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Crystal Clear: Reflections on Extraordinary Talismans For Everyday Life
From amethyst to obsidian, Basic Witches author Jaya Saxena explores the multi-faceted meanings and history behind eleven popular crystals in this relatable personal essay collection.
Highly prized for their beauty, crystals can take the shape of jewelry, household objects, and an array of self-care products. But it’s the ideas they stand for that draw people to their raw forms. Like astrology, tarot, and modern witchcraft, crystals help practitioners understand themselves and the wider world around them.
In this collection of sharply observed essays, Jaya Saxena reflects on—and challenges—the ideas associated with eleven popular stones, including unconditional love (rose quartz), happiness and success (citrine), balance (amethyst), self-care (black tourmaline), purity (pearl), imposter syndrome (pyrite), toxic positivity (carnelian), change (opals), traditional concepts of marriage (diamonds), presentation versus identity (obsidian), and death (amber).
The result is a deeply personal book with universal appeal, exploring how we assign meaning and power to crystals in order to give meaning and power to our lives.
Highly prized for their beauty, crystals can take the shape of jewelry, household objects, and an array of self-care products. But it’s the ideas they stand for that draw people to their raw forms. Like astrology, tarot, and modern witchcraft, crystals help practitioners understand themselves and the wider world around them.
In this collection of sharply observed essays, Jaya Saxena reflects on—and challenges—the ideas associated with eleven popular stones, including unconditional love (rose quartz), happiness and success (citrine), balance (amethyst), self-care (black tourmaline), purity (pearl), imposter syndrome (pyrite), toxic positivity (carnelian), change (opals), traditional concepts of marriage (diamonds), presentation versus identity (obsidian), and death (amber).
The result is a deeply personal book with universal appeal, exploring how we assign meaning and power to crystals in order to give meaning and power to our lives.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published December 28, 2020
19 people are currently reading
451 people want to read
About the author
Jaya Saxena
6 books96 followersJaya Saxena is a queer writer and editor from New York City. She is currently the Correspondent at Eater.com, and the Series Editor at the Best American Food and Travel Writing series. She is the the author of Dad Magazine, The Book of Lost Recipes: The Best Signature Dishes From Lost Restaurants Rediscovered, Basic Witches: How to Summon Success, Banish Drama, and Raise Hell with Your Coven and Crystal Clear: Extraordinary Talismans For Everyday Life
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
June 16, 2021
I received this book for free from the publisher (Quirk Books) in exchange for an honest review.
I give this book 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5.
So first off, I just want to mention that this is not a guidebook on crystals. If you are looking for a guidebook about different crystals and their properties, then I would suggest picking up another book.
This book was an excellent collection of personal essays that connects the properties of certain crystals to the author’s own experiences. The author weaves the history and properties of the crystals into the essays very well. Sometimes with essays like these, they can become too textbook like when describing factual information. Here, it all felt very natural and not forced. The author has a very effortless and conversational writing style which makes reading the essays a breeze.
My favorite essays were the ones on Pearl, Pyrite, Carnelian, and Obsidian. I liked that there were similar themes in some of the essays. For example, she discusses her mixed race heritage in a few of them. It made the collection cohesive.
I also liked the brief mentions of tarot cards and astrology. Crystals, tarot, and astrology often go hand in hand so I was glad to see the connections.
Design-wise this book is stunning. Quirk Books knows book design so well. There are cute illustrations before each chapter and the edges of every chapter are color coded to correspond to the crystal.
The one thing the book was missing was a short concluding chapter. It had an introduction, but a concluding chapter with some final thoughts would have tied it all together neatly.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and recommend it if you like personal essays. Even if you have absolutely no interest in crystals, the essays are still relatable and thought provoking.
I give this book 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5.
So first off, I just want to mention that this is not a guidebook on crystals. If you are looking for a guidebook about different crystals and their properties, then I would suggest picking up another book.
This book was an excellent collection of personal essays that connects the properties of certain crystals to the author’s own experiences. The author weaves the history and properties of the crystals into the essays very well. Sometimes with essays like these, they can become too textbook like when describing factual information. Here, it all felt very natural and not forced. The author has a very effortless and conversational writing style which makes reading the essays a breeze.
My favorite essays were the ones on Pearl, Pyrite, Carnelian, and Obsidian. I liked that there were similar themes in some of the essays. For example, she discusses her mixed race heritage in a few of them. It made the collection cohesive.
I also liked the brief mentions of tarot cards and astrology. Crystals, tarot, and astrology often go hand in hand so I was glad to see the connections.
