Crystals are natural products of Mother Earth, and many take advantage of them. They are often used for decor or jewelry, but do they actually have healing power? Crystal collector Ashley Ford has done her fair share of research on the subject and uses crystals for healing purposes.

Himalayan salt lamps have climbed the popularity ladder recently as far as room decor goes, but they’re actually good for purifying the air as well. Ford went through a list of crystals she had in her home—many of which, she’s had her own life experiences with. Amethysts help with emotional issues, so she recommends them to anyone dealing with depression or anything else going on that can cause someone’s emotions to go haywire.

Ford admitted that she and her boyfriend Dean Wierzbicki had both suffered from depression in the past, so that’s why she likes to keep amethysts in their house. She pointed out a large pink crystal displayed on a shelf in the front corner of her house.

“That’s rose quartz; it’s a really popular one. It represents love,” she said, “if you have something going on in your life and you want to try using a crystal to help, you can have it in your possession or have it anywhere around you and it’ll help.” Wierzbicki wraps crystals to be used as necklace pendants (see here), so they have a crystal bible to look up the meaning behind every crystal he comes across.

Ford named her now 9-month-old baby boy Sylas Moon. “His middle name is Moon, because when there is a full moon, you recharge your crystals.”

She went on to add that sage comes into play during this time as well. People are meant to place their crystals on a window sill, and sage them during a full moon. This supposedly starts and recharges your crystals, so sage and crystals play a big part in each other.

The herb sage can be used for cleansing purposes, but not just with crystals. “If there is bad energy in this house, if we argue, or if I’ve had a bad day or Dean has had a bad day, we’ll sage the house. It gets rid of bad energy,” said Ford.

When one of her friends moved downtown, Ford told her to sage her entire house from corner to corner before bringing any furniture inside to cleanse the house of any bad energy. “Downtown Wilmington is so old that you just never know what past energy is left in there. People could’ve died in that house!”

She and Dean are living proof of how sage can help promote good energy. They used to live in a house downtown that was built in 1910, and they hadn’t used sage in the house before; they weren’t solid believers in it yet.

“He and I argued every single day… it was turmoil.” Moving into the house they’re in now was like a breath of fresh air, so they made sure to sage it before bringing anything into the house. Since living there, they’ve had more tranquility and positive moments. People can either use sage or palo santo, which are similar, but doesn’t have as strong of a smell.

“If you think you need a crystal, or even if you just go to a crystal shop and find one you like, there is always a purpose for it. A crystal will do anything you want it to do, ” said Ford. When she was pregnant, she wore a moonstone—good for positivity—all the time to put her good energy into it.  When Sylas is older, she will give him the moonstone for him to wear to pass down that good energy to him. The moonstone hangs in Sylas’ room for now, since he is too little to wear it.

Ford and Wierzbicki have influenced family members to use crystals as well. “Dean’s dad has a crystal with him that is supposed to help with patience and anger,” said Ford. He’s been known to have a short temper, and he can tell a change in himself when he doesn’t have the crystal on him. According to Ford, he gets anxious and has a short temper again.

“Crystals were made by nature. It’s all made from the earth, within the earth. They’re really old, so people believe that since they are natural, they are the best way [to heal and to use in life],” Ford said. She is aware of the skeptics who say, “it’s all in your head,” but she is accepting of that idea. Even if it is all in people’s heads, it helps them either way.

“It’s just like religion. We don’t know what’s going to happen when we die; we are choosing to believe in certain things. People will say, ‘you’re going to heaven,’ but nobody really knows even if it’s in the Bible. People have faith and hope that that’s true,” she said.

Ford has noticed how crystals have become a trend and is thrilled about it. “It’s great, because people are looking into it and figuring this stuff out,” she said.

According to her, our generation is different in that sense; we’re changing the way we do life. We are the ones who are discovering cool ideas and putting them to use, like the healing power of crystals.