A crystal is a solid body with a geometrically regular shape.  Crystals were created as the earth was formed and they have continued to metamorphose as the planet has changed.  Crystals are the earths DNA, a chemical imprint for evolution.  They are miniature storehouses, containing the records of the development of the earth over millions of years, and bearing the indelible memory of the powerful forces that shape it.

Some have been subjected to enormous pressure, others grow in chambers deep underground, and some were laid down in layers, others dipped into being-all of which affects their properties and the way they function.  Whatever form they take, their crystalline structure can absorb, conserve and emit energy.

Crystals are built from one of seven possible geometric forms: triangles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, rhomboids, parallelograms or trapeziums.

The earth began as a whirling cloud of gas, out of which was created a dense dust bowl.  This contracted into a white-hot, molten ball.  Gradually, over the years, a thin layer of this molten material magma, cooled into a crust - the earths mantle.  Inside the crust, the hot, mineral rich, molten magma continues to boil and bubble and new crystals form.

Some crystals, such as Quartz, arise from the fiery gases and molten minerals in the earths centre.  Superheated, they rise toward the surface, propelled by stresses caused by movement of huge plates on the earth?s surface.  As the gases penetrate the crust and meet solid rock, they cool and solidify- a process that may take many years or may be fast and furious.  If the process is slow, or it the crystal grows in a gas bubble, then large crystals can grow.  If the process is fast, then the crystals are small.  If the process is exceptionally fast, a glass-like substance, such as Obsidian, is formed rather than crystals.  Crystals such as Aventurine or Peridot are created at high temperatures from liquid magma.  Others such as Topaz and Tourmaline, are formed when gases penetrate adjoining rocks.

Yet another form arises when magma cools sufficiently for water vapour to condense into a liquid.  The resulting mineral-rich solution lays down crystals such as Aragonite and Kunzite.  When it penetrates fissures in surrounding rock, the solution is able to cool slowly and lay down large crystals and geodes such as Chalcedony and Amethyst.

Crystals like Garnet are formed deep in the earth when minerals melt and recrystallize under intense pressure and enormous heat.  These crystals are known as metamorphic because they have undergone a chemical change that has reorganised the original shape.