Post #1 - Wiccan and Native American Beliefs

In my personal life, my mother believes, and has believed, in the Wiccan religion and Native American spiritual arts. She keeps a certain gemstone around her neck, amethyst, to help ward her depression. My mother loves to burn incense when times get stressful, and even has a wolf painting pinned to her wall. When I asked her about how her beliefs affect her everyday life, she said "I believe that each stone helps out in different ways, but to science, stones or crystals are just that. No powers... but one has to believe." Mom still takes man-made medicine for her medical problems, such as her epilepsy, as she understands that proven science is just as important as spiritual beliefs. To her, the balance between spirituality and reality is what keeps her afloat, even in times of great tension. 

A wolf's head exhaling smoke in a field of flowers, with a mountain in the background.

A painting hung on my Mom's, Carol Andrescavage's, wall.

The Heisenberg - Tesla Mechanical Society

A message from Douglas Beckert; President 

HTMS would like to announce the development of The Heisenberg - Tesla mental shield.............

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The heart of the HT mental shield is energized with a patented laser crystal and phased magnets provide particle direction. Each small devise is made to order for you, and will provide years of service...as long as you don't break it open! That collapses the waveforms and instantly stops the quantum matrix inside.

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Crystal Healing

Crystal healers allege that gemstones carry "vibrational rates" and that when placed within your aura your vibrational rate changes as well. It is suggested that simply wearing high quality round beads around the neck can have significant benefits, but healers warn that if metal surrounds the gemstone the benefits are greatly reduced or eliminated completely.
The fancier techniques of crystal healing, however, are not so simple as donning a fancy necklace but rather seeking a crystal healer who will work with the gemstones in the context of your chakras. The "healer" may also arrange the crystals around the body in order to create an "energy grid" which then surrounds the subject with "healing energy."
So what is all this healing energy supposed to do? (Besides nothing, we'll be there in a moment). Crystal healing claims to remove blockages in your aura (uh-huh), as well as in the body's electromagnetic field (right). Some practitioners use laser quartz wands which may be used to perform "psychic surgery" (oh yes, it exists). One crystal healer lists her personal experience on her website (where she also sells her services and gemstones) and claims that these therapies have energized and healed her; from breaking bad habits, to healing dog bites, she claims they have changed her life. To see a list of many gemstones and their therapeutic properties click here.
There is evidence that crystal healing or at least the belief in the power of gemstones has existed for quite some time in several cultures, such as the Hopi Indians, the Hawaiian islanders, the Egyptians and Chinese (both fond of Jade) and Asians drawn to the emerald. We often see that these bogus therapies are promoted because of their Eastern histories or how "ancient" they are, the same holds true for crystal healing which also has ties to other occult medicines such as Chakra therapy. Much of the "results" are deduced to be the placebo effect, and nothing more. In fact, studies down with both real and fake quartz crystals showed no difference in results.
An interesting tidbit; Marcel Vogel, former IBM research scientist, is a proponent of this jargon claiming, "The crystal is a neutral object whose inner structure exhibits a state of perfection and balance. Like a laser, it radiates energy in a coherent, highly concentrated form, and this energy may be transmitted into objects or people at will. With proper training, a healer using a crystal can release negative thoughtforms which have taken shape as disease patterns." Whatever you say, Marc.
So now, what do you think about this video and its claims? (If it works, *fingers crossed*).