Rock Power for Health and Wealth

By Martha Smilgis

Manhattan Businessman Richard Perl, 29, has a morning ritual. After dressing, he drops a small crystal into his pocket to enhance his concentration and aid + him in contract negotiations during his workday. Andrea Cagan, 38, a Los Angeles physical therapist, follows an evening routine: she slips a sliver of rose quartz under her pillow to help her sleep peacefully.

Perl and Cagan are among the growing number of Americans, many of them under 40, who are tuning in to "crystal consciousness," the pseudoscientific belief that such natural gemstones as quartz crystal, citrine, tourmaline and amethyst have paranormal healing and restorative powers. The crystal craze is part of a loosely linked spiritualism gaining ground on both coasts. Called "New Age" thinking, it is an esoteric blend of computer-age jargon and ancient religious practice, which often invested stones with powerful magic. Some other curious elements of the New Age faith include reincarnation, channeling (communing with souls in their afterlife) and psychic predictions. For not-so-New Agers, these prayer rocks are a way to update their Pet Rocks. To the skeptical, the burgeoning fad may give new meaning to the word stoned.

Age-old rite and techno-trend vocabulary meet in "programming," or getting the most out of your talisman. One West Coast formula for doing so goes this way: first, "clear" the stone by washing it in ocean water (in a pinch, salt water will do). Then leave it outside for at least 24 hours so that rays of the sun and moon may penetrate it. A quicker, high-tech method is to pass an audiocassette eraser over each side of the crystal for half a minute. To program, after the crystal has been cleared, hold it in both hands and blow on it while making a wish. For good health, for instance, one might say, "I want this energy to aid my immune system."

Programming is so important that a New Age breed of crystal therapists has sprung up to teach the uninitiated how to harness their rock power. Brett Bravo, 54, who was raised a strict Methodist in Texas, left organized religion in l975 to follow her "evolutionary spiritual path" to Solana Beach, Calif., where she conducts weekly seminars on how to program crystals. In a $45 one-day session, participants learn to cure ailments, erase negativity and recharge energy stores. "The way the stones heal," claims Bravo, "is by man's electrical field combining with the crystal's electromagnetic field. This affects the cells of the body." She also provides a 28-day ritual of positive thinking with each crystal. "With topaz," she instructs, "you hold the stone over the solar plexus for two minutes and repeat, 'This blue topaz is vibrating to calm my nervous system.' "

East Coast devotees of New Age thinking tend to favor faster-acting applications. Douglas Hardy, former manager of Star Magic, a space-age gift shop in Manhattan, suggests drinking gem and tonic -- literally, water "on the rocks" -- to get a "crystal hit." The crystal, it seems, sends its vibes through the water, which then charges up the person drinking it. Even more practical advocates suggest placing a cluster of "charged" crystals inside a refrigerator to accelerate cooling and thus reduce the electric bill or -- better yet -- attaching a 3-in. crystal to an auto carburetor to save on gas mileage.

Spiritual healers favor quartz because they think its particular structure coaxes the body into harmonious alignment. In fact, electronics engineers like quartz as well: its ultraprecise vibrations in response to an electric current make it ideal as a tuning device in watches, telephones and radios. From this, New Age believers conclude, rather imaginatively, that by rubbing the stone, thoughts and emotions are amplified.

Meanwhile, whatever their spiritual properties may be, the worldly worth of gemstones is soaring. For Star Magic, sales have tripled in the past four years, with two new branches opening in Manhattan. Nationwide, prices can run from $2 for a tiny slice to $150,000 for museum-quality crystals.

New Age converts account for only part of the boom in stones. High-grade specimens have caught the eye of interior designers seeking trendy home "accents." Dramatic chunks of crystal, worth as much as $10,000 or more, might serve as supports for glass coffee tables. Some collectors are promoting giant amethyst geodes, with appropriately dramatic spotlighting, as works of art. Actress Jill Ireland, wife of Charles Bronson, describes her extensive use of crystals in her bout with breast cancer in a book called Life Wish (Little, Brown; $17.95), to be published in two weeks. Herb Alpert of Tijuana Brass fame explains why he bought a 750-lb. slab of quartz at Crystal Resources, a fossil and mineral shop on Manhattan's pricey East Side: "When I walked into the shop, I could not take my eyes off of it. It makes me feel good to be around it. Since it's from Him, you can't not like it."

Although Howard Stein, chairman of the Dreyfus Corp., does not believe in the mystical properties of crystal, he keeps a 3-ft. amethyst geode in his ( Manhattan office and has a use for it. "Just think about what goes on within a rock," he muses. "You can relax for ten or l5 minutes that way. It takes your mind off the daily pressure." And Alan Talansky, president of First Atlantic Investment Corp., explains the therapeutic effect of the 600-lb. quartz crystal in the corner of his office: "When I'm in a big hassle, I turn around and look at this thing that has been around for millions of years, and it makes the problems seem less." May the force be with you.

With reporting by Mary Jane Horton/Los Angeles and Susan Kinsley/New York