Crystals for Beginners: A Guide to Collecting & Using Stones & Crystals

by Corrine Kenner

Crystals for Beginners makes it easy to learn about crystals and how to use their positive energy in a variety of practical ways. This friendly introductory guide explores crystal magic, folklore, and wisdom. It features an alphabetical guide to crystals, along with advice on collecting, cleansing, and charging them. Handy reference charts help you quickly find information on birthstones, zodiac stones, precious metals, and more. You can empower, clarify, and illuminate your life with the help of these beautiful gems.

Genres: Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Occult, Spirituality, Reference, Metaphysics

264 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Corrine Kenner is a certified tarot master and the author of several books, including Simple Fortunetelling with Tarot Cards, Tarot Journaling, Tall Dark Stranger: Tarot for Love and Romance, The Epicurean Tarot, and the forthcoming Wizards Tarot and Tarot for Writers. \r
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Corrine has lived in Brazil and Los Angeles, where she earned a bachelors degree in philosophy from California State University. She now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her husband and their daughters.\r
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Corrine organizes tarot classes and workshops on a regular basis. For more information, visit her website at corrinekenner.com."

Reviews

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the content in this book was rather helpful such as the list of crystals and their spiritual associations. The scientific information at the beginning of the book was worthwhile too. However, the content in the middle part of the book was somewhat ridiculous. I like to read out loud to myself and I was reading this book out loud to my best friend and we both just started cracking up at how ridiculous some of the information presented was. Here is one gem that had us howling: "First, do what you can to accomplish your goals without resorting to crystal magic. If you want a new job, polish up your resume and start sending it out. If you're hoping to find love, get a good haircut and learn how to dance. If you want to lose weight, spend more time walking than watching TV. Direct action is always the most effective way to change your life." I think that this book could have done a better job of explaining the spiritual significance of crystals. Instead I found myself laughing at the book.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not perfect but very good.
In first I need to note that before this book I knew just a bit about crystals.
And while I read this book I made huge amount of tegs which I will using in the future.
But in any way some chapters was like out of title.
For example, as a beginner I would love to see which crystal I can use for chacras, but I don't want to read exactly about chacras. Or some crystals description includes spheres and the way where I can use it, but some crystal does have only colors palette and history/mythological legend, and I'm curious why, because some of that crystal I actually have right now and I would love to know where I can use it.
So in general I can advice to read this book for beginners in crystals but do not be shy to skip some chapters and be ready to read more then this one book.

[Dominika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do have a few crystals but like with a wide variety of things, I consider them more a good luck charm or a psychological booster and less of a metaphysical powerhouse. You should always take these things with a grain of salt (I say, as I can sometimes use these things as my own psychological soother). You should also talk to real doctors about your physical ailments, because these things aren't cheap anyway.

I think this is a good beginning guide for just crystal work and it has given me some good ideas for crystals to look for and how to use them. There's a small encyclopedia of crystals and a lot of general information and ideas. I don't think I'd pick this for anyone's first book, but it's still pretty ok.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about crystals from this book. I was able to absorb information on types and styles of crystals, how they are formed, and various ways to use them for mediation. I only gave this book a three star rating because I felt some elements of information were a little too spiritual in regards to general crystal education, but I can also see why those elements are essential. If you're interested in learning about crystals, give this book a try.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super informative about the collecting, use, cleansing, and other information dealing with crystals. It would have been a bit more helpful if the book had included color pictures of the crystals (it only had a few diagrams here and there of specific cuts and a black and white color wheel), but this is the 21st century, so it is not too difficult to find pictures of the crystals myself.

[Maya Elkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a skeptic, so obviously this is coming from someone who is biased, but it became even harder for me to trust this as a source when some of the claims about history were false information (for example, all the information included on the Crystal Skull). I did enjoy learning about different crystal properties, which is mostly what I came for.

[Ariani · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was kind of dragged out but i learned a bunch and it’s cool if you want to know about spirituality but i’m out of my crystal phase so i wasn’t super interested. But the book itself was cool and teaches a lot about how to use crystals is different ways and what the different crystals are

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets a big New Age woo-woo at times, but overall it's a decent overview of crystal properties and how they can be used for magickal purposes.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the uses of crystals. Useful reference tool.

[Brittany Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly a book for beginners with basic and repetitive knowledge. Lack of illustrations.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

[Jaqui · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very basic overview. Goes a little too far into the...eh...new age stuff. Which is funny coming from me -- you know it's gotta go really far woo woo, ha. Some useful and original info on how to use crystals, but definitely not overly much to recommend it.

[Empath Warrior · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon first borrowing this book from the library, I thought it would be a very basic text with maybe a few gems of knowledge. I found myself highlighting (Kindle version) all over the place! This book has tons of great information for all crystal users, beginners and up. If you are interested in crystals, I definitely recommend reading this book.

[Kristina]

Another crystal book that fell by the wayside in the midst of reading a lot of crystal books at once. It just didn't glimmer like the others. I could blame it on the lack of photos, but there are a few crystal books without photos that I do like. The biggest turn off was how the author organized the information. Not my favorite.

[Rita Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent read for me as an beginner. The print wasn't to small and helped me to recognize the various stones well that I had purchased. It informed me also of the meaning with the colors of my stones. Enjoyed the book!

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book, but it contradicts another book with which stones go with which gods and which planets.
I also would like pictures in it.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the clearest written, straight forward & useful books I've ever read on the subject! I HIGHLY Recommend it to anyone interested in the subject of crystals & their metaphysical uses.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book!!! A must have for the beginner and a great edition to the experienced.

[Larissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a disappointment. It's not organized in a way that makes sense to me. There are no photos and few diagrams. It's clumsy to navigate and use for reference. The information seems spotty.

[keereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

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