Design-wise this book is stunning. Quirk Books knows book design so well. There are cute illustrations before each chapter and the edges of every chapter are color coded to correspond to the crystal.
The one thing the book was missing was a short concluding chapter. It had an introduction, but a concluding chapter with some final thoughts would have tied it all together neatly.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and recommend it if you like personal essays. Even if you have absolutely no interest in crystals, the essays are still relatable and thought provoking.
February 5, 2021
I've been a fan of some of Jaya Saxena's online wrings and I've been semi-ironically getting into crystals but I probably wouldn't have picked this up if I hadn't read some online reviews that were like "uh this is not a guide to crystals it's actually set of beautiful personal essays" and I was like, sick, I love beautiful personal essays!!!
Each essay focuses on one crystal and its alleged purposes/abilities but then applies that out to moments in Jaya's life/personality/whatever and they're all just really honest and #relatable and lovely. Highly recommended even if you're not into crystals. (But also it's 2021, why not get into crystals.)
Each essay focuses on one crystal and its alleged purposes/abilities but then applies that out to moments in Jaya's life/personality/whatever and they're all just really honest and #relatable and lovely. Highly recommended even if you're not into crystals. (But also it's 2021, why not get into crystals.)
December 11, 2020
This was a wonderfully insightful book that looks into more than just crystals and what they can do for you. The author bares a lot of her soul in these passages as she looks into meanings of different stones along with times in her life that she felt drawn to each rock.
I've become fascinated other the past few months by how others have been introduced to the world of crystals and I loved reading about how Jaya became involved in the world of crystals. She looks into the history of the use of crystals through the centuries and exploring why the crystal industry is currently booming. It seems many of us are looking for more spiritual help in our wellbeing.
The book is full of fascinating facts on different stones, alongside great quotes, illustrations and all showed off on soothing shaded colour pages! some of the stones she features are carnelian, citrine, black tourmaline etc and I enjoyed finding out more about each stone and their meaning and uses. Her crystal stories would often take her off on different tangents and that made for a really interesting read finding out her thoughts and opinions on a wider variety of subjects.
It touches on politicial, social and sexist issues alongside imposter syndrome and help with positive thinking so it was a really well rounded book - a little bit of everything! Even the muppets get a mention and that's always fine by me to see them included!
This book has given me a little more of an insight into various crystals, alongside Jaya as a person and I found it a really fascinating and inspiring book!
My thanks to the team at Quirk for the advanced e-copy in return for a fair and honest review.
I've become fascinated other the past few months by how others have been introduced to the world of crystals and I loved reading about how Jaya became involved in the world of crystals. She looks into the history of the use of crystals through the centuries and exploring why the crystal industry is currently booming. It seems many of us are looking for more spiritual help in our wellbeing.
The book is full of fascinating facts on different stones, alongside great quotes, illustrations and all showed off on soothing shaded colour pages! some of the stones she features are carnelian, citrine, black tourmaline etc and I enjoyed finding out more about each stone and their meaning and uses. Her crystal stories would often take her off on different tangents and that made for a really interesting read finding out her thoughts and opinions on a wider variety of subjects.
It touches on politicial, social and sexist issues alongside imposter syndrome and help with positive thinking so it was a really well rounded book - a little bit of everything! Even the muppets get a mention and that's always fine by me to see them included!
This book has given me a little more of an insight into various crystals, alongside Jaya as a person and I found it a really fascinating and inspiring book!
My thanks to the team at Quirk for the advanced e-copy in return for a fair and honest review.
February 7, 2021
I loved the dedication at the beginning of the book "for every kid who picked up a rock and saw more than just dirt" - very sweet!!
Firstly, I loved the illustrations in this book - incredibly original, great colours. Loved it! Could see myself having some of the artwork framed and put on the walls of my flat.
The book was different to what I expected, I thought it would be about crystals and its uses but it was more of a history of the crystal and the authors thoughts, feelings and anecdotes about the crystals. This does make the book more original and complex than a lot of the bog standard crystal books I have read in the past - but I'm not sure if I liked it. It read more like fiction than non-fiction.
I didn't like the layout of the text - I was lucky enough to be given an advanced electronic copy, so I don't know if it was just the formatting of my ARC, or if this will be the finished layout. I found the text very close together and it felt very dense. Not necessarily in the writing itself, but it appeared that way with the layout.
I found this very difficult to read at times, it was definitely original - but it wasn't for me.
Firstly, I loved the illustrations in this book - incredibly original, great colours. Loved it! Could see myself having some of the artwork framed and put on the walls of my flat.
