To some, these beliefs seem to be wacky alternatives dreamt up by west coast hippies, or just another marketing tool. In reality the lore of gem healing has its roots planted in ancient practices that predate modern medicine by thousands of years. Two such ancient healing techniques, still very much in practice in countries such as India and Thailand today, are Litho-therapy and Crystal Healing.

Litho-therapy, from the Greek ‘Lithos’ meaning ‘Stone’ is a healing practice whereby minerals are used to rebalance and harmonize the body’s internal energy flow. The belief in minerals having healing properties is as old as the hills: being used by the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese and just about every other archaic culture that has ever walked the face of the Earth.

Within both forms of therapy the relation of mineral material to color plays a strong role: each mineral possessing a vibratory resonance that translates into a particular nuance. This echoes each of the Chakras, which also possess their own energy frequency levels and colors. Some minerals are used with particular chakras to calm, while others are used to invigorate: Red for example is used to strengthen. The violet, blue and purple nuances of Tanzanite are used in conjunction with the 5th, 6th and 7th chakras. The fifth chakra is the ‘Throat,’ translated into Sanskrit this is the ‘Vissudha’: Purified. The sixth chakra is the ‘Brow or Third Eye,’ translated into Sanskrit this is the ‘Ajna’: ‘Perceive.’ The seventh chakra is the ‘Crown,’ translated into Sanskrit this is the ‘Sahasrara’: ‘Thousand Petaled.’