Who doesn’t love a pretty, sparkly gemstone? I sure do! But what if a gem can be so much more than a beautiful bauble? According to Andrea Rosenfeld, a New Jersey-based jewelry designer, Reiki practitioner and all-around cool multi-media artist, gemstones can do more than just dress up an outfit: they can heal.

Now, I’m as hippie-dippie lovey-dovey as I can be in our cynical postmodern age, but this one was new to me. So I had to talk personally with Andrea and find out how gemstones do double-duty as nurturing objects…and see some of them in action in her pieces.

Extrusion Exotic Wood Pendant

VT: Give us a little background about yourself, your jewelry, and how your Reiki practice and knowledge of healing gemstones comes into that.

AR: I’m a professional artist and started in jewelry when my paintings and their mess got too large for my home filled with growing children. With jewelry, I can work with texture, color, composition and such but in a smaller area. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. Reiki came into my life when a friend’s sister found out she had leukemia. She asked for one of my necklaces but I felt that I had to help her in a greater way.  I researched healing stones and how to cleanse them. I became a Reiki practitioner after I decided that the standard method of cleansing stones was fine but, again, not enough for what I wanted to offer through my art.

VT: Tell us more about cleansing stones.

AR: There are quite a few ways to cleanse a crystal. The easiest way is to place it under moonlight or sun light for hours. Another way is run fresh water over it or let it soak, but some minerals don’t respond well to water and it can harm their structure. There are dried herbs that can be burned and their fragrant smoke can clear the stone, too.

Blue Beat Pendant

VT: Now for some popular gemstones. What are their healing properties?

AR: All minerals and crystals have healing properties specific to them and they encompass physical as well as emotional healing.  Stones are attached to numerology as well as astrology.  Some stones are very powerful – Quartz is the most powerful mineral but if a stone can heal a specific ailment then at that particular time, that crystal is the most helpful and therefore powerful to the one being healed.  There are no “bad” stones and some are specific for getting through chemotherapy, some are helpful in easing back pain or labor.  Some can help you to see more clearly, creatively while others can bring more money into your life.

Here are the basics for the most popular stones:

Amethyst – “Stone of meditation.” It controls temperament by imparting a soothing, calming and tranquilizing influence, while clearing away unproductive and unkind vibrations.

Peridot – Emits a warm and friendly energy.  It can also help heal a “bruised” ego by assisting one in the lessening of anger or jealousy, inspiring happiness within the self and delight in the nature of one’s life.

Citrine – It is one of the two stones on the planet that do not hold and accumulate negative energy, but dissipates and transmutes it, working out problems on both the physical and subtle levels.  It never needs cleaning or clearing. Helps to “laugh without restraint.” Influences education, business pursuits, and interpersonal relationships.

Garnet – A stone of health, extracting negative energy from the chakras and transmuting the energy to the beneficial state. “Stone of Commitment” – to purpose, to others and to oneself.

Turquoise – Protects against environmental pollutants, offers soothing energy and peace of mind.  Includes wisdom and understanding and enhances trust.

Onyx – It can be used to banish grief, to enhance self-control and to stimulate the power of wise decision-making and to encourage happiness and good fortune.

Harvest Kinetic Ring

VT: Given all these wonderful options, how do you decide what gemstones to use in a piece of jewelry that has multiple stones?

AR: I’m an artist first, healer second, so I work as all other creatives do, by receiving stimulation and passion towards a material.  So a stone will move me and I’ll create around it.  While I’m doing so, the surrounding and supporting stones are typically chosen by coloring or size.  It’s not until I’m healing the piece and writing up the healing card do I see how the stones work together.  As I said, there are no bad stones so I have never had an issue of one stone “fighting” another.   I also do not create for a specific ailment unless I’m working on a special order.  At that time, we discuss the medical issues and I find stones to help my client.  We choose which ones would work best and I use those minerals in a special design.

And the winner is... Pendant

VT: And how can your lucky clients harness these powers?

AR: Be open to the healing energy of the minerals and crystals, meditate on the type of goodness they bring.  Or you can do nothing. The stones will provide their healing powers even if you don’t focus on them but obviously if you do, the connection will be stronger.

For more information about Andrea and her unique approach to jewelry, visit www.andrea-rosenfeld.com.

Victoria Tillotson is a New York City based jewelry designer, author and on-air expert whose designs have been featured in Allure, Lucky, Complex and other fashion magazines. She published her first book, Chic Metal: Modern Metal Jewelry to Make at Home in 2009 and has appeared on HSN, Oxygen and other cable channels. Victoria teaches jewelry making at School of Visual Arts in New York, where every semester she gives dozens of aspiring jewelers the tools and confidence to bring their creative vision to life.  Website: www.victoriatillotson.com

Tags: Art, art jewelry, crystals, designer, fashion, gemstones, healing, health, jewelry, metalsmith, metalwork, necklace, New York, pendant, Reiki, ring, Self-awareness, sterling silver, style, Women, wood jewelry