The book was different to what I expected, I thought it would be about crystals and its uses but it was more of a history of the crystal and the authors thoughts, feelings and anecdotes about the crystals. This does make the book more original and complex than a lot of the bog standard crystal books I have read in the past - but I'm not sure if I liked it. It read more like fiction than non-fiction.
I didn't like the layout of the text - I was lucky enough to be given an advanced electronic copy, so I don't know if it was just the formatting of my ARC, or if this will be the finished layout. I found the text very close together and it felt very dense. Not necessarily in the writing itself, but it appeared that way with the layout.
I found this very difficult to read at times, it was definitely original - but it wasn't for me.
February 19, 2022
My coworker Jaya Is the author and she published the book a few years ago. During a book sale recently I came across it on the shelf and decided to buy it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but Jaya has such a great voice in her day to day work, I wanted to find out.
I pretty much devoured this book. It deserves to be filed elsewhere from actual books about crystals and tarot though because it’s so much more. Each essay doesn’t so much reinforce a new agey sort of crystal worship but instead weaves in life experiences with pop culture, science, and history that explores symbolism and how people through the ages assign and draw meaning from…rocks. Which is to say this book is great. If you like nonfiction essay and culture writing, this is a worthy read.
I pretty much devoured this book. It deserves to be filed elsewhere from actual books about crystals and tarot though because it’s so much more. Each essay doesn’t so much reinforce a new agey sort of crystal worship but instead weaves in life experiences with pop culture, science, and history that explores symbolism and how people through the ages assign and draw meaning from…rocks. Which is to say this book is great. If you like nonfiction essay and culture writing, this is a worthy read.
May 30, 2021
On one hand it's a very cool book that works very well within the skeptical witchcraft framework, the book basically asks the question 'what should I reflect on when I desire [stone quality x]'. Saxena explores each stone from a geological, historical/mythological context and then we also get a nice modern reflection eg on dismantling the patriarchy, setting boundaries, the imposter syndrome, racism,etc.
On the other hand, it doesn't go very deep and sometimes it reads more like a memoir/autobiography than a book about stones. I did enjoy reading it, it's the perfect light reading after a long ICU shift.
On the other hand, it doesn't go very deep and sometimes it reads more like a memoir/autobiography than a book about stones. I did enjoy reading it, it's the perfect light reading after a long ICU shift.
November 4, 2020
This book had all the excitement of finding something you want to learn more about. I've always been a rock collector and interested in these types of things, I just haven't go around to researching it. Then this book fell onto my lap at work and it feels like fate. The only reason I'm giving this 4 stars and not 5 is because the author occasionally went on these tangents that I guess were related to the rocks/ crystals. I got a little lost on how they connect at times. Other than that, I really enjoyed this and will be continuing my research into crystals.
Read
February 5, 2021The title of this book and the highlighting of crystals indicated to me they would be featured more heavily yet this book did exactly what it said as a deeply personal collection of essays on a variety of themes. Basically the crystals serve as a theme for the book and a prompt for each essay. I found it to be well written and interesting, but the author's personality and perspective is utterly reversed mine making it frustrating to not have conversations. I guess I just don't read a lot of essay collections. If the synopsis and its themes seem appealing this is likely worth picking up.
February 24, 2021
An insightful read into the world of crystals and to be honest, it wasn't what I was expecting. Saxena somehow manages to relate every crystal to a movie (From You've Got Mail to the original Muppet Movie) or life event, thus making it into a memoir.
The metaphysical properties given for every stone were quite intriguing; such as black tourmaline eliminating negative energy, carnelian being the stone of communication and public speaking by giving the user confidence and amethyst being the stone for calm and peace.
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The metaphysical properties given for every stone were quite intriguing; such as black tourmaline eliminating negative energy, carnelian being the stone of communication and public speaking by giving the user confidence and amethyst being the stone for calm and peace.
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 8, 2021
I really liked the way this book looked aesthetically. The layout was pretty clear and easy to read. In some instances I could see myself getting bored of the repetitious layout, but if you're only focusing on one crystal at a time then the layout wouldn't matter. It's certainly informative but only focuses on a few crystals. So, if you're looking for something that includes more, this wouldn't be it. But for beginners this is a great book to get started with!
October 4, 2022
I got this as an audiobook from the library and I will borrow it again. What I liked about this book is that it was not what I expected. There was about ten crystals that where cover. The author went into the attributes a little bit but also went into the history and myth of the crystals. I really really enjoyed that part of the book. The author also writes some personal essays that correspondences with each crystal.
February 2, 2021
Very smart and often moving essays. Really executed well. I think even if you don't think you're interested in the topic you'd be surprised at how engaging this book is. Really enjoyed it a great deal.
January 6, 2021
Beautifully written and researched, weaving social commentary and personal stories.
January 14, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. A philosophical read for anyone.
February 13, 2021
This book is more than an educational primer on crystals but a description on how to add them to your life.
March 14, 2021
3.5 for me. I liked the concept, and the writing is insightful & evocative, but many parts also reminded me of being skillfully wordy to make an essay reach the word requirement.
May 24, 2021
A nice look (different take) on about a dozen crystals. Some information, stories, personal attachment and other tidbits about them.
May 24, 2021
learned a lot from this!!!
March 7, 2022
I liked this a lot! A book of essays, crystal themed. Less about magic and more about musings about life but she also integrates the background and mythology of crystals
August 1, 2022
Unique blend of personal and informative essays around crystals.
April 3, 2023
This isn’t your grandmother’s crystal book! It deeply examines the concepts we assign to crystals and deconstructs the ways we use crystals. Very informative!
April 14, 2025
DNF. Just wasn’t interested in all the memoirs. Wanted more info about the stones themselves.
It was well written but just not for me.
It was well written but just not for me.
March 6, 2021
Not what I thought it would be. Less about crystals and more about the author’s life. C-
February 24, 2022
This well observed essay collection uses crystals and their assigned meanings (which, despite being a millenial woman, I don't know a great deal about) as a prism through which to look out at our society.
May 4, 2024
From amethyst to obsidian, Basic Witches author Jaya Saxena explores the multi-faceted meanings and history behind eleven popular crystals in this relatable personal essay collection.
Highly prized for their beauty, crystals can take the shape of jewelry, household objects, and an array of self-care products. But it’s the ideas they stand for that draw people to their raw forms. Like astrology, tarot, and modern witchcraft, crystals help practitioners understand themselves and the wider world around them.
In this collection of sharply observed essays, Jaya Saxena reflects on—and challenges—the ideas associated with eleven popular stones, including unconditional love (rose quartz), happiness and success (citrine), balance (amethyst), self-care (black tourmaline), purity (pearl), imposter syndrome (pyrite), toxic positivity (carnelian), change (opals), traditional concepts of marriage (diamonds), presentation versus identity (obsidian), and death (amber).
The result is a deeply personal book with universal appeal, exploring how we assign meaning and power to crystals in order to give meaning and power to our lives.
Highly prized for their beauty, crystals can take the shape of jewelry, household objects, and an array of self-care products. But it’s the ideas they stand for that draw people to their raw forms. Like astrology, tarot, and modern witchcraft, crystals help practitioners understand themselves and the wider world around them.
In this collection of sharply observed essays, Jaya Saxena reflects on—and challenges—the ideas associated with eleven popular stones, including unconditional love (rose quartz), happiness and success (citrine), balance (amethyst), self-care (black tourmaline), purity (pearl), imposter syndrome (pyrite), toxic positivity (carnelian), change (opals), traditional concepts of marriage (diamonds), presentation versus identity (obsidian), and death (amber).
The result is a deeply personal book with universal appeal, exploring how we assign meaning and power to crystals in order to give meaning and power to our lives.
August 2, 2022
I bought this on a whim at a discount department store because the essay format intrigued me and the art was cute. I thought it would be a light read, something casual for reading while waiting for appointments or my partner to get off work, so I was surprised at how hard-hitting each topic was. As such, it took a moment to adjust to the author's frustrated yet hopeful tone; I have to wonder if at the time of writing she was going through some stuff, maybe an existential crisis. Her discussions on rose quartz and pearl particularly stood out to me, being focused on gender (a concept I understand in theory yet find perpetually confusing) and purity (I've heard of Catholic guilt, but have more experience with Protestant shame.) Overall, I like the somewhat agnostic approach she took to talking about crystals, examining the metaphysical properties we've assigned to them and the societal constructs like gender and capitalism which influence how we talk about crystals today. This book is raw, honest, and I think a necessary read for anyone who collects crystals based on their metaphysical properties and wants a different perspective on their common correspondences.
June 20, 2024
Not your typical metaphysical crystal properties book. Jaya Saxena both takes the meaning behind certain crystals really deep in history and really deep in herself. My only complaint is there weren't more crystals included because I would have loved to read her take on their meanings. This was a refreshing read that really made me think about a lot more than just the crystals in my collection!
April 26, 2021
A thought-provoking and eloquently written collection of personal essays with each essay themed after a healing crystal. I truly enjoyed this book. It is a gem itself. I recommend this book to everyone, but especially those who love healing crystals and personal experience stories.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews