Customer Reviews

Gems of Wisdom, Gems of Power: A Practical Guide to How Gemstones, Minerals and Crystals Can Enhance Your Life

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Teresa Kennedy has written a book with very good, clear and practical information addressing both mystical and scientific aspects of crystals and gemstones. The book is divided into sections such as "The Love Stones" "Stones of protection ", "Stones for physical healing ", etc., with some stones occurring in more than one of the nine categories. This is an extremely useful book for a beginner and will be a valuable addition to any crystal library.
I have over 50 crystal healing books and have written quite a bit about crystal healing myself. This book is one I'll recommend highly. There is no perfect crystal healing book and there probably never will be, but this is one of the best I have seen yet. I practice different styles of crystal healing and use some more intuitive methods than the author, so a few of my personal recommendations might be different. This is a very good book and if you can get only one book about crystals, this is the one I'd suggest. This book has relatively little information about detailed methods of working with crystals but that is probably an asset. The Author gives sound advice and guidance based on her experience and allows the reader to determine the way they will work with the stones. Each stone entry has a color photograph of the stone. This book could be very useful for helping someone choose stones to work with for specific purposes.This is a very solid guide with a lot for both beginners and as a reference for more advanced practitioners.

Obviously a great number of books of crystals have appeared in the last twenty years since the resurgence of interest in crystal healing occurred in the early 1980s. Therefore when a new title comes along which clarities existing knowledge, has a pleasing layout, and includes large clear photographs of each specimen, then it warrants inclusion on the bookshelf of any stone enthusiast or healer. However, when it goes beyond meticulous organization of information and ease of use, and also has its information presented by a level headed narrator with pleasing tone and seems to offer just the right amount of information on each stone, it just may be the book you find yourself reaching for first.

Starting with the premise that her readers are intelligent, reasonably open-minded and interested in the practical application of the stones into their lives, Teresa quickly establishes a down-to-earth sensibility that encourages a combination approach to the use of stones. She advocates understanding stones from a structural as well spiritual perspective before selecting your healing stones. She also includes a lot of very practical advice in highlighted in pink "Buyer Beware" sections so that you stand the best chance of avoiding some of the inferior or inauthentic merchandise that is on the market.

The layout of the book undertakes to guide the reader quickly to the correct stone by arranging the stones into categories such as "love stones" or "stones of transformation" so you can find what you need quickly. If you already have a stone or a specific idea of the stone you would like, no problem -- there is an extensive index at the back.
Reviewed by Megan Mitchell

Clear, concise and engaging...Kennedy's insight into the world of crystals and gemstones is engaging and informative. Illustrated with great 4-color photos for readers to easily identify stones in their natural state, the book is a winner. Lots of history, lots of research and lots of insight that crystal lovers won't want to miss. There are quite a few crystal books out there, but this is definitely THE one to own for anybody who wants to learn about the qualities of crystals and minerals and why they have enchanted us for centuries. I love this book! Kudos!

I didn't read this book straight through like a work of fiction, but have used it as an easy resource and reference book for the past year and a half while working on novels and short stories. I sometimes pick it up and read a chapter; sometimes just flip to the index and look up a specific topic. A four-page glossary clarifies terms that might throw the average reader who doesn't come into the book with a degree in mineralogy, and an appendix lists common trade names to watch out for when purchasing stones. The information is divided into 10 chapters, six appendices, and the aforementioned glossary and index. Of the chapters, nine of them categorize the stones into subsets such as love stones, stones of protection, power stones, stones of creativity, etc.

Despite the suggestions of these chapter headings, I found the "spiritualism" of the book fairly relaxed, which was a relief for me. My interest was in gleaning symbolism, history, and mythological information about different gemstones for use in writing. With any "practical guide to how gemstones, minerals & crystals can enhance your life" a reader will be confronted with a sense of magic and "power" from the rocks. While Ms. Kennedy states what each gemstone is supposed to be capable of doing to enhance the reader's life, I never got the impression that she was trying to force a New Age religion on me. I merely felt that she was presenting information that she had learned about the origins and beliefs surrounding the different gemstones on her pages, and was doing so in good faith.

For anyone interested in a calm, well-informed, and colorful reference book, I can recommend Gems of Wisdom, Gems of Power for its information and easy formatting.

From Fantasy Author Sandy Lender

Teresa Kennedy has brought us a lovely book on crystals. there is certain to be something in here for us all. The stones themselves are categorized by similar effects, making it a nice reference for the beginner to start noticing trends in the mineral kingdom. Chapters for love, healing, spiritual growth and the like are littered with helpful hints, buyers' tips, scientific fact, spiritual uses, and folklorical properties of rocks. Each section is littered with beautiful photos of many common and uncommon gems, in raw as well as polished forms.

Prior to the afforementioned sections, this text contains much scientific and historical information, in addition to numerous articles ranging from crystal skulls to famous gems. This is one of the relatively few works to include original information about the seven crystal systems into which all minerals are categorized and how these sacred geometries apply to the crystals' spiritual and healing uses.

Overall, this is a great book, and I think that beginners will love its gentle introduction, and those already familiar with all things crystalline will enjoy the fresh material.

I was looking for a crystal book that had a section about how to bring more wealth, money and prosperity in to my life, then I found this book and it was exactly what I was looking for.

I have enjoyed using this book to learn about different types of minerals and crystals. After feeling miserable for too long and learning about Ayurveda, I decided to try using crystals in meditation. If stones really 'did' what these types of books ascribe to them the world would have to be a magically wonderful place, but they can be used to focus one's intentions. I remind myself often that it isn't about the stones, but how they help one focus on the present moment. This book has a lot of information on historical uses and attributes of gemstones, how they can be cleansed and charged and how they are applied to healing, transformation, creativity, etc. The book is organized for quick reference with an index. This is useful, though I would prefer a more encyclopedic setup with each stone being discussed once, rather than in each topic that applies to it. The photographs are nice and the appendices are varied and helpful.