Quartz Crystal

Quartz crystal is so much more than the clear quartz we tend to associated with the name. Rather than being one particular stone, quartz is an entire subgenera of crystals, manifesting in different shapes and colors. Each form of quartz has its own particular appearance as well as metaphysical properties and potential uses.

If you are an avid crystal collector, chances are you already have many quartz crystals in your collection, as many of the most popular crystals belong to the wider quartz family.

There are so many quartz inclusions, some of the stones that belong to the quartz family might surprise you. Tiger’s eye is a great example of a stone that looks nothing like the archetypal quartz crystal, yet shares the characteristics that define it as a quartz.

What is quartz crystal?

Clear quartz takes its name from the Greek word for ice, which perfectly describes this crystal’s appearance. Quartz belongs to the trigonal crystal system, and the typical quartz formation is easily recognisable because of its hexagonal prisms that taper off into six-sided quartz points.

Quartz is a much more common crystal than you might think – it is the most abundant mineral in the mineral kingdom overall, and is found everywhere in the Earth’s crust, in all parts of the world.

Quartz is among the easiest crystals to get your hands on. Because of its composition of hard, crystallised silica, it is highly resistant to weathering of every kind – which is just one of many qualities to recommend quartz crystal.

Measured on the Mohs scale, quartz is a seven, making it extremely durable and useful as a component in glass making. Its ability to withstand high temperature and its electromagnetic properties make it a significant asset in the electronics industry.

The extended family of quartz crystals

There are many different kinds of quartz crystals, beyond the ones we commonly associate with the name. All quartz crystals share a similar basic composition, but each also has a unique physical dimension and other characteristics, including color and unique energetic frequency.

Each quartz crystal’s particular energy makes it uniquely suitable for its purpose, which could be anything from aiding meditation, inspiring creativity, amplifying energy, boosting mood, dispelling negative energy, encouraging spiritual growth or connecting you with higher guidance.

Here is a list of quartz crystals – and their metaphysical properties and applications – from the well-known to the more obscure.

Clear quartz crystal

Clear quartz crystal, sometimes simply called rock crystal, is at once the most popular and the most common form of quartz crystal – you might look at it as the root of all other crystals in the quartz family.

Clear quartz crystal is easily recognisable thanks to its composition of hexagonal prism shapes and its clear, transparent, glass-like lustre. Clear quartz crystal comes in all shapes and sizes, making it suitable for anything from amulets to spiritual tools to substantial table decorations.

Clear quartz is one of the most sought after crystals because of its potency and versatility. No other crystal has the quite the same range of applications, from energy work to inspiring emotional and spiritual clarity.

Clear quartz meaning, properties and uses

Clear quartz is the best known quartz crystals there is. Known as the ‘master healer,’ it is also one of the most powerful healing crystals in existence.

Clear quartz is a very ethereal stone – something you can tell at a glance. As its name indicates, clear quartz is crystal clear, with crystal points are often gathered in clusters. Rock crystal has a very high and clear vibration, linking it to higher spiritual planes and higher forms of consciousness. You might even say that clear quartz is pure light in solid, physical form.

Clear quartz is known to serve a dual function by transmitting light and positive energy while repelling dark and negative energy. For this reason, it works equally well as a protective stone or a healing crystal.

The crystal healing properties of clear quartz are vast and as multi-faceted as the crystal itself. Clear quartz works well for deep soul cleansing as well as for repelling and dispelling negative forces and frequencies from your body, mind, spirit and physical surroundings. It is no wonder why clear quartz crystal is a popular choice of stone to wear, or to place somewhere in the home where its light and positive energies can continuously infuse and influence the environment.

A chunk of clear quartz crystal can work wonders for stressful and anxiety-provoking situations and environments. For example, placing a clear quartz crystal on your desk at work is a great way of repelling destructive and destructive energies that might draw your attention away from your work, while keeping a rock crystal near your front door at home anchors you into a light, positive and constructive energy every time you come or go.

Crystal quartz can work as a catalyst for spiritual development, growth and clairvoyance. It is no coincidence why almost every crystal ball is made of clear quartz.

Because clear quartz crystals transmit such high-frequency energy, they are among the best stones to use for crystal grids (a crystal grid can be as simple as a few quartz crystals placed in a circle, or as elaborate as you like). Crystals grids can be used to charge spiritual and metaphysical tools and implements, such as Tarot cards, oracle cards, pendulums, wands or other ritual or fortunetelling tools.

One of the most important functions clear quartz crystals serves is healing. The intense, high-frequency energy of clear quartz crystal can potentially alleviate both physical, mental and spiritual fatigue or ailments. The most straightforward way of using your clear quartz crystal for healing is to simply place it near you or directly against any part of your body you want to infuse with some high-powered positive frequencies.

Clear quartz crystal is also one of the best crystals to use when you meditate. Holding a piece of quartz or quartz clusters in your hands while you meditate can boost and amplify the energy of your meditation, while helping you keep your mind clear, calm and balanced.

Rose quartz

Another familiar member of the quartz crystal family is rose quartz, which takes its name from its rose pink quartz clusters.

Rose quartz meaning, properties and uses

Rose quartz resonates with the frequency of pure love. Its energy is soothing, calming, stabilising, soft, tender, generous, gentle and romantic.

When it comes to inspiring loving emotions, compassion, kindness, healing and comfort, there is no better stone for the job. This crystals helps soothe, stabilise and heal communication and interpersonal conflict. If you find yourself constantly fighting with your significant other, your colleagues at work or your family at home, keep a small piece of quartz in your pocket when you are in these conflict-ridden environments and situations. Pink quartz inspires more compassion and helps dispel negative thoughts and harsh communication between you and the people you interact with.

Rosy quartz is a great choice of healing crystal, especially when it comes to emotions. If you have recently experienced a breakup, a personal loss or any kind of setback that has impacted your emotions negatively, keep a some rosy quartz near you to soothe you and encourage self-love and forgiveness.

Because of its resonance with love and romance, pink quartz is often used to attract romance and romantic partners, or to stabilise the energies within an existing relationship. For this reason, you can never go wrong with a chunk of rose quartz in your bedroom, or in your pocket.

To really soak up the healing properties and soothing energies of pink quartz, pour yourself a bath and place your crystal in the water (add Himlayan rock salt and rose petals to amplify the energy).

Smoky quartz (phantom or spirit quartz)

Smoky quartz, also called phantom quartz or spirit quartz, looks very similar to clear quartz, with the crucial difference that it is only semi-translucent, with a misty or smoky grey appearance.

Properties and uses

Smoky quartz is one of the most highly sought after protective and healing crystals. It is known to help lift and relieve negative emotions and mental tension, like anxiety, fear, stress, worry and depression.

Smoky quartz helps you clear and focus your mind, filtering out unnecessary tension. Smoky quartz is the perfect healing crystal for you if you suffer with anxiety and a tendency to overthink and worry to much. With Smoky quartz in your arsenal of metaphysical tools, even the most opaque situation or dilemma will soon seem crystal clear.

Smokey quartz is also a brilliant stone when it comes to enhancing sleep, as it has a repelling effect on nightmares and night terrors.

Milky quartz

This crystal shares many similarities with clear quartz, including great healing powers and the harmonising of energies. Physically, it resembles its clear counterpart, but as its name suggests, it has a milky white and opaque lustre.

Properties and uses

Milk quartz is one of the lesser known quartz crystals, but this is no reflection on its powers. There aren’t many other gems that are as stimulating and soothing for the mind as this milky white stone.

Milky quartz supports mental faculties and function. It stimulates clear and original thinking, and enhances memory. It also helps balance and stabilise all the chakras, creating harmony between your body, mind and spirit. This is particularly useful when you are going through a life chapter marked by significant upheaval, uncertainty and changes. Milky quartz helps keep you level-headed and helps you reorient yourself and adapt to new environments and situations.

Strawberry quartz

Strawberry quartz is a powerful member of the quartz crystal family. It has a similar appearance to rose quartz, but is distinguished by its cloudy or grainy translucency and vivid, strawberry-like hue, which can range from almost orange to almost purple.

Properties and uses

Strawberry quartz is the ultimate self-love crystal. It helps you find balance, love, calm and truth within yourself, and assists you in bringing these qualities to the forefront of everything you do.

If you are someone who struggles with low self-esteem or a lot of uncertainty about your place and path in the world, strawberry quartz is a must-have stone for your collection.

Strawberry quartz is one of the best stones to keep near you at all times. Wear a piece of strawberry quartz as an amulet, or simply in your pocket or your purse as a continual reminder of your worth and the fact that you are much loved by the universe.

Strawberry quartz instils self-belief, the kind that radiates from the inside out. By the same token, it also helps you connect with and remember your higher self and subsequently with your true mission and purpose is in this lifetime.

Blue quartz

Blue quartz is a rare type of quartz crystal that you probably won’t find in your local spiritual shop. Blue quartz is a breathtakingly beautiful quartz crystal easily recognisable by its powder blue hue.

Properties and uses

Blue quartz is an extremely versatile quartz crystal. Its blue color links it to the throat chakra, which stands for truth, self-expression, communication and creativity – so if your communication skills, your confidence in your way of expressing yourself or your creative abilities need a boost, blue-hued quartz is your stone of choice.

Not only does blue quartz facilitate communication between you and others, it also strengthens your communication with your higher self, as well as with spirit guides and divine forces. It is also one of the most soothing and calming stones there is. If you find yourself struggling with a lack of focus or hyperactivity, blue quartz can help balance and calm the energy and allow you to focus and concentrate on what needs to get done.

The calming effects of blue quartz can extend into the bedroom as well, by ensuring calm and restful sleep and encouraging dream healing.

Another wonderful benefit of this beautiful blue crystal is that it assists in detoxification.

Rutilated quartz

Rutilated quartz is very similar in appearance to clear quartz, with the notable difference that rutilated quartz contains irregular inclusions of rutile. These inclusions are distributed randomly and might be gathered in clusters within the stone. Rutilated quartz crystals tend to have a golden hue, but they can also appear silvery, coppery or blackish.

Properties and uses

Rutilated quartz is a mystical, ethereal stone and is considered an illuminator of the soul. Rutilated quartz deepens your connection with your higher self and the spiritual realms and beings all around you. Rutilated quartz adds extra oomph to meditation and energy work, and encourages spiritual and personal growth overall.

Rutilated quartz is a stone that helps you focus and be present, while letting go of past pain, slights and wounds. By helping you to focus and re-center your energy where it is most needed, rutilated quartz energises you and assists you in infusing your everyday life with more meaning, magic and purpose.

Rutilated quartz is among the most powerful healing crystals, as it is known to draw off negative energy, dark moods and disease. Its ability to repel negative thoughts and energies makes it the perfect protective amulet against the ill will or negative opinions of others.

Citrine

Citrine is another member of the quartz family, taking its name from its uplifting yellow-to yellow-orange hue. A chunk of citrine could easily be mistaken for a slice of citrus fruit, as it has as a similar door and semi-opaqueness.

Properties and uses

Citrine is a powerfully mood-enhancing and energy-amplifying stone. Whenever you are feeling a little low or a if you are generally struggling with low moods, citrine is your personal master healer crystal.

When you pick up a piece of citrine and hold it in your hand, you will immediately be able to sense its light and uplifting energy. Because it powers up your mood, it is also a good stone to keep around for creativity and a general sense of wellbeing.

Citrine is also known as a money stone, its yellow color linking it to gold and its associations of wealth, richness and abundance. Keep a piece of citrine quartz in your wallet to inspire a healthy cash flow.

Amethyst

Amethyst is one of the most popular forms of quartz. Its mystical purple color entrances and calms anyone who looks at it or picks it up.

Properties and uses

Amethyst crystal possess some truly incredible healing powers, the most important, perhaps, being its ability to soothe calm and heal negative moods and chaotic energies.

Amethyst, much like its herbal correspondence, lavender, emits a calming, soothing frequency. Its stabilising effect on mood makes amethyst a natural tranquilliser and a great support to anyone struggling with stress, anxiety or hyperactivity.

Amethyst is a great stone to keep in your bedroom to encourage calm sleep and deep, meaningful dreams. When placed in your bedroom, amethyst comes with the added benefit of repelling nightmares and alleviating insomnia.

Aventurine

Aventurine is a green quartz, its color similar to that of jade.

Properties and uses

Aventurine is one of the most powerful healing crystals you can get your hands on. It has a balancing effect on both the body, the mind and the spirit, and promotes physical health and healing. Aventurine is known to strengthen and support the natural workings of the physical body. Aventurine crystals is also a great protective stone for your home and garden.

The green color of aventurine crystal links it to the heart chakra, which stands for willpower and confidence, as well as compassion and kindness towards others. If you feel like you could do with a confidence boost or more compassion for yourself and those around you, aventurine is your go-to crystal.

Another wonderful benefit of aventurine is its association with money, wealth and abundance. Keep an aventurine next to your laptop while you work as a form of abundance affirmation, or place a small piece of aventurine in your wallet to attract more money into it.

Prasiolite

The word prasiolite (derived from the Greek word for leek) means ‘scallion-green colored stone,’ which quite aptly describes prasiolite crystal’s appearance.

Properties and uses

Prasiolite crystal is one of the lesser known forms of quartz crystal, and is a stone of transformation. Its primary function is to transmute negative energies and frequencies into positive ones.

Like aventurine, prasiolite is associated with the heart chakra, and so it resonates with a vibration of kindness, compassion and empathy, as well as with the vibration of wealth and earthly success.

Prasiolite inspires you to follow your heart and to open yourself up to higher guidance. Keep a piece of prasiolite with you whenever you can, and let it encourage you to always be moving into closer and closer alignment with your highest potential.

The healing properties of prasiolite focus on the healing of the energetic and subtle body. If you aura has become damaged or weakened, whether through sheer exhaustion or deliberate psychic attack, prasiolite is one of the best crystals you can reach for. Prasiolite is also a suitable stone to use in shamanic and energy healing work.

Carnelian

Carnelian is a brownish-red microcrystalline quart. Most carnelian crystals lean more towards opague than transparent, and some have clear or milky white bands of color.

Properties and uses

Carnelian crystal is a stabilising and energising stone, imbuing its wearer with vitality, energy, drive and motivation.

The orange-red color of carnelian links it to the sacral chakra, making it a great stone for creativity, original thinking and problem solving. Holding a chunk of carnelian in your hand plugs you directly into your inner seat of power and resilience.

Carnelian dispels apathy and inspires you to pursue your highest potential by sharing your gifts with the world and by reaching unapologetically for your ambitions.

In terms of healing properties, carnelian is particularly good at helping you recover from abuse, whether the nature of this abuse is emotional, mental or physical.

Chalsedony

Chalsedony is one of the lesser known forms of quartz. Its color is typically greyish-blue, and it can range from nearly white to early black. Chalsedony crystal has as waxy lustre and might be either semi-transparent or nearly translucent.

Properties and uses

Chalsedony crystal is a gentle, soothing and healing stone. Its soft frequencies ease self-doubt and lifts melancholy, while inspiring kindness, benevolence, goodwill, trust and generosity.

Chalsedony absorbs negative emotions, thoughts and frequencies from its immediate surroundings – which also makes it a great stone to keep on your bedside table when you want to repel night terrors.

Another great benefit of chalsedony is the stimulating effect it has on the mind. It is a great stone for keeping the mind active and lively, and for warding off dementia.

Mtorolite

Mtorolite crystal is easily recognisable by its deep, cool green color, which it gets from deposits of chrome.

Properties and uses

Mtorolite’s green color connects it to the heart chakra and everything is stands for – love, kindness, compassion and generosity.

Mtorolite has a particularly calming and soothing energy. Looking into its mystical green depths fills you with instant peace and tranquility. Mtorolite’s soothing vibes makes it the perfect stone to keep near you when you are experiencing times of stress, high pressure or all-out crisis. In those situations, mtorolite reminds you of your own strength and fortifies your resolve and your ability to keep going when the going gets tough.

Onyx

Onyx is a mostly opague, pitch black variety of quartz. It is sometimes used for crystal balls, in lieu of clear quartz.

Properties and uses

Onyx is an incredibly powerful stone – its energy pushes and inspires you to be the best version of yourself that you can be, and to strive for your highest goals.

Onyx activates your root, solar plexus and third eye chakras, unleashing an unstoppable and potent blend of energies. Onyx helps you stay grounded while keeping your eyes firmly on the stars you are shooting for.

Agate

Agate comes in a great range of colors, including blue, red, yellow, purple and black, and it tends to have curved, angular bands or layers that are somewhat fibrous in texture.

Properties and uses

Agate is one of the best crystals when it comes to aiding and enhancing your mental faculties. Agate helps with focus, clarity and concentration – all vital when you are trying to achieve something.

Agate enhances both psychic ability and analytical function, while inspiring you to lay disquiet thoughts and feelings to rest, including anger, dismay, disdain and anxiety.

Jasper

Jaspe comes in a variety of colors, including red, yellow, brown, green or blue.

Properties and uses

Where clear quartz is the master healer, jasper is the master nurturer. Jasper relieves stress and anxiety, replacing them with focus, clarity and a proactive attitude. Jasper keeps negative energies away, while inspiring constructive and positive energies to come in.

Tiger’s eye

Tiger’s eye takes its name from its brown and amber banded appearance. Tiger’s eye is fully opague, but with a completely glassy lustre.

Properties and uses

Tiger’s eye promotes harmony, balance and a clear focus on what is important in your life. Tiger’s eye promotes positive choices and actions, and is the best stone to keep around when you have to make clear, well-balanced decisions.