. Note what you notice. Noticing nothing is a valid result.
Why is quartz used in watches? Is that connected to why people like crystals?
Quartz is piezoelectric, so a tiny cut piece vibrates at a very steady rate when powered. A watch counts those vibrations. That's a real physical property. It has nothing to do with spiritual claims about stones.
My partner thinks crystals and astrology are dumb. How do I talk about it without a fight?
Skip the debate. Say what it is for you in plain words, like "it's my two minutes". Then ask for one thing: no jokes about it. You don't need them to agree.
Can I shop at The Rock Space if I don't believe in any of this?
Absolutely. Plenty of stones are worth owning because they're beautiful or strange. You can hold them first, and nobody here needs you to believe a thing.
Where to next
Where the curious become connected.
Come poke holes in it
Hold a few stones, ask your hardest question, and leave with nothing if you like. No pressure to believe a thing. 396-B Victoria Street North, Kitchener.