Customer Reviews

Crystals

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Crystals, by Jennie Harding is a fabulous book on crystal identification, and is packed with useful information on every page. A nice feature on the side of the book, is that there are colors on the ends of the pages to make finding stones in the book easier. The stones are sorted into color groups, including brown, red, orange, yellow and gold, golden green, pale green, green, dark green, blue green and other shades. However, if you already know the name of the stone, the index in the back will tell you what page you can find it on.

Once you have identified a stone, the stone's page is filled with useful information. Each stone has two pages. The page on the left describes the stones color and history. The page on the right has a picture of the stone, and lists the stone's form a structure, color, geographical information, rarity, hardness, healing effects, personal uses, and the physical and emotional uses.

The author goes a step further to describe methods of using crystals for healing, meditating, chakra layouts, and stones to use based on your birth month, astrological sign, and various health issues like treating back and neck aches, asthma, etc. this is a fantastic book filled with useful information on every page. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars

Nice reference book on gems. I would have rated it 5 stars, but there were several minerals not included that I wanted to know about. The glossy photos are truly beautiful, descriptive and clear. I highly recommend this book ,both for reference and for the healing aspects of gems.

This is one of the best complete crystal and stone books we have read (and we have read almost all of them)! Not only does it make it easy to look up stones by color. It has easy to understand scientific information, as well as all the metaphysical, and healing information. The photos are just gorgeous. The author lists crystal suppliers and we have purchased from Mountain Gems & Healing Crystals recommended on page 315 and they are just as wonderful as this book!

Really needs some work on the index. No cross reference for the actual NAME of the crystal you're looking into. Sometimes you don't know "why" you just want to know "what". The only other hint you get is by color, seriously crystals only come in the regular colors - never any variations?

The book is approximately 311 pages filled with over a 100 photographs. I love the fact that the author has organized the crystals by color, and shows smaller pictures of each crystal polished as well as raw. The book has a great introduction and gives advice on crystal healing. Would recommend for your next read.

Book was much nicer than I expected and I was amazad at how fast I got it. Excellent buy!

I've had this book since it came out, and it's one that I turn to again, and again. I like the details of the crystals, such as where they're found, what kind of condition produces that type of stone, details like that. For instance, who knew that in the 18th century, Frederick II, King of Prussia, wanted the chrysoprase that was found in Lower Silesia, so he conquered that part of Europe?

I realize that for many people, that kind of detail is beyond unnecessary, but a good part of the history of crystals does include things like power and politics. Think of "blood diamonds" today. Or, the Black Hills being taken away from the Native Americans after gold was found there. How about the story of Cleopatra dissolving a huge pearl, as a sign of her power? The Hope Diamond? Liz Taylor and her jewels? Jackie Kennedy and her kunzite? Even the "Heart of the Ocean" in the movie "Titanic"? Faberge eggs? All are stories of gems and history and people. History is undeniably tied in with gems and crystals.

Anyhow, I like knowing the history involved with the stones and crystals. My only complaint with crystal books in general is that they don't give much information for determining what crystal is what, if it wasn't labeled before I got it. I can't tell what some of the stones I have are, just by looking at them. Not all quartzes come with the typical six-sided points.

It also seems that a book considered to be *the* definitive book on crystals will leave out some stones covered in other books. There is some overlapping for coverage.

Being the visual person that I am, I really enjoy the gorgeous pictures in this book. Overall, I give it 5 stars.

I like this one. It's simple enough and very well done. I like using the colors to identify each group making it easier to locate the crystals within the book. Though she did not put a zillion crystals/minerals in her book, I don't need to know any more than what she has listed. Love the pictures. It has all you need to know in a nice, neat, compact book that is easy to grab for reference. This one is now my favorite and stays close. Good